The Girl Who...
Book
Leah is the perfect survivor. She was seven years old when she saw her mother and sister killed by a...
The Twist of a Knife (Hawthorne & Horowitz Mystery #4)
Book
Our deal is over.' That's what reluctant author Anthony Horowitz tells ex-detective Daniel Hawthorne...
Hell Bay (DI Ben Kitto #1) [Audiobook]
Book
DI Ben Kitto needs a second chance. After ten years working for the murder squad in London, a...
Eye for an Eye
Book
‘Emily’ is a devoted single mother. ‘Jack’ starts a new job in a new town. ‘Russell’...
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Bridge (Detective Louise Blackwell #6) in Books
Aug 13, 2023
The story starts with the discovery of a young woman's body in a shipping container. Initial thoughts are this is a tragic case of human trafficking gone wrong but when a camera is discovered and the investigation delves deeper, the case turns into something else altogether and when more people start to go missing, Detective Blackwell and her team know they are running out of time.
Written at a good pace, with fantastic characters, a great storyline full of tension, this is a great addition to the series and I must thank the author, Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Bridge.
David McK (3816 KP) rated The Last Kingdom - Season 5 in TV
Sep 3, 2023 (Updated Sep 3, 2023)
Each series of the TV show adopted roughly 2 of the novels so - if memory serves - that means that this series covers the events of 'Warriors of the Storm' and 'War of the Wolf'.
For some reason, however - and unlike the earlier Sharpe series (also based on novels by Cornwell) I struggled to get into this one, taking roughly a year and a bit to watch a 10 episode series.
I'm not sure why, but it just didn't help with me.
Mores the pity.
The Apartment Upstairs
Book
Scarlett's aunt lived - and was brutally murdered - in the apartment upstairs. But Scarlett is...
The Serial Killer's Sister
Book
She thought she’d left her past behind. She was wrong… Despite a childhood in the care...
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Doctor in Books
May 28, 2023
Strange things start happening when Dr Alison Wilson starts her new job as Medical Director in a new hospital in a new town. It quickly becomes obvious that someone doesn't want her to be there and is doing all they can to undermine her in any way they can.
Whilst I found this quite predictable and had pegged the protagonist early on, I did quite enjoy how it got to the end. I quite liked the character of Dr Wilson and the way the dynamics between the various staff members was portrayed which I found felt authentic.
Maybe not the thriller I was expecting but enjoyable nonetheless and my thanks go to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of The Doctor.
Louise (64 KP) rated The Weight of Water in Books
Jul 2, 2018
The weight of water follows Kasienka and her mother who are Polish migrants travelling to the UK to find her father who upped and left one day never to return, all they know is that he lives in Coventry. They manage to rent a bed sit with one bed that they have to share and with little money Kasienka's mum takes on a hospital job. Kasienka's mum is determined to find her husband and as Kasi's English is better than hers she is forced to walk streets of Coventry looking for her dad. Not only does she have to contend with her mum, she also started a new school where she doesn't fit in and becomes a target to bullies. The only thing that Kasienka was good at was swimming which she loved and was also pretty good at. It was where she could escape, It was there she met William.
I loved this book, it is so realistic, raw and heart - breaking. In the UK we have thousands of Polish people come to live in the UK sometimes for work and sometimes for unknown reasons but what we forget is how hard and challenging it can be for them to arrive in a country they are not familiar with and the language barrier.You also forget how difficult it must be at school for them - due to Kasi's language barrier the teacher was not aware of how intelligent she was and enrolled her in a younger year. Kasi is 12 and a very intelligent girl who just wants to fit in at school or even better to return to Poland with her Mother and Father. You see the struggles that she has to overcome and her developing and hitting puberty. I really liked the fact that Sarah Crossan didn't shy away and told us Kasi's periods starting and her becoming more body conscious it makes it so much more real and relatable.
The bit that I really liked was when Kasienka realised that she had treated a new girl at her school back in Poland just as she was being by the bullies in her school, she wasn't perfect and she knew it.
This is a brilliant coming of age story that could be classed as middle grade though it has more depth to it as deals with Poverty, bullying, immigration and families
I definitely recommend this book for anyone that wants to read YA,Poetry or contemporary
Overall I rated 4.5 out 5 stars.


