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Hazel (2934 KP) rated A Conspiracy of Bones (Temperance Brennan #19) in Books

Mar 14, 2020

Disappointed

Having read previous outings involving Temperance Brennan, although not for some time, I was keen to dip back in to find out what was going on with her but, and I am really sorry to say this, this one just didn't grab me like they usually do and I found myself jumping in and out rather than being captivated and enthralled. If I'm honest, I think this is my fault ... I should have kept up with the series as I believe I have missed out on an awful lot.

I found the story really hard to get into with quite a bit of inner dialogue which was a little tedious. It did pick up the more I read but just not enough to keep my interest from start to finish. The characters however are excellent and the bones of the story is there, I just felt the execution wasn't as good as previous books from this author.

I do think that people who have read the entire series will enjoy it more than I did and I would therefore suggest that if you are thinking of starting with this one, don't as it will put you off reading more of this author's work and you will certainly be missing out.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

Kudos

ClareR (5996 KP) rated A Bit Of A Stretch in Books

Feb 21, 2020

A Bit Of A Stretch

Chris Atkins | 2020 | Biography, Crime, Humor & Comedy

9.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

A UK prison diary

All hail The Pigeonhole! The app that makes me read - and enjoy - books that I would never normally even pick up. I loved this book!

Chris Atkins was sent to prison for 5 years after being involved in a dodgy tax scheme that was used to finance his films. Wandsworth was to be his home for a large part of his sentence, and this is where the book is set. Chris wrote a diary whilst he was there, and he certainly had enough to write about: drug dealers, self-harmer’s, prison officers, of the helpful, clueless and vindictive varieties, and senior officials trying to instigate some sort of reform (which ends badly, if I’m honest).

It’s a funny, and at times frustrating read. It illustrates everything that’s wrong with our prison system, which seems to be stuck in the Victorian era. We need to decide what we want our prison system to do: to simply incarcerate, or to rehabilitate. The number of people who reoffend is phenomenal - isn’t this a total waste of money? Is this really a reflection of time well served?

Anyway, I suggest everyone reads this and makes up their own minds.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and to the author, Chris Atkins, for reading along.