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Sam (74 KP) rated More Than This in Books

Mar 27, 2019  
More Than This
More Than This
Patrick Ness | 2014 | Children
8
8.9 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
However, I never managed to get into it. I didn’t realise it would be quite as sci-fi as it seemed to begin with and struggled to relate to the protagonist.

I thought this was going to stay as a DNF forever, as I had a tendency to never try to pick a book up again after I have DNF’d it. However, just before I was going on holiday I saw a review for it over on another blog and decided that I should try it again. My tastes have changed a lot in a few years, so I was hoping I would find it easier to read this time around.

And I was right! I wasn’t hooked right at the beginning so it took some commitment to carry on reading. But now I really enjoyed the concept of aliens used in this and all of the mystery.

I actually got hooked on this! It’s almost like reading an episode of Black Mirror, which is another thing I’m addicted to.

Fair enough, I wasn’t completely sure I liked the characters, but you don’t have to love the characters in order to enjoy a novel.

I have an obsession with urban explorers going into abandoned places, and I love their videos. More Than This is set in a completely abandoned world, and I found Ness’s description of how nature took over a familiar place was really fascinating. This made me really like his writing and now I’m considering reading more of his books!
  
White Water (Ryder Bay #5)
White Water (Ryder Bay #5)
Jordan Ford | 2019 | Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
White Water (Ryder Bay #5) by Jordan Ford
White Water is the epilogue finale novella in the Ryder Bay series, and my word, do we go out with a bang!

In this book, you catch up with all the main couples from the previous books. It is Spring Break, and things aren't going according to plan. Life is changing for our young couples, and they are left feeling very uncertain about what their future holds. Some have to decide about college, some have more personal decisions to make. Whichever, it makes for a gripping book.

Don't just enjoy what is written in the main part of the book though. Once you reach the end, carry on reading, and you will find further snippets, just to give you that final fulfilment, on how Ms Ford sees their futures going. It was perfect. I loved all of them, plus hearing about the plans for the new series.

If I had one 'bad' thing to say (and it's not really bad, just my personal opinion), I would have loved to have known if Hayes and Jace continued their friendship as they matured. In fact, I'd just love more of Hayes, please!

If you've read the main four books in this series, then why deny yourself the cherry on the icing on the cake, which is this epilogue novella? Absolutely recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
A Faint Cold Fear (Grant County, #3)
A Faint Cold Fear (Grant County, #3)
Karin Slaughter | 2003 | Fiction & Poetry
7
5.5 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
From the back of the book: Sara Linton, Oh examiner in the small town of Heartsdale, is called out to an apparent suicide on the local college campus. The mutilated body provides a little in the way of clues - And the college authorities are keen to avoid a scandal - but for Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, things don’t add up.
Two more suspicious suicides follow, and a young woman is brutally attacked. For Sara, the violence strikes far too close to home. And as Jeffrey pursues the sadistic killer, he discovers that ex-police detective Lena Adams, now a security guard on campus, may be in possession of crucial information. But, bruised and angered by her expulsion from the force, Lena seems to be barely capable of protecting herself , let alone saving the next victim…

This was my first time reading a Karin Slaughter novel. I didn’t realise until halfway through that this was the third in a series, however I was able to pick up some of the previous relationships and how it all linked together. I quite enjoyed reading this book although found it slow to start, but after about 100 pages in found myself unable to put the book down.

As an avid reader of crime and thriller novels I have to admit that even I did not pick up on who was guilty of committing the crimes. Slaughter’s writing Is very graphic and descriptive, including some very realistic forensic details would definitely like to carry on reading this series. Most enjoyable!
  
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The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration
Michelle Alexander | 2012 | Essays, History & Politics
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Detailed, disturbing, an absolute must-read
An absolutely staggering and essential read about America's new apartheid / caste system, created under the guise of the War on Drugs.

Since the civil rights movements and traced back to its origins from the Jim Crow laws, Michelle Alexander discusses how the prison and judicial system is basically used to force African Americans into an underclass. They are not entitled to jobs, housing, benefits and even voting in some cases, stripping them of human rights well after punishment. As 'criminals' they are vilified by all alike thus continually treated like scum.

For others, it's a situation of arresting African Americans en masse for drug crimes, also committed by their white counterparts but are conveniently ignored.

And police forces around the country are continually given bigger budgets to carry out such arrests to bolster their credentials. It can be seen as a racket in many situations. Disturbing but a must-read.
  
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QuietlyBookish (65 KP) rated Fangirl in Books

Jul 6, 2017  
Fangirl
Fangirl
Rainbow Rowell | 2014 | Young Adult (YA)
10
8.9 (46 Ratings)
Book Rating
Characters (3 more)
Themes of Mental Illness
Plot
Dialogue
Must Read For Anyone Starting University!
I very much enjoyed this book. I read this book in one day. I loved Cath, I felt that she was easy to like and she was realistic, I think her thoughts, feelings and actions were easy to relate to.
This book is about finding yourself as you transition from teenager to adult and learn to live alone for the first time.
I can't recommend this enough, I think everyone can gain something from this story!

There are a lot of different editions of this book! I'd recommend looking them up if you're interested in fan art or author Q&A's! Also, there are two other books related to Fangirl, there is Carry On which is a full novel about the Simon and Baz fanfiction Cath writes in Fangirl. Also, Cath and Levi make an appearance in the author's adult novel Landline, if you're interested in that!
  
Murder In Steeple Martin
Murder In Steeple Martin
Lesley Cookman | 2006 | Crime, Mystery
8
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Slow starter but soon pulls you in
This book starts a little slowly but very soon rewards those who stick with it and becomes one of the most engaging books I have read in a long time. Vaguely reminiscent of Agatha Raisin, in that the heroine is a dumpy middle-aged, neurotic woman who lives in deeply rural England with a cat. Yet this is by no means a rip-off.

Somewhat less manic than A.R., both series carry on an old and well-established style of British Mystery writing. That said, it is clear that Lesley Cookman has gone out of her way to break some of the rules. For example there is only -shock, horror!- *one* murder in her book;her characters have no access to the Police enquiry, so are working completly in the dark; and as much as she can she has avoided having characters do obviously stupid things.

This is not an earth-shattering book, but it is a thoroughly good read.