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Good Girl, Bad Blood
Good Girl, Bad Blood
Holly Jackson | 2020 | Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It’s not every time that a sequel manages to live up to the first novel but this book just made me fall in love with the characters even more.
We are back with Pip in the aftermath of the first book and she is trying to not get involved with anything that could get her in the same trouble as last time. Until her best friend’s brother, Jamie, goes missing. She tries to stay out of it, but when the police aren’t interested as he is an adult, Pip knows she can’t just sit back and hope for the best. So Pip goes back into investigative mode, but this time she has the help of Ravi, her boyfriend.
Pip has managed to document the murders of Andie Bell and Sal Singh (the previous book) on a podcast, which has a lot of followers and so she utilises this to get the news of the disappearance out there. Pip agrees with the family that she can use the investigation for a second series of her podcast.
The investigation has many twists and turns and at one point I couldn’t have told you how it was going to end. But the ending was unexpected and a character that I hadn’t anticipated was involved.
Holly Jackson’s use of different kinds of media such as photographs, articles and transcripts made the book so much more interesting to read than your usual crime fiction and I think that’s what has kept me so hooked throughout this series. Hopefully the third instalment will be just as good as this one.
  
Staying Wet: A Southern Tale Told One Sip at a Time
Staying Wet: A Southern Tale Told One Sip at a Time
Jacqueline Schnitzer | 2014 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Staying Wet is written from the perspective of her bedroom companion, her best friend who has always been there for her, but you never get a name. It continues through the book as Caddy talks out her memories of her life to her friend.

This is not a cheery-everything-is-fine book. Caddy has dealt with some serious issues in her life, including the disappearance of her father and brother at a very young age, drinking to excess, and drugs. What this book is though is completely enthralling, a definite page-turner.

Instead of the timing remaining constant throughout, sometimes Caddy will follow that particular thread through to the conclusion. For example, she might be nineteen when the story starts, but in her forties when it concludes. You stay with the story until its conclusion, and then you go back to Caddy at nineteen where she recommences with the rest of her story. It can be off-putting to start with but stick with it, and I promise you'll be glad that you did.

The ending is perfect for the book. I can't say I liked it, but I understood it and thought it was exceedingly well-written. I loved the companion as it all made sense. This book was a complete surprise to me, not what I expected at all, but I loved it! Highly 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!
Mar 15, 2016
  
40x40

Dalton (3 KP) rated Brotherly Love in Books

Sep 24, 2017  
Brotherly Love
Brotherly Love
Dalton Giesick | 2017 | Biography, Children, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
The US Review of Books
Contains spoilers, click to show
Brotherly Love
by Dalton Giesick
Trafford Publishing
reviewed by Omar Figueras

"When Dayton was hammering the staples into the wood, Grandpa cut a window on each end. Then he made a door for us... Our clubhouse was fin."

Dalton Giesick's short memoir Brotherly Love depicts the author's e'rly childhood years, being the all too brief moment in time that he was able to spend with his little brother, Dayton. The book describes those early years in a fleeting but endearing way. At the center of the story is the family's relocation to Colorado, the boys' moving in with their grandparents during that short duration, and the heart-wrenching changes the family endures once they have moved out West.

Part coming of age story and part eulogy, Giesick's treatment of his subject is heart-felt and gentle. His book is a sweet and tender read and the author's presentation of his memories of Dayton is much in tune with how an adult would treat a young child. A quick, yet powerful read, Giesick's writing is strong and tight. There are foreboding moments embedded throughout the story alluding to Dayton's disappearance; however, this tragedy occurs at the end of the story where the author's dreadful imaginings become his harsh reality. Although anticipated, the last revelation is both unexpected to the narrator and reader.

A tribute to a little boy with a large heart and an even bigger soul, Brotherly Love is a big brother's beautiful telling of the precious and too brief an instant he spent in the company of his little brother. Although short, the time that the author spent with Dayton was deeply transformative for himself, and by telling his story the author was able to provide this transformation for his readers.
  
Stranger Things  - Season 2
Stranger Things - Season 2
2017 | Sci-Fi
Exciting once it gets going (1 more)
SFX are on point
The story takes a while to get off the ground (0 more)
Back To Hawkins
I loved the first season of Stranger Things and season 2 was one of my most anticipated shows of this year. While I don’t feel that season 2 surpassed the preceding season of the show, it is another solid chapter in what is fixing to be a pretty epic saga. The show takes a while to find its feet; some unorthodox structural choices cause the series to begin on a fairly unfocused note. It is revealed in the first episode that Eleven has been in hiding and living with Hopper since the events at the end of season 1 and once that cliffhanger from the last season is addressed, everything else is pretty hunky dory. Will is still tripping out and seeing the upside down every now and again, but that is expected to pass and we aren’t presented with any real conflict until a few episodes into the new season. The first season opened with the disappearance of Will and we were immediately on board with the goals of every character in the show, whereas the first few episodes of this season feel unfocused and there isn’t really any sense of purpose felt.
Once the plot gets going and the season finds its feet, the show definitely become more enjoyable and exciting and that pace and sense of intrigue continues all the way through until the end of the season, other than episode 7 that is. Overall though, I did enjoy this season and am very excited to see the future seasons in this story play out. 8/10
  
NN
Never Never (Detective Harriet Blue, #1)
James Patterson | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Harriet "Harry" Blue is a detective with Sydney, Australia police department. When her brother is accused of a terrible crime, her superior sends her away on assignment to keep her out of the way. He sends her to the desert to investigate the disappearance and/or murder of three miners working in the uranium mines. She is given a new partner, but is not sure if she can trust him or anyone. In the middle of the never never, you are one of the hunted, the object is to make it out alive. Will Detective Blue be able to find out who is behind this hideous crime before she becomes a victim herself.

This is a new series by James Patterson and Candice Fox.

I gave this book three stars because I wanted to know more about Harriet. Maybe as the series develops we will get to know Harriet better. We know her "mother was a prostitute and a drug addict." We also find out that she and her brother were in and out of foster homes most of their lives. I love female lead characters and I hope this is a series I will be able to get into and enjoy.

Sent into the hot desert of Australia, Harriet Blue is completely out of her element. The mine is its own community that includes bilbies(prostitutes), a drug dealer, and protesters who are against the mining. It's a tight nit community that doesn't take well to outsiders. While everyone has a fear of the killer, money is much more important than clearing the mine to find a killer. I'm not sure why the story of Harriet's brother was integral to this story, but I hope that story line will develop more over the series.