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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Everything I Never Told You in Books
Feb 8, 2018
I forget where I saw a recommendation for this book (who am I kidding, probably <i>People</i> or <i>Entertainment Weekly</i>, about the extent of my "literary" reading these days), but it wasn't quite what I expected. Less mystery surrounding a disappearance/death and more "human interest" about a-- truth be told-- rather unlikable family.
The novel chronicles the Lee family, who wakes up one day to find their eldest daughter/sister, Lydia, missing. Eventually Lydia's body is found in the local lake, and the family is turned upside down.
It goes without saying, but it's really a rather depressing book. Lydia's parents, Marilyn and James, are just awful, and not just because they are grieving. I found very little to like in them. Lydia's siblings, Nath and Hannah, aren't nearly as bad (Hannah is truly the redeeming one in the family), but still. It's hard to root for a family that you don't much care for. There are also some strange side plots involving the siblings that never really seem resolved.
As a parent, I found aspects of the book interesting -- the way Lydia's mom pushes her so much to attain a dream that really belonged to Marilyn. In addition, the family is still reeling from Marilyn's brief disappearance before Hannah was even born. Ng does do a good job of showing how much this impacts the family, especially the kids. It's a little frightening, really, as the sinking realization of how every little thing you do can follow your children, even 10 years later (though in Marilyn's case, she really does some damaging things).
Still, those redeeming moments couldn't salvage the whole book for me. I liked it well enough, but I was left at the end feeling a little depressed and annoyed and wishing more loose ends were tied up.
The novel chronicles the Lee family, who wakes up one day to find their eldest daughter/sister, Lydia, missing. Eventually Lydia's body is found in the local lake, and the family is turned upside down.
It goes without saying, but it's really a rather depressing book. Lydia's parents, Marilyn and James, are just awful, and not just because they are grieving. I found very little to like in them. Lydia's siblings, Nath and Hannah, aren't nearly as bad (Hannah is truly the redeeming one in the family), but still. It's hard to root for a family that you don't much care for. There are also some strange side plots involving the siblings that never really seem resolved.
As a parent, I found aspects of the book interesting -- the way Lydia's mom pushes her so much to attain a dream that really belonged to Marilyn. In addition, the family is still reeling from Marilyn's brief disappearance before Hannah was even born. Ng does do a good job of showing how much this impacts the family, especially the kids. It's a little frightening, really, as the sinking realization of how every little thing you do can follow your children, even 10 years later (though in Marilyn's case, she really does some damaging things).
Still, those redeeming moments couldn't salvage the whole book for me. I liked it well enough, but I was left at the end feeling a little depressed and annoyed and wishing more loose ends were tied up.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2682 KP) rated Owl Be Home for Christmas in Books
Dec 21, 2019
White Christmas? Check! But Will Snow and a Killer Keep Meg from Being Home for Christmas?
It’s a few days before Christmas and Meg Langslow and much of her family are at the Caerphilly Inn for Owl Fest 2019, a conference being put on by Meg’s grandfather. Unfortunately, the worst winter storm in decades has also decided to visit, trapping the attendees in the hotel and possibly keeping them from going home for Christmas. As the snow continues to fall, tempers continue to rise. Owls are not without their controversy, but Dr. Frogmore seems to be at the center of much of the arguments breaking out. No one much likes him, but for some, the problems with him go much deeper. However, when Dr. Frogmore drops dead, Meg’s father suspects that it wasn’t natural causes. Are they trapped at the inn with a killer? Can Meg figure out what is really happening before the snow ends so the conference attendees fly home?
This novel uses a classic mystery trope – everyone trapped someplace with a killer. I’m a little disappointed since it’s been used twice in a row in the series now, and the result was me beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic while I was reading. The mystery itself was solid. It’s obvious early on who the victim will be, and we learn about motives and suspects even before he drops dead. The further complications after the murder takes place kept me guessing until the end. As much as I enjoy spending time with Meg’s family, they aren’t as funny as they used to be. The new characters do provide some laughs, but there are some serious issues in the book that dampen some of the humor. All told, this is still a fun entry to the series that will please Meg’s many fans.
This novel uses a classic mystery trope – everyone trapped someplace with a killer. I’m a little disappointed since it’s been used twice in a row in the series now, and the result was me beginning to feel a bit claustrophobic while I was reading. The mystery itself was solid. It’s obvious early on who the victim will be, and we learn about motives and suspects even before he drops dead. The further complications after the murder takes place kept me guessing until the end. As much as I enjoy spending time with Meg’s family, they aren’t as funny as they used to be. The new characters do provide some laughs, but there are some serious issues in the book that dampen some of the humor. All told, this is still a fun entry to the series that will please Meg’s many fans.
Extradited!: The European Arrest Warrant & My Fight for Justice from a Greek Prison Cell
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2003: The European Arrest Warrant (EAW) is introduced under the Extradition Act. A mechanism...
Blind Injustice: A Former Prosecutor Exposes the Psychology and Politics of Wrongful Convictions
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In this unprecedented view from the trenches, prosecutor turned champion for the innocent Mark...
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated QUEST: First Snow Book 1 in Books
Jan 8, 2021
DNF @ 25%
This starts with Jemma at school, disappointed that her friend is sick and isn't there to keep her company through the day. Instead the rich (mean) girls of her school take notice of her and ask her to join them at lunch. Jemma is wary but goes with them. Fast forward a week or so and she's at the Darkening Ball (I think that's its name anyway) where the rich farmer families get together to celebrate the days getting shorter (or something like that) and is bullied into wearing a ring by the bitchy Veronika, which ends up transporting her to another dimension/world.
This book was almost 400 pages on my kindle. As I've mentioned in previous reviews, long books are not my favourite unless I get pulled into the story. And I really didn't with this one. It was very... slow. I get the world building and getting to know some of the characters but I'll be brutally honest: I was bored. The description made it sound rather intriguing but the pace of it all was dragging along at it's own sweet pace. It was taking way too long for anything to happen and in the end, I just gave up at 25%.
Up to that point, there had been very little romance in the story. Jemma had a crush on Aaron - and had done for a while - but Aaron hadn't really shown any particular feelings for Jemma (yet). As a romance reader, I did feel like it was lacking in that respect.
One thing I feel I should be cheering was that it was set in Yorkshire. Woo! Think this is the first book I've read that's been set in my lovely county.
This starts with Jemma at school, disappointed that her friend is sick and isn't there to keep her company through the day. Instead the rich (mean) girls of her school take notice of her and ask her to join them at lunch. Jemma is wary but goes with them. Fast forward a week or so and she's at the Darkening Ball (I think that's its name anyway) where the rich farmer families get together to celebrate the days getting shorter (or something like that) and is bullied into wearing a ring by the bitchy Veronika, which ends up transporting her to another dimension/world.
This book was almost 400 pages on my kindle. As I've mentioned in previous reviews, long books are not my favourite unless I get pulled into the story. And I really didn't with this one. It was very... slow. I get the world building and getting to know some of the characters but I'll be brutally honest: I was bored. The description made it sound rather intriguing but the pace of it all was dragging along at it's own sweet pace. It was taking way too long for anything to happen and in the end, I just gave up at 25%.
Up to that point, there had been very little romance in the story. Jemma had a crush on Aaron - and had done for a while - but Aaron hadn't really shown any particular feelings for Jemma (yet). As a romance reader, I did feel like it was lacking in that respect.
One thing I feel I should be cheering was that it was set in Yorkshire. Woo! Think this is the first book I've read that's been set in my lovely county.
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Productivity and Utilities
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Girls' Night Out in Books
Mar 10, 2019
Hokey & irritating, but has its intriguing moments
Natalie, Ashley, and Lauren have been friends since college, but lately their friendship has been showing a lot of strain. In fact, the trio has been estranged from Lauren for a year. So Ashley gets the idea for a girls' trip to Tulum, Mexico to help repair their friendship and mend fences. But once there, they find that fixing things isn't so easy. Each woman brings so much baggage and anger to the friendship. Natalie is angry at Ashley regarding the beauty business, BloMe, that they founded together. Lauren holds a grudge with Ashley relating to the death of her husband, Geoff. Both Natalie and Lauren are angry at themselves for letting their worlds revolve around Ashley. And their anger simmers even more when Ashley starts spending more time with Marco, a man she meets in Mexico, then with them. Suddenly, Ashley disappears. Did she run away with Marco? Was she kidnapped? Or--Natalie and Lauren fear--did they snap in anger at Ashley and harm her?
I had never read anything by the Fenton and Steinke writing team but had heard good things, so decided to try this one out. Its format takes a little getting used to: it switches in both time and narration, so you'll get Ashley, three days before the disappearance, and then the next chapter could be Lauren, two days after the disappearance. Once you get in the groove, it works pretty well, and builds suspense fairly effectively. Pieces of the story are slowly revealed, as we both don't know what happened to divide the friends in their friendship and, of course, don't know what happened to make Ashley disappear.
Honestly, I had just enough curiosity to find out what happened to Ashley that kept me reading. This was an interesting novel and certainly tense and intriguing, but I couldn't muster much interest or sympathy in these characters. Man, these women were just awful! I would not want a single one of them as my friend, that's for sure. Their friendship problems seemed petty, overblown, and childish, and I lost patience and interest with their myriad issues. There was just so much constant bickering. Bickering, drinking, more fighting, drinking, some more fighting. Ugh. They were so overly dramatic and even worse, most of the chapters would end with a sentence that had such an overblown "dramatic flair" to it that I found myself rolling my eyes at times.
A lot of the book just felt hokey, and I found myself wanting them to just go home and get their own lives (although their husbands didn't seem much better, honestly). Still, as mentioned, the reveals are interesting, and there is enough interest in what happened to Ashley to keep you reading. If you can get past the irritating characters, you'll be intrigued, albeit potentially annoyed.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).
I had never read anything by the Fenton and Steinke writing team but had heard good things, so decided to try this one out. Its format takes a little getting used to: it switches in both time and narration, so you'll get Ashley, three days before the disappearance, and then the next chapter could be Lauren, two days after the disappearance. Once you get in the groove, it works pretty well, and builds suspense fairly effectively. Pieces of the story are slowly revealed, as we both don't know what happened to divide the friends in their friendship and, of course, don't know what happened to make Ashley disappear.
Honestly, I had just enough curiosity to find out what happened to Ashley that kept me reading. This was an interesting novel and certainly tense and intriguing, but I couldn't muster much interest or sympathy in these characters. Man, these women were just awful! I would not want a single one of them as my friend, that's for sure. Their friendship problems seemed petty, overblown, and childish, and I lost patience and interest with their myriad issues. There was just so much constant bickering. Bickering, drinking, more fighting, drinking, some more fighting. Ugh. They were so overly dramatic and even worse, most of the chapters would end with a sentence that had such an overblown "dramatic flair" to it that I found myself rolling my eyes at times.
A lot of the book just felt hokey, and I found myself wanting them to just go home and get their own lives (although their husbands didn't seem much better, honestly). Still, as mentioned, the reveals are interesting, and there is enough interest in what happened to Ashley to keep you reading. If you can get past the irritating characters, you'll be intrigued, albeit potentially annoyed.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).