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Remember Me (Find Me, #2)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

<i>Remember Me</i> is the second novel in the <i>Find Me</i> thriller series by Romily Bernard. At the end of the first book Wicket Tate thought her problems were over but the teenage computer hacker is quickly caught up in a murder case. Beginning with a body of a woman with the words “Remember Me” carved into her, Wick is blackmailed by a member of the police to secretly investigate the potential suspects. Knowing her remaining family and friends would suffer if she did not comply, Wick gets herself into difficult and dangerous situations. As well as this, Wick is still struggling with previous events in her life making her job all the more harder, especially when certain secrets begin to resurface.

Bernard easily grabs the readers’ attention with the fast paced and developing plot line. Wick Tate is a likeable character whose bravery is admirable. During the story a range of potential outcomes come to mind, and although one of them may be correct, Bernard keeps us in suspense until the very end.

As with most young adult fiction, <i>Remember Me</i> would not be complete without it’s fair share of romance. Wick’s boyfriend, Griff, is against her involvement with the hacking jobs but fails to realize just how trapped she is. This causes friction between the couple, not helped by the behavior of the new guy on the scene, Milo.

Although this is the second book in the series there is enough background information given for new readers to understand what has happened so far. As with all sequels it would be beneficial to have read the preceding book, however it is not essential as this book is enjoyable regardless.

This is a highly recommended book and series, and the author still has a lot more to offer. A third title, <i>Trust Me</i>, should be published next year (2015).
  
Bloodlust (The Rise Of Iliri #1)
Bloodlust (The Rise Of Iliri #1)
Auryn Hadley | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
When you were once a slave, freed only to become a ruthless warrior, "belonging" seems a trite concept. A pipe dream, the stuff of naive fairy tales. But not for Salryc Luxx. Private Luxx—Sal for short—is iliri, a member of an untamable race surreptitiously dubbed "their kind" by humans and bred thousands of years ago to protect them. Humans consider them expendable, barely more than animals. Freaks. But in a karmic twist of fate, they’re also one of mankind’s most feared predators. Abused and enslaved, the only control Sal has over her life is what military unit she serves with – if she's good enough to be accepted – and the only one to consider her is the best in the land, the Black Blades.

Everyone has secrets, and the Blades are no different. But acceptance into the Blades gives Sal something she never expected—the family she’s never had, and with it, the undying protection of seven of the greatest warriors the world has ever seen. It also gifts her a devoted line of potential mates. Many of her fellow warriors will submit to the bloodlust that overtakes her in the heat of battle and can only be quenched by rough, passionate lovemaking (making way for the steamiest of love scenes). Though it’s not all war and sex. Sal very gradually cultivates deeply loving, evolving relationships with each of the Black Blades, which morphs as a unit into a reverse harem as sweet as it is fierce, and as protective as it is impassioned.

But belonging has its own price. Each of the Blades would die to protect Sal. And it’s only a matter of time before the enemy moves to use this against her.

This series was recommended by a friend and I finally got round to starting it. So glad I did what a brilliant series full of action. The relationship dynamics are very well written and they don't have Sal casually sleeping around all of the men! I love how it's handled and written!

⭐⭐⭐⭐
  
The Murder Pit
The Murder Pit
Jeff Shelby | 2014 | Mystery
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Body in the Coal Chute
Life is going well for Daisy Savage. Recently remarried, she, her husband, and their blended family are settling into the old fixer upper they just bought. While her husband, Jake, bemoans the work, Daisy fell in love with the place despite the work. The house seems to have quite a few secrets, and Daisy finds one in their basement’s crawl space – an old coal chute. Unfortunately, that discovery also comes with a dead body, and the victim is someone that Daisy recognizes. With the small-town rumor mill kicking in, Daisy finds herself as a suspect. Can she figure out who really killed the victim and why he was dumped in their basement?

The plot started out well, and I enjoyed the added puzzle about why the victim was left in Daisy’s basement. There were some good twists before we reached the end. Sadly, I did have some issues with the book. The characters are a bit thin. I get that some of them were supposed to be comedic, but they still could have been stronger. Daisy’s kids seemed to act younger than they were supposed to be. She homeschools most of the kids, but she seems to justify letting them play and not actually doing any work with them. (Yes, I get that in a cozy, the main character spends all their time on the case instead of their job, but that’s not the case here.) There were some timelines issues as well, nothing that affected the plot, but the author clearly lost track of time. On the other hand, I loved Daisy and Jake’s relationship, and I laughed quite a bit at the character’s interactions. I’ve read other books from Jeff Shelby in the past and enjoyed them, so I will read one of his books again. Hopefully, this was just an off book. Overall, I enjoyed it, but there are some issues that need to be resolved.
  
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BookInspector (124 KP) rated Mine in Books

Sep 24, 2020  
Mine
Mine
Clare Empson | 2020 | Crime, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences, Thriller
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
There are two protagonists in this story, Alice and Luke, and the story is told from their perspectives. Alice is Luke’s biological mother, and Luke only recently found her. Alice integrates into this family really quickly, until Luke realises that something is not right. Alice is sharing her story with the reader, her life in the seventies, when she was a young art student, that had a beautifully heartbreaking relationship, that caused her to give up Luke for adoption. I really liked Alice’s parts of this story, it was very absorbing and romantic. Luke’s parts were less interesting to me, even though that was were the mysterious events were happening, I found it a little slower paced. I think the author allowed me to connect with the protagonists through their thoughts and all the challenges the characters had to endure.

The narrative has a nice contrast between the past and the present, and this combination made this read more intriguing and absorbing. As I mentioned before, this novel breaks the barrier between genres, we have a romantic story and a domestic thriller mixed together, and I really enjoyed this way of storytelling. The plot had tendencies of kind of plodding along sometimes, and I would have liked a little more pace and twists added to it. It is a really emotional read, filled with depression, wishes to belong, secrets, abusive parenting and many more.

I liked the author’s writing style in this novel, it was creatively written and well delivered. I enjoyed the research done for this book in the music and arts industries, it was intriguing to read about the music bands lifestyle. The setting of this book constantly changes between seventies London and present day, and I really liked the ability to learn more about the past. The chapters had a decent length and didn’t drag to me. I really loved the ending, it left me shocked and nearly in tears, I really wasn’t expecting it.
  
The Unmaking of Ellie Rook
The Unmaking of Ellie Rook
Sandra Ireland | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The protagonist in this novel was Ellie, and the whole story was told from her perspective. Ellie comes back to her hometown after the news, that her mother drowned. But as I was going through the pages, it was clear, that Rook family is a very dysfunctional one, hiding many horrible secrets. I really liked the way the author chose her characters, they all have a story to tell, they all are interesting and play very important parts in this book. I liked the way Ellie opened up and shared her story throughout the pages. She seemed fearless but used to crumble after her father’s words. I think she represents many of those, who grew up with abusive, controlling parent.

The narrative was very fast paced, and every chapter allowed to see a little bit more of Ellie’s past, and what shaped her to be the way she is now. The topics covered in this book were emotional and physical abuse, bullying, teenage romance, controlling behaviour and many more. This book has some very cleverly written surprises and twists and was an easy and pleasant read for me.

The atmosphere of this book is very dark, gloomy and messy, filled with scrap cars, crows, and violence. I liked the writing style of this novel, it was complex and layered. The chapters were short, and the ending of this book left me very satisfied indeed. Even though a single perspective was sufficient for me, I would’ve liked to read Imelda’s thoughts as well. I don’t really know how I feel about all that folk story about Finella, it adds a nice touch to the story, but making it a core of this book wasn’t really necessary.

So, to conclude, it is a really good domestic noir, filled with complex characters and difficult situations. I really enjoyed this book and the topics it discussed, and I recommend it to people who are looking for a quick but important read. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. &#x1f642;