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Eleanor (1463 KP) rated The Wives in Books

Mar 16, 2020

The Wives

Tarryn Fisher | 2020 | Thriller

7.2

(6 Ratings)

Book Rating

What started off as a promising well-written story with a lot of promise of intrigue and mystery as we learn who the "other Wives" are. Unfortunately, it lost me completely at the halfway mark and turned into something that looked like it had been picked up by a totally different author who decided to just go wild.

Our protagonist is in an agreed polygamist relationship with Seth and two other women all of whom know of the other's existence but not who they are. Seth splits his time between the 3 and all seems happy in her world until she decides to look into who the other women are. This is the part of the book that worked for me and it sounds crazy enough so trust me when I say it then goes off the hinges but not in an enjoyable way.

I slogged through until the even less satisfying end - sorry not for me.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC.

Kudos

David McK (3372 KP) rated The Commodore in Books

Apr 27, 2020

The Commodore

CS Forester | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Fourth published but chronologically the ninth of CS Forester's Hornblower series of novels, this is the one that is set mainly in and around the Baltic, starting with Hornblower's investiture as Lord of the Manor alongside his second wife, lady Barbara (nee) Wellesley - yes, of that Wellesley name - and with his sole surviving toddler son from his first marriage.

Finding shore life stifling, dull and tedious, Hornblower is (secretly) relieved when he receives a summons from the Admiralty, and is sent off to the Baltic to shore up Britain's interests and (hopefully) stop further French incursion into Sweden and Russia.

As such, this is thus set before Napoleon's disastrous (for the French!) Russian campaign, with the starts of that campaign occurring in the latter pars of this novel: a novel which takes in court intrigue (even meeting the Russian Tsar), sea battles, unusual sailing vessels (the bomb ketches) and land battles before its denouement - a denouement that will see Hornblower return back to Blighty before his next mission.