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Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Silent Companions in Books

Oct 16, 2019

The Silent Companions

Laura Purcell | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry

7.3

(7 Ratings)

Book Rating

A gripping gothic horror

I decided to give this a go purely because I enjoyed Laura Purcell's second novel The Corset, and I'm so glad I did because I could not put this down. I stayed up far too late last might purely to get this finished as I couldn't bear the thought of waiting until tonight to read the ending. It's that good.

This is the first horror book I've ever read that has truly scared me and given me the creeps. The plot and idea behind the companions is a wonderfully creepy idea and the gothic setting works so well. The story is told in a great way too, flitting between the different times and viewpoints, to really build up the tension and intrigue to where you can't stop reading as you need to find out what happens next. The only real criticism I have is that Elsie is not the most amenable and endearing of protagonists, so even after the ending you don't necessarily feel sorry for her, but I personally was so gripped by the rest of the plot that whether I loved Elsie or not was irrelevant. The kind of book I'd love to see made into a film (done properly of course!).

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Merissa (13816 KP) rated Shadow of Deception (The Kazumi Chronicles #1) in Books

Dec 17, 2018

There is so much that goes on in this book, but that is not a bad thing. In fact, even when it had finished, I still needed more!!

You get a prologue with a young child, then it skips forward ten years and she is the sole survivor of a plane crash. You don't know how or why, and you stay with "Gabi" as she tries to figure out who she is and where she belongs. She is taken to a secret location where there is a specialised group of people called Sarcomeres.

I won't go into the story any further as I hate giving away spoilers. Suffice it to say, I loved every word. It is full of action and intrigue, with snippets of memory surfacing occasionally. There is certainly more than enough to keep your attention! With a hint of romance between Finn and Gabi/Kazumi as well, this is a well-rounded story with full-bodied and believable characters.

This is certainly an author I will be following and I really hope that she brings out more books in general, but specifically with this world and characters. Highly recommended.

* I received this book from Xpresso Book Tours in return for a fair and honest review. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Stranger Things - Season 2 in TV

Aug 4, 2019

Another great series

I binge watched this entire series in one day, and it really was rather entertaining. The first episodes start off rather slowly, but this at least gives a chance to catch up with the returning characters and introduce some new faces. It soon picks up though, and is packed full on intrigue, humour, some rather dark moments and of course a pretty awesome soundtrack. The CGI has improved a fair bit since the last series and it was such an enjoyable series to watch. My favourite parts so far were anything involving Hopper. David Harbour is just fantastic and Hopper’s character has developed well this series, especially his relationship with Eleven. Her story and development too was good to see.

Of course it isn’t perfect. I found parts of the storyline ridiculously predictable, even if they were alright to watch (like Eleven’s storyline). I liked most of the new characters but I found Bob a little too much and sickly sweet (sorry!). And the whole childhood romance thing was a little too over the top and cringey and a bit much.

But still overall one of the best series Netflix has to offer and I’m just looking forward to catching up on series 3 now!

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Show all 3 comments.

Lee (2222 KP) Aug 5, 2019

I only watched season 2 a couple of weeks ago, before moving onto season 3. Like you, I binged it, and absolutely loved it. I'm in the minority (as usual), but I didn't think season 3 was as good as 2. Nearly there, but not quite. Interested to find out what you thought though, once you've seen it.

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