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The Keeper Of Lost Things
The Keeper Of Lost Things
Ruth Hogan | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.8 (18 Ratings)
Book Rating
So to begin with I struggled with this one. Even though it only had 300 pages, it seemed to be taking a while for anything to happen with the plot. But I’m glad I didn’t give in. It did take until around page 150 for me to get into it, but after that point it was brilliant.

Laura is a brilliant protagonist. She’s got all of her own problems and is then left with the complicated mystery of Anthony’s life. But she never dwells on the past too much. She moves on from everything that has happened and lives in the moment.

I loved Sunshine. She’s such an enthusiastic character and she seemed to be the only one who could see the truth in everything that was going off. Sunshine had Down’s Syndrome and she saw a friend in Laura. She made the perfect friend and was such a lovely person with some of the best ideas. It was so refreshing to find a character like her.

I would happily just read a book of all the short stories that came with every lost item. I found most of them gripping, and quite a lot of them dealt with quite serious subjects. They were like little windows into people’s lives and I found them really compelling.

The Keeper of Lost Things is a brilliant little book and worth picking up.
  
The Year We Turned Forty
The Year We Turned Forty
Liz Fenton | 2019
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Claire, Jessie, and Gabriella have been friends for many years. They all have birthdays around the same time and they always celebrate together. On their 50th birthday, they decide to spend it in Vegas. The first night is Claire's birthday and they visit a magician who gives them an offer they can't refuse, or can they? They can go back to this same night 10 years prior to Claire's 40th birthday and make changes in their lives. But the changes they make won't affect just them. Will they take the offer, or leave it and continue to live their lives?

Seeing as this is the year that I turn 40, I was intrigued by this book. If I had the opportunity to go back in time and relive a year of my life, would I do it? I think that I would. I don't think that I would think twice about it. There are a lot of things I would like to change about the past, and having the ability to do so, sounds great.

For Claire, Jessie and Gabriella, they have some serious issues to get through and see if they can't fix the second time around. From the death of a parent, to an award winning career and an affair, will going back in time make things different in this new life? Will things be better or worse?
  
The Midnight Library
The Midnight Library
Matt Haig | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.9 (12 Ratings)
Book Rating
Thought-provoking but predictable
I really enjoy Matt Haig's writing, both his fiction and his non-fiction, and I couldn't wait to read The Midnight Library - a sci-fi-esque, life affirming story about books is right up my street. And overall, this was worth the wait.

Nora is an endearing and relatable protagonist whose life hasn't turned out the way she wanted, and her list of regrets could fill a whole book (literally as we find out). She decides to end her life and winds up in the Midnight Library, a place that allows her to visit an unending number of alternative lives that resulted from her making different decisions. Now who hasn't wished they could change their past, make a different decision and wonder where they would've ended up? This book is definitely for those that have ever wished this and it's a dream I enjoyed reading.

The problem is that it's very predictable. I knew exactly how this was going to end from the very beginning and whilst the ending is heartwarming and very life affirming, it's a tiny bit of a let down. Which is a shame as the journey through Nora's lives is actually quite interesting.

There's a good message in this about living and appreciating your own life, but I just wish this wasn't so predictable.
  
Please note these are works of historical fiction based upon the lives of the women who he became victims of Jack the Ripper and are not about the actual killings.

Apologiesto the Cats Meat Man is the second book in the Jack the Ripper victim series. This time we join the second victim of Jack the Ripper Annie Chapman in the final week of her life. Unlike the first book, the story navigates between her past and her present. However, this does not make it any less interesting. Annie comes across as a sensitive soul that has to face the realities of a harsh world. Even though we know we what's going to happen to her the author has produced a fascinating back story about her life, which is very believable. I highly recommend this book can't wait to start the 3rd book in the series.