If you haven't read anything by Carolyn Parkhurst, you're missing out. She's a wonderful author, whose books are simply beautiful. My particular favorite is [b:The Dogs of Babel|89691|The Dogs of Babel|Carolyn Parkhurst|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344269639s/89691.jpg|1585061], a lovely, haunting novel about a woman, her husband, and her dog that I read 10 years ago and still touches me to this day. While I wasn't as affected by this novel, it still has many flashes of the amazing brilliance of Parkhurst and her wonderful way with the written word. Her characters form before you eyes.
In [b:Harmony|29236564|Harmony|Carolyn Parkhurst|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1469411954s/29236564.jpg|49477924], Parkhurst does an excellent job conveying Alexandra's fear and anxiety over the frightening aspects of our society and its effects on our children, and how our society has changed, with things like autism and food allergies seemingly becoming more prevalent each year. She doesn't preach, she just paints a picture with her words and Alexandra's thoughts. The book is told between alternating points of view and time periods. We hear from Alexandra in the past, telling the story of Tilly (and Iris) growing up and how things have reached this point and then we hear from Iris, in the present, at Camp Harmony.
Alexandra captures a life and marriage in moments and snapshots, with Parkhurst easily depicting the desperation that parents of children that are different feel. You can sense her terror and why she would actually consider packing up entire family and moving them to an isolated camp in the middle of nowhere, led by a man they really know nothing about.
Iris' perspective, meanwhile, is just beautiful and touching. Parkhurst wonderfully conveys her voice. There were times when I felt Iris was a bit "old" for an eleven-year-old, but I chalked a lot of that up to having a sister such as Tilly and having to grow up rather quickly. And as the book progressed, there were many moments where Iris came across as a scared, naive kid, after all. Iris' depiction of the camp-through her innocent eyes-is perfect, and she has a wonderful way of portraying her sister, where you will grow to love Tilly, as well, and understand Alexandra's fierce desire to protect both her children.
All in all, despite its serious subject matter, the book is often humorous, and I loved its portrayal of real characters and situations, despite the fact that they all gathered in an isolated camp site in New Hampshire. My only real issue with the book was the camp's leader, Scott Bean. To me, he was the least developed character of the bunch, and while you sensed that perhaps we were hurtling toward trouble, the ending seemed a little quick and too pat for such a well-written and developed book.
Still, this book was quite well-done and certainly a must for any parent struggling with a child who feels different, or really, any parent struggling to raise a child in today's modern society. Parkhurst is a wonderful writer, and she will not disappoint with her latest. 3.5+ stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss - thank you! It is available everywhere as of 08/02/2016.
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated You Will Know Me in Books
Jan 10, 2018
This novel was a very realistic look at the gymnastics world. You could easily picture Devon's gym and the cutthroat parents who populated it, forcing the weight of the world on Devon's shoulders, as they believed the gym's success rides on her shoulders. She captured their gossip and competition quite well. It also did an excellent job of portraying the lengths parents will go to support and protect their children. I guessed the outcome of this one fairly early on, but still found it fairly tense and suspenseful. In fact, this novel is almost too tense at times to be enjoyable, even though it's rather well-written and quite compelling. It's a trainwreck; you can't walk away, even though you know how it will end.
The book is intriguing in that it's written from Katie's perspective, despite the fact that it's basically all about Devon. This adds to the suspense -- how reliable is Katie, and how much does she truly know about Devon, her husband, and her younger son? There are times when you'd really love to key in on what Devon is thinking (and what she knows), which just adds to the tantalizingly frustrating element of this novel.
Overall, I enjoyed this one, though it wasn't one of my all-time favorite thrillers. Still, it's a quick, compelling read. 3.5 stars.
Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated Buried Deep (Jessie Cole, #4) in Books
May 22, 2019
Lacey Geiger could be a very rich woman. If Jessie Cole can find her. The beneficiary of a sizable estate, Lacey vanished years ago after escaping an abusive childhood and is veiled now behind a new identity. Jessie has two weeks to find her. Its enough time to discover that Lacey is hiding from so much more than anyone realized. But she isnt the only one with secrets. And Jessies not the only one searching for the truth.
A concerned daughter has asked for help finding her mothera woman said to have been murdered thirty years ago. And Jessies colleague Ben, an amnesiac still struggling with the bloody memories of a shattered life, is nearer to piecing together a very dark picture. Especially when someone he detests is found dead, hanging from a tree by a riverbank.
Now as the mysteries, puzzles, and lies of three investigations are unearthed, Jessie and Ben will risk everything to bring all that is hidden into the light.
Jessie Cole a private investigator, girlfriend to Colin, friend to Ben, mother to sister's daughter Olivia, and boss to Zee has another round of nail biting, page turning, what the heck is going on cases to solve.
This series just keeps getting g better and better. Jessie Cole is super busy now with several cases open when she gets two more cases added to the load and they just happen to be missing person cases.
The story was well written with characters I love. It was fast paced with lots of suspense.
We finally come to some conclusion and magnificent reveals for some.
Wow what an ending this one had!
Waiting and hoping there will be a book 5.; if not a spin off series???!
Highly recommend reading.
A Special Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for the ARC
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated You Will Know Me in Books
Feb 8, 2018
This novel was a very realistic look at the gymnastics world. You could easily picture Devon's gym and the cutthroat parents who populated it, forcing the weight of the world on Devon's shoulders, as they believed the gym's success rides on her shoulders. She captured their gossip and competition quite well. It also did an excellent job of portraying the lengths parents will go to support and protect their children. I guessed the outcome of this one fairly early on, but still found it fairly tense and suspenseful. In fact, this novel is almost too tense at times to be enjoyable, even though it's rather well-written and quite compelling. It's a trainwreck; you can't walk away, even though you know how it will end.
The book is intriguing in that it's written from Katie's perspective, despite the fact that it's basically all about Devon. This adds to the suspense -- how reliable is Katie, and how much does she truly know about Devon, her husband, and her younger son? There are times when you'd really love to key in on what Devon is thinking (and what she knows), which just adds to the tantalizingly frustrating element of this novel.
Overall, I enjoyed this one, though it wasn't one of my all-time favorite thrillers. Still, it's a quick, compelling read. 3.5 stars.
Kelly (279 KP) rated London Falling: The Shadow Police book one in Books
Dec 10, 2018
The main characters, 3 police inspectors, and an intelligence analyst who stubble upon a darker magical side of London lead us through finding out the cause of the death of Rob Toshack, a drug lord who died in police custody. The group set up a team to hunt down the killer, quickly finding that they need to develop a whole new set of skills in order to defeat their opposition.
I am a huge fan of Ben Aaronovitch, and found that Cornell’s style of writing is very similar, with a touch more darkness and cynicism. Cornell’s characters are more serious in their absorption into the magical underground, however there are still moments of lightheartedness. However it is worth noting that the general undertone of the novel is much darker than a lot of other urban fantasy novel, which made the novel more successful for me. Cornell is not afraid to touch on more serious issues in his writing, such as depression and police budget cuts.
I found all of the main characters enjoyable, all seemingly having a turbulent past, which links into the story. Cornell enables us to clearly picture the characters as we are reading and selves into their complex histories. The ‘villain’ in this story is more sinister than I was expecting when I initially started reading, with an interesting twist by connecting the plot line and murderous motive to West Ham football team.
For me this was a page turner, and will certainly be re-read many times. Although I have previously read some urban fantasy novels, it has been Cornell’s series starting with London Falling, which has truest got me hooked.
<i>I won a copy for free through Totally Random Books on Facebook</i>
<i>Crusher</i> is the first installment and debut novel in a young adult thriller series by Irish born author Niall Leonard. Set in present day London it follows Finn Maguire, an illiterate, 17-year old drop out with no GCSEs, after the murder of his stepfather. Being marked as the prime suspect by the police, Finn is determined to discover who the real murdered was, and just as importantly, what their motive was.
As the story unfolds Finn pursues multiples of potential killers. Could it be someone his father knew? As an ex-actor many people knew him. Or was he writing about something someone would rather no become public knowledge? Perhaps London’s biggest gangster, Joseph McGovern, had something to do with it? As Finn gets involved with these people he finds he has put him self in danger of being killed as well.
Leonard writes well and the story is fast paced and engaging however there was an inconsistency in the narrative. Towards the beginning Finn tells the reader “I put in my password and the laptop grunted and groaned… The cops hadn’t asked for my password… Obviously they’d managed to bypass it some how.” However in the following chapter Finn talks about the same laptop: “Eventually the desktop appeared with a tinny fanfare. I’d never bothered with a password… I found it a huge pain in the arse to enter one.” Hmm, that does not quite add up!
Another issue with this novel is that Finn is meant to be an uneducated, ex-drug dealer however he comes across as more of a semi-polite but witty average teenager who is able to take care of himself. The character portrayal becomes slightly more accurate towards the conclusion of the book, but some may find it difficult to picture Finn the way Leonard intended readers to.
Despite these complaints it is a good read. Many young adults would enjoy it.
WA-Translation TJ by TLS Light
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