A boy a cupboard …who becomes a wizard. Harry Potter is a book close to my heart. I remember reading this book while still in Primary school for the reading hour. It is still as exciting as it was all those years ago. We start at the beginning with a young boy being ignored and basically feeling unwanted by his adopted parents after his real ones perish. we are given a brief idea about how important this boy is to the world he was not able to be brought up in. It follows average peoples lives via his aunt and uncle with their son Dudley. The drama doesn’t really pick up until…
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[REVIEW] The Betrayed – Casey Kelleher
A modern tale of family & loyalty. Part 1 – 1982 The first 100 pages are fast-paced drama which kicks you right in the teeth with impact. Jimmy in the first chapters is what I would describe as borderline inhuman and quite evil, toward his own father. After the first two chapters, it settles down to a novel with romance for the first half of the book. Edel is the cliche mother figure; loveable because she comes across as a real human rather than a character just added to the plot. After Jimmy and Colleen meet, you see a different more likeable side to Jimmy. Although it comes across as overboard. The…
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About unpaid books online,
Well, this topic has recently come to light. How do you free about sent copies of books online? Are they worth it? How do you get them? I have found out the hard way, via Facebook, how controversial this subject actually can actually get. I asked an innocent question “how do you get free books and how long does it take you read them. I had over 130 comments ranging from”good luck with your blog, it takes time” to “I think you’re blogging for the wrong reasons” type thing. I then went out there anyway and just asked for one – YES, it is worth trying. I have recently joined up on NetGalley and…
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[REVIEW] The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne.
Set in World War 2 from a 9-year-old boy’s point of view. The beginning is just run-of-the-mill descriptions of family, life and friends, set in the early 1940’s. Nothing really happens except moving to new house in first 100 pages. The part where it starts to get interesting is when the boy Bruno moves with his family to what he calls “Out-with” because of his father’s connections to the “Fury” which we know it as Auschwitz and the Fuhrer – IE. Adolf Hitler. It starts to get eerie & unsettling as an adult reader because we understand a lot more than Bruno. You can tell this book was aimed at children…
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[REVIEW] The Wrong Suspect – Leigh Russell
The third in the series of an investigative reporter. The characters are interesting to read but it takes the reader a while to feel comfortable hearing about them. Amelia is very odd to read about but you still want to know more. Lucy is both clever and holds your attention but towards the middle, you start to wonder what is the point of your investigation? Her colleague, Benoit, seems to be the voice of reason throughout & although he is mentioned a lot he is not a main part of the storyline. There are numerous other characters that pop into the book to say hello but not really worth going…
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[REVIEW] Deal Breaker – Harlan Coben
A fast-paced amateur detective novel. This book is based in America, surrounding a sports agent and part-time detective Myron Bolitar. A girl has gone missing over a year ago and her current partner at the time is signed to Myron’s agency. He rings and says he has information regarding the girl (Kathy)’s disappearance and so Myron sets up an investigation. This book is just under 400 pages long and is a decently paced book that keeps the attention for long periods of time. There is enough suspense that makes you wonder what is going on and gets you to read more. The main parts of the story that draws you in aren’t…
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[REVIEW] Born Bad – Marnie Riches.
As I am drawing close; finishing this book, I have grown attached to the characters and storyline. I don’t want to ruin it for people but there are some OMG moments throughout. The book is based in Manchester and it is about the underbelly and “gangsters” of the city. Many reviewers have said it is gritty. I don’t think it is that dramatic if you take into account the actual storyline. Although at the beginning I was just asking for someone to take this book off my hands, by the middle I decided it is a slow burner and take a while to acclimatise yourself to the people in the book and…
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[REVIEW] Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher.
The real reason for reading this amounts to hearing all about it and seeing adverts related to “Netflix” tv show tie-in. As you can imagine there will always be comparisons to TV vs Book, but it depends on which way you watch/read them. The book is written in 3 ways: past, present, and narrator. The ‘looking back’ past is thoughts by Clay, and the Present is the same. However, the Narrator (of the tapes) is, as the boy Clay listens to them, voiced as if you were listening to her; Hannah Baker. I’m sure you have by now heard of the basic storyline. The boy Clay receives a shoebox full of numbered cassette tapes (ask…