Book Review: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

There are so many summaries of this newly released book, some of them are hella misleading.

In a large house in London's fashionable Chelsea, a baby is awake in her cot. Well-fed and cared for, she is happily waiting for someone to pick her up.

In the kitchen lie three decomposing corpses. Close to them is a hastily scrawled note.

They've been dead for several days.

Who has been looking after the baby?

And where did they go?

Two entangled families.
A house with the darkest of secrets.

This book follows Lisa Jewell's usual staple of the kids being the centre of what of the mystery but this time we have the kids as adults as well.

I'm not saying that all Lisa Jewell books are all the same, she definitely has a bag of tropes and themes that she goes back to. Incompetent adults are a common one and I guess this is similar to Then She Was Gone in some ways. Well, it shares the same trigger warnings.

Okay, one of the characters is gay. I can't actually remember Jewell having a Queer character before this book but I haven't read all of her works. It just raises the question can we have gay grey-characters when they are no other Queer characters in this book. Him being gay isn't a big deal and there are a lot of grey characters in this book. Except he is a POV character and he's the one we get the past events from through the book. He's probably messed up from the way he was raised, but a lot of his later actions don't have an excuse.

The mystery was okay. Things become obvious quickly and you know what's gonna happen as each piece is laid. It's not a bad thing. The cops do a very bad job of investigating, they missed some big evidence. I get the point was they didn't care but odd. They probably should have been more odd theories out on the internet about this case. At least a YouTube video.  Like things that were public knowledge were never connected.

Overall, I give this book 3.5 stars for Unsold Bags. I have read a lot of Lisa Jewell's books now and have reviewed them (to different acceptable levels). I enjoy her books but I guess they will just never be favourite of mine. The family nor the house was that interesting. There were a lot of interesting tangents but are not what the book is about.

Read: 18/5/2020 to 24/5/2020
Reviewed: 29/5/2020 - /05/2020
Medium: Audiobook
Narrator/s: Tamaryn Payne, Bea Holland, Dominic Thorburn
Published Date: 8th August 2019
Publisher: Random House Audiobooks
Source: Library
CW: Child Abuse; Grooming; pregnancy from abuse; sexual manipulation; Domestic Abuse; forced abortion; Miscarriage; stillbirth; animal abuse; murdered cat; cult; poisoning; violence; forced imprisonment;

Book Review: The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins

Why I am a Reviewer?

They say I must be put to death for what happened to Madame, and they want me to confess. But how can I confess what I don't believe I've done?

1826, and all of London is in a frenzy. Crowds gather at the gates of the Old Bailey to watch as Frannie Langton, maid to Mr and Mrs Benham, goes on trial for their murder. The testimonies against her are damning - slave, whore, seductress. And they may be the truth. But they are not the whole truth.

For the first time Frannie must tell her story. It begins with a girl learning to read on a plantation in Jamaica, and it ends in a grand house in London, where a beautiful woman waits to be freed.

But through her fevered confessions, one burning question haunts Frannie Langton: could she have murdered the only person she ever loved?

This book has took me a while to review. There are things in this book that would like to read reviews and discussion about, because I'm not informed enough to comment on. I don't read a lot of Historica Fiction but the premise was intriguing and something I do read about in Contemporary books. Also, the cover has a skull on it which I love.

This book is told in first person reflectively, its meant to be Frannie Langton writing an account of her life as she waits for trial and eventually catches up. It's directed straight to the reader as if you are the lawyer defending her. There are also a few readings straight from the trial. The audiobook has two narrators, a man narrator for the trial parts and the author does the rest of the book. Both do a good job.

I listened to this on audiobook and some parts were kinda confusing, so I'm not sure if it was the text or if I had somehow missed something. I did go back but couldn't work what was meant to be happening. A lot of bad things, mysterious things are a reference and we never get clear answers about. So maybe this wasn't the best book for me to listen to and think that has made reviewing harder for me. I do consider the audiobook to be good. Maybe a duel read.

Fannie is definitely an unreliable narrator, in parts she doesn't remember and things she unwilling to disclose to us yet. This narrative is especially interesting as we have court testament going against her but these testaments are themself unreliable for the most part.

Overall, I give this 4/5 stars for Missing Scissors. There were things that would have liked a better answer on. This is a book that deals with the unvoiced generations of black women and the dominance of White men getting to have the final word on the major history which I appreciate. Part of this book is definitely that the writing is beautiful and deals with a lot of complex things. I guess my actual review, go read other reviews. I've been trying to write this for months.

Read: 24/3/2020 to 5/4/2020
Reviewed: 5/4/2020 – 13/06/2020
Medium: Audiobook
Published Date: 4/04/2020
Publisher: Penguin
Source: Library
CW: Racism; Slavery; Incest; Abuse; Sexual Exploitation; Death; murder; lynching; Abortion; unethical human experimentation; Drug Use;

Book Review: The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton

CW: Forced Prostitution mentioned; Threat of Violence; Suspensus Baby Deaths mentioned; Child Abuse; Death of a Parent/s; Accidental Deaths; World War II; Homeness from bombing;

The Attic will keep you safe.

My real name, no one remembers.
The truth about that summer, no one else knows.

In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor in rural Oxfordshire. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe’s life is in ruins.

Over 150 years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist’s sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river.

Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?

Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker's Daughter is a story of murder, mystery and thievery, of art, love and loss. And flowing through its pages like a river, is the voice of a woman who stands outside time, whose name has been forgotten by history, but who has watched it all unfold: Birdie Bell, the clockmaker’s daughter.

This book leaps through time all surrounding this house slash the ghost who haunts it. Though, we start with archivist whose marrying someone she clearly doesn't like. Mainly it's the house and the ghost haunting it Birdie, who had a sad life and now has a sad afterlife. The end. Okay, there' s more to it that. This is about the mystery about who Birdie was and how she died.

My library has this as Historical Fiction > Crime & Thriller, I guess because there don't have mystery section in the Historical bit for some reason. It's a mystery. Crimes happened, not thrilling at all. Aren't genres a beautiful weird thing. It's very slow-paced.

No idea why they went for this title. Yes, her father is a clockmaker but it's not really a big deal. He's not really ever in the book. There are no scenes with him, and him being a clockmaker plays a very small part of the book. It would be like if someone called my life story the Taxi Driver's Child despite dealing with my life now when both of my parents are no longer Taxi drivers.

The ending was kinda asinine. Obviously, with Birdie being a ghost you know she has to die at some point but the way it happens feels so forced, especially with no one realising what is going on. It feels like Morton decided how she wanted the book to go, but then half-arsed.

Her name is made to be such a big deal and it's never revealed publically despite one the character discovering it. Instead, it ends with a weak thing about how cheating is complicated. Sure, in the Victorian times where marriages were mostly about power. A lot of characters end up injured with no memory of how they ended up that way. How convenient.

I'm not gonna lie, I kinda got bored during the end of this, during the kinda epilogue bit. They are so many characters of characters and time periods. This is a long book at 17 Hours 3 minutes, so you do spend a big chunk with all of them. The question is why though? There's no meaningful link up. I thought the book would have ended differently, which would have been more satisfying.

I listened to the audiobook as read by Joanne Froggatt. She does a decent job. Googling her lead me to find out there are only 16 episodes of Dinner Ladies. Watching things randomly on Gold sure leads you to think there's more of something than there really is. 

Overall, I gave this book 3/5 stars for Plotful Head-injuries. This book is frustratingly lacklustre at the end. There are questions left in the air that don't make sense at all. 

Released: 1 October 2018

Read 15 January 2020, Reviewed January 2020.

Source: Library

Book Review: House Swap by Rebecca Fleet

We going to have an accidental theme.

‘No one lives this way unless they want to hide something.’ 

When Caroline and Francis receive an offer to house swap, they jump at the chance for a week away from home. After the difficulties of the past few years, they’ve worked hard to rebuild their marriage for their son’s sake; now they want to reconnect as a couple.

On arrival, they find a house that is stark and sinister in its emptiness – it’s hard to imagine what kind of person lives here. Then, gradually, Caroline begins to uncover some signs of life – signs of her life. The flowers in the bathroom or the music in the CD player might seem innocent to her husband but to her they are anything but. It seems the person they have swapped with is someone she used to know; someone she’s desperate to leave in her past.

But that person is now in her home – and they want to make sure she’ll never forget . . .

This book is sadly not really a thriller, it tries to have a twist but especially doesn't work and with the audiobook production I was more annoyed than anything. It mostly dances around the facts of the story, or things that they no reason to dance around other than laziness and to drag this thing out. The characters are very bland, they work in marketing kinda bland (they might not work in marketing, it just reference to obsession with marketing as a job in film. I don't know what they work as). I think this lacking important thriller elements as well as the characters not having much development. I guess we're meant to feel sorry for them, but I don't know who they're meant to be.  The audiobook performance was fine, not sure why they decided to spend the money on four narrators for this book. Frankly, it would have worked better with just one, with the dumb twist. It's probably OMG moment when the narrators switch but as soon as the POV was introduce it was clearly not going to be who she thinks it is, otherwise they couldn't market this as Thriller.  This book does have Thriller elements, like an obvious mystery that you know will be solved as soon as you know what terrible secret the MC has, so it's not thrilling at all. There's also the Husband's mystery drug problem, that he started because of stress, so it is a prescribed drug. I know it's not antidepressants but imagining it was and his wife was just being an arse about him still taking it, it would really fitted with this book. It's never stated so feels very McGuffin. I guess it's a sleeping pill, he's a therapist, so maybe he's meant to have self-prescribed them but that would be a scandal on it's own.  If this is not a Thriller what genre is it? I guess Drama, or just fiction for what it would be market in bookstore or library. The idea of that's promised on the back is a Thriller, but its more about petty relationships. Most of the relationships were sex scenes: have an affair and it's love because the sex is good. I'm Ace so if this meant to have been some great love story with tragic ending, it's okay if you say so. The one time it goes to back to a thriller, it sways away again. I got really excited that something was going to happen but then it didn't so back to petty nonsense.  Overall, I gave this book 2/5 stars for Dead Hamsters. If want something that's actually a thriller then go for You Let Me In (I will review this book soon, I read it first and probably should have review it that way.). It's actually a thriller and I didn't question not finishing it. It has a similar feature of someone renting their House to someone while they away.

Book Review: Whiteout by Gabriel Dylan

Ski Trips: For the rich kids to die on.

Charlie hopes that the school ski trip will be the escape from his unhappy home life he so desperately needs. But there is something wrong with the remote ski village of Kaldgellan. Something is out there, something ancient and evil, among the pines and the deep untracked drifts, watching and waiting. 

And when the storms blow in, Charlie and his schoolmates wake to find the resort deserted. Cut off from the rest of the world far below, as night falls the few left alive on the snowbound mountain will wish they were somewhere, anywhere else. Only ski guide Hanna seems to know of Kaldgellan’s long-buried secrets, but whether Charlie can trust her is another question…


This is the second Red Eye book to featuring snow storms that cause isolation and with it having other similarities I couldn't help but compare them, especially as 'Fir' is one my favourite Red Eye books. I was pretty excited for this concept, as Teen "30 Days of Night" which oddly is one of the vampire films not mentioned in this.
                                                 
This book has third person narration that closely follows a few different people in the group. Charlie is the main character and gets a sort of romance. There are lot of characters at the start with this meant to be school trip, with thirty pupils so probably has two or three teachers with the group, so it's slightly confusing with all the girl names thrown around. We have other characters such as Tara who is the spoiled ex-rich girl; she is a terrible person, that's her deal and she only there to undermine everyone else. She meant to be the character you dislike the most, but guess who I dislike the most?That's right, Nico. My notes involve telling Nico to go die in the snow. Nico is your toxic geek stereotype with side of sexism. This sexism comes in his first introduction so that I was able to confirm that this quote made it to the finial book by using the Amazon Preview: "Ellie’s blue eyes were locked on to Stefan, a glint of admiration hovering there that gave Nico a twinge of envy. She was pretty, although he wondered if she’d be even more attractive without so much make up."

Yeah, Ellie is described as breaching her hair and wearing fake tan, and skiing with hooped earrings so is probably in that awkward phrase of make-up but it's makes me dislike Nico immediately because girls are judged for their make-up use even when it's fantastic. There's other comments by Nico through out the book make me dislike him for his toxic geek culture. I think these comments are meant to make him relatable but he just makes me think of those guys who quiz girls when they say they like Star Wars and deny that girl geeks exist. You can have shitty characters or flawed characters, but it doesn't add to the character or more importantly challenged. So with that sexist comment, I started counting how often the characters cry, 3:1 when comes to girls to boys. One of those times Tara cried for no reason and then never again. Maybe that was to show she was attention seeking. It's really minor thing, they are diverse side of girl characters so can just ignore Nico if you want.

Another thing to mention about Nico is that lot of his geek references feel slightly dated, I mean he plays World of Warcraft which isn't much of thing anymore. Also it's subscription based game, with it being £10 a month. It does have a free mode and these kids are on a ski trip so maybe they parents would pay that a month for game but it's seems more likely they would be messing about on Gary's Mod or Skyrim. I don't think MMORPG are much of thing anymore or I don't think any fantasy games really have online player mode. Films are mentioned as well but films can be randomly discovered that game with pay wall wouldn't. Though, no date is actually state. They have phones but are never described so I guess this could easily take place when I was a teen and not going on the sky trip where someone smuggled weed into several other countries. I don't think they went to Austria.

I love vampires, and was really excited to hear that a Red Eye book would be tackling them. They're done okay, somewhat old school with side of sort of original myth. The final conflict was decent and with Red Eyes being established as having no win situations sometimes the states were pretty high till the end.

Overall, I give this 4/5 stars for h. A lot of filler characters, but there's one character with strong motivation so that's fun. I guess I don't like the ending, it's not terrible but it meant to be a redemption for these characters that didn't feel earned for at least one of them well at least for me. . I get what their arc was meant to be, maybe it would have been better to focus on less characters for this story. I guess they all like 16 or something anyway. It's a decent horror story, in probably in the middle for me of the other Red Eye books which I have reviewed all of them.

I received e-arc of this book for free to do an honest review.

Book Review: Bad Girls with Perfect Faces by Lynn Weingarten

I didn't buy any nail polish off this book.

No one is good enough for Xavier. Not according to Sasha, his best friend. There's nothing Sasha wouldn't do to protect Xavier from getting hurt, especially by his cheating ex Ivy, who's suddenly slithered back into the picture. Worried that Xavier is ready to forgive and forget, Sasha decides to do a little catfishing. She poses as a hot guy online, to prove cheaters never change.

But Sasha's plan goes wrong fast, and soon the lies lead down a path from which there's no return . . .

This is my second encounter with Weingarten. I really liked Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls and was excited to immurge myself into her writing. This does have similar to that book, but I didn't like this one as much. I mean I did really like Suicide Notes.

The plot is okay, there were some twists attempts, but I wasn't the right type of invested to care. Half way point kinda lost me. It works well in theory, but also seem like quite a standard affair. The plot is bit reliant on the characters being idiots.

This is another friendship bordering on romance. It works well and funly tragic. The characters do a lot of dancing around each other. This is more relationship based than plot, as everything that happens due the character's relationships have with each other.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for locked accounts. I had high hopes for this book and sadly it didn't meet them. It was still a decent read, and if you're looking for a YA thriller, give it ago.

I recieved this book for review off NetGalley and Electric Monkey, it came out on the 11th January 2018.

Book Review: The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

Wet suites are so in.

Imagine that you live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people's houses. You've known your neighbors for years and you trust them. Implicitly. You think your children are safe. But are they really? On a midsummer night, as a festive neighborhood party is taking place, preteen Pip discovers her thirteen-year-old sister Grace lying unconscious and bloody in a hidden corner of a lush rose garden. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?

This book is also known as just 'The Girls', that is a bit generic so probably why they changed between countries.  This is the second book I've read and reviewed by Lisa Jewell.

There was a lot of characters to keep up with; there being a gang of kids and their respective parents. The POV changes focus staying in third person with letters from Pip to her father mixed in.

The setting is a bit interesting as it takes place in a private park, which we rarely leave, that connect the flats to each other. Also a strong sense of community as lot of the characters have know each other for decades and from childhood. With strain of new comers adding a flare.

In the start it was a bit confusing when "the sisters" were being discussed as there are two lots of sisters. I don't know if this because I listened to the audiobook and I wasn't listening at the right speed for me. Another audiobooks note is that there's is reference to pictures, that do appear in the novel, which I acquired the ebook of to check these. The Map is the only one that usefully but you don't need them for the story so the audiobook is a fine way to consume this story.

There's was two mysteries under running this story and we only get underwhelming solutions. Lots of red herrings and suspects. Some of it was weird and like hur? It works through and was okay. I wasn't that invested in some of the characters but I did feel for Pip's mother coming into this environment. 

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for plastic bags. This was alright thriller and enjoyed listening to it.  I think I prefer Then She Was Gone better. But if you like Lisa Jewell's other works you should like this at least.

Book Review: Between the Lies by Cathy MacPhail

When I run away, I'm staying away fro the Clyde.

"I heard Jude ran off to IBiza."
"Why yould Jude message no-mates-Abbie?!"
"Jude! Seriously. Where are you?"

The mean girls and the isfits alike are obsessed with Judith Tremayne's sudden disappearance.

Then Abbie Kerr, a school nobody, receives a message that changes everything.

"I want to come home."

Who can find the truth between the lies?

 Basically, everyone lies in this book until it explodes in their faces. For like no real reason either.

The main character Abbie seemed very unlikable from the start of the book. I don't really feel for anyone in the events of the novel. I took quite dislike to Abbie's dad and thought he quite failed the parenting test.

 The plot is a bit dull with its twists.

This book is set in Port Glasgow so somewhere in the central belt of Scotland. So there's this on the street reporter called Sara Flynn who has red hair.  Jackie Bird in wild? She meant to be the most famous reporter in Scotland, unless STV has one, it must be Jackie Bird. The person BBC Scotland should stop using for everything. I really hate Jackie Bird's presenting.

The format is somewhat interesting, the book is told in first person by Abbie, mixing in with texts and status/comments she reads online. Probably the best part of the book was the way this was executed.

Time for Rachel Verna points out something stupid: As someone who attempted to read "IT" by Stephen King at 13 years old and stopped at the 600 and something page mark, I don't buy for one minute that half a class of 3rd years (mostly 14 years olds) have read IT or have read many over a thousand page books. I really doubt MacPhail has either. Seen the the original 90s TV-movies, maybe and would have definitely seen reference to that. Apparently, they all loved it too and no mention of the 11 year old gangbang. I didn't get to that part back then. I read it last year in full.

The school has a unrealistic amount of working tech. Unless someone just brought them a TV studio for some reason. Yeah, it's never explain why they have that, unless it part of a Higher or something. I know a few school have recording studio set ups (there are often just cupboards with sound proofing), but TV studio with a relayable system to broadcast over the school is something that University with degrees in that technology stuff have issues with. I get it from the plot point but not realism.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for school cameras. This book was fine, forgettable quick read. The only interesting thing that the book it's set in Scotland which is something that I don't often come across by accident. The summary sounds like such a cool book, so slightly disappointed. Oh well, I'll probably give MacPhail another chance.

Book Review: What I couldn't Tell You by Faye Bird

There's a lot a couldn't you. Most of it isn't important.

When Love turns to jealousy, when jealousy turns to rage, when rage turns to destruction...

Laura was head over heels in love with Joe. But Laura lies in a coma and Joe has gone missing. Was he the one who attacked her?

Laura's sister Tessie is Selectively Mute. She can't talk but she can listen. And as people tell her their secrets, she thinks she's getting close to understanding what happened that fateful night.

I read this book because mystery and Selective Mutism. I am Selectively Mute and have been during a video series of reviews on novel with Silent Protagionist, so I found this book looking for books to review for it. This intrigued me as it was Mystery which seems to be the second favourite to straight up contemporary.

The Selective Mutism is done okay. Sometimes it felt a bit more telling but Bird also does a good job of showing Tessie stress from the threat of speaking. Tessie is bullied by two people, they seem to have no lifes. Maybe we should feel sorry for Kat and Holly. Remember Kids, bullies have no lifes and feel free to argue why do they spend so much time annoying you (unless they punch you, then go to the cops). 

My least favourite part is the romance side of this novel. It's a cringey. I just never got that side at all, I guess completely lust based and that's just not the romance for me. Tessie is a bit of bad friend and it can't be excused by the hard time and her SM. It's realistic be a bad friend sometimes because of a boy but it bit extreme. Tessie also runs on juvenile side for a 15 year old, but it could be argue because of how extreme her SM is, she delay in her relationship understanding.

Another big part of the book is the bond Tessie has with her family and their dynamic with in it. Tessie's mother has symtoms of depression before Laura's accident and her part was helping her mother cope. So without her Tessie and her older brother have to keep going mostly. The family being in limbo is explored a lot and the half grief they feel.

This story is mostly told in first person by Tessie with different parts. An odd choice is to just list exactly what happens to everyone after the story ends like in a film. I've never seen that in a book before but I guess it get the point across. 

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for missed words. This was decent portrayal of selective mutism, probably the best I've seen in book form yet. The crime/thriller aspect was decent but the romance for me really lets this book now for me, especially with ending up being such a major part of the novel. I don't know if the book would have worked without it either, I guess that part just wasn't for me.

Book Review: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

What a cheery way to spend Christmas Eve.

A MISSING GIRL. A BURIED SECRET.

She was fifteen, her mother's golden girl.
She had her whole life ahead of her.
And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone.

Ten years on, Laurel has never given up hope of finding Ellie. And then she meets a charming and charismatic stranger who sweeps her off her feet.

But what really takes her breath away is when she meets his nine-year-old daughter.

Because his daughter is the image of Ellie.

Now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back.

What really happened to Ellie? And who still has secrets to hide?

I don't actually have the summary that's convinced me to read this book because it was a paperback that I decided not to buy because the library had on ebook, meaning I read it shortly after discovering it, instead of the months/years it probably would have spent on my TBR if I had brought it.

Fun fact: This book ends on Christmas Eve and I finished reading it on Christmas Eve by pure coincident.

This book is told in a few point of views, but mainly from a third person narrator focus on Laurel in the present, with first person sprints. This works well for the most of the part.

The characters and the family dynamics are probably the best part of the novel. I felt for Laurel, despite her faults and wanted better for Ellie so that was job well done. It also explores the destruction of family from tragedy.

In terms of the plot, once of all the main players have been introduced, it pretty obvious what went down. There is an attempt to have a twist at the end, which is set up well, but I saw it coming across well. It pretty straight through mystery, when layout in paper with facts anyway.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for unwanted Hamsters. This was an okay book to spend two days reads on the run up to Christmas. It could have took me one sitting but I had things to be doing surprisingly as an adult with two days of Christmas. It what I would consider a light read and would recommend to others that like murdery crime light reads.

Book Review: The Long Drop by Denise Mina

Murder and Glasgow go well together.

William Watt wants answers about his family's murder. Peter Manuel has them. But Peter Manuel is a liar. 

William Watt is an ordinary businessman, a fool, a social climber.

Peter Manuel is a famous Liar, a rapist, a criminal. He claims he can get hold of the gun used to murder Watt's Family. 

One December night in 1957, Watt meets Manuel in a Glasgow Bar to find out what he knows. 

I probably wouldn't be reviewing this book, if I wasn't doing the British Book Challenge which I see as reviewing every book by a British Author I read.

This book is weird fictionalised version of real event that happened. It weirdly formatted. I honestly don't how to review this or what to say about it.

This book is set in Glasgow, I listen to the Audiobook version, it was 7 hours long with a narrator with Scottish Accent, that did different types of Scottish Accents. That's the main reason I listened to it.

I looked up the real case when I read this book, but can no longer remember anything. I look up a lot a murder cases. It decent setting as well for a crime story as a lot shit was going down in Glasgow at this time.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for police driving. If you're interested in Denise Mina, this is probably a bad place to start. It was written fine, but not much of a story really.

Book Review: Fir by Sharon Gosling

Forests are obviously evil.

Moving from Stockholm to an isolated pine plantation in northern Sweden is bad enough, but when the snows come early and all links between the Strombergs and the outside world are cut off, it gets worse. With only a grudging housekeeper and increasingly withdrawn parents for company, there is nothing to do but to explore the old plantation house. Anything to stay out of the endless pine trees pressing in on them. But soon it becomes clear that the danger within the old plantation house is even greater than what lies outside…

A chilling YA horror, perfect for fans of Dawn Kurtagich, Juno Dawson and Stephen King.

I just want to comment on the Stephen King being added on to YA horror writers. Sure, they on the same level as King's horror (Well, I know I rather read Kurtagich or Dawson again. King though...?). So finally with this book I have read all of the released books of the Red Eyes series (I don't have connections to get a book five months, that has a preview in Fir so is probably finished. We can compare in April).

So this is unique setting of Sweden (though I know of another British Horror book out there that is set in Northern Sweden and involves the Forest. Stay out of the Forests in Northern Sweden I guess).

The book is told in the POV of a unnamed protagonist in sort of a diary form, with poem from the forest every second chapter, which is why is probably compared to Kurtagich with her 'Dead House'.

The parents are generic have their own issues going on so lets solve our problems by moving to nowhere without a support unit to run a business that they know nothing about it. We also have a guide and much of kids that part of programme to educate kids about the forests. Then there's the creepy old maid that's worked at the house her whole working life.

The forest is also personified with tales of creatures in it.  The house is spooky as well so the setting is great and the mystery side works.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for secret hidey-holes... I'm now conflicted because this book levels with Frozen Charlotte or is better. It has similarity with isolation and supernatural beings messing with people. Also spooky child/ren. I would recommended if like that book and just if you like YA Horror.

Dis: This is the only Red Eye book that I have currently not gotten this for Review off NetGalley. Just saying so you know I didn't forget the disclaimer.

Buy.

Book Review: Eden Summer by Liz Flanagan

Eden is not a Paradise to spend time with.

IT STARTS like any other day for Jess – get up, draw on eyeliner, cover up tattoos and head to school. But soon it’s clear this is no ordinary day, because Jess’s best friend, Eden, isn’t at school . . . she’s gone missing.

Jess knows she must do everything in her power to find Eden before the unthinkable happens.

So Jess decides to retrace the summer she and Eden have just spent together. But looking back means digging up all their buried secrets, and she starts to question everything she thought Eden’s summer had been about ...

This book takes places over a day, with flash backs to the events leading to Eden's disappearance, in first person, with a flash forward about as well.

 Even with everything Eden is dealing with she still comes across as unlikable, especially with the flash back before the event. She has this perfect life, till the terrible thing happens and just come across as spoiled. I only cared about her being missing because the effect it was having on Jess and other characters. Jess is likable protagonist and I felt for the other characters.

This book deals with a lot of complex things including Hate crimes on sub-cultures and grief. It does a decent job of dealing with the topics.

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for Graveyard Snow. It was a quick read with some punch. I would recommend it for a readathon.

Book Review: Daughter of Burning City by Amanda Foody

Especially, if their don't have physical eyes.

Reality is in the eye of the beholder…

Even among the many unusual members of the travelling circus that has always been her home sixteen-yea-old Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years.
This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all of their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival's Freak Show.

But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that—illusions, and not truly real.
Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered.
Now she must unravel the horrifying truth before all her loved ones disappear.

This book was rather disappointing. The concept is cool, but the execution is poor and weird. Information is repeated at nausea and is even on the same page sometimes.

I personally found the world building to be problematic. Up-mountains are religious and unenlightened. Here I am Up-mountainer, that sure sounds like propaganda about Northern people in Europe. It hard to win these things as I don't think the author is likely to have realise this. This probably could have been solved by being more creative and more fantasy based than Up-Mountainers a.k.a. you mean the North and the main character is from the East so Asian or the middle East. It's backed with how the characters are described as look as well. Others might not read into this. On the fantasy front, it's always the ones that live in the mountains that savages and uneducated, so it just stereotype carried from others' works. Other parts of the world building were interesting such the idea of the traveling city and aspect of the magic.

This book is a murder mystery, with conspiracy, the ending of this book is dumb, but also really sad and depressing. (also, Spoiler: incesty). The main character generally comes across as being sad. She has no friends her own age and spends most her time with people she made up and therefore, how much control does she actually have over them.

It's told from Sorina Point of View, she an okay protagonist. The characters are fine. I don’t care much about characters that died or were threatened.

There's some diversity with different Sexuality with lesbian and a character hinted at as Demi-sexual. A first, but you can also read into badly if wanted due to how this book ends. The Traveling city is also meant to be diverse with different people, but mostly Down-mountainers. A lot of characters have deformities, some magical and some if not for magic would be a disability. The main character has No Eyes, but can still see. I guess it fine and does talk about how Sorina is treated.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for Lamest Show in the City. This book was either going to be amazing or disappointment with the cool concept it had. Sadly, it was a disappointment for me. I didn't enjoy the reading process of that much and some of the author's choices I really didn't like. It was an okay read.

This book was rather disappointing. The concept is cool, but the execution is poor and weird. Information is repeated at nausea and is even on the same page sometimes.

I personally found the world building to be problematic. Up-mountains are religious and unenlightened. Here I am Up-mountainer, that sure sounds like propaganda about Northern people in Europe. It hard to win these things as I don't think the author is likely to have realise this. This probably could have been solved by being more creative and more fantasy based than Up-Mountainers a.k.a. you mean the North and the main character is from the East so Asian or the middle East. It's backed with how the characters are described as look as well. Others might not read into this. On the fantasy front, it's always the ones that live in the mountains that savages and uneducated, so it just stereotype carried from others' works. Other parts of the world building were interesting such the idea of the traveling city and aspect of the magic.

This book is a murder mystery, with conspiracy, the ending of this book is dumb, but also really sad and depressing. (also, Spoiler: incesty). The main character generally comes across as being sad. She has no friends her own age and spends most her time with people she made up and therefore, how much control does she actually have over them.

It's told from Sorina Point of View, she an okay protagonist. The characters are fine. I don’t care much about characters that died or were threatened.

There's some diversity with different Sexuality with lesbian and a character hinted at as Demi-sexual. A first, but you can also read into badly if wanted due to how this book ends. The Traveling city is also meant to be diverse with different people, but mostly Down-mountainers. A lot of characters have deformities, some magical and some if not for magic would be a disability. The main character has No Eyes, but can still see. I guess it fine and does talk about how Sorina is treated.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for Lamest Show in the City. This book was either going to be amazing or disappointment with the cool concept it had. Sadly, it was a disappointment for me. I didn't enjoy the reading process of that much and some of the author's choices I really didn't like. It was an okay read.

I got this book off of NetGalley for Review and it's published by HQ on 7th September 2017.