Book Review: The Long Fall by Julia Crouch

If someone likes to play game called "Danger" is when you leave them on the curb.

How far would you go to protect your secrets?

Greece, 1980

Emma takes part in a shattering, violent event. An event to which she is anything but an innocent bystander.
She is only eighteen, but this marks her fall from innocence.
It will haunt her for the rest of her life.

London, now

Kate has the perfect existence: a glossy image, a glamorous home, a perfect family.
But there are cracks.
All is not what it seems.

And now the two worlds are about to collide.
Somebody's out for revenge.
Someone who has been waiting thirty years...

I didn't really enjoy read this book much. It was alright but I got bored and frustrated whilst reading, mainly during the third Part. There were somethings I liked about this novel, the actual format was good.

It split into three parts, one switching between the diary of Emma and then third person narration Kate's life. Then the Part Two, is solely Emma and then Part Three is just Kate. I liked the diaries there were done well enough. The writing was well enough. It's plot and characters that get me down.

Okay, Emma can be seen as being naive and not being able to see warning signs but Kate is adult with experience. She does no checking and blindly follows someone with dodgy past. The scheme is overly complicated. Kate is meant to be really smart, at least in educational sense but none of that is reflected in her actions. I also found it hard to sympathise with Kate at all, I think it the way she was written and her thought path. Characters do stuff for no apparent reason that never plays into the story and have complete personality makes over, that whilst fit with the plot make me wonder why Kate was so trusting.

There is the effect to have a twisty turny plot but it just kinda fell flat with me. I think the opening prologue thing was a mistake because it makes what happens obvious so I start to wonder when they would just get to that part and how it would play into the story. Now that can be a prostive thing but I don't think it worked with this story. Generally, I thought the thing that connect Emma and Kate was dumb and never got Emma's reasoning (if I say more we get into spoiler zone).

Overall, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars for luckless charms. I can't really say I enjoyed reading this as I had to focus myself through at lot. The second half of this book lets it down and which is disappointingly as I do like the format of the book and the certain plot points if done differently would have been great. I would give Crouch another chance.

I got this book off BookBridgr for Review.  It being published by Headline on the 19th June 2014 (tomorrow).

Book Review: The Geography Of You And Me by Jennifer E. Smith

In Space, I scream.

Owen lives in the basement. Lucy lives on the 24th floor. But when the power goes out in the midst of a New York heatwave, they find themselves together for the first time: stuck in a lift between the 10th and 11th floors. As they await help, they start talking...

The brief time they spend together leaves a mark. And as their lives take them to Edinburgh and San Francisco, to Prague and to Portland they can't shake the memory of the time they shared. Postcards cross the globe when they themselves can't, as Owen and Lucy experience the joy - and pain - of first love.

And as they make their separate journeys in search of home, they discover that sometimes it is a person rather than a place that anchors you most in the world.

This is your typical chance meeting romance, except the two main characters have wanderlust and use international mail.

The characters are well developed, even the parents. Everyone is a real person even characters that only appear for one paragraph. The romance has a nice growth to it, in the sense that Lucy and Owen don’t declare their undying love for each other by the time they escape the elevator and takes place over a year.

A lot of traveling in this book, one character roaming the states whiles the other mostly roams British capital cities as while as other interesting places in Europe.

Something that bugged me about this book that it’s stated that Edinburgh smells of Stew, when it doesn’t. Are these the lies the English are spreading about us? Lucy’s mum is English by the way and she says this first. Lucy also calls her mother mom, which frankly as a British person I would not let my kid away with that. Then again maybe most people don’t share my fondness of the vowel ‘u’. I know Americans don’t.

This book is separated into five (or 6) parts. Part III, Everywhere, has an interesting format of the opening sentences of the chapters: In someplace, character did something e.g. In London, Lucy cried.

The last few chapters are annoyingly short for no reason. Especially, considering I read it on Epub that’s meant to printed out really. It has the nice page image instead a blank page at odd number chapter; there are these wiggly vertical lines. I like this but my e-reader didn’t or really did because it took forever to get past these pages. My point being that might contribute to my dislike of those chapters being that short.

Overall, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars for literature named turtles. It was a nice little romance, with travelling to exciting locations. I'm sure that ticks the boxes for a lot of people.

I got this off Netgalley for a review. It’s being published by Headline on 10^th April 2014.

Book Review: Just One Year by Gayle Forman

Dutch boys never seem interested in me, mainly because I've never met any.

Funfact: Willem is Blonde.

Twenty-four hours can change your life . . . 

Allyson and Willem share one magical day together in Paris, before chance rips them apart. 

The romantic, emotional companion to Just One Day, this is a story of the choices we make and the accidents life throws at us.

But is one day enough to find your fate?

Basically, this fills out the missing parts of the Just One Day by being in Willem's point of view. Also elaborate on things hinted on in the first book about Willem's past.

 The book is separated into two parts with the same titles as the last one and we join Willem's point of view. We find out about Willem childhood and what he was getting up before Allyson finds him.It answer at lot of questions that left unanswered in the first book and it definitely worth it to read it if you're enjoy the book. I don't think the book would much sense if you haven't read the first book at points.

Some character development going, this is like an instant love book but it the realistic kind where they doubt which I love. Meeting each other causes them both to question their lives and relations with other people. Allyson in the first book and Willem in this one. Willem has lovely friends, but he is sort of arsehole to girls. Though, I actually like Willem a lot better after reading this.

Overall, I give it four out of five stars for clueless girlfriends. It was enjoyable read and a good addition to the story. It leaves you wondering but I think the end is promising enough. If you like the first one then you should definitely read this one.