Friday 22 September 2017

Review: Authority by Jeff VanderMeer


I really thought I would like this book, I liked the first book and found the mystery interesting but this time around I'm just getting bored. This book is longer than the first and the pace is much slower, it doesn't help that some of the writing I'm really struggling to follow. It's not a bad book it's just not for me.

Monday 11 September 2017

Review: Tickled to Death by Joan Hess



Admittedly I only read 4 pages but sometimes you just know there is no point in going on, this was definitely a case of it's not you it's me, cozy mysteries aren't my thing.

Wednesday 6 September 2017

Review: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson


This was a typical middle book, not helped by the fact that it was over 700 pages. The world was still great to read about and I still think Allomancy is seriously cool and a genius invention, I just think the plot rambled on for a long time before getting to the inevitable cliffhanger ending. At some point I will get to book 3 but it's another monster so could take me a while to get through!

Review: Daughters of the Grail by Elizabeth Chadwick


This is probably my least favourite of all Elizabeth Chadwick's books, that being said it's still a great read. It focuses on the Albigensian Crusade in France in the early thirteenth century, this part I loved as I knew nothing about it before reading this. I think the bit I wasn't as keen on was the mysticism and magical powers Bridget and Magda seem to have, I like the history Chadwick presents in her novels but this was straying into fantasy in parts and it just got a bit weird.

Review: Atonement by Ian McEwan


I was very torn between whether this was a 9 or a 10 but as it brought a tear to my eye and gave me the book tingles (technical term for the feeling you get upon finishing a book and wanting to start reading it again immediately), I decided to overlook the fact that it is a little overly verbose in places and plump for a 10!

I saw the film version at the cinema when it was first released so there were no major plot surprises here for me, it tells the story of a young aspiring writer and the events of one particularly hot day where she witnesses something she doesn't understand and the far reaching consequences of this. Told very cleverly using stories within stories it is a slow burn and build up to a conclusion I'm sure some people wouldn't enjoy but that I found perfect.

The ultimate tale of the power of the human imagination used to both its best and its worst.