Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

★★★★

I'd seen the film a couple of times and really liked it so I had high hopes for this and on the whole it didn't disappoint. My only complaint was that all the action was right at the end and seemed to happen in a bit of a blur. I really enjoyed the build up as Tris went through her training and the world was explored so I had a good idea of how it all worked together. Hopefully Insurgent won't be a typical middle book and will build on this good foundation.

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: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

★★★★

This is the second time I've read this and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time around. The plot hurtles forward at a break neck pace and not a single page is wasted, I found it so hard to put down. Yes the plot is ridiculously farfetched but who doesn't love a conspiracy theory involving a long dead secret society! Can't wait to read the next one!

Review: Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex

★★★★

Not the best entry into the series but enjoyable none the less. I particularly liked Orion, the story itself was a bit different to the rest of the series but it was nice to have an all new bad guy rather than retreading old ground. Onto the final book in the series!

Review: The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

★★★★

To my shame I know very little about the Bosnian war (which happened only 20 years ago) and after finishing this I feel like I should seek out some more books on the topic. This is the story of three Sarajevans going about their everyday life in very out of the ordinary situations. Arrow is a sniper who hates "the men on the hills" and is tasked with protecting The Cellist from enemy fire, Kenan is walking through a ruined city in search of water for his family and elderly neighbour and Dragan is on his way to work for a loaf of bread. Each has a very different experience in the city under siege and each story concludes with a slightly different message.

I did really enjoy this book, it is very uniquely told and will haunt me for a long time. In particular I found Dragan and Kenan's stories of moving through the city particularly harrowing. In my life I have never had to wonder if I am in the sights of an enemy sniper and I hope that I will never have to.

Review: Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

★★★★

I really enjoyed this, I had previously read Sovereign and remember that I enjoyed that too so thought it was high time to start at the beginning. It is a very well researched book and the details of the English Reformation are fascinating to read, it was certainly a very dark and dangerous chapter of English history. As a student of history it always makes me particularly sad when I consider how much was lost in those years, never to be seen again.

In terms of the murder mystery itself, I did guess who had done it but not until right at the end when Shardlake himself was finally opening his eyes to reality. Shardlake is an interesting main character, honestly I didn't like him and thought he was a self-righteous idiot for most of the book. I was coming round to him in the end and I have Dark Fire to read at some point in the near future, so maybe I will like him more in that one.

Review: Goodbye Piccadilly by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

★★★★

I'll be honest, I was a good quarter of the way through before I started to enjoy this book. It follows The Hunter family through 1914 as Europe slides into war, ending rather poignantly on Christmas Day in the trenches. Having read Cynthia Harrod-Eagles before I already know her strengths lie in a family saga and she is very good at writing from multiple characters perspectives and following their development over time. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series which will carry on and cover 1915.

Review: Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony

★★★★

Once again a great escape from reality into the crazy world of The People. This time Artemis has to deal with the demon island of Hybras falling out of time and rematerialising in the middle of the ocean. Not as funny as the previous books but I loved the addition of Number One and the warlocks.

Review: The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir

★★★★

"... only one man could have been responsible for their deaths: Richard III."

If you are expecting an unbiased account of the disappearance of Edward V and his brother then this is not the book for you. Weir makes her point abundantly clear throughout and presents a very wide range of evidence to back up her conclusions. At times I did feel we wandered off topic a little into a general recounting of major events of the period, not something I really want to criticise as I love history and found the diversions very educational.

As a history nerd I really enjoyed this book, it's about a new topic for me and I feel I should read some of the revisionist arguments before drawing my own conclusions as to whether Richard murdered his nephews or not. Regardless, I found this book really interesting, well researched and most importantly engaging, there really is nothing worse than a history book that sends you to sleep!

Review: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

★★★★

There was something about this book that I found really compelling, I just had to keep reading to find out what was going on. From that perspective it's a great read, the mystery is all consuming and the feeling throughout is ominous, you can just feel the "not rightness" of Area X coming straight off the page. The Biologist, whose journal narrates the story, is another mystery within Area X, she has no name and you only get the details she decides to give you, this really adds to the uncertainty of the facts you are presented with, I ended up questioning everything, it's a very clever way to add to the atmosphere of the story.

What I am frustrated about now I've finished is the lack of resolution, I still have no clue what Area X is and what happened there, is there a creature? Is The Biologist just mad? Is this all some big government conspiracy? Who are the Southern Reach? I've been left with more questions than answers and I hate when a book does that to me! I guess I'll just have to read the next one to find out ...

Review: The Pirate by Frederick Marryat

★★★★

This wonderful short novel tells the story of twin brothers separated in a shipwreck when they were babies and is full of swashbuckling adventure and incredibly detailed naval terminology. The only downside to this book is the very backward and insulting language used to describe the African characters, sadly a product of its time.

I have never read Marryat's novels before but after this I definitely will be, this is very well written, the descriptions are wonderful and at times I found him very funny. It's very impressive to have such a detailed and developed story in a little over 100 hundred pages. I'm surprised this isn't more widely read and rated.

Review: Edwin: High King of Britain by Edoardo Albert

★★★★

I'm a big historical fiction fan and this was very well written and researched. It tells the story of Edwin's rise to power in the 7th century and his conversion to Christianity, something I knew nothing about before. The author did a great job bringing the history to life and it was a very enjoyable read.

My only minor complaint is that is it heavily focused on Edwin's conversion to Christianity and it does skip over large time periods in his life. Don't get me wrong the religious aspect was very well written I just felt it may have been emphasised at the expense of a more rounded recounting of his life.

I have the second and third books in this series and I'm looking forward to reading them too.

I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Review: The Killing Doll by Ruth Rendell

★★★★

"I kill, therefore I am."

This is one of those books I feel I shouldn't give too much away about, suffice to say it is about a teenage boy who sells his soul to the devil and how that decision affects his sister's life. When I say devil I do not mean a literal character, this is not a fantasy, rather a suspenseful study of the occult and mental illness, touching on alcoholism and with a bit of murder thrown in for good measure. Sounds cheery doesn't it?

I honestly had no idea where this was going until I was about 70% through it, Rendell builds the tension very well throughout and kept me interested enough to carry on while I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. The characters are some of the more interesting I have read about (maybe because this would not be my go to choice of genre) and the narration was constantly switching between them which I really enjoyed. By the end I could tell who's mind I was in even if it wasn't made clear for a couple of sentences.

This is a book where the small things matter, you notice the routines of the characters and their little quirks. There is no travelling and the whole book revolves around one house in a London suburb. I think the small scope completely absorbed me and I emerged from the last page a little stunned at having been dumped back into reality.

If you like a little bit of darkness and a slow burn then this is the book for you.