review - Garden Of Beasts by Jeffrey Deaver

Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I GAVE UP!

This is the first time in all the years I have given up on a book (179 pages in). I couldn't connect with any of the characters, the story wasn't gripping for me at all.

I am sure it will appeal to someone, the story is based on a hitman going to Berlin to take out the next in line if anything happens to Hitler and the next in command. Apart from not connecting with anyone stuff like refering to a hitman as a button man totally got on my nerves.

I honestly can't comment on anything else as this is all I remember of it, still can't believe I have given up on a book but I just couldn't get into it.

It would be unrated but you have to give one on here so 1/5 it is



View all my reviews

Review, Outpost by Adam Baker

Outpost by Adam Baker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Blurb from goodreads

They took the job to escape the world.
They didn't expect the world to end.

Kasker Rampart: a derelict refinery platform moored in the Arctic Ocean. A skeleton crew of fifteen fight boredom and despair as they wait for a relief ship to take them home. But the world beyond their frozen wasteland has gone to hell. Cities lie ravaged by a global pandemic. One by one TV channels die, replaced by silent wavebands. The Rampart crew are marooned. They must survive the long Arctic winter, then make their way home alone. They battle starvation and hypothermia, unaware that the deadly contagion that has devastated the world is heading their way...

My review

Definately a book with a difference. The book starts fairly quickly jumping into the action and we are introduced to the characters fairly quickly too. It felt a bit like the andes meets a zombie movie where the characters have to deal with horrific and unthinkable situations.

The characters you either love or hate, I couldn't find any middle ground. There are a few twists and turns and one of the things I really liked was seeing it from the view of someone who is slowly effected by the "virus".

Even up until the end there is action and twists so in all a good read, there are a few things that I didn't like which has brought the rating down but some of those are due to my preferences in this kind of book and the others would spoil the story if I mentioned them so 3/5 for me.




View all my reviews

Review - I Am Nujood, Age 10 And Divorced by Nujood Ali with Delphone Minoui

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What a truly inspiring story!

Aged just 10 years (or approximate) Nujood is taken from her childhood home and happiness and thrust into an adult world of marriage and everything that comes with it. This is the story of a brave young girl who has no choice in anything in her life and is married off by her father to a man almost 3 times her age. Her world is brutally ripped apart as she is taken from her family, childhood and everything she knows and loves to become an adult and cater to her husbands every whim.

Unlike a lot of these stories there isn't a huge focus on the abuse Nujood suffers, there is enough that you are in no doubt what she goes through but the stories main focus is on her life and how she goes against everything her culture and beliefs hold true to stop the hurt and pain inflicted by her religion and family's customs.

Whilst it is sad at parts, this is a story of inspiration and bravery of a young girl who disobeys everything she has been taught for the right to live her life as a child and not be brutalized. Brave steps that opens the gates for others like herself and the potential dishonor upon her family. With only 190 pages this is a thin book and a page turner, I found it totally fascinating, 4/5 for me.



View all my reviews

Review - Dial 999! by Les Pringle

Call the Ambulance! by Les Pringle

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Being an ambulance driver in the 1970s was what most stood out for me when considering this book (I got it from a friend on the mobile library) as I have read a paramedics books before (recent times) and thought one from the past would be a good comparison.

The book is more about Les and how he decided to be a paramedic and his journey from first going and asking for an application form to his struggling to find his feet and bond with his colleagues. There are stories from his early years and whilst it is good to see it from a paramedics eyes I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't read the other book.

This story has a more personal side to it, not just picks from people he has met and situations he had to cope with but also his feelings and musings on them and his career along the way. Still a good story but I expected more in the difference of how they worked then compared to now and didn't really get that which is more to do with my own expectations than the book failing to provide what was on offer. If this is something your interesting in then it is a great starting point, just for me I wanted that wee bit more and would have probably been happy enough if I hadn't read the other book, 3/5 for me.



View all my reviews

Review - Mile 81 by Stephen King

Mile 81 by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Blurb from Amazon

A Stephen King eBook Original Short Story featuring a never before seen excerpt from 11.22.63, Stephen King's new full-length novel coming in November.

With the heart of Stand By Me and the genius horror of Christine, MILE 81 is Stephen King unleashing his imagination as he drives past one of those road signs . . .

At Mile 81 on the Maine Turnpike is a boarded up rest stop, a place where high school kids drink and get into the kind of trouble high school kids have always gotten into. It's the place where Pete Simmons goes when his older brother heads off to the gravel pit to play 'paratroopers over the side'.

Pete, armed with only the magnifying glass he got for his tenth birthday, finds a discarded bottle of vodka in the boarded up burger shack and drinks enough to pass out. That's why he doesn't notice a freshly mud-spattered station wagon (which is strange because there hadn't been any rain in New England for over a week) which veers into the Mile 81 rest area, ignoring the sign that reads 'closed, no services'.

The driver's door opens but nobody gets out . . .


My Review

It has been a wee while since I read a Stephen King short story and I really enjoyed this one. Despite the "monster" not being given a where it came from or why or anything in depth like that I really enjoyed it. We are introduced to the main character and given a sense of his character as with the other characters who briefly appear. It is decent paced and the only moan I have is as with some of his other books which is not having complete closure and every angle covered however some readers prefer this. Very quick read, I think I read it in just over an hour - not one of his best but pretty good for a short story and its pretty cheap too, 4/5 for me.

Also there is a preview of his new novel 11/22/63 which is due for release in November.



View all my reviews

Review - Crippen by John Boyne (Transworld Book Group)

Crippen by John Boyne

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Blurb from Goodreads



July 1910: A gruesome discovery has been made at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden.



Chief Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland Yard did not expect the house to be empty. Nor did he expect to find a body in the cellar. Buried under the flagstones are the remains of Cora Crippen, former music-hall singer and wife of Dr. Hawley Crippen. No one would have thought the quiet, unassuming Dr. Crippen capable of murder, yet the doctor and his mistress have disappeared from London, and now a full-scale hunt for them has begun.



Across the Channel in Antwerp, the S.S. Montrose has just set off on its two-week voyage to North America. Slipping in among the first-class passengers is a Mr. John Robinson, accompanied by his teenage son, Edmund. The pair may be hoping for a quiet, private voyage, but in the close confines of a luxury ocean liner, anonymity is rare. And with others aboard looking for romance, or violence, or escape from their past in Europe, it will take more than just luck for the Robinsons to survive the voyage unnoticed.



An accomplished, intricately plotted novel, Crippen brilliantly reimagines the amazing escape attempt of one of history's most notorious killers and marks the outstanding American debut of one of Ireland's best young novelists



My Review



This is my 4th book from the Transworld Book Group.



The story does a bit of jumping. From present day and the escapees, to the past when Dr Crippen was just growing up and then back and forward to meeting his wife and his live with her and the people in their lives and his career, however it is really easy to follow.



We get a background with his upbringing and his parents, his struggle to get to be a doctor and all the hardships he has to endure. I felt torn between dislike and sorrow for Dr Crippen as he can't seem to catch a break but he isn't a very likeable person.



Despite the story being quite low on action (a lot of it is showing what his life is like, how it is like that and all the people he comes across in his life and the realtionships) it is a fantastic read and I couldn't put it down.



As the end gets closer and you think you have everything figured out there is a few big twists in it. It was a pretty good read and as I loved the boy in striped pyjamas I have tracked down more of this author as I really like the style of writing and enjoyed both stories so it's a 4/5 for me.



View all my reviews

World Book Night 2011 - Top 100 books

The WBN 2012 Top 100
The WBN 2012 Long List

From 25 June – 31 August 2011 we asked readers to nominate the 10 books they most love to read, give and share. Over 6,000 people nominated more than 8,000 titles and the top 100 displayed below will be used to inform the choice of the editorial selection committee who will be selecting the WBN 2012 titles

But we still want readers to tell us their favourite books and a constantly evolving top 100 can be seen here.


The 2012 Long List - ordered by number of votes:

1 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
2 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
3 The Book Thief Markus Zusak
4 Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
5 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger
6 The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien
7 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams
8 Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
9 Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
10 The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
11 American Gods Neil Gaiman
12 A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini
13 Harry Potter Adult Hardback Boxed Set J. K. Rowling
14 The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon
15 The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien
16 One Day David Nicholls
17 Birdsong Sebastian Faulks
18 The Help Kathryn Stockett
19 Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell
20 Good Omens Terry Pratchett
21 The Notebook Nicholas Sparks
22 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson
23 The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood
24 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
25 Little Women Louisa M. Alcott
26 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden
27 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
28 Atonement Ian McEwan
29 Room Emma Donoghue
30 Catch-22 Joseph Heller
31 We Need to Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver
32 His Dark Materials Philip Pullman
33 Captain Corelli's Mandolin Louis De Bernieres
34 The Island Victoria Hislop
35 Neverwhere Neil Gaiman
36 The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver
37 The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger
38 Chocolat Joanne Harris
39 Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro
40 The Five People You Meet in Heaven Mitch Albom
41 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
42 Animal Farm George Orwell
43 The Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett
44 The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde
45 Tess of the D'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy
46 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl
47 I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith
48 The Wasp Factory Iain Banks
49 Life of Pi Yann Martel
50 The Road Cormac McCarthy
51 Great Expectations Charles Dickens
52 Dracula Bram Stoker
53 The Secret History Donna Tartt
54 Small Island Andrea Levy
55 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
56 Lord of the Flies William Golding
57 Persuasion Jane Austen
58 A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving
59 Notes from a Small Island Bill Bryson
60 Watership Down Richard Adams
61 Night Watch Terry Pratchett
62 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
63 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon
64 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke
65 The Color Purple Alice Walker
66 My Sister's Keeper Jodi Picoult
67 The Stand Stephen King
68 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell
69 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov
70 Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
71 Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons
72 Frankenstein Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
73 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer
74 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde
75 Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell
76 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman
77 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
78 The Princess Bride William Goldman
79 A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth
80 Perfume Patrick Suskind
81 The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas
82 The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy
83 Middlemarch George Eliot
84 Dune Frank Herbert
85 Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel
86 Stardust Neil Gaiman
87 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
88 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie
89 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone J. K. Rowling
90 Shantaram Gregory David Roberts
91 The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro
92 Possession: A Romance A. S. Byatt
93 Tales of the City Armistead Maupin
94 Kafka on the Shore Haruki Murakami
95 The Magus John Fowles
96 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas John Boyne
97 A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry
98 Alias Grace Margaret Atwood
99 Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami
100 The Wind-up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami

I have read

1 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee -read
2 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen -read
3 The Book Thief Markus Zusak -read

4 The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger - read
5 The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien - read

6 American Gods Neil Gaiman - read
7 Harry Potter Adult Hardback Boxed Set J. K. Rowling - read

8 The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien - read

9 Birdsong Sebastian Faulks - read

10 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Stieg Larsson - read
11 Little Women Louisa M. Alcott - read
12 Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden - read
13 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold - read
14 Room Emma Donoghue - read
15 We Need to Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver - read & can't wait to see the movie
16 The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger - read
17 Chocolat Joanne Harris - read
18 Life of Pi Yann Martel - read
19 Dracula Bram Stoker - read
20 The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett - loved
21 Lord of the Flies William Golding - read
22 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mark Haddon - read
23 The Color Purple Alice Walker - read
24 My Sister's Keeper Jodi Picoult -read
25 The Stand Stephen King -read
26 Frankenstein Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - read
27 Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell -read
28 Stardust Neil Gaiman - read
29 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov -read
30 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone J. K. Rowling - read
31 Tales of the City Armistead Maupin - read
32 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas John Boyne -read

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke - tbr

Watership Down Richard Adams - tbr

Great Expectations Charles Dickens - tbr

Atonement Ian McEwan - tbr

A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini - tbr

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams - tbr
Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte - tbr

Review - Bring On The Pain by Swift Smith

Bring on the Pain by Swift Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I received a complimentary copy of Bring On The Pain by Swift Smith as a member of the Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team. Visit dorrancebookstore.com

to learn how you can become a member of the Book Review Team.

------------------





Blurb from the website





Taunt, suspenseful, gripping, and realistically gritty, Swift Smith’s Bring on the Pain is a heart-wrenching nightmare ripped straight from today’s headlines.



When Paul Hogan comes home after a hard day’s work and finds his family brutally murdered, something deep within him snaps for good. This was a man who had gathered the bodies of his family for a proper burial on one day, and the very next day found himself a changed being full of hate and extreme evil. It will take an unusual man to track and catch him as he goes on his deadly spree, one whom he attempts to drag into his world of pain, heartbreak, and hate.



In inviting his alter ego to Bring on the Pain, Paul Hogan does not yet know it, but he has met his match – or has he?



My Review





I received this book from Dorrance books at http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?dor...




What a weird and fascinating read. I honestly didn't know what to make of it. Paul becomes a tormented vicious serial killer and goes on a rampage. One person survives and the story goes between our serial killer and the police man who survived Pauls frenzy on his family. The story jumps between the two and it is really interesting to see the serial killers side of it, his views and feelings about what he has done and plans to do. Ty, the surviver, we follow him from before the massacre, trying to recover from it and his journey back to life such as it is before coming face to face once again with the killer.



The story I thought was going one way and it went in a totally different direction. Some of it is pretty gruesome and definately not for the easily offended. I got annoyed at the way some of it was written, explaining something that was just said incase the reader didn't catch what was meant.



It is fairly packed with action/murders throughout and picks up the pace more so at the end and just when you think the whole story is over the author throws in a twist right at the very end that you will either absolutely love or hate. 3/5 for me.



This book is on sale at the moment for $7.70 instead of $14 or you can buy the ebook version for $9.









You can buy this book by using the direct link at the top of the page (next to the blurb) or go directly to the site http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?dorrance+7XZRvv+index.html









View all my reviews

Review - As Good As Dead by Beverly Barton

As Good As Dead by Beverly Barton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


If it hadn't been for the way the story came together at the end I would be giving this one a 2/5. The actual story is really good but some of the characters annoyed me so much it was really offputting. Reve is so stuck up and looks down her nose at everyone in the town and sees herself as better than everyone else "because well I am". Her interactions with Jacob the police officer is really frustrating to begin with aswell, more like petty teenagers than adults. Add to that 2 of the characters names are really similar Reba and Veda its really confusing as I kept getting the two mixed up.

However as the story is really good it is enough to keep you hooked to get by the annoying parts. It is decent paced and towards the end I couldn't put it down. I had so many suspects through it but never the right one, like I say the end really made up for all the irks I had through the story and with the characters, 3/5.



View all my reviews

Review - Treasure Me by Christine Nolfi

Treasure Me by Christine Nolfi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads

Petty thief Birdie Kaminsky has arrived in Liberty, Ohio to steal a treasure hidden since the Civil War. She’s in possession of a charming clue passed down in her family for generations: Liberty safeguards the cherished heart.

The beautiful thief wants to go straight. She secretly admires the clue’s author, freedwoman Justice Postell, who rose above the horrors of slavery to build a new life in Ohio. According to family lore, Justice left South Carolina at the dawn of the Civil War. Heavy with child, she carried untold riches on her journey north. As Birdie searches for the treasure, she begins to believe a questionable part of the story: a tale of love between Justice and Lucas Postell, the French plantation owner who was Birdie’s ancestor.

If the stories are true, Justice bore a child with Lucas. Some of those black relatives might still live in town. Birdie can’t help but wonder if she’s found one—Liberty’s feisty matriarch, Theodora Hendricks, who packs a pistol and heartwarming stories about Justice. Birdie doesn’t know that an investigative reporter who has arrived in town will trip her up—as will her conscience when she begins to wonder if it’s possible to start a new life with stolen riches. Yet with each new clue she unearths, Birdie begins to discover a family history more precious than gems, a tradition of love richer than she could imagine.

My review

Birdies character is introduced quickly as a thief who has no qualms about taking what she needs and leaving behind places and people without a second glance. In her quest for finding her next big steal she goes to Liberty and gets much more than she bargained for.

She meets Hugh, a reporter who has everything to loose and needs to dig up dirt and get his career and life back on track. Both very dangerous for each other they should avoid each other but something keeps pulling them together.

I really disliked both Birdie and Hugh when the story started, their interactions with each other drove me crazy as they both acted like morons, idiotic teens. However as the story progresses they both became less annoying and I actually started to like Birdie.

I loved the stories of Justice and almost wish the story had 2 halves and visited the past although hearing it through Theadora or the other residents was fine too. The things that annoyed me really annoyed me and at a point or two I thought it was going to put me off the story but I am glad I stuck with it. It is a great story about self discovery, family and finding the things in life matter, 3/5 for me.

Available for only £2.13 (ebook) on www.amazon.co.uk





View all my reviews

Septembers Pre-loved giveaway is...

Actually there are two this month. Both fairly thin books

*IMPORTANT PLEASE READ* Please remember when emailing to put which giveaway you would like, if you wish to enter for both of them you don't need to fill out the form twice, just put in the comments you would like to be entered for both and as always please give me a way to contact you.

Contact me/enter the giveaway via my new form Fill out my form!

The first one is The Love Killers by Jackie Collins, I gave it four stars and have actually read it twice. The spine has no creases and in near perfect condition (there is a tiny crease to the top corner on the cover).

Goodreads synopsis

POWERFUL MEN, BEAUTIFUL WOMEN AND EXQUISITE REVENGE...

Beth, Lara and Rio -- three exotic women with a common cause and vengeance in their hearts.

They're out to avenge a murder and they'll go to any lengths. Their targets: the heirs of the Bassalino crime family. Their weapon: sex. The result: a bloodbath of sexual mayhem through the lethal corridors of organized crime.

Three beautiful women set out to prove that when it comes to revenge, the female is far deadlier than the male -- especially when they're THE LOVE KILLERS. . .


And book 2 is

The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley - I gave this a 3/5 rating whilst others absolutely loved it (I have reviewed it on here also). The spine is uncreased and it is in perfect condition so could be given as a gift.

Goodreads synopsis

She doesn't really know who she is or what she wants...

Corinna is a Folk Keeper. Her job is to keep the mysterious Folk who live beneath the ground at bay. But Corinna has a secret that even she doesn't fully comprehend, until she agrees to serve as Folk Keeper at Marblehaugh Park, a wealthy family's seaside manor. There her hidden powers burst into full force, and Corinna's life changes forever..


Good luck.

Review - Origins by Steve Alten

Meg: Origins by Steve Alten

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I was looking forward to the next installment when I got the email about this one :D

I think if you haven't read any of the series this is a great place to start as for me because I have read the other books and they are quite action packed with lots of appearances from the Meg. This one was still good but because it is the start of the story there is more time dedicated to the characters and the build up for the following books. A short quick read as I finished it in one day.

The other thing I loved is when I get books to review from authors it is almost always .pdf files so you don't get any pictures. This was my first book with pictures and there was one at the start of each chapter, a small thing but I really appreciated it :D


I liked it anyway and think for you shark lovers you will love it, I am just greedy and wanted more (to hear about the other sharks down there and more of Meg). 4/5 for me and waiting patiently for number 5

Available on Amazon for £0.86, cracking deal


View all my reviews

Winner of the 100 Follower giveaway is........

Lisa see her fabulous blog here http://bookalicious-traveladdict.blogspot.com/

Winner was picked by putting names into a bowl and hubby picking one of the pieces of paper out.

Well done Lisa and sorry the September giveaway isn't up yet and the results of the competition were late going up.

Review - Legacy by Danielle Steel

Legacy: A Novel by Danielle Steel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


From the cover

A tale of love, courage and family, interweaving the lives of two extraordinary women - a writer working in the heart of modern academia, and a daring young Sioux of an unforgettable journey in the eighteenth century.

Someday is Brigitte Nicholson's watchword. Someday she and the man she loves, Ted, will clarify their relationship. Someday she'll have children. Someday she'll finish writing her book. Someday she'll stop playig it so safe...Then something happens that changes Brigette's life completely.

Struggling to plot a new course, Brigitte agrees to help her mother on a genealogy project - and makes a discovery that reaches back to the French aristrocracy. How did Brigitte's ancestor, Wachiwi, a Dakota Sioux, travel from the Great Plains to the French court of Marie Antoinette? How did she come to marry into Brigitte's family? Brigitte decides to travel to South Dakota and Paris to follow the path of this exceptional young woman who lived so long ago. And as she begins to solve the puzzle of Wachiwi's journey, her quiet life becomes an adventure of its own.

A chance meeting and a new opportunity put Brigitte back at the heart of her own story. And with family legacy coming to life around her, someday is no longer in the future. Instead, someday is now.

My Review

This is my 3rd book as part of the Transworld Book Group

For me Brigitte is quite an unlikeable character, to start with she just seems efficient and organised if maybe a tad boring. However as the story progresses she has two life changing events in as many days and her character becomes needy and pathetic. It was quite annoying to read and even offputting but I stuck with it and I am glad I did. We are introduced to her ancestor Wachiwi, who is everything Brigitte is not. Strong, courageous, brave, a fighter, she continues to fight for what she wants and loves and considering we are going back to the 1700s when woman had no place doing anything bar raising children and cooking it is a refreshing and amazing change of pace.

The story then goes practically chapter for chapter between the present with Brigitte and the past of Wachiwi's time. The difference between the two women and their lives is amazing and as Brigitte follows the traces to find out more about her ancestor as do we. I had hoped Brigitte would be more like her ancestor the more she discovered and if I am honest I only liked her character in the last chapter.

If the story had purely been about Brigitte it would have been a bore to read but with Wachiwi's tale it brought the rating from a 1 to a 3/5. If nothing else this book should be read for Wachiwi's story which I loved and would have liked to have seen as a stand alone book.



View all my reviews

Review - If I should die Before I wake by Michelle Morris

If I Should Die Before I Wake by Michelle Morris

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


A truely horrific story!

Carla is the main character and we are told the story through her, through her puppets, through her as a child and various stages of her young life to present day. The story starts with Carla having a gun on her father as he sleeps and recounts the horrors she has endured at his hands.

I have read a few of these kind of books and this one has unsettled me more than any of the true life ones. The abuse endured is often told in one or two sentences but this is more than enough to visualize what she has went through.

The story jumps an awful lot from present day to her young past with only her phrases as indication it is back to when she was a child which is quite off putting and confusing. She also talks through her various puppets and as letters or just thoughts directed to Jessie who was someone at the school encouraging the kids to talk out against abuse.

It is quite a strange story, more in the way the character narrates than the story which is easy enough to follow. For some reason this book disturbed me more than any other of its type, combined with the way it was written this is why it gets a 2/5 rating.

If you are considering reading this I advise you to prepare yourself as it is quite disturbing.



View all my reviews

August Pre-loved Giveaway and the winner is.......................

Sarah (no website provided). Well done Sarah, I will email the winner and if I haven't heard back in 24 hours I will pick another.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered. This was the most popular giveaway so far with 74 entries.

I put all of the entries into my cowgirl hat and hubby picked the winner.

There is still 2 days left for the other competiton (to celebrate 100 followers) and the poll to pick which prize you would prefer. Looks like a new book is the favourite by far so if you haven't already entered that it isn't too late.

Review - Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson and Richard Dilallo

Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Blurb from Goodreads

The year is 1906, and America is segregated. Hatred and discrimination plague the streets, the classroom, and the courts. But in Washington, D.C., Ben Corbett, a smart and courageous lawyer, makes it his mission to confront injustice at every turn. He represents those who nobody else dares defend, merely because of the color of their skin. When President Roosevelt, under whom Ben served in the Spanish-American war, asks Ben to investigate rumors of the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in his home town in Mississippi, he cannot refuse.

The details of Ben's harrowing story--and his experiences with a remarkable man named Abraham Cross--were passed from generation to generation, until they were finally recounted to Alex Cross by his grandmother, Nana Mama. From the first time hear heard the story, Alex was unable to forget the unimaginable events Ben witnessed in Eudora and pledged to tell it to the world. Alex Cross's Trial is unlike any story Patterson has ever told, but offers the astounding action and breakneck speed of any Alex Cross novel

My review

Ben goes back to his hometown with a frosty reception from his father but generally welcomed back by the locals until they get an idea of what he is up to. From then on in Bens eyes are openend to the lynching and murder that is going on in his old tonn and where colour really does matter.

Where murder by colour is looked upon as sport and just and the towns folks given right. Where the KKK is very much alive and in practice. Ben starts to realise that people he thought of as good and even friends are racist murderers or at least willing participants.

The story started really good, I was horrified but hooked and couldn't believe the things that was happening. The story reminded me a lot of John Grishams A Time To Kill and Mississippi Burning (the movie with Gene Hackman).

However after a huge buildup at the end the story went a bit flat, it was almost like right I have written the huge awaited outcome so the last few chapters don't matter. I felt Bens character went from being brave, honest and fighting for the people to someone who didn't care, and what happened after the trial? And for the part of the President that really annoyed me too as after setting everything in motion he was largely missing until briefly stepping in at the end. 3/5 for me



View all my reviews