The War of The Worlds by H G Wells

The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 6 days

Pages - 192

Publisher - 451 Flame Tree

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Cylinders land on Earth ans the invaders, from Mars, with heir huge, round bodies with tentacles, start to vaporize people on earth. Houses, towns ans cities are soon destroyed in a spiral of violence, creating civil panic ans mass evacuations before a foul black smoke is released by the agressive alien force. But the fightback must begin, and it comes from an unexpected quarter. H. G. Wells' classic tale of invasion has stirred our imagination for over a hundred years. Its intense mix of realism and fantasy continues to prick at anyone interested in a great adventure story by a master storyteller.


My Review

I don't think there is many, if any, who aren't familiar with The War of the Worlds, be it book or movies(s), I have seen some of the films but never read the book. Told in first person point of view we follow the main character, middle aged/older gentleman who lives near the first crash landing. From the initial speculation, group gathering, sightings to the realisation of the threat to all out war against humans.

With this guy we go through each stage, speculation, intrigue, fear to running for your life, survival and trying to keep ahead of the aliens, their weapons and the uglier dangerous side of humanity/survivors.

Absolute survivalism and we get to see a few sides to humanity and how people deal with it, tackle it and get through it (or not). The advancement of the aliens, how quickly they overcome us and how utterly helpless we are against their attack and different weapons. At one point he likens us to ants and or how humans treat animals as food and now we are on the receiving end of an unstoppable predator(s) and slaughter.

I absolutely will be rewatching the movies I think, I do enjoy a good alien read/film and enjoyed reading this one, I also think I will rewatch the one Stephen King done. Everytime I read of the red material covering stuff in my head all I kept saying was Ripley :P, if you know you know, 4/5 for me this time.

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August/September giveaway

Apologies how long it has took to sort this, we have put up a wee giveaway on our Insta already so not completely behind.

So for this month's giveaway what do we have?

A bloody handprints book protector as shown

One phone holder, as shown

And last but not least a wee pin badge, again as shown in the photo.

The usual, it is as in the pictures, the winner gets the bundle in the picture, no exchanges and as we are posting this out it is open worldwide.

To enter, just use the Rafflecopter below, the more entries completed the more your times your name goes in, good luck, competition will run until the end of next month.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunshine on Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith

Sunshine on Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days (in and out)

Pages -

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

With customary charm and deftness, Alexander McCall Smith gives us another instalment in this popular series, now running in its eighth season in The Scotsman. Will Big Lou find true love at last? Will Bertie's healthy snacks go down well at his school fair? And has Bruce Anderson really won the lottery? It s time to catch up with the delightful goings-on in 44 Scotland Street!



My Review

This is book eight in the series, you can get away reading it as a standalone but I doubt you would enjoy it as much. There is a group of characters and we follow their lives and dramas so it is better to know their back stories to enjoy their current predicaments. Bertie ah poor wee Bertie, I do hope his overbearing mother gets some sort of Karma, she is a horror. We see the narcissistic Bruce make a reappearance and things take a weird twist, I am looking forward to picking up with that again. The wedding of the year, big Lou and a few pop ups from some of our other characters in this one. Cyril (the dog) gets a good bit more time/scenes/action in this one and whilst it may not be to everyones liking I do enjoy his doggy musings/thoughts.

It is like Friends but mixed ages and folk living locally/close in Edinburgh, poking a bit of fun at classisms and from the young to the elderly all the drama's and happenings! For me these books are a nice wee escapism from your everyday life and a bit of being a nosey neighbour almost :D

Light, fun, nothing too deep or dark. I will continue reading the series and hoping wee Bertie gets a break away from his overbearing mother and maybe his da will come through for him, 4/5. This has probably been one of the ones of the series I enjoyed more.

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A Mother's Secret by Katie Flynn

A Mother's Secret by Katie Flynn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 426

Publisher -

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

The brand new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author

Though she may feel lost, she will never give up on finding the truth…

1941: Libby’s life on the sprawling farm at Hollybank is a far cry from the bustling streets of London where she grew up, but after the tragic death of her parents she moved to Liverpool to be closer to her long-lost aunt and uncle.

When she discovers they are far from the decent people they claimed to be and have spun a web of lies about her late mother, Libby’s world is shaken. But she is determined to set the story straight and embarks on a journey to unravel the devastating secret her mother kept until her dying day.

Can Libby separate the truth from the lies, and forge a brighter future for herself?


My Review

Set in 1941, war is ongoing (themed throughout the book but not the main focus), it is a saga, small town and some good characters and some real shady potatoes! Libby and co are our main characters Libby has discovered some old diaries of her mums and finds out some things that shake her to her core. We find a lot of exploitation going on, people taking advantage of people, pretending to be something their aren't and out to get what they can for themselves with zero moral compass.

The story I believe features characters from previous books and act as standalones but I kinda felt a bit out the loop for some of this. Like the importance of the diaries, did we meet her mum before or Libby and would that have had a bigger impact on the finding of these and exposure of lies?

I really liked the girls from the farms and the newest addition to their group, an animal makes everything better and that which is good it takes to great. Relationships, families, skulduggery, criminality, it has a wee bit of everything set in the timeline of world war 2. I liked it but didn't love it and I do enjoy this authors works I just felt a bit like maybe I had missed out on important back story, maybe its just me. I do intend of getting the other books and may make more of an effort to read in order of release, 3/5.

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The Last Resort by Susi Holliday

The Last Resort by Susi Holliday
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 2 days

Pages -

Publisher -

Source -

Blurb from Goodreads

Seven strangers. Seven secrets. One perfect crime.

When Amelia is invited to an all-expenses-paid retreat on a private island, the mysterious offer is too good to refuse. Along with six other strangers, she’s told they’re here to test a brand-new product for Timeo Technologies. But the guests’ excitement soon turns to terror when the real reason for their summons becomes clear.

Each guest has a guilty secret. And when they’re all forced to wear a memory-tracking device that reveals their dark and shameful deeds to their fellow guests, there’s no hiding from the past. This is no luxury retreat—it’s a trap they can’t get out of.

As the clock counts down to the lavish end-of-day party they’ve been promised, injuries and in-fighting split the group. But with no escape from the island—or the other guests’ most shocking secrets—Amelia begins to suspect that her only hope for survival is to be the last one standing. Can she confront her own dark past to uncover the truth—before it’s too late to get out?



My Review

A group (seven) of popular individuals, influencers, top gamer, celeb style individuals are invited to the island, a vip trip where they will be spoiled and try out the newest technology on offer. On the flight there the group suddenly find themselves not having the trip they expected and having to put on a device that gets into their memories. The thing being, they all have a secret they wish to protect, one that could ruin their lives if it got out. Stranded and their secrets slowly being exposed the group find themselves turning on each other and doing what they need to to survive.

I think I really liked how this started out, bunch of spoiled people who care about themselves and their over inflated opinions grating! Not very likeable characters bar Amelia, she seems ok but it takes us longer to find out what her chat is as her device is a wee bit different to the others.

The book gave me vibes of Lord of the Flies but with adults and not as in your face feralness with each other and echoes of a few others. You feel tension and know something is coming but not what, nothing is what it seems on the face of it and you question what is coming and what you are being told.

I didn't like a whole lot of them so was absolutely wanting them to get their comeuppance. I felt that last quarter of the book took a bit of a different feel so for me, overall 3/5. I think this was my first time reading this author, I would read her again.

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Swimming to Lundy by Amanda Prowse

Swimming to Lundy by Amanda Prowse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 408

Publisher - Lake Union

Source - Arc

Blurb from Goodreads

A poignant and inspiring story from million-copy bestselling author Amanda Prowse about how it’s never too late to follow your dreams and find your way back to happiness.

Tawrie Gunn feels stuck. She’s spent her whole life in the same seaside town with her beloved Nana and grief-stricken mum, all of them still reeling in different ways from the tragic loss of Tawrie’s dad at sea. Desperate for a change, she challenges herself to take up wild swimming—every morning, no excuses, from March till September.

Daring to take the plunge with the ‘Peacock Swimmers’, Tawrie feels alive in a way she’s never known. Suddenly it seems she might be able to step outside her comfort zone after all and let life surprise her—perhaps even dream of a future beyond the shores of Ilfracombe? Especially when, one day, she spots a man in a pink linen shirt who seems as eager for a new start as she does.

But it turns out taking risks on land is a little different from wading into the sea. Can Tawrie face her fears head-on and find her way to happiness? She knows it’s never too late to pursue your hopes and dreams, but it might be easier said than done…



My Review

Two timelines, two main character threads. Tawrie, present day (well 2023) and Harriet 2002, we go back and forth between the two, very different ladies. Tawrie is stuck inher small town, with her gran and mum, mum is an alcoholic, she works for her cousin in a cafe and remains the solid in her little world. She takes up wild swimming and meets a fabulous older couple and a new person who makes her feel things she has never felt and opens up her life, heart, mind and to possibilities outside her tiny patch/routine with some life changing consequences. Harriet and her family have moved to escape that which turned their world upside down, slowly with each chapter we find out what that is and how Harriet will cope, did she make the right decision and can you ever outrun your problems?

The story has huge family themes, Tawrie is the only child and completely locked to her routine/family. Harriet is completely family orientated and struggling to come to terms with a revelation that rocked her family. Both timelines feature similar themes, love, family, sacrifice, putting your family first, their needs before yours and infidelity pops up too. Tawrie is on a journey, taking up wild swimming and finding a freedom she hasn't had before but also bringing her "closer" to her dad. Harriet takes solace in writing a diary to try and work through her thoughts/feelings and steps to getting through that which has threatened her family life and happiness.

Prowse has a way of creating characters you find yourself either drawn to or empathising with, they have the same issues we do or loved ones have went through. Alcoholism, loss, feelings of being trapped but wanting to be there for your family and do what is right. Personal growth, achievements, small town life, scandal, struggles within every day life. FYI even though the cover has shark fins I can confirm there are no sharks in the book lol. Pages turning, relatively short chapters which you know I love, drama, scandal, love, hope, family bonds, it has a bit of something for everyone. This isn't my first dance with this author, I have quite a few on my tbrm and more I need to buy. When you want to step out of your own life and into others for a wee bit Prowse is always a good shout, 4/5 for me.

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The Mercy Chair by M W Craven

The Mercy Chair by M.W. Craven
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 4 days

Pages - 485

Publisher - Constable

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin . . .

Washington Poe has a story to tell.

And he needs you to listen.

You'll hear how it started with the robber birds. Crows. Dozens of them. Enough for a murder . . .

He'll tell you about a man who was tied to a tree and stoned to death, a man who had tattooed himself with a code so obscure, even the gifted analyst Tilly Bradshaw struggled to break it. He'll tell you how the man's murder was connected to a tragedy that happened fifteen years earlier when a young girl massacred her entire family.

And finally, he'll tell you about the mercy chair. And why people would rather kill themselves than talk about it . . .
Poe hopes you've been paying attention. Because in this story, nothing is as it seems . . .



My Review

Book six in the Tilly and Poe series, we open with Poe talking to a mental health professional after he has had a traumatic case. Whilst Poe takes us back to before, during and after the incident, in between reliving it and back and forth to the doctors office. A religious fanatic/leader is found murdered, tied to a tree and stoned to death. Poe has to figure out who targeted him and why kill him in such a way. Someone new is assigned to the team and following Poe and co as they delve into the case, Poe is untrusting as is his way and actually quite funny (and rude) to the new guy.

I love Tilly and Poe, no secret at all they are polar opposites and work so so well together. Now on the case they have to look into the past and the dead mans community/followers - secrets, shady behaviours galore so walls flung up at every corner.

Some of the backstory and things Poe discovers is pretty shocking, hate filled, bile, horrific like I can't go into it without spoilers but absolutely shocking hate/violence/torture/homophobia. As usual Craven is really good at weaving a twisty tale but prepared to be angry/outraged. 4/5 from me this time, not sure where Craven is going to take the story next but we look forward to it!

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