Sunset Blues: The Shadow - Book 1 - Justice is Relative.

By Renée Topper.

 

Rick Cruz, an ex undercover cop, is accused of murdering his uncle who also happens to be the District Attorney. Not the best Monday in Rick's life, huh?

This is a relatively short story, hence it is a quick read.
The story is in the blurb of the book, I don't want to give away what happens, so we will avoid details for now.
So, Rick is an ex cop.
He is quite likeable even though troubled at times.
His personal and professional lives run in parallels, they often collide and at some point Rick finds himself being accused of a murder... To add more trouble to the situation, the victim is his uncle.
Add to the mix a woman and you have a lot more than Rick bargained for.

The book is set at fast pace, although the manner in which it is narrated was not my style. It is quite dynamic, and keeps the story going, yet it seemed to me that it lacked some depth and at times it felt like an adapted shortened version of itself, skipping details and descriptions that would add to the pace more content.

I would much like some more details added to this story, more insightful glimpse. After all, Rick is a cop. And cop's life is never boring!

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth

By Lindsey Lee Johnson.

 

As earlier, I want to mention that all along this book was barely 3 stars for me. Until The Dancer chapter. I thinks last three chapters are the best ones and those alone are worth reading.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

By Gail Honeyman

 

 

A little hint: this book is well worth reading :)))

This book has been a real buzzer since it came out.
I couldn't wait to get to it! And when I got to it, it quite surprised me.
I expected to be completely smitten with the characters, with the story, with the way it's written, the way it turns out to be one rather than the other... But, no, I was not blown away. I was not captivated to a degree, that you just can't put the book down.
First, I found it quite peculiar. Then it became a little annoying in its melancholy and sadness of the same message being stamped page upon page... And then, somewhere near the middle of the book I quite liked it! No, let me re-phrase it: I loved it!

Where They Found Her

By Kimberly McCreight

 

A bit disappointing really as there was so much potential and plenty of opportunities to turn this abrupt and quite boring at times (many times!!) narration into a great psychological thriller with great suspense.
I even liked some of the characters! But that didn't help.

Into The Water

By Paula Hawkins

 



 

 

Yee haw, that was some ride!
A real roller coaster of a book.
It took off fast enough but confusing a bit, as new characters kept popping up.
But the further I read, the clearer it was all getting. Not the mystery part, but the settings, the story and the characters.
I was getting a better picture of that little circle of those who were involved into events, I got to see them from different angles, to learn their secrets, to see what others saw and knew about them.
Yet the more I learned, the less I knew. Does that not make sense? LOL

 

The more I learned, the more possible scenarios were building up in my head as to what could have happened.
It was a great read! I must say, I felt like an investigating officer :))) I was about to put sticky notes on the white board at some stage :)))
I liked the pace of this book. The chapters alternate and present views on the chain of the events from the perspectives of different characters. There's a bit of confusion in the very beginning, but them you get into it and you don't get mixed up. The chapters are not too long to get you forgetting what the previous one was all about :)) yet, they feed you enough to get you guessing new possibilities after each chapter.





Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

By Amy Chua.

 

I'd given this book more, for some parts I'd love to give full 5 stars, but then other things set me back to 3-4 starts, but on the balance, it's 3.5 stars.

"Bill Clinton recently told some Yale students that you can only be really great at something if you love it..."
"But just because you love something, I added to myself, doesn't mean you'll ever be great. Not if you don't work."
This paragraph pretty much sums up the book for me. This is one paragraph that I agree with absolutely and unequivocally!
As to the rest of the 229 pages.... well, mixed feelings, I suppose.

One of Us is Lying

by Karen McManus.

 

 

I am torn between "Aaaw..." and "Wow. That was cool!"...
I must say, I have never seen/read "The Breakfast Club", so those parallels are alien to me.

I really enjoyed this book! The way that at 1.30 am you don't want to put it down and wonder if drinking more coffee will help your eyes to stay open, because you just have to know what happens next... It's one of those books, that I call movie type of a book. When you are reading it, you can see every scene, you imagine every character, every dialog so vividly, so clear, it's like watching a movie.

Being not a fan of YA and having rather preconceived opinion (yes, yes, I am that old wagon, that tells her children "When I was your age...") of it (most times is just overhyped, too obvious, too dramatic... ), I have to say, this one was a pleasant exception.

This book is a good example, that if something is well written, it's good, regardless of its genre, style, etc...
And this book is well written.
Very smooth narration. Even though the story is presented from four different characters, two boys and two girls, it does not feel jumpy, inconsistent or overlapping. There is no confusion, you don't need to flick the pages to check in, whether it was that one, or this one...

There might be no astonishing novelty in the plot, but the idea is still well presented and executed so that it holds your attention.

So, it starts from a school detention session of five students. One of them takes a drink of water and... dies. He suffers a fatal reaction to peanut oil...
Freaky accident? No, impossible. Murder? Yes.
But who would do such a thing? And why??...

Simon was not a popular high school student in a conventional way. Yet, he had a reputation of a weird guy who has a blog where he posted other people's secrets and dirty deeds. Someone cheated on a girlfriend? Made a show of themselves? Lied about something?... be sure it will appear on Simon's blog. The four in detention, who were with Simon, are no exception. They have their secrets, their embarrassing moments. But, then, who doesn't?

Would one's embarrassing moment, a lie, a feeling of guilt be enough to kill a fellow student?

I must confess, from around middle of the book I could foresee where it was all going, but it was still rather satisfying to follow the story.

I really liked the way the characters were composed and how their portraits got more dimensional with subtly added details every now and then.

My favourite one is probably Bronwyn. I'd also say Nate, but he was a bit too sweet for a bad boy. Addy is another great one. You just don't know what that girl can come up with next... Cooper was probably the least intriguing, even though his secrets were deeper than expected. He was kind of "expect the unexpected" type of guy. So even though the surface seems smooth and plain, you know it's not. And it doesn't take long to figure him out.

There was a bit of sappy slag going here too, but not too much, so it did not get on the way. Besides, it was cute :))

So, yes, definitely well deserved four stars.
I should check The Breakfast Club.

P.S. Oh and I like Variations on the Canon!

Last Breath. Detective Erika Foster #4.

by Robert Bryndza.

 

 

Two days i could not put the book down and kept reading at every opportunity I got.
I just had to find out how all this was going to end!

I will not go into the plot and story details, as it is worth reading firsthand. There' s quite a lot happening to Erika. Maybe, even more than usual, which makes the story well packed and eventful. A few unexpected turns, too!

Good suspense, good story twist, a few different lines to follow, all well paced.

What's not to like?

Dark Water. Detective Erika Foster #3.

by Robert Bryndza.

Another good one. DCI Erika Foster has it all this time.

Erika is working on the drugs case, looking for a dumped load, when she finds a body of a little girl who had gone missing years ago.

Erika's gut instinct and professional persistence tell her to re-open the cold case and try to figure out what had actually happened 20-odd years ago. Why was a little girl abducted in the daylight, a few yards away from her own home and why the case was never solved?...

The investigation is not going to be simple. It will have a few throw backs, a few odd findings and it will come to its conclusion, but at what price?...

With so much time gone from the original events, there's little hope to put small pieces of old puzzle together to make a bigger picture, but, as always, Erika is not the one to give up on things just because they are not easy... 

 Exit West

by Mohsin Hamid.

 

I enjoyed this book in a way you'd enjoy a difficult, long walk uphill to see a view worth seeing.

And this book is well worth reading, for it makes you stop and hold your breath for second and think of all the things that you can count as your blessings, it also makes you see lives and feelings, and fears, and love beyond daily statistics of the news reports with better, sharper understanding. Refugee crisis... "Crisis" is a wrong kind of word, it is rather a tragedy.

“We are all migrants through time.” That is so true! We often forget that no matter how settled and comfortable life we lead, we are all only visitors in this world. Moreover, little we do realise (or perhaps chose to forget and try to convince ourselves that our stability is depends on us entirely and once we want stable, safe life, then it will be there for ever) how fragile our lives are, more so nowadays, when the boundaries can get blurred so rapidly and safety is really only an illusion.

Back to the actual book though.

The Night Stalker

By Robert Bryndza.

 

 

 

Woo hoo! DCI Erika Foster has done it again!
This time even better than before!
This is the second book in the series about Detective Erika Foster, and I Liked it even more than the first.
So Erika is trying to figure out who is a mysterious Night Stalker who has killed three people one after another in similar pattern. There's no obvious link between the victims. They don't seem to have enemies as such, those who'd wish their death bad enough.
The killings are quite brutal. The killer is smart and seems to be untraceable.

My Husband's Wife

by Jane Corry.

I was quite hesitant, whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars.

It kept me on the hook, and that's a good reason to give all 4, yet the twists and turns of the plot made me want to ask: "Really?... Does everything have to be so messed up? What happened to good old simple stories, those ones where enough secrets and thrill and mystery but without all those "special" effects that make you think you are reading a textbook chapter on clinical perversions... " And those moments were enough to strip an extra star off.

The Missing Wife

by Sheila O'Flanagan

 

 

 

After being left disappointed with "If You Were Me", my choice of "The Missing Wife" was rather reluctant. I went ahead with this book, more so to see if Sheila O'Flanagan is definitely  "not my type" of a writer. Having said that, after reading quite a few reviews and skimming through the synopsis of the book, I kept hoping that it might be a bit of light-hearted read that I would enjoy... and it was! I did enjoy this book.

 

So... Here we have Imogen and Vince - you typical suburban couple. They have good jobs, nice house in a nice area, they are planning to have a baby soon.... Imogen had spent several years growing up in France, after her dad had died in a car crash. She loved France, she loved her little settled life there... But then things changed and first Imogene got uprooted and returned with her mom to Ireland. A few steps down the road and Imogen's life shattered again, when her mother dies from cancer...

Still lucky to have her step dad and a step sister, Imogen is on the move again. This time to England, where her step dad decides to go.

That's why when Imogen grew up, she craved nothing more than her own family, settled and nice.

Vince became her rock. He is always looking out for Imogen, always protects her and makes sure she does the right things. He loves her and cares for her. He always worries about her.

And what does Imogen do? She hoes on a business trip. And does not return. She goes hiding from her husband.
Why?!! Is she mad? Is there another man? Is she just silly and irresponsible cow?
Not as simple. But no, Imogen is not mad. And she has her reasons to act the way she does...

The Breakdown

by B.A. Paris



This is one of those books, that you hear people talking about. If you didn't get to read it first month it was out, you start feeling, like missed out on something. You read reviews, see topics discussing characters or some things from the book, and you feel excluded... because you haven't read it yet.

You ask your book shop to ring you "immediately" when they get copies, you put your name on the waiting list in the library, you asked all your friends (even those who only read Facebook posts) if anyone got a copy.... and then you get it!...

You anticipate the thrill, you are all excited, imagining what it is all about and how you going to stay up late till the early hours of the morning finishing the chapter...

You eventually make yourself a cup of coffee, get comfortable on the sofa and....

It Ends with Us

by Colleen Hoover

I read this book a while ago and felt a bit at a loss as to review it...
It is not going to be recognised for its great writing, because there are tonnes and tonnes of books that written much better. It is nothing extraordinary when it comes to its storyline. There's nothing in this book that I good pinpoint and tag as "genius" or even "superb"... But nevertheless I would put this book on the "to read" list for every young girl, every woman. Well, and every man, too.
It is an important book in its own right. And if you haven't read it, I think you should....

“Fifteen seconds. That’s all it takes to completely change everything about a person. Fifteen.”

The Girl In The Ice (Detective Erika Foster #1)

by  Robert Bryndza

           

This was unexpected. In a good way!
I was prepared for a psychological thriller, and did not hold my hopes very high.
When I saw that the story is offered from "now" and "then" perspectives, I sighed expecting a jumpy narration which gets you confused and bored half the time...

But this book was really good! And it was different. Even "now" and "then" was not your typical going back and forth.

So... Amber is in a coma...
She is trying to recall what has happened but all she know is that she is in coma, her husband doesn't live her and that... sometimes she lies.

Being unable to speak or move, Amber is trying to figure things out and put a few pieces that are left unharmed in her memory.
She remembers having quite a bit on her plate... Work doesn't seem to be going great. Maybe Jo, Amber's friend can help and they can come up with a plan how to same Amber's work place. Jo seems to be always there for Amber.
Amber's husband is quite withdrawn as well, and their relationship doesn't look great...
Her sister is also a piece of work. Is she trying to get too close to Amber's husband?

Why did Amber say that she lies sometimes? And is it true that she lies? If she lies, then what about and why?

I must say, I loooved the way the book unravelled! From the first page till the very last one there was constantly something that did not let your attention relax.
Just when you think you have figured it out and know what's in store, you turn to the next page and.... it's all not what you had thought! It's all totally different!
Very unusual, gripping read.
I really enjoyed it.
My only point of criticism would be that perhaps I would prefer to opt for some more elaborate descriptions at time, more detailed portrayal of certain episodes.
Other than that, it was very enjoyable!

SHARP OBJECTS

By Gillian Flynn.

Wow! What a great read!
I enjoyed this one as much as Dark Places.
It's such an atmospheric (hm, not sure if that's the right word, but then again, yes, there's an atmosphere there, just different kind; no period drama dresses and décor, more like shivers, creepy sounds in ana abandoned building, smell of unknown...) read, you can nearly feel the sticky heat on your skin, you can smell bourbon and taste dust in your mouth... summer in a small town, where bad things happen...

THE STEPMOTHER

by Claire Seeber

 

It's not exactly a fairy tale about Snow White. It's actually a better story, a darker and a more real story. It could  happen to your sister or a friend...

"Lying in Wait"

by Liz Nugent.

"My Not So Perfect Life"

 by Sophie Kinsella

Sooo... It's Heather Wells Series! Books 1 - 5.

By Meg Cabot.

Size 12 Is Not Fat (Heather Wells #1)

Size 14 Is Not Fat Either (Heather Wells #2) 

Big Boned (Heather Wells #3)

Size 12 and Ready to Rock (Heather Wells #4)

The Bride Wore Size 12 (Heather Wells #5)

Bill Clegg "Did You Ever Have a Family"