Tag: reading

WWW Wednesday: 21st March 2018

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The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

WWW Wednesday

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently ReadingThe Queens of Innis Lear

Yet again I’m a little bit all over the place with my currently reading list and somehow seem to be partway through four books. I am not good at juggling multiple books however so I think my focus is going to be on The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton which I received from the publisher via NetGalley. So far I’ve literally only read the first chapter (well maybe two depending on when you’re reading this) so it’s a little too early to tell. I had no idea when I requested it that it’s a retelling of King Lear (despite the clue in the title). I’m really hoping you don’t need to know anything about the play to fully appreciate this as I don’t. It’s possibly the Shakespeare play I know least about.

The other two books I’m partway through are Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen and Sherlock Holmes story, The Sign of Four. I just kept seeing Northanger Abbey everywhere and it is my fave Austen so I couldn’t resist a re read and as for Holmes, I’ve been slowly working my way through the collection and this one fit a challenge.

The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny, #2)

On audio I’m still listening to The Sweetest Burn, the second in the Broken Destiny series by Jeaniene Frost. I do love Jeaniene Frost but this book just isn’t working for me the way they usually do. The main character is a bit moany, and has a tendency to get a touch hysterical every time someone tries to kill her (which is a lot) so it’s getting on my nerves (some people are just total drama queen’s honestly!!) I will however persevere to find out how it ends, although I think there may be a book 3 still to come.

Recently Finished

The Fill-In BoyfriendHmm, I thought I’d read more but just checking back and it looks like I’ve finished three books this week, or really two as I’d technically already finished the first of the three, The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West last week. Given one of the other books finished was PS I Like You I think I can admit to a bit of a Kasie West Reading Fest over the last couple of weeks. They are not the most original plot wise but there’s just something completely addictive about them, and they’re just such easy and fun reading. I’ve been tempted to do a bulk review post, rating and ranking them, but my fave so far has to be The Distance Between Us (mostly because of all the creepy doll jokes).

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn HardcastleThe other book finished this week was The Seven (or 7 ½ if you’re in the US) Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and boy was this a book and a half. I will be posting a review probably this weekend or early next week but I can say now that it’s getting a full five stars. It’s like a mix between a classic Agatha Christie murder mystery with some Quantum Leap/Groundhog Day thrown in. I very much liked the writing and how vivid and atmospheric the whole thing was but most of all I loved the complexity and originality of the story. I finished it very late on Sunday night and am still pondering various aspects a few days later. I do wonder though if this is what’s making it so difficult for me to start something new.

Reading Next

I’m not going to list anything here just now as I’m planning to post my Spring TBR in the next day or two with all of my upcoming reads, including a few ARCs I’m very excited about.

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

Mini Review: Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

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Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter
Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

From the very first page I knew I was going to love this book, hell from the blurb I knew I was going to love this book, and it did not disappoint.

THE BLURB

Dear Logan,
Someday I’m going to write a book: How Not to Die in Alaska – A Girl’s Guide to Fashionable Survival.

I bet you don’t know that a hair pin can make an excellent fishing hook. You may think you can use just any kind of mud for mud masks, but trust me, you CAN’T! In a pinch, nothing starts a fire like nail polish remover. Alaska is tough. You might know this, if you ever replied to my letters.

After Maddie’s Secret Service dad takes a bullet for the president, he takes Maddie somewhere he thinks they’ll be safe – far away from the White House and the president’s son, Logan.

But when Logan comes to Alaska, so does the danger.

If there’s one thing Alaska has taught Maddie, it’s how to survive. And now her best friend’s life depends on it …

MY REVIEW

This book is fast paced, full of action and so so funny. Madison (Maddie, Mad Dog) Manchester is just the best main character. She’s totally kick ass and runs rings around both teenage boys and trained assassins. I do think she’s totally crazy and over the top but it makes for some fantastically fun reading. I love how she has all of these incredible survival skills, is super smart but seems most concerned about her beauty regime and how her hair looks. She plays the stereotypical silly little girl to perfection while really out plotting and scheming just about everyone. I loved how fearless she was and how independent and just how funny she could be.

Unfortunately though being such a strong main character, she leaves pretty much everyone else in her shade. Former best friend and potential love interest Logan is likeable enough and there’s some great banter between them but he’s not as strong a character so gets left behind a little.

I loved the Alaskan setting and the plot has plenty of action and excitement throughout. The writing is short and punchy adding a lot of pace to the story but still giving you a great sense of place and characters.

If I had one criticism, and it’s a pretty minor one, it’s that I thought it got a little bit repetitive in places. We get it Alaska is dangerous and there’s a serious lack of bedazzled weapons.

Other than that I loved it and am off in search of more books by Ally Carter.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. As always all thoughts are my own.

Teaser Tuesday: 20th March 2018

Ali@abookishlife5 Comments

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purple Booker. If you want to join in grab your current read, flick to a random page, select two sentences (without spoilers) and share them in a blog post or in the comments of The Purple Booker.


This week my teaser comes from The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, a book I’d had my eye on for a while and was lucky enough to receive a copy of from NetGalley. I read the majority of this over the weekend and honestly I can’t recommend it highly enough. Such a clever and intricately plotted story and such brilliant writing. I absolutely loved it.

My Teaser

Yet instead of being angry he pities me. That’s the worst part. Anger’s solid; it has weight. You can beat your fists against it. Pity’s a fog to become lost within.

~ loc 236 The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

BlurbThe Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

How do you stop a murder that’s already happened?

At a gala party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed–again. She’s been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden’s only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend–but nothing and no one are quite what they seem.

Deeply atmospheric and ingeniously plotted, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a highly original debut that will appeal to fans of Kate Atkinson and Agatha Christie.

Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

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Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first half of this book was easily a five star read, intriguing and addictive with a style that was truly unique. I felt like it lost focus in the second half but I still can’t wait to read the rest of this series.

THE BLURB

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

MY REVIEW

Okay, I know I am very possibly the last person on the planet to actually read this book and everyone is off reading Restore Me the first book in the new trilogy but for some reason I’ve never really been able to find it. It’s one of those series that everyone seems to go on about how much they either love or hate it but while I was really desperate to read it (so I could make up my own mind) it just wasn’t on Amazon (and okay I could have ordered it from somewhere else but I’m lazy).

Needless to say when it popped up on NetGalley I started hammering that request button like a request button hammering machine (these should totally exist) and hurrah my request was approved (thank you NetGalley gods). As you can probably guess I had to start reading it immediately, and from the very first few pages it blew me away.

The style of it is just so unusual but so absolutely brilliant, I loved it. There was a warning at the start from the publisher that there would be crossed out words, numbers and generally just jumbled sentences and repetition and that this was deliberate (I guess some people have complained) and this really intrigued me and I thought worked so well for the story. Main character Juliette has been locked away, completely alone for almost a year so I think having some slightly scatty thoughts should be expected. I’m not sure what this says about me but there was so much I could relate to in terms of how her mind worked. Becoming fixated on things, getting easily distracted by objects that catch your eye and counting when stressed are all things I have been known to do on occasion so for me this seemed, not quite normal but certainly understandable.

This also made me sympathetic towards Juliette from the very beginning and I have to say that as a character I did like her a lot. I felt incredibly sorry for her, the prison spell is just the latest in a long list of bad things that have happened to her, but for the most part I really admired her. It would be so easy for her to be angry or dark but she fights all of the time to be a good person and to not hurt anyone.

The beginning of this book was definitely the highlight for me and I felt certain this was going to be a five star read. I loved the confined setting and the way the relationship between Juliette and her new cell mate Adam develops, I loved the writing style and how stream of conscious-like it was and I loved how the author slowly introduced this dystopian world through Juliette’s memories and Adam’s updates. I even loved when Juliette was plucked from her confinement and given the option of freedom in exchange for working as a weapon for the Reestablishment.

Captor and potential savior Warner is an absolutely wonderful villain. There’s something about him that could most certainly turn you to the dark side even while he’s being completely evil. He can rationalize everything and almost convince you that he’s right. The scenes between him and Juliette were absolutely wonderful. He tempts and torments and somehow worms his way into her mind, promising everything she could ever want while showing her just how dark he is. I really wanted as much of him as possible.

It is however around this point that I felt the book began to lose its way and what began as an intriguing dystopian turned into more of a romance. I do like a good romance and was definitely on board with that ship but it seemed to take over the whole story and was focused on at the most inappropriate of times. Yes, they may be on the run, seriously injured, possibly dying but let’s just have a big long conversation about our feelings, rather than ya know running, getting help. Added to this the wonderful style used in the beginning was gradually phased out as Juliette became used to being around other people. I do understand this, it makes sense with the story but combined with the focus on the relationship it became a little bit average (sorry).

It is for the most part an intriguing and exciting story and had the focus not shifted this would have received the full five stars from me but unfortunately the second half was a little too heavy on the romance (and I read a lot of romance). I am however very excited about reading the rest of the books in the series and pre ordered the lot. I’m keeping everything crossed it returns to form, I really think it will.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. As always this has not influenced my review.

WWW Wednesday: 14th March 2018

Ali@abookishlife44 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

WWW Wednesday

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

The Fill-In BoyfriendI did technically finish The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West last night but I haven’t really started anything else yet so lets just pretend I’m still reading it. I’ve had this on my Amazon wishlist for a while and finally it appeared on Overdrive so I couldn’t resist picking it up. I’m a big fan of the pretend relationship turning into real feelings plot and West just does it so well. Main character Gia is maybe not the most likeable, particularly in the beginning but she did grow on me and there were plenty of other brilliant and funny characters to make up for her, plus the romance was kinda sweet.

The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny, #2)Unfortunately the book I was listening to, The Black Witch by Laurie Forest, returned itself to the library and someone else had a hold so it seems I’m going to have to wait a bit for it. I have however managed to get my hands on The Sweetest Burn by Jeaniene Frost which is the second in the Broken Destiny series. I’m not as keen on this as on the author’s other books (the MC gets on my nerves) but it has been giving me a giggle.

Recently Finished

The Queen’s Rising

It’s been another busy week for me as I’m hoping to put my flat on the market and looking for a new house. This has unfortunately required a big clear out and a lot of cleaning. I have however managed to finish three books this week, the first of which was The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross. I received this from NetGalley and have to confess with the mixed reviews I was a little wary going in. I did however end up enjoying it much more than I expected. I’ve been a little down on YA and YA fantasy at the moment but this restored a little bit of the love. It has a few pacing issues but I did like the author’s writing and will be looking out for a sequel. You can read my full review here.

The Distance Between UsBecause I clearly don’t have enough books on my TBR mountain, I decided after finishing Queen’s Rising to have a look around on Overdrive and, lo and behold, my library have gotten a load of new books in. All reading plans therefore went straight out of the window and I decided to read The Distance Between Us by Kasie West. The only other Kasie West I’d read was On the Fence and while I enjoyed it I hadn’t massively loved it. This however, I did love mostly due to main character Caymen’s sense of humour. I found myself cracking up laughing on the train (little bit embarrassing) and could not put it down. There were a couple of parts that bugged me and the ending seemed a little too sudden but overall this was just such a fun read.Daughter of the Pirate King (Daughter of the Pirate King, #1)

Speaking of fun reads, I needed something to distract me while cleaning (I hate cleaning) so couldn’t resist listening to the audio book of Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller which I also found on Overdrive (I love my library). I think I probably would have preferred to read this (and am thinking about doing this anyway) as I didn’t give it as much attention as it deserved but I did really love it and can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel.

Reading Next

Two of the books that have been on my wishlist forever, Eliza and her Monsters and Girls Made of Snow and Glass also appeared on Overdrive this week so I think they will probably be my next reads. I also have a couple of NetGalley ARCs I’m hoping to get to soon, The Exact Opposite of Okay and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I’m actually planning to read Seven Deaths as part of a structured group read on GoodReads’ Nothing But Reading Challenges Group which starts on the 16th. We are a little light on numbers for the discussion so if anyone is interested in joining you can find it here.

Eliza and Her MonstersGirls Made of Snow and GlassThe Seven Deaths of Evelyn HardcastleThe Exact Opposite of Okay

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

Teaser Tuesday: 13th March 2018

Ali@abookishlife4 Comments

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purple Booker. If you want to join in grab your current read, flick to a random page, select two sentences (without spoilers) and share them in a blog post or in the comments of The Purple Booker.


This week I’m going for a classic for my teaser with Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. I think this may be my favorite Austen (although it’s a pretty close run thing with Persuasion) as I find it the easiest and most amusing of her books. I absolutely adore all of the gothic elements and how it highlights the dangers of too much reading 😉 I do think Austen is a little harsh on her poor heroine though.

My Teaser

Such were her propensities – her abilities were quite as extraordinary. She never could learn or understand anything before she was taught; and sometimes not even then, for she was often inattentive, and occasionally stupid.

~ page 1 Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

BlurbNorthanger Abbey

Jane Austen’s first novel—published posthumously in 1818—tells the story of Catherine Morland and her dangerously sweet nature, innocence, and sometime self-delusion. Though Austen’s fallible heroine is repeatedly drawn into scrapes while vacationing at Bath and during her subsequent visit to Northanger Abbey, Catherine eventually triumphs, blossoming into a discerning woman who learns truths about love, life, and the heady power of literature. The satirical novel pokes fun at the gothic novel while earnestly emphasizing caution to the female sex.

Review: The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross

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The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross
The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

The Queen’s Rising may seem a little familiar in terms of story but there’s something very intriguing about it and I loved the author’s writing. I’m really looking forward to the next book in the trilogy.

THE BLURB

Born out of wedlock, Brienna is cast off by her noble family and sent to Magnolia House – a boarding house for those looking to study the passions: art, music, dramatics, wit and knowledge. Brienna must discover her passion and train hard to perfect her skill, in the hope that she will one day graduate and be chosen by a wealthy patron, looking to support one of the `impassioned’.

As Brienna gets closer to the eve of her graduation, she also grows closer to her smart (and handsome) tutor, Cartier. He can sense that she is hiding a secret, but Brienna chooses not to reveal that she is experiencing memories of her ancestors – memories uncovering the mysteries of the past that may have dangerous consequences in the present.

A daring plot is brewing – to overthrow the usurper king and restore the rightful monarchy – and Brienna’s memories hold the key to its success. Cartier desperately wants to help Brienna, but she must chose her friends wisely, keep her enemies close and trust no one if she is to save herself and her people.

MY REVIEW

This book really surprised me with just how good it was. This probably doesn’t sound like much of a compliment but I’ve been pretty down on YA and YA fantasy in particular recently so for any book in this genre to impress me is a real achievement.

It didn’t particularly help that this book doesn’t seem to get the best reviews. There are some who love it but there are more than a few who fall on the “it’s too slow” or “it’s not original enough” side of the fence. Needless to say I was a little wary going in (I really need to stop reading reviews before picking up a book). But, while this book did take a little bit to get going there was something about it that I really loved. Yes, it does have some issues (that’s why I couldn’t give it 5 stars) but I found myself being drawn completely into the story and the world that the author created.

I will admit it is absolutely full of the usual YA fantasy tropes, mystery about main character’s background (she doesn’t know who her father is), discovery of unexpected abilities and important role (special snowflake alert), evil dictator style ruler, secret identities and forbidden romance but with likeable characters and an intriguing world I was happy to go along for the ride.

I thought Brienna made for a wonderful main character. She’s clever, inquisitive, brave and more importantly conflicted a lot of the time. She’s often feeling a number of emotions at once and I loved how the author portrayed this confusion, which is just so relatable. She has no special skills or abilities, no real passion for anything (other than finding out more about her background) so is often feeling a little lost, particularly as she’s surrounded in school by the incredibly talented who know exactly what their path is.

This ability of the author to make you relate so strongly to the main character and the way she portrayed emotions was definitely one of the highlights for me. I felt all of the feels and I loved the relationships between the characters. The romance may have been a little bit wrong (I won’t go into the why) but I shipped it so much. Similarly the friendships between the women in the book in particular were so well developed and real. I loved how they supported each other.

Some of the other relationships worked a little less well and I do feel the author should have maybe taken a little more time over them. They developed a little too quickly for me to fully buy into them but this was due to what was my main issue with this story, the pacing. There is just a tad too much time spend on some sections and nowhere near enough on others. I can understand why some reviewers describe it as slow, the beginning in particular feels slow as the author takes a while to gradually build the world and the relationships between certain characters. I personally enjoyed these sections (I was very happy watching one relationship develop) but I can understand it frustrating others. Where I found issue was with the instant relationships. One very brief conversation seemed to be enough to form a lasting bond and intense loyalty which I’m not buying.

There isn’t a huge amount of action in this story, for the most part it’s plotting and scheming, unraveling mysteries and travelling across the world but it does have its moments. What violence there is tends to be sudden but I should add a warning that it’s a little gruesome in places and even I found it to be shocking. I did however love the contrast the author created between the two kingdoms Valenia and Maevana, one seeming very cultured and refined and the other brutal and savage and I think this occasional violence illustrated it well.

Overall this was a very enjoyable read and while I think it could have worked as a standalone I will be very interested to see how the story develops over the next two books.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. This has in no way influenced my review.

WWW Wednesday: 7th March 2018

Ali@abookishlife16 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

WWW Wednesday

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently ReadingThe Queen’s Rising

I picked up The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross on Monday morning but haven’t made a huge amount of progress on it so far. This is one of those titles that NetGalley tempted me with and I couldn’t resist despite being a little bit down on YA at the moment. I’m starting to wonder if I’ve hit some particular age where I’m too old for it, although my Mum’s 70 and she likes her YA fantasy and sci fi. It’s probably more likely that I’m just reading too much of it and it’s all becoming a bit samey. Ah well, maybe this will surprise me. I’m keeping everything crossed.
The Black Witch (The Black Witch Chronicles, #1)

No progress in the past week on the audio of The Black Witch by Laurie Forest. I have been stuck inside for pretty much the last week so no driving which is when I usually listen to my audios. I’ve also been feeling pretty anxious, about everything and nothing, so I’ve found my mind wandering a lot and have been having trouble concentrating. Focusing on an audio is just not happening.

Recently Finished

I had last week off work and ended up trapped indoors by snowmageddon (seriously there were 6 inches which apparently is enough to bring Scotland to a standstill) so I did quite a bit of reading (and snow shoveling) and finished four books.A Man Called Ove

The first of these was A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. This was my pick for RL book club and I think it was a brilliant choice even if I do say so myself. Such an emotional read, I think yet again I cried my way through about half of it and at the most unexpected parts. I adored Ove, he’s such a lovable grump and his interactions with the boisterous family who move in next door are hilarious. I was kind of worried it was going to have a sad ending but without saying whether it was or wasn’t, it was absolutely perfect.

Wye: A Zombie NovelThe second book finished was  Wye: A Zombie Novel by Jack Croxall. This was one of those semi random picks from kindle unlimited and turned out to be a pretty interesting story. It’s told in the form of a journal written by Wye (Theadora) as she travels across England after the zombie apocalypse has killed all of her family and friends. All is not as it seems however and even from the beginning it is clear that Wye is not the most reliable of narrators. This wasn’t without its flaws, it’s a little bit slow in places and I found the jumps back and forward in time confusing as there are no headers or dates, but it’s an intriguing story and I’d read more from this author.

The Truth About AliceAfter Wye I was in the mood for something a bit more positive and uplifting and picked up The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu, an ARC I’d received via NetGalley. I was expecting this to be similar to Moxie which left me feeling all fired up but unfortunately this turned out to have the opposite effect. It’s about the damage rumors can do to a reputation, slut shaming and what lengths people will go to to be part of the popular crowd so it depressed the hell out of me. None of the characters are particularly likable (maybe one) so it was difficult to care about them or what the truth about Alice was.

Bring Me BackThe final book finished was thriller, Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris which I also received from NetGalley. This was one of those completely addictive reads. I swear every chapter ends with some kind of cliffhanger or teaser of what’s to come so you have to keep reading (damn you B A Paris). I ended up reading the whole thing, cover to cover, on Sunday. I probably should have been cleaning or writing up this weeks blog posts but that just didn’t happen. Needless to say I’m writing this late on Tuesday night.

Reading Next

I’ve managed to get my NetGalley shelf down over the last couple of weeks so I would like to reduce it even further by reading Skin Deep by Liz Nugent and The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven. I’m also way too excited about the Shatter Me series finally being available on Amazon. I received the first book from NetGalley and pre-ordered the remaining books as soon as I finished it. I’m thinking it may be time for a full on series binge this weekend starting with Unravel Me.

The Exact Opposite of OkaySkin DeepUnravel Me (Shatter Me, #2)

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

Teaser Tuesday: 6th March 2018

Ali@abookishlife1 Comment

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purple Booker. If you want to join in grab your current read, flick to a random page, select two sentences (without spoilers) and share them in a blog post or in the comments of The Purple Booker.


This week my teaser comes from The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu, author of Moxie. I absolutely loved Moxie so was very excited to receive this from NetGalley and read it at the end of last week. I wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it but I’m afraid my expectations were a little too high and it was a bit disappointing. You can read my full review here.

My Teaser

‘I’m not a sideshow attraction.’

And she wasn’t. Not to me.

She was the main attraction.

But I had no way to tell her that.

~ 19% The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

BlurbThe Truth About Alice

Everyone knows Alice slept with two guys at one party.
But did you know Alice was sexting Brandon when he crashed his car?
It’s true. Ask ANYBODY.

Rumour has it that Alice Franklin is a slut. It’s written all over the ‘slut stall’ in the girls’ bathroom at Healy High for everyone to see. And after star quarterback Brandon Fitzsimmons dies in a car accident, the rumours start to spiral out of control.

In this remarkable novel, four Healy High students – the party girl, the car accident survivor, the ex best friend and the boy next door – tell all they know.

But exactly what is the truth about Alice? In the end there’s only one person to ask: Alice herself.

ARC Review: Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

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Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This may have a familiar plot but it’s packed full of tension and has enough twists and cliffhangers to make it a truly addictive read.

THE BLURB

A young British couple are driving through France on holiday when they stop for gas. He runs in to pay, she stays in the car. When he returns her car door has been left open, but she’s not inside. No one ever sees her again.

Ten years later he’s engaged to be married; he’s happy, and his past is only a tiny part his life now. Until he comes home from work and finds his new wife-to-be is sitting on their sofa. She’s turning something over in her fingers, holding it up to the light. Something that would have no worth to anyone else, something only he and she would know about because his wife is the sister of his missing first love.

As more and more questions are raised, their marriage becomes strained. Has his first love somehow come back to him after all this time? Or is the person who took her playing games with his mind?

MY REVIEW

A truly addictive read I devoured the whole book more or less in one sitting. It is very much the classic psychological thriller but while parts seemed familiar and it was occasionally predictable the quality of writing made it a very enjoyable read.

It is a classic story, man’s soon to be wife disappears following a row and many years later it seems she, or someone connected to her disappearance, may have returned just as he’s about to marry her sister. What do they want, do they really know what happened to wife to be Layla, could they in fact be her or is someone just stirring up trouble?

This is a very twisty story that’s packed full of tension and almost every character seems to be hiding something. The author keeps you hooked throughout by dropping little hints and teasers, usually at the end of the chapter, so you have no choice but to keep reading. It’s frustrating as hell at times but effective. There are maybe a couple of pacing issues, some sections were dragged out a little too long in my opinion, but these are easily forgiven.

The story is told predominantly from main character Finn’s point of view and while I never really liked him, he has a temper, lies, threatens and is abusive, I did find him an intriguing character to read. I do often think however that it’s the horrible people who are the most enjoyable to read.

In the second part of the story he’s joined by another narrator whose voice I wasn’t so keen on. There was just something a little too much about it, but it was maybe just that I’m not a fan of the whole voices in my head thing. It tends to result in lots of eye rolling by me.

I also think the story was a little light in terms of secondary characters. I would have liked them to feature a little more and to get some more insight into their motivations. Finn’s best friend Harry for example is constantly bailing him out of trouble or riding in to the rescue despite knowing what he’s like and being treated badly. Finn is violent towards everyone but they all seem to want to help him. It just didn’t make sense to me.

Despite these niggles I did very much enjoy this story and even the ending which I guessed around halfway through was worth waiting for.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. As always all thoughts are my own.