Review: Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner

On March 13, 2022March 8, 2022 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Helen has it all…
Daniel is the perfect husband.
Rory is the perfect brother.
Serena is the perfect sister-in-law.
And Rachel? Rachel is the perfect nightmare.
When Helen, finally pregnant after years of tragedy, attends her first antenatal class, she is expecting her loving architect husband to arrive soon after, along with her confident, charming brother Rory and his pregnant wife, the effortlessly beautiful Serena. What she is not expecting is Rachel.
Extroverted, brash, unsettling single mother-to-be Rachel, who just wants to be Helen’s friend. Who just wants to get know Helen and her friends and her family. Who just wants to know everything about them. Every little secret…

I don’t read that many thrillers, but this one really gripped me from the first page. With short chapters from many points of view and no one to be trusted, I couldn’t put it down. This book is set in Greenwich, which appealed to me as a place I’ve been a number of times and I could picture the setting quite well.

One of my main hesitations going into this book was about the characters – I often find that I can’t connect with a thriller because of all of the characters being unlikeable (this happened with The Guest List by Lucy Foley). But even though I wouldn’t say any of the characters are particuarly likeable in this book, they’re difficult to hate and I sympathised a lot with Helen, the main character.

Trying to work out where it all began, where it all started going wrong.

The plot was wild and thrilling, keeping me on the edge of my seat until the very last page. The more I read of this book, the more I found myself drawn into the pages, not wanting to put it down until I’d found out what was going on. I kept thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it, just waiting until I could pick it up again. Although I had my suspicions, I never guessed where this was going to go and was definitely surprised by the intricacy of the plot twists!

Despite having more than one point of view, I followed the story easily and didn’t particularly enjoy one more than the other. I liked the balance of the perspectives and the short chapters meant I just wanted to read one (or five!) more before I put the book down. The ending felt a little flat, but it kind of felt like any ending would after the amount of lead-up and tension we had throughout the rest of the story.

And I suppose the real answer is it started years before you could have ever imagined it did.

Overall, I enjoyed this one so much more than expected, and I’m really glad I picked it up. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who loves a thriller, or doesn’t read many but is drawn to the story, like me!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Like a Charm by Elle McNicoll

On March 10, 2022March 5, 2022 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Edinburgh is a city filled with magical creatures. No one can see them… until Ramya Knox.
As she is pulled into her family’s world of secrets and spells, Ramya sets out to discover the truth behind the Hidden Folk with only three words of warning from her grandfather: Beware the Sirens.
Plunged into an adventure that will change everything, Ramya is about to learn that there is more to her powers than she ever imagined.

Like a Charm is the third book by the author of A Kind of Spark and Show Us Who You Are, both books I’ve read and really enjoyed. Elle McNicoll enters into fantasy with this book, with a magical realism story set in Edinburgh. There was a great balance of the real city and magical elements, making it very accessible and easy to read.

All of Elle’s books have great representation, and this one was no different. Our main character, Ramya, had dyspraxia, and this was discussed throughout her story. Not only will this allow so many neurodivergent children to see themselves reflected in it’s pages, but other children will build a greater understanding of those around them.

Ramya was a great strong female main character, and I love that all of Elle’s books have female main characters to provide role models for young people. The way the characters are discussed and the magical beings are used to discuss our differences and similarities was so well done.

This one was a really enjoyable middle grade and I’ll definitely be recommending it, but sadly I didn’t feel myself quite as addicted to it as I was with A Kind of Spark and Show Us Who You Are. It was still a super entertaining read and gave me goosebumps at the end, but A Kind of Spark still holds the top spot for me of Elle’s books.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

On March 7, 2022March 2, 2022 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

Drifters in search of work, George and his childlike friend Lennie, have nothing in the world except the clothes on their back – and a dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually they find work on a ranch in California’s Salinas Valley, but their hopes are dashed as Lennie – struggling against extreme cruelty, misunderstanding and feelings of jealousy – becomes a victim of his own strength. Tackling universal themes of friendship and shared vision, and giving a voice to America’s lonely and dispossessed, Of Mice and Men remains Steinbeck’s most popular work, achieving success as a novel, Broadway play and three acclaimed films.

Yes, I’ve never read Of Mice and Men. I have read East of Eden though, and I loved it when I read it a couple of years ago. I’m so glad Mark gifted me this book, because I’m not sure if I’d have been drawn to this otherwise, having forgotten by love for Steinbeck’s writing.

I read this in less than 24 hours, as it’s quite a short book at just over 100 pages. My edition also included a 15ish page introduction about this book and Steinbeck himself and his other work, which was super interesting and also gave some background information about this story and the inspiration for it.

As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment.

As I said above, I’d forgotten how much I loved Steinbeck’s writing, but I really enjoyed the prose in this one. Although this one is only short, it’s so heartbreaking and beautifully composed. I felt so sad for the characters and the only way I can describe this story is it felt so emotionally weighted. It just felt so heavy. And although it was painful to read, I also loved it.

As I’m sure you all know, this book covers some very difficult topics including racism and following a guy who I would say has learning difficulties. Although this was obviously hard to read, it was also handled so well in my opinion, and packed so much into such a short story.

And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.

Overall, I loved this story and although it was painful to read and made very emotional, it reminded me of how much I enjoy Steinbeck’s writing.

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

On March 6, 2022March 2, 2022 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

There is something strange about Coraline’s new home. It’s not the mist, or the cat that always seems to be watching her, nor the signs of danger that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, her new neighbours, read in the tea leaves. It’s the other house – the one behind the old door in the drawing room. Another mother and father with black-button eyes and papery skin are waiting for Coraline to join them there. And they want her to stay with them. For ever. She knows that if she ventures through that door, she may never come back.

Thank you to Mark for buying me this book! I loved The Ocean at the End of the Lane when I read it last year and I’ve been excited to read other books by him. Mark picked this one up for me, and although I was really hesitant going into this book because I do have a fear of dolls, I did still enjoy it a lot (I don’t think I’ll be watching the film anytime soon though!).

This book follows Coraline, who moves into a new house with her family that has a door in one of the rooms that goes to nowhere. However, one day, Coraline walks through the door into an alternate life and universe, where her parents have black-button eyes and papery skin and want her to stay.

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist,

This story was so entertaining and very whimsical, in true Neil Gaiman style. I loved the atmosphere of this book and the alternate universe, and I could picture the world very well. This one reads like a middle grade fantasy for me, but I do think all of his stories have a very similar feeling in that sense and they all feel so whimsical.

There’s a beautiful author’s note at the start of this book which I loved, and it talks about how the story portrays bravery and courage through Coraline’s journey. I definitely felt this which I really enjoyed, and I can see why this book stays with people throughout their lives, as I’m sure it will stay with me throughout my life.

but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

Although this didn’t blow me away enough to be a 5 star read, I did still really enjoy it and I can’t wait to dive into more of Neil Gaiman’s adult releases!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: 5 Centimeters Per Second by Makoto Shinkai

On March 4, 2022March 2, 2022 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Remember a time before cell phones could be found in every pocket? Or when even accessing the world wide web was something only readily available in a library? Back then letters still filled up postboxes and moments just felt so much more precious when captured on Polaroid film. Now life seems to move at the speed of light. Our memories are captured and shared with the world on social media platforms. And love, which is already capricious, can feel like it is moving at terminal velocity.

I’ve read a lot of Makoto Shinkai’s work and I just fall in love with it every time. I’ve read the light novels and manga for both Your Name and Weathering With You by him and loved them, but I always knew I was biased because of my love for the original films. With 5 Centimeters Per Second, I decided to read the manga before the film and see how I felt the other way around. And I loved it.

This manga is about love. It’s a love story, and that’s kind of it. But I really loved that so much. I fell into this story so easily, and when I picked it up just to read the first 20ish pages, I ended up reading the entire thing in one go.

The writing in this made me so emotional and I was crying at around 150 pages in, with many other parts making me teary. I just loved the characters and the conversations they were having with one another, and the first section I related to so much.

The drawings were beautiful and I could picture the story so well. I don’t know how to describe how I felt about this manga, I just really loved it. I can’t wait to watch the film!

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: Act Cool by Tobly McSmith

On March 3, 2022March 2, 2022 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Aspiring actor August Greene just landed a coveted spot at the prestigious School of Performing Arts in New York. There’s only one problem: His conservative parents won’t accept that he’s transgender. And to stay with his aunt in the city, August must promise them he won’t transition.
August is convinced he can play the part his parents want while acting cool and confident in the company of his talented new friends.
But who is August when the lights go down? And where will he turn when the roles start hitting a little too close to home?

Thank you to Harper 360 for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Harper 360 has a knack of managing to blow me away with stories when I really didn’t expect it. I’ve had this on my tbr for a while, and I wanted to pick up an audiobook last week. I noticed this one was available on Scribd (as many Harper books are which I love!), so I decided to pick it up and I really enjoyed it.

This book follows August, a trans boy who has run away from his unaccepting parents to live with his aunt in New York City and attend the School of Performing Arts. I loved August as a character and even though he wasn’t always 100 percent genuine or likeable, I did completely understand where he was coming from with a lot of his actions.

The main part of this book that I really loved was that it just hooked me. I really wanted to know what was happening and I became so hooked in August’s life. I kept thinking about this book when I wasn’t reading it, and I just love when that happens with books. There are so many aspects of this story that were difficult to read but so important to read about.

My only complaint is the plot felt a little off at times, and I don’t know if it quite balanced throughout the story. There was so much of this book that talked about the importance of trans characters having happy stories, so to see that not reflected in this story was an odd kind of irony and made me really sad.

Overall, this book was really enjoyable to read and I’ll definitely be picking up Stay Gold by the same author at some point!

TW: suicidal ideation, transphobia, homophobia, dead-naming, misgendering.

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

ARC Review: Gallant by V.E. Schwab

On March 2, 2022 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Pre-order on Waterstones

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice. Her mother vanished all at once, and her father by degrees, and her voice was a thing she never had to start with.
She grew up at Merilance School for Girls. Now, nearing the end of her time there, Olivia receives a letter from an uncle she’s never met, her father’s older brother, summoning her to his estate, a place called Gallant. But when she arrives, she discovers that the letter she received was several years old. Her uncle is dead. The estate is empty, save for the servants. Olivia is permitted to remain, but must follow two rules: don’t go out after dusk, and always stay on the right side of a wall that runs along the estate’s western edge.
Beyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood…

Thank you so much to Titan for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As I’m sure many of you know, Addie Larue is my favourite book ever and I was so excited and honoured to receive a proof copy of this book! I was a little hesitant going into this one as the next book after Addie Larue, but I’ve read a few Schwab books since and I’ve definitely enjoyed them all for different reasons.

Schwab does an incredible job of writing such different plots but including the same feel and atmosphere in the writing itself. I can always feel when I’m reading a Schwab book, if that makes sense. Gallant is a YA story following Olivia, an orphan who only has a journal left of her mother. She then receives a letter from her uncle, inviting her to his estate, Gallant. When she arrives, she finds her uncle has died and the house is occupied by her cousin and the servants of the house. She remains at the estate, but is warned not cross the wall on the outskirts of the estate.

This book is kind of a mystery, kind of a horror, kind of a paranormal. It is a beautiful mixture of genres and I loved the atmosphere. It creeped me out in ways that I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I was reading it, and I definitely had chills. It also reads kind of like a fairytale, and was reminiscent of The Secret Garden with darker undertones.

This book was very character driven and has a slow plot, but I still found it very quick and easy to read. It’s full of illustrations and extracts from Olivia’s mother’s journal, which I loved and were so beautifully complimentary to the story.

I really loved this book and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read it, and my only complaint is I wanted more. This book just didn’t feel long enough to me in places, and I wanted more detail, more emotional connection to the characters and more of the book overall. Although I don’t think anything will beat Addie Larue, or will be difficult to beat, I did still really enjoy this one.

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

On February 27, 2022 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Fifty-one years, nine months and four days have passed since Fermina Daza rebuffed hopeless romantic Florentino Ariza’s impassioned advances and married Dr Juvenal Urbino instead. During that half-century, Flornetino has fallen into the arms of many delighted women, but has loved none but Fermina. Having sworn his eternal love to her, he lives for the day when he can court her again.
When Fermina’s husband is killed trying to retrieve his pet parrot from a mango tree, Florentino seizes his chance to declare his enduring love. But can young love find new life in the twilight of their lives?

Okay. This one is going to be a difficult review to write. But this book has sat with me for a few days now, so I’m going to try and finally write it. Let me start by saying my boyfriend Mark bought me this book, and when talking to him about why he bought me this book, he told me even though he wouldn’t say he ‘enjoyed’ it or even ‘liked’ it, this book has stayed with him for a very long time.

And that is probably the easiest way to describe this book – in a lot of ways, it is difficult to enjoy. But it will stay with you for a long time. And it will make you think about love, and passion, and sex, and life, and age, and death. It will force you to sit with and face all of these aspects of life.

Tell him yes. Even if you are dying of fear, even if you are sorry later,

One of the things I absolutely adored about this book is you can pretty much open it on any page and it will read beautifully. Here’s a page of quotes if you want to have a read through and see how truly gorgeous the writing is. The writing honestly held this book up for me, and even though it took me a long time to read (in comparison to how much I normally read), it didn’t feel slow in any way. In fact, when I was reading this book, I felt so enveloped and involved in the story. It felt visceral. I was right there.

But the reason why this book is getting 3 stars rather than 4 or 5 is because there is a few problems I had with it. For a start, this book begins focusing on Florentino and Fermina when they first meet. I believe Fermina is 14 in this (or at least, she is still in high school), and Florentino is 3 years older, which would make him 17. I found this creepy, and it only got worse throughout the book. There was one sentence later on in the story that I really didn’t appreciate – I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was but it followed along the lines of ‘when a woman tells yes once [to sex], she only needs persuading to do it again’. There are so many issues surrounding consent here that I don’t think I need to discuss here.

There is a later aspect of this book that plays along the same lines and is again, incredibly problematic, and I think if you’ve read this book you’ll know exactly which part I mean. I think the problem I had here is you are probably not meant to like Florentino. Which is fine, but I will admit I really struggle when the main character of a book is not easy to like. I can usually put this aside if there is another character to root for, but I just didn’t feel like we saw enough of other characters for me to do that.

because whatever you do, you will be sorry all the rest of your life if you say no.

As you can probably tell, I had a lot of mixed feelings about this one. I loved it and I also loathed it. But there is one thing I can say for sure – it made me think, and it will stay with me for a very long time.

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: Extraordinary (#1.5) by V.E. Schwab

On February 25, 2022February 24, 2022 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Torn from the world of ‘Vicious’, where death is not the end, only the beginning of extraordinary powers… Three new “EO”s must grapple with their new abilities… and with those who would hunt them down! Featuring unseen character design galleries from Andrea Olimpieri and story commentary from V.E. Schwab!

Although this book is 1.5 in the Villains series (setting it between Vicious and Vengeful), this book can be read before, during or after the series. My boyfriend Mark read this without having read any other books in the series and actually really enjoyed it, but it will give you minor spoilers for the other two books.

I read this book a couple of days after finishing the two main novels in this series, and in a way I think this was a bit of a mistake. Still being super connected to the original story did leave me feeling disconnected and disappointed with this story. The story of Extraordinary not only shows Victor and Eli, but also introduces 3 new characters. I have no problems with this at all, but I do have a problem with how much these three new characters (Charlotte, Felix and Marshall) reflect Victor, Mitch and Sydney from the main series. I just couldn’t separate their characters in my head and couldn’t help but feel disappointed I wasn’t reading about them.

I do wish I’d waited a little to read this, as I definitely feel like I’d have a different experience if I didn’t have the emotional connection to the found family character group in the original story. But I’d definitely like to re-read this in the future as I did really like this story as a standalone and it feels like a great balance of a new story that still reflects the original.

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: Vengeful (#2) by V.E. Schwab

On February 24, 2022 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.
But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought—and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.
With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.

I was so hesitant to go into this one after the first book in the series ended up being my first 5 star read of 2022. But even though I didn’t quite end up rating this one 5 stars, it was pretty darn close. I loved the first book so much and this one is no different. The audiobook was, again, brilliant. The short chapters kept me hooked and the addition of a new character in Marcella kept the story interesting and fresh. I love the way Schwab manages to hook me with a new story – whether that is within a book I’m already reading or the start of a new one – with just a few lines.

This book picks up soon after the first book ends, and I like how it feels like both a new plot line and so familiar because of the first book. I also love the relationships between the three main characters – Victor, Sydney and Mitch. Mitch warmed my heart so much in this book and is such a soft character, and I loved the found family aspect that shone throughout.

Maybe we are broken. But we put ourselves back together. We survived. That’s what makes us so powerful.

I continued to love our main characters and the morally grey aspect of Victor and Eli, which I feel works when balanced out with the love I had for Sydney and Mitch. I felt so worried in this book about what would happen to the side characters rather than the two main ones.

The reason this book didn’t quite reach 5 stars for me is because the ending felt a little rushed. I also felt like we were set up to feel so much for these characters and I actually wanted a few more tense moments with them. The ending left me wanting more and wanting something just slightly different to what we received – but I do understand Schwab wants to leave the story open for future projects.

And as for family—well, blood is always family, but family doesn’t always have to be blood.

Although I had a few nit-picks with this one, the concerns I had were so minimal and I still absolutely adored this series. It’s such a creative one that I know I’ll be recommending to everybody!

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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The Books are Everywhere

Tag: book review

Review: Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner

Review: Like a Charm by Elle McNicoll

Review: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Review: 5 Centimeters Per Second by Makoto Shinkai

Review: Act Cool by Tobly McSmith

ARC Review: Gallant by V.E. Schwab

Review: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Review: Extraordinary (#1.5) by V.E. Schwab

Review: Vengeful (#2) by V.E. Schwab