Cristina Ghita
This reads like an early 20th century Paul Féval or Alexandre Dumas... That is to say, like a wild ride with just enough historical fact thrown in to make it stop short of a guilty pleasure. Congrats to the writer!
Thank you Netgalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review. If you're into domestic thrillers, this will be right up your alley. While I did appreciate the narration by Helen MacAlpine and in particular the highly credible Scottish accent given the Scottish setting of the lodge, I'd have to say that the bad guy/gal reveal was not that credible to me. I mean, you keep expecting for the initial baddie in the story to be proven innocent of all wrongdoing, the twist is not jaw-droppingly incredible, but plain hard to understand based on the information available to you as a reader. All in all, not a bad book, but Big Little Lies with the slowly building momentum and shocking
Such a lovely historical novel. Absolutely heartwarming but informative, completely enthralling but true to historical fact. The audiobook in particular was perfect. Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Audio for this ARC.
This book is a worthy continuation in this series. I've especially loved the reflective moments about women's lot in life as perceived by a young lady wise beyond her years (and, probably, her time). Despite this being a true romance with a heavy focus on the sexy times, the parts that stood out to me the most were those about women in their quality of human beings as opposed to that of women in their role of wives or mothers.
The audiobook production from Audible is absolutely top-notch. Loved this Upon a reread!
It really pains me to say my absolute favourite YA writer's foray into adult fiction is a miss for me. Although I've previously loved, been thrilled moved by or enamoured with Elizabeth Acevedo's books, this has barely registered as a blip. I couldn't care less about the characters, the recurrent references to sex I found distasteful (don't get me wrong, not the references themselves, but the way they were done). I would say the only saving grace were the family relationships and the - unfortunately - rather infrequent mentions of food - which reminded me of With the fire on high, but they were too few and far between.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARCA in exchange for an honest review.
While I did enjoy the speculative fiction angle, which is all I thought this book would be, there were too many happening for me to enjoy keeping track of. The book starts with interesting description of a not too distant future in Botswana where people can download their conscience into other bodies, and everybody has the right to live several consecutive lives in different bodies, with a caveat - and in this same incredibly progressive society, whoever has the misfortune to have committed a crime of any kind is forevermore shunned and has to undergo an annual investigation into whether they display other criminal tendencies. Women are regularly brutalised and mistreated, and it gets worse from there. I loved the accents which brilliant I giving just the right touch of colour without impeding understanding. Overall, I'd say I'd look forward to another book by this author l'if it leaned more heavily into the speculative fiction aspect.
Excellent for fans of baking, baking shows or of Agatha Christie books. Perfect for fans of all 3!
4 shining gold stars going to best autumn vibes ever! The feminist undertones and the glorious ending hinted at more than made up for the initially whiny protagonist.
Coming from a fellow teacher, her class management skills were execrable. There is no way letting students get away with so much can be conducive to a good learning environment.
On another note, her personal growth and empowerment being conflated with a skew to the dark makes sense in the story, but kind of rankles. Why should empowered women keep on being considered mean or old witches? It kind of defeats the purpose of the underlying message.
While I enjoyed the book to no end, I'm still in two minds about the conflicting narrative and morale it tries to convey.
Whimsical Pride and Prejudice with faeries and a hefty side of social commentary?! Don't mind if I do!
Fairytale-like atmosphere with vivid descriptions and likeable if imperfect characters. Lovely reading experience!
Mind-blowing twists and turns galore! Navigating relationships with rich and privileged in-laws has never been so deadly. Prepare for one wild ride!
There is this French word that comes to mind whenever I finish another novel by Dicker - rocambolesque - Rempli de péripéties invraisemblables, extraordinaires : Des aventures rocambolesques. Possible synonyms:fantastic, incredible. Both adjectives find their perfect embodiment in his novels. This one doesn't disappoint and doesn't let up. Chapeau, Monsieur Dicker!
A locked-house murder mystery at an English manor? Count me in. This delivered on its promise of murder and mayhem in spades, and did it in style. The friendship at the core 0f the book certainly doesn't hurt its readability.
I can't help but gush about this book. If you read one speculative fiction book this year, make it this one! I just loved the story and how it was told from alternating POVs only for them all to come together at the end and make sense as a whole. This felt like an ancient Greek choir where each voice adds their own special touch to the overall arc ot the story. Just loved loved loved it!
E. B. White ‘I arise every morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savour the world. This makes it hard to plan for the day.'
If you love books and book people, this book is for you! If you're a small town or a city lass or laddie, this book is for you! Basically, if you draw breath, this book is for you! It'll keep you laughing and crying until the very last page. I loved it!
If you enjoy gossipy guilty pleasures, this one's for you. If you love Desperate Housewives, ditto. Qnd even if you don't, like me, but are due for some mindless entertainment but can't stand reality TV, you're welcome!
What do I have in common with a 40-year-old American mom of two when I'm a 35-year-old childless Romanian living in Italy? Nothing, you and I might think, and we'd be wrong. This book was ecerything, comedy and tragedy and philosophical reflection on the vagaries of life, what really matters, how to take a good long look at our lives and build on what we really want more of. Loved it!