Cristina Ghita
Richly atmospheric murder mystery.... Dare i say it?! I might have found a new favourite author. Qui vivra verra...
This is such a great series!it seems like it keeps getting better. The Tilly - Poe banter was hilarious, while the double locked-room mystery was a true delight. Love detective stories? This one's a keeper.
Chanel Cleeton doesn't disappoint. My second book by her has been just as good, full of colour and fully fleshed out characters. On top of the fabulous story, this has also got a dreamy setting on a cruise ship during Prohibition era. It even felt like a sweet indulgence I the middle of such craziness.
How can I put into words how much I loved this book? It might seem like a trivial thing to say everything I found in the book reminded me of half-buried memories of older family members and friends, ibcluding my husband's, and their stories about living under communist regime. I was only 2 when the regime fell, so I have no personal recollection of what happened. However, if I may add one thing, it's a reflection on what has been gained. So many sacrifices from big-hearted people for so little... We have gained the freedom Romanians from past eras so dearly paid for only to feel it hasn't done us much good. Despite this, many thanks to Ruta Sepetys for drawing attention to this little known page of history. This was a page-turner for me and and won't be the last of her books I read.
Wonder of wonders, I'm smitten again! Mr. Doer's book is one of those that unfurl slowly and linger with you long after you've finished them. Be still, my book-loving heart!
Live wire ⚡ all the way through. Great twists and turns. Excellent characterisations. Came for the action, stayed for the characters.
This is my first Tahereh Mafi book and I can already see the attraction. It is a fabulous mashup of a Persian Cinderella and Arabian Nights with a dragon-rug twist. Felt like going back to my fairytale-loving childhood days. The story had good progression throughout and kept my interest, despite it being simplistic at times. The last 10% of the book kept the surprises coming. And now I'm rueing the idea I had to start reading Tahereh Mafi by her latest book which marks the opening of a new series
While the story manages to bring to live what it set out to do - a more intimate and truthful vision of what it could have been like to be a freak in Victorian London - the personal destinies of the main characters fell flat for me. Besides that, the feminist twist the writer gives the trajectories of those same characters seems contrived to say the least. Having said that, the novel sheds a much-needed light on a lesser known era and experience.
I didn't expect this. Not at all. And the again, I've read my fair share of medieval historical fiction that I could've anticipated this. What blindsided me though is the fact that as late as the 17th century superstitions and Prejudice were so rampant. It really made me ponder women's lot in life today and consider myself lucky for living in ‘enlightened' times. Much is still to be done, but we've come a long way. The matter of the divorce, domestic violence and how women were treated in a court of law really drove this point home. Lovely way of better understanding other eras. Prepare for a good but reflective read.
Is you've ever been to Paris - or dreamed of it - and wondered what it would've been like to live there in a past era, or if you've ever dreamt of working in a lubrary, this book is for you. Even if you haven't, this dual-timeline story has a charm all its own. A sense of family and friendship, of what makes a community and a life worth living are only a few of the topics touched upon.
This is one good series! Might I compare it to Truly Devious or The Hawthorne Inheritance? It's got the same feel of mystery, clever clues being followed cleverer teenage detectives. The same breathless anticipation on my part to find out what happens next that keeps me reading one book after another...
While the premise was promising, and the story was enjoyable, this didn't really read like a propulsive high-stakes thriller for me. All in all, a relatively good book.
This is one of those books you just have to finish as fast as possible, a breakneck speed into the mind of a psychiatric patient and that of their hypnotist. For whoever knows Donato Carrisi's books, it should come as no surprise this is another untputdownable thriller.
Hugh Fancy is such a darling narrator! The French accents were done amazingly well and the story took life under his carefutl ministrations. Definitely worth listening to!
I loved, loved, loved this audiobook! The three separate threads of the story and the different POVs made it seem just as complex as life. The narrators were fabulous, Aphrodite's voice sounds as that of a gorgeous voluptuous woman, Ares's seemed exactly like that of a bellicose man. The musical interludes made this story whole.
The book felt to me like a little window unto a time past, right at the beginning of some modern era beauty product creators. I especially appreciated the insight into the bigger world surrounding the ww1, real life people make an appearance, Tom Smith, the horse trainer of Seabiscuit fame, Goring, or Marc Chagall and they all have their little part to play in Helena Rubinstein's and Elizabeth Arden's stories. It makes one think when even businesswomen as famous as them had their self-doubts and darker moments they wanted to forget. I especially appreciated the audiobook narrated by Lisa Flanagan. An absolute treat for historical fiction lovers and not only.
Families are hard work but they're also the best thing that's ever happened to us. No matter what kind of family you come from, traditional or not, this is a book that will make you laugh and will make think.
Woohoo! I love fairytales! Even better, I looove feminist fairytales. This is one such story, that stays with me for the power of its message. And I can honestly say I've been guilty myself of some of those nastier feelings the protagonist is displaying. So it makes that much more sense to revisit this fairytale from a new perspective
There are no words to describe the sadness and the poignancy of such a story followed by the author's notes and the afterword detailing how the setting down on paper of this story came about and then how the two main characters went on to build a life of enduring love together. A story about some of the darkest moments in history and what it takes to survive that. If you're considering reading this book, may I suggest listening to the audiobook by Richard Armitage? It will add a totally new dimension to the atmosphere of the book.
This is was such a juicy summer thriller, I absolutely loved it! I'm here for all the thrillers, bring them on! ❤️
This has probably proven to be one of those rare things: a long series I don't tire of. Every new instalment is a true joy, a bit like visiting with old friends, and this 5th volume is no different. Chapeau !
This book was completely out of left field for me. While it does have a strong sense of place, and as any student of English might expect, getting to know Oxford University vicariously is just as exciting as one might think. The story doesn't stop here though, this isn't about an American on a Rhodes scholarship to England, this is about friendship and love. This is about life in all its beauty and tragedy. P. S. Julia Whelan's voice, voice actor extraordinaire, makes the plummy notes of Oxford English sound just as credible as those of an American from Ohio. Chapeau !
Let me start out by saying that funnily enough, although ever since I can remember I've loved reading with a passion unparalleled by any other in my life, I had yet to leave a review on Goodreads. That is to say, until this novel. All ye who read the brief description don't be misled into thinking that this novel is going to be what you expect it to be. Nay, this is a wondrous story of untold riches of the most mundane of moments, that makes one think about what one would do in similar circumstances... I could only hope to be as stout-hearted yet sensitive as the titular gentleman. To make a long story short, read it! You'll be whisked away on the wings of imagination, by turns delighted, saddened but, all in all, emboldened to live life in all its moments.
This book was absolutely fabulous. I've always loved immersing myself in a new culture, learning what it is to be somebody else, in a different era, living by different rules. At turns heartbreaking and heartwarming, exotic for its setting and characters, universal in what moves people and makes life worth living, this only goes to underscore how alike we all are. The running thread of discrimination and prejudice, of what pits ‘us' against ‘them' is so alive and fresh throughout the book, but unfortunately an all too common occurrence. I'm a Romanian living in Northern Italy, and I feel that this kind of mentality has blighted relationships between Northern and Southern Italians for many years, then it was the Romanians' turn in the 90s, now it's somebody else's turn. Written with a deft hand, this was poetry for the soul and food for thought.
