Layemi

Unfortunately this book is so boring. I really wanted to like it, but all three characters are some of the most unlikable characters I’ve ever read about in a book. Temi is a mean, selfish friend, the main character seems to have no direction in her life except marrying a man who will make money so she can stay home and do nothing, whom she doesn’t even seem to love. I’d even go as far as to say she doesn’t even like him. The whole book seems to be about three rich people frolicking about pointing fingers at each other. I couldn’t care less about any of them. DNF so maybe it gets better, but from other reviews I don’t think so.

Also, there’s absolutely no speech/quotation marks? This makes it SO hard to read and realize who’s talking. What the point of this could be I have do idea, it adds nothing to the story. I’ve read a lot of the books by the same publisher, Masobe, and I’ve never seen any errors in their books, so I assume this was an inexplicable choice by the author.

I read this book in a 4.5 hour stretch, plus 20 minutes the next day. I wasn’t quite sure at the end what I thought of it, and had to think through if I think it’s a 4 or 5 star book.

I liked most of the things about the book, the stories of the characters are realistic and seem to reflect well the situation in Nigeria at the time, some of the factors of which still last till today. Tolani’s relationships with Rose and her neighbours are relatable. I don’t want to give to much away, but though the ending of the first part was foreseeable, it still had the intended effect on the reader, and you keep reading to see how things go.

The part that I am conflicted on the most is the sections on Tolani’s mother’s life. The first time, I thought we were just going to hear her story once, but as we kept going back more and more times I realized it was part of the novel (and re read the back which confirmed it). To be honest, at first I was not interested in her mother’s story and considered glazing over it whenever it came up, but I am glad I read it as well because it was interesting, and her defiance and confidence was a welcome feature in a story about the times she lived in.

By the end though, I was still not quite sure on the connection between Tolani’s story and her mother’s. The two are related and reflect two women living through different times, but something in the connection of the two stories was just missing for me.

However, I’m still giving the novel 4.5 stars rounded up to five because I think not seeing the connection is my fault, not the author’s. It’s almost like I know something is there but I’m not thinking of the story in the right way to understand it. It still deserves five stars because it’s beautifully written, engaging, and as I mentioned an accurate reflection of a period in time.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I was concerned before I read it that it would be just story after story of men cheating. While about half of them were that, there were other types of stories too that were a nice break. For one of the stories, to be honest I don’t see what the guy did wrong, the woman didn’t do anything wrong either so I wondered a bit what what the point of the story was.

The stories were interesting and engaging, not as funny as Only Big Bum Bum Matters Tomorrow, but still a good read. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4, 3.5 because I think some of the stories could have been funnier instead of just about the guy cheating on his parter, at a point listening to his thoughts on why he’s deceiving his partner or being asshole being funny got old fast. But 4 stars for the pacing and how entertaining the stories are.

I couldn’t finish this book, it was so boring. I loved Daisy Darker so I’ve been trying other books by Alice Feeny, but unfortunately none of them hooked me. The main detective has been through some things for sure, but the whole knowing the victim (this isn’t a spoiler, it’s revealed early) and not saying anything was annoying, I couldn’t care less what happens to this guy. It was just slow and sad, and I don’t care what happened to the victim either. None of the characters are particularly interesting. Really wanted to like this one but I didn’t.

This book was a quick and entertaining read, I read it in 45 minutes in one go. It was funny in parts, but a little sadder than I expected as well. The story was almost unbelievable but very human at the same time, the author managed to weave in a couple of interesting and important themes into this novella. Three stars rounded up to four for hour entertaining it was. This is my second book by Oyinkan Braithwaite, I’ll definitely be reading more!

3.5 stars rounded down to 3 stars. I loved this book right up till the end. There was a lot of suspense throughout the whole book, I may have even missed some lines towards the end because I was to anxious to find out what happened and conclude the story. Unfortunately once everything was revealed it all fell a bit flat for me. If people had made certain fairly obvious considerations/checks at the start the whole thing could have been over in a couple of minutes. The solution was just a bit obvious. Another issue I had the fanatical crazy ending. My first book by this author was Everything She Feared, and this was the only problem I had with that book too. It seems like a theme to have a crazy wild ending just to end the books with lots of drama, but it's taken a bit too far where it seems so unrealistic. The ending for this felt a bit much. But overall a good book, and worth the read for how thrilling it is up till the end.

I really enjoyed this book, a lot more than I expected to, 4.5 stars rounded up to 5. All the characters were really well done, and realistic. The main character is definitely not a hero, but you root for him anyway because despite his many issues and infidelities, he still come across somewhat as a good person which can't have been easy to do for the writer. The book is hilarious in so many places, I had to take breaks to finish laughing and wipe my tears before continuing. The ending felt a tiny bit rushed, but at the same time it fit the fast paced nature of the book, and thinking it through I don't think there was a better way to end it. I devoured this book in probably 4-5 hours total, I thoroughly enjoyed it and will read more books by the author!

Fantastic writing, a very well thought out story, and an ending that will leave you nearly in tears.

If I had a favourite books I read this year list this would be number 1, and it's definitely one of my favourite books I've ever read now, and definitely my number one dystopian future book.

It was my first Stephen King novel, and definitely the first of many to come.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 just because it's Shari Lapena, I'm biased. Good writing, plot, etc. the mystery was revealed a bit earlier than I would have liked, it made sense in the context, but at a point there was no more mystery and just ‘I guess I'll keep reading to see how this ends'. Was a good book overall but not my favourite by Shari Lapena.

4.5 stars rounded down to 4. I read this after Wrong Place Wrong Time, and the things I loved about that book are here as well. Gillian's writing style is exactly what I prefer in that we get a good introduction to the characters, the story starts quickly and is well paced, and the twists make sense but are hard to see coming. I didn't give this 5 stars because it was all a bit too fantastical in the end (which was the same and only thing I didn't like about Wrong Place Wrong Time), but it was very well written. For one of the twists, I went back to earlier chapters many times so sure I had seen something but I was wrong. Really well done, I'll definitely be reading more of her books.

A very good book that was very tough to read, it should almost come with a trigger warning for abuse. The summary hints at it, but what is happening to the girls and how it affects them is described so well and explicitly, it is heartbreaking. Read it in a couple sittings and could be an even quicker read, but I needed to take breaks. Definitely one of the most heartbreaking and gut-wrenching books I've ever read, second only to perhaps Beartown.

This book was very engaging from beginning to end, with lots of twists and turns that kept the story fresh and exciting, I spent a lot of my time not reading it trying to figure out what the heck was going on.


However the ending just didn't do it for me. Some aspects of it were incredible and there was an Agatha Christie level plot twist, but the whole time travel thing just because a bit much and too sci-fi. Took off one star because of that, but it really was overall a fantastic book, and I'll be looking out for more books the author writes.

This novel had me completely engrossed from the start and on the edge of my seat, to the point where I couldn't read it at night for fear of having dreams about it (you definitely wouldn't want to be a character in this book). I'd have to take breaks to catch my breath and do something else for a bit, it is that tense. Alice Feeney does a fantastic job of creating an atmosphere that feels so real.

Similar concept to And Then There Were None, but a very original and surprising ending that makes you want to reread the whole thing.

This book was extremely engaging, I was hooked from the start and finished it in less than 24 hours. I would've given it five stars, but I guessed the ending within something like 5 chapters. I think anyone who has read a couple thriller books and watched some TV shows would. I kept going because I almost thought it wouldn't be the answer because it was too obvious, but lo and behold it was. However I still enjoyed the book, there were some surprising twists along the way, and despite knowing what was going to happen I still thoroughly enjoyed the final scenes. Would totally recommend.

Conflicted on the ending of this book. On one hand, of every Shari Lapena book I've read (all of them), I think this was the most captivating. I frantically turned every page desperately trying to figure out what the heck happened. The twists and turns came at me from every angle to the point I was mentally exhausted in a good way to make sure I was following the story correctly. The main problem I have with the book is the final twist/reveal, it just didn't live up to everything that had been built up in the story. I think the final solution could have been a little more intriguing/surprising. However the last paragraph of the book delivered one final twist that left me so desperate for a continuation of the story that it makes up for the not that surprising ending. Overall a good book and I'm glad I read it, but not the best I've read by Shari Lapena.

Great novel by Shari Lapena. I felt like I was in Stephanie's shoes, understanding of her actions and feeling all her pain and hurt. Got a little repetitive at some points but by the end I was hooked. I've never hated a character more than I hated Erica, which I suppose is a good thing, it shows how well she's written. One of Shari Lapena's best endings, and left me wanting more.

After An Unwanted Guest', I was worried I wouldn't like any more books Shari would release. However, I loved the couple next door and a stranger in the house, so I decided to give this one a try.
OMG. I LOVED this book. It is as good as The Couple Next Door, and definitely better than A Stranger in the House.
I don't want to give too much away but it is definitely worth reading. I will say that I rightly figured out the culprit about two chapters before it was revealed, but that isn't because it was obvious, I just really took my time to think about it as logically as possible, and I'd been paying attention to absolutely everything that had been happening since the beginning of the book.

This is a great read for anyone that loves a great mystery novel!

A little bit shorter than I would have liked, and the story played out in a way I didn't really expect from the synopsis. A couple things felt as though they were thrown in for the shock factor and just for things to get crazier and crazier, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless and the pacing was great. Took off one star because the ending felt quite abrupt, it all wrapped up a bit too quickly. But overall a great quick read.

A bit of a disappointment from Shari Lapena. I had read The Couple Next Door and A Stranger in The House before this, so I had high expectations.
The first bad sign for me was that it follows a similar storyline that has been recycled many times since Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (one of my favourite books of all times). After reading that one, others with the similar storyline were usually a let down, but I hoped that because it's a Lapena book, I would feel differently.


For me, there are two types of mystery books. The type where the author gives you 95 percent of relevant clues, you can't put them together, then at the big reveal in the end you are shocked that you didn't put together all the obvious clues given to you. This describes the vast majority of Agatha Christie books (and The Couple Next Door) and I think that is one of the reasons she was so successful, because she did not hide a lot of relevant information from readers.
The second type is when the author purposefully leaves out large bits of relevant information, that if the reader had known, they would've solved the mystery instantly.
Of course, authors obviously are not supposed to reveal everything to readers, mystery or not. But sometimes such a great deal is hidden from readers that it feels a bit lazy on the author's part, and immediately the big reveal is made, the first thing the reader thinks is “if I had know that one piece of crucial information, I would've solved it immediately”.

The second instance is exactly what happened with this book. The reader is informed out of nowhere of a piece of information that, if we had known since, we easily could've guessed who committed the first murder, and then the rest from there.

Apart from this, the book was intriguing enough and entertaining, but the ending was so disappointing in that it came out of nowhere, that it soured my opinion of the whole book.

If this was another author, I would not read her work again. However, because I've read her other books and I know how great they are, I will actively await her next one and hope it is better than this.