The Post Office Girls by Poppy Cooper

The Post Office Girls by Poppy Cooper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 353

Publisher - Hodder

Source - Review copy

Blurb From Goodreads

With the Great War raging, can they keep Britain going?1915. On Beth Healey's eighteenth birthday, she hopes that she will be able to forget the ghastly war and celebrate. But that evening, her twin brother Ned announces that he has signed up to fight.No longer able to stand working in her parents' village shop while others are doing their bit, Beth applies to join the Army Post Office's new Home Depot on the Regent's Park, and is astounded to be accepted. She will be responsible for making sure that letters and parcels get through to the troops on the front line.Beth is thrilled to be a crucial part of the war effort and soon makes friends with fellow post girls Milly and Nora, and meets the handsome James. But just as she begins to feel that her life has finally begun, everything starts falling apart, with devastating consequences for Beth and perhaps even the outcome of the war itself. Can Beth and her new friends keep it all together and find happiness at last?


My Review

So this one is different from the other type of books I have read and I am the first to admit I haven't read a whole lot in or around world war one. It seems more world war two so far but there is another book in this series so I will get that. Set in 1915 and everyone is doing their bit for the war, fighting, signing up and Beth wants to do her bit. As you know women in that time period has certain expectations, how to behave, act, family values and expectations. Beth helps out her parents in the family shop, her twin is away to fight in the war and they have just had their eighteenth birthday. Beth wants to do more, she wants to go work in the post office, helping process mail for the soldiers from their families. To do this she needs to disobey her family, lie, be brave and stand on her own two feet. Actions have consequences and with war on everyone is feeling it and emotional already.

So this is sedate paced, story building as we get to know Beth's life, routine, relationships so we can appreciate the personal growth and sacrifice to go against her parent's wishes. To put herself forward, something Beth has never done and in the location where bombs and war are very evident. Facing the disappointment of her family, confusion over her own feelings, drawn to another, learning about those against the war, suffragettes, campaigning, friendship it is a lot for this small town girl.

I really liked this, very centric on the people, their feelings, loved ones, love, loss, bravery, despair and doing what you feel is right when it puts you in a hard place and judgement and negativity from those closest to you. This is my first by this author and it was a debut, I checked Fantastic fiction and the second book is set at Christmas so I may get it and read in December, I do love a them, 4/5 for me for this one.

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On Wings of Love by Briar Boleyn

On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 575

Publisher -

Source - Wishlist rak

Blurb from Goodreads

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 337

Publisher -

Source - Wishlist arc

Blurb from Goodreads

I didn't sign up for this.

A half-fae in a school of highblood vampires? That's a recipe for torment.

I'm Medra Pendragon—last of the dragon riders, or so they tell me. Funny thing is, there are no dragons left. Not a single one. But somehow, that hasn't stopped the vampires from deciding I'm worth capturing. Now I'm stuck at Bloodwing Academy, where the highbloods run everything and blightborn like me? We're just blood in their veins, pawns in their games.

But that's not even the worst part. Enter Blake Drakharrow. Cold, arrogant, and way too gorgeous for his own good. He's been tormenting me since the moment we met, and now, thanks to some ancient ritual, we're betrothed. He acts like he owns me, but I'm not going down without a fight.

Bloodwing isn't just a school—it's a battlefield. Highbloods fight for power, and if you're weak? You're dead.

Between deadly competitions, lies that could get me executed, and a dragon-shaped secret looming over my head, all I have to do is survive. Easy, right? Except I'm starting to think the real danger isn't the academy—it's what I'm becoming in this twisted game of power.

And Blake? He might just be the one who pushes me over the edge.

They think they can control me. They think they can use me.

But they have no idea what they've awakened.


My Review

Do NOT come for me lol! There is so much I did enjoy about this book but I also was annoyed and eye rolled a fair few times. Medra comes to and she is in a dangerous position, surrounded by dead decaying bodies and a vampire wants a taste of her blood, She then meets Blake and gets took off to the Academy were her fate is sealed. She will behave, she will toe the line, she will obey, perform and fight for her place in there whether she wants to or not! Before long the attraction between the two is evident but obvs they hate each other, aye sure they do and it is a bit of a dance between them of I hate you but cannot deny to the inner self they actually are attracted to each other.

So! I liked it but I didn't love it and have since checked and it is book one of four book series, the fourth coming later this year. So Medra is human but has dragon rider blood which makes her a hot currency despite there being no dragons but the Highbloods (powerful vamps) don't want to believe they are truly gone. Medra is surrounded by vamps and humans, humans are treated like crap, the vamps are entitled, shady and some worse than others. Medra's blood is elite so she has a bigger target on her back not to mention Blake's love interest really doesn't like her and the vamps can be vicious anyway.

There are games, powers it was very reminiscent of other series with echoes of some of those rolled in. Like it is such a busy book, magic, powers, my fave question I asked over and over was WHERE ARE THE DRAGONS, love interest, enemies, classism, murder, betrayal, friendship, mind control, danger, monsters, some spicey scenes like it has A LOT going on.

I think it was a good foundation book, I am looking forward to seeing where it goes and hoping to see some karma, growth, back bone and DRAGONS PLEASE, 3.5/5 for me on this one.

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Alien Prototype by Tim Waggoner

Alien: Prototype by Tim Waggoner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 384

Publisher - Titan books

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Dead cargo!

Venture, a direct rival to the Weyland-Yutani corporation, will accept any risk to crush the competition. Thus, when a corporate spy "acquires" a bizarre, leathery egg from a hijacked vessel, she takes it directly to the Venture testing facility on Jericho 3.

Though unaware of the danger it poses, the scientists there recognize their prize's immeasurable value. Early tests reveal little, however, and they come to an inevitable conclusion, they need a human test subject...

Enter Zula Hendricks.

A member of the Jericho 3 security staff, Colonial Marines veteran Zula Hendricks has been tasked with training personnel to deal with anything the treacherous planet can throw their way. Yet nothing can prepare them for the horror that appears - a creature more hideous than any Zula has encountered before.

Unless stopped, it will kill every human being on the planet.


My Review

Ooooh not Weyland-Yutani this time but their rivals who are equally desperate to get their hands on xenomorph, can you imagine. If they can get one of the aliens before Weyland they could finally complete if not take over. Anyone who could get that type of weapon (and actually manage to utilize it) they could rule the world. I LOVE the aliens franchise, even the movies that get panned, how could you not, the ultimate predator, I always thought the avp version was pretty brutal and scary, this takes it to a whole new level.

If you have never read or seen any of the books/movies you can pick this up as a standalone. The opposing company has sent out someone to infiltrate a pirate team, whilst they reveal is space spoils, food etc she is looking for the ultimate find, an alien. Accomplishing her mission they got to another space planet to conduct experiments because like Weyland-Yutani THEY NEVER LEARN. To be fair to these guys they only know of rumours et al. So we start off with an egg and then all chaos breaks loose HOWEVER this alien is different from any we have seen and is the deadliest so far!

I absolutely loved it, you think the alien cannot get anymore deadly, WRONG, it can and they manage to do it in this book. I always enjoy a synthetic, well a good synthetic, David and Ash are the worst and baddies, Bishop is my fave forever, I really like Andy and we get a newbie in this one.

We get the whole package in this one, from acquisition to outbreak and then the fight for life is truly on. We also have some of the human dramas, hang ups, bad behaviours like I always enjoy these books, how can you not but it is rare to have all the boxes ticked and for me, this one does. Some can also be a slow burner and let you get the build up before the chaos, this one we get action from the first few pages, 5/5!

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A Secret Cornish Wish by Ali McNamara

A Secret Cornish Wish by Ali McNamara


Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 362

Publisher - Sphere

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

What if one summer could change your life?

For Frankie and her five best friends growing up on the glorious beaches of Cornwall's St Felix, life couldn't get any better. Late one night, the friends discover an old box washed up on the shores and they learn the tale of the St Felix mermaid who grants wishes to those who find her treasure. Even though they know it's just Cornish folkore, the friends decide to make a wish for what they each want out of life - most importantly, they want to always be together . . .

Over the course of the next few decades, as weddings, funerals, birthdays and more bring the friends back together, lost loves, broken promises and buried secrets just as quickly tear them apart. But when they reunite one last time in St Felix, will it be for good? And will their wishes finally be revealed?


My Review

A group of friends in the 80s, growing up in Cornwall, beaches, teenage dramas and legends of mermaids. Frankie is the main character, we open in 2024 & back in St Felix at the sea. Frankie immediately thinks back to her group of friends and what it was like growing up there, the time and distance apart and now being back home. Leading us nicely back to the past, 1989 & meeting the friends, Eddie, Claire, Suzy, Mandy and Frankie's crush and new boy to the school, Robert. We are introduced to the group dynamics, things that are important to young adults and finding potential treasure, making wishes and is there really such a thing as mermaids or is it just small town lore? We then cross to present day and the group are reunited, now middle aged adults brought back together by life events.

It is a story about friendship, love, wishes, mermaid lore, past and present with duo timeline, young adult themes and angsts. I LOVED the mermaid stuff, I actually wish there had been far more to be honest. The book is very much about Frankie and her younger years then returning back as an adult and everything coming full circle, relationships, coming of age, who they are and who they became and splashes of mermaid magic, 3.5/5.

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Slenderman by Kathleen Hale

Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 4 days

Pages - 348

Publisher - Ebury Press

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

The first full account of the Slenderman stabbing, a true crime narrative of mental illness, the American judicial system, the trials of adolescence, and the power of the internet

The Slenderman stabbing of May 31, 2014, in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin, shocked the local community and the world. The violence of Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, two twelve-year-old girls who attempted to stab their classmate to death, was extreme, but what seemed even more frightening was that they had done so under the influence of a figure born by the internet: the so-called “Slenderman.” Yet the even more urgent aspect of the story, that the children involved were suffering from undiagnosed mental illness, was often overlooked in coverage of the case.

Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls tells that full story for the first time in deeply researched detail, using court transcripts, police reports, individual reporting, and exclusive interviews. Morgan and Anissa were bound together by their shared love of geeky television shows and animals, and their discovery of the user-uploaded scary stories on the Creepypasta website could have been nothing more than a brief phase. But Morgan was suffering from early-onset childhood schizophrenia. She believed that she had been seeing Slenderman for many years, and the only way to stop him from killing her family was to bring him a sacrifice: Morgan’s best friend Payton “Bella” Leutner, whom Morgan and Anissa planned to stab to death on the night of Morgan’s twelfth birthday. Bella survived the attack, but was deeply traumatized, while Morgan and Anissa were immediately remanded into jail, and the severity of their crime meant that they would be prosecuted as adults. There, as Morgan continued to suffer from worsening mental illness after being denied antipsychotics, her life became more and more surreal.

Slenderman is both a page-turning true crime story and a search for justice.


My Review

I watch a lot of true crime so I had heard of this case before but just the basics, two kids, pre teens had taken their friend and tried to kill her. It was a brutal crime made worse by the fact they were all kids and friends. This book is written by someone who lived in the small town before and a lot of the community wouldn't talk to outsiders although I am not sure how much more access/info this person had compared to others.

The book takes us to before the wean was born, her father and mothers meeting, her fathers mental health issues and then her being born. The issues she had and experienced and instead of her parents watching for the signs, getting her help and acknowledging what she was going through it was basically ignored so the wean suffered in silence and navigate what she was seeing and hearing. Her parents opted the route of not telling her about her fathers illness until she was sixteen which of course would be far too late.

The book goes through the history of the three kids, their families, upbringings, backgrounds and how they all met and interacted and the discovery of creepy pasta and the slender man. It then takes us through the lead up of the crime, the crime itself and what happened after until the girls are arrested and their incarceration and sentences. I still find it wild how things played out, charging them as adults, the one who carried out the physical attack was confirmed with a mental health condition yet still didn't get healthcare she desperately needed. They were more interested in making sure she knew and understood the law process (she was twelve and more accurately it was ensuring she parroted more than understood). The amount of red flags, missed opportunities and times my jaw dropped because of what I was reading, wild! I absolutely get that people want offenders to pay for their crimes especially when they are so horrific and violent but this wasn't someone pretending to be unwell and even when this was diagnosed and recognised she still had medication and treatment withheld. It is a wild one for sure, 4/5 for me for this.

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The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 5 days

Pages - 564

Publisher -

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

In love we find out who we want to be. In war we find out who we are.

France, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France―a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.


My Review

World War two, two sisters, very different people and very different experiences. France, Vianne the older sister is married, has a child and her husband has to leave to do his part. Isabelle is the younger sister, eighteen, rebellious, passionate and wants to play her part. Vianne is in the village where the Nazi soldiers are taking over and one has moved into her home. Both face their own dangers, struggles and do what they have to to survive this war.

Guys, ooft, the crimes committed we all known were beyond barbaric and this book tackles some of that by taking us through the atrocities people living in France experienced during the war. The two sisters live very different lives and their experiences differ greatly. Both experience danger, abuse, trauma and see how horrific humans can be first hand.

It is not an easy read, we all know the horrors committed during this time so please check your triggers and prepare. Not an easy read by any means and whilst these are fictional characters we know people did live, die and suffer through these barbaric times so it does hit you in the emotionals. 4/5 for me for this one and it is coming out as a movie too so we will absolutely be checking that out too!

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No Regret by Martina Cole and Jacqui Rose

No Regret: the gripping Sunday Times bestselling thriller from the iconic queen of crime by Martina Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 404

Publisher - Headline

Source from Goodreads

Soho 1962.

When Rory Sheehan decides he wants Maggie Riley as his own, her fate is sealed.

Luca Romano knows all too well that what Rory wants, Rory gets. And the violence that erupts between their rival gangs is just the start of it.

Thomas Johnson owes Rory big time, and he must deny his feelings for Maggie to protect her. Faced with no alternative, Maggie throws herself on Rory's mercy, unaware of the brutality that she will face.

But Maggie Riley is a survivor. And the secret she's hiding could be her best weapon . . .


My Review

Oooft talk about dark! This is the third I think I have read of these two authors together. Maggie has it rough, her mother is a cold fish, her father is a drunk and abusive, her friendship with Thomas faces resistance because racism is high where they are. It is also set in the 1960s in England so it is brutal both in its attitudes to anyone not white English male. When Maggie attracts the eye of not just one but two very bad men she is essentially jumping from the frying pan and into the fire.

You know Cole's books always feature bad people, bad actions, the worst of humanity, drugs, selling people, murder, racism, abuse, sa, dv, ca, violence, drug addiction, prostitution honestly it is dark dark stuff and hardly a redeeming person in the whole thing.

Actions, consequences, death, betrayal, murder, you name it it is in it. Short chapters which we love, page turning because you want to see where it is going and if we are going to get retribution. 3.5/5 stars for me this time, I need a genre switch and something lighter because dear lord this was a dark yin, prepare yourselves!

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