Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 336

Publisher - Borough Press

Source - Bought

blurb from Goodreads

White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences… Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American—in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel.

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.


My Review

Like a Jerry Springer show but instead of cheating spouses we have an author trying to make it big and when an "opportunity" arises she grabs it. Everything from that moment on she does/chooses is just car crash tv. You are mortified and like GIRL NO WHAT ARE YOU THINKING and she just gets worse as the book goes on.

I don't know what I expected with this one from everything everyone was chatting I just knew I HAD to read it but it wasn't what I thought it would be. You get it, authors have it really rough and with this we get a look behind the curtain of what it is like from education to starting out and trying to make a name for yourself. Your friend is doing the same but she strikes gold every single time and our protagonist, June - later Juniper - can't help but compare, resent and be annoyed. We then see inside June's thinking process and her justifications for what she does and her monologue of she deserves this. She isn't a nice person and wow does she spiral.

As success comes so do all the bad sides of it and when you have been a dodgy biscuit and rose high, the height to fall is far higher. Outside the drama we also have themes of cultural appropriation, race/racism, plagiarism, the pitfalls of social media, actions and consequences, greed, death and some seriously shady characters and behaviours.

I liked this I just didn't love it, a lot of characters and choices will grind your gears or just your teeth, not a bad thing. I absolutely wanted to see where it was going and I have another by this author to read, 3.5/5 for me for this one though.



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ALIEN Sea of Sorrows by James A Moore

Alien: Sea of Sorrows by James A. Moore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 352

Publisher - Titan Books

Source - from my boxset

Blurb from Goodreads

As a deputy commissioner for the ICC, Alan Decker’s job is to make sure the settlements on LV178 follow all the rules, keeping the colonists safe. But the planet known as New Galveston holds secrets, lurking deep beneath the toxic sands dubbed the Sea of Sorrows.

The Weyland-Yutani Corporation has secrets of its own, as Decker discovers when he is forced to join a team of mercenaries sent to investigate an ancient excavation. Somewhere in that long-forgotten dig lies the thing the company wants most in the universe—a living Xenomorph.
Decker doesn’t understand why they need him, until his own past comes back to haunt him. Centuries ago, his ancestor fought the Aliens, launching a bloody vendetta that was never satisfied. That was when the creatures swore revenge on the Destroyer… Ellen Ripley .


My Review

Aw guys I know a lot of folk didn't like this one and you need to suspend belief but I mean don't we do that anyways. I love the aliens books/movies so it is a bit like my shark/zombie love, I accept just about anything so with that being said, lets get to it.

This is book two from my boxset and whilst they are from different authors they are from the same universe. This one is X amount of years after the previous, the aliens are still going and they remember Ripley, she isn't in this one but one of her descendants are! So Decker is working on a settlement, something happens and the company are up to their dastardly deeds. After some very questionable behaviours and manipulation Decker is headed back to LV-178 to help the squad acquire what the company have wanted for years, an alien for themselves. Decker has this empathy type "power" that will aid them with the aliens however this connection comes at a cost. The xenos can sense him too and they know him as "the destroyer" akin to Ripley the one who caused them so much pain/hurt/death and he will pay.

The aliens hate humans and really any life that isn't theirs but this for Decker is something else and we hear from the xenos in this one. How they think, focus, what drives them but the whole revenge hate destroy thing reminds me of Jaws 3, this time it is personal. Mind the shark travelled X amount to wipe out Brodie's family (I think it was the third movie) so it had echos of that.

It has strong vibes of the second movie too, the team of professionals who are tooled up and fantastic at what they do, then they meet our bad boys and it all goes to pot. I think if you enjoy the movies/alien universe you will like this one. I did get a wee bit annoyed at some of the choices of these guys but I get that all the time. Its the old watching true crime and giving it all pfft they are so dumb to leave XYZ sitting being a CSI specialist on the couch in my jammies skelping a pot noodle lol. Faced with the perfect killing machine I am sure I would be toast in the first chapter but you still sit high and mighty and judge lol, 3.5/5 for me this time. Looking forward to whatever the next book brings!

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If You Could See Me Now by Cecilia Ahern

If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 306

Publisher - Hachette Books

Source - Think a book pal gave me it (was on my tbrm for years)

Blurb from Goodreads

From the bestselling author of P.S. I Love You and Love, Rosie, Cecelia Ahern, comes an enchanting novel that leads you to wonder if Not Seeing is believing!

Readers and critics alike adore Cecelia Ahern for her lighthearted yet insightful stories about modern women and their often unusual situations. In If You Could See Me Now, she takes that theme a step further, offering us a heroine who is entirely believable, and the new man in her life who is, well, slightly less so.

Elizabeth Egan's life runs on order: Both her home and her emotions are arranged just so, with little room for spontaneity. It's how she counteracts the chaos of her family—an alcoholic mother who left when she was young, an emotionally distant father, and a free-spirited sister, who seems to be following in their mother's footsteps, leaving her own six-year-old son, Luke, in Elizabeth's care.

When Ivan, Luke's mysterious new grown-up friend, enters the picture, Elizabeth doesnt know quite what to make of him. With his penchant for adventure and colorful take on things large and small, Ivan opens Elizabeth's eyes to a whole new way of living. But is it for real? Is Ivan for real?

If You Could See Me Now is a love story with heart—and just a touch of magic.



My Review

When you think fantasy its all magic, dragons, space type stuff but for me I would consider this a wee bit in a fantasy type role. Ivan is an adult and what we would call an imaginary friend although he is very much real just not visible to adults/non believers. He goes from one kid to another as they need him. When he becomes friends with Luke he thinks it is Luke he is there for, Luke is looked after by his aunt Elizabeth, a no nonsense woman who has had a pretty rough hand dealt. Her mum was a free spirit and left her and her sister behind with their dad, her sister became a "free spirit" just like her mum and left Luke in Elizabeth's sensible care, only flitting back and forth between dramas and need for money. Her father is also getting on so she is looking after him and working full time and looking after Luke. When it seems maybe Elizabeth can hear Ivan and ivan realises maybe it is Elizabeth he is here for and both may have bigger impacts on the other that they could never have forseen.

Most of us had an invisible friend but imagine that friend was actually real, flitting between people and works for an agency all about befriending/helping those who need him most. It is a very different type of book, it has tragedy, sadness, neglect, family truths/secrets and Elizabeth is so strict/stern and even a bit cold but as the story goes on we understand why she is the way she is. As Ivan becomes more real (and complicated) to her we see her find herself a bit more and the impact she has on Ivan.

I read this on holiday when I was fighting off temps/sickness and feeling rough, it allowed me a little indulgence and thinking back to when I was a wean. If you want something a wee bit out there, different from the normal books you read, bittersweet, personal growth, love, sadness with some magical bits thrown in (not wizard magic, imaginary friend who is real style magic) then this is one for you, I liked it, 3.5/5 for me this time.

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A deal with the Devil Part 2 by Netta Newbound and Marcus Brown

A Deal With the Devil: Discovering Chris Watts: - Part Two - The Facts by Netta Newbound
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 6 weeks

Pages - 506

Publisher - Junction Publishing

Source - Bought Amazon Kindle

Blurb from Amazon

During this series we will look at the facts, the police investigation, the evidence, hear Chris Watts’ explanation and his reasoning. We will try to make some sense of what occurred during the early hours of August 13th 2018.
We will endeavour to present to you all aspects of the case, right from the initial investigation and how it unfolded, to the first and subsequent confessions all transcribed word for word (where possible) from actual video and audio footage obtained from the FBI’s Discovery Files.

We will continue where we left off.

At the end of book one, Chris Watts had finally confessed to murdering them and disposing of their bodies at an oil field.
In part two, we will focus on…
•… the grim discovery and recovery of the bodies.
•… the chilling details of the autopsies.
•… the remaining police interviews of Nichol Kessinger.
•… the Plea Deal.
•… the sentencing.
•… Chris Watts Prison Interview.


Marcus and Netta have worked together for a few years now, mainly in a publishing capacity, but in 2019 they joined forces and wrote Avaline Saddlebags—the first in a psychological fiction thriller series.

Combining their joint obsession with this case, they studied the files together, often into the small hours.

We want to stress that if you have already read the discovery files, then this series of books is probably not for you.

As seen on the new Netflix documentary - American Murder: The Family Next Door



My Review

I read book one and it covered the interviews, verbatim up to the confession and where he put the weans. The book ended abruptly so I HAD to buy book two. This book is not for the faint hearted. It includes the autopsies and is very upsetting and disturbing. The interviews with Watts and his girlfriend, as with book 1 they are verbatim. If there is an um, throat clear, every single word/action is transcribed. That is partly why it took so long to read because it is very dry, repetitive but hard going and horrific.

The conditions of the bodies is very upsetting, the weans had been in oil tanks and whilst this was known from the Netflix documentary and the forensic files they took these interviews from you don't really (well I hadn't) think about the decomposition/injuries.

The interviews are so so so so so long that I think had they actually just written the heart of them rather than translating every word, pause, throat clear yes the book would be shorter but easier to read.

What I did find interesting is they cover sentencing etc that you see in the Netflix but after he is sentenced and jailed the officers go back to talk to Watts. They actually get details of what he claims happened, what he did, his thoughts on it and some background info on his relationships. The main thing I think and the detectives touch on this is that everyone says he was such a nice guy, never any of the stories some folk say once someone does something like that. Even after it everyone is shocked because "not Chris" he was always such a nice guy, quiet etc. He also talks about what was discussed with lawyers and how they went about his plea and what prison life is like for him.

It is an interesting read as most killers don't talk openly about what they did or speculate about themselves and their actions. I also hadn't realised there was some questionable stuff with the girlfriend and the authors include a few wee sentences commenting on the interviews.

Part three is apparently theories and opinions but not those of the authors, I wonder if this is just stuff lifted from online? The two books have literally been the interviews transcribed verbatim, including every pause with just a few sentences from the authors. Book three is likely the same as the blurb actually specifies "These theories are not the opinions of the authors and in no way are they saying these events are actually true. But they are most definitely food for thought…" for £6 despite this I know I will likely end up buying it for completeness, ugh! The authors do specify if you have seen the documentary (not the Netflix I think it is forensic files) then this book is not for you but I still think you would miss stuff - I doubt the program covered every pause/throat clear. Interesting read for sure, shocking and emotive but very dry at times just because of the fact it is the interviews turned into books, 3/5. Sorry I kinda went a bit long and on and on for this one, it is a shocking, devastating and heart breaking case - you could discuss it for hours!

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Lover unbound by J R Ward

Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 5 days

Pages - 528

Publisher - Signet

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

The ruthless and brilliant brother Vishous possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of a human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the first time-until a destiny he didn't choose takes him into a future that does not include her...

My Review

This is book 5 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, you absolutely could get away with starting with this book. Each book tends to focus on one particular member of the brotherhood, this time it is Vishous. Vishous can see the future but after everything that has happened (in the past books) his visions have stopped, he is angry and a bit destructive. Whilst out smashing the Lessers he is mortally wounded and taken to a human hospital. When the staff operate on him they don't recognise him for what he is but do see the anomalies compares to mortals anatomy. The surgeon, Jane, who saves his must be with him until he is healed and taken against her will. It isn't long before she cannot deny she has feeling and could Vishous finally be moving on from his unspeakable feelings for his friend?

The book gives us a few insights into Vishous's past, why he is the way he is, his family history and how he came into The Brotherhood. As with all the books there is sex but in this one, I felt there was more and dare I say more graphic scenes? Vishous has always been into darker, kinkier scene, control, dominance and no feelings involved. He finds a partner who can withstand his darker urges and then they part, so finding someone he cares about is a whole new ballgame for him and we see a new side to him.

We also hear more about some of the duties expected of the Brotherhood for their cause and those involved. Some of it is a bit uncomfortable to read because, without giving spoilers, the whole breeder and obedient side of the chosen ones for the purpose. Wasn't loving it although Phury and Vishous were really good when it came down to it but the whole submissive thing was a wee bit eek for me. Really good next chapter in the story though, learning more about them, their duties and what is expected of them. Each book gives new insight, fresh ideas and we see more of the members get ready for their transition. Looking forward to book 6 (on my tbrm) to see who is the next focus character and where it takes us, 3.5/5 for me this time.

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