Review - The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Blurb From Goodreads

This beautiful and sad first novel, recently adapted for a major motion picture, tells of a band of teenage sleuths who piece together the story of a twenty-year old family tragedy begun by the youngest daughter’s spectacular demise by self-defenstration, which inaugurates “the year of the suicides.”

My Review

Ugh I was so disappointed by this book! I thought we were going to get an in depth look at the girls lives, what happened to make them all do what they did and behave as they did but was left with just as many questions if not more by the time I got through it. The book tells from the point of view of kids they grew up with and always refers to "we would see them or we watched from outside" yet never said who the we were.

There was no depth to any of the characters, I felt no reasons or explanations for the way the parents were or even the girls. Why no-one stepped in, said anything, done anything. Why did the girls choose to involve the people they did and why in that way. Maybe there was some deep and hidden meaning to the book but I failed to see it.

I was bored for most of the book (intrigued before the first suicide but bored and annoyed thereafter), the chapter lengths varied as well, one was only say 12 or 14 pages long and another was over 80. Overall it dragged and didn't hold my interest and I found it a real chore to read and finish it so 1/5 for me. I'm not sure if I would read this author again, if I did it will be when this book is a distant memory.

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B.G.R - Star Gazing by Linda Gillard

Star Gazing by Linda Gillard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Time taken to read - 2 days

Blurb From Goodreads

Blind since birth, widowed in her twenties, now lonely in her forties, Marianne Fraser lives in Edinburgh in elegant, angry anonymity with her sister, Louisa, a successful novelist. Marianne's passionate nature finds solace and expression in music, a love she finds she shares with Keir, a man she encounters on her doorstep one winter's night. While Marianne has had her share of men attracted to her because they want to rescue her, Keir makes no concession to her condition. He is abrupt to the point of rudeness, and yet oddly kind. But can Marianne trust her feelings for this reclusive stranger who wants to take a blind woman to his island home on Skye, to "show" her the stars?

My Review

The book centers around 3 main characters, Marianne being the main one, her sister Louisa and Keir a stranger who happens upon her in a moment on need. Marianne is blind from birth and lives with her author sister. After a chance meeting Marianne and Keir form a relationship were opposites really do attract and their friendship threatens to spill into something much more.

The book is written between Marianne's point of view, then third person and then Louisa's. It works very well and is really easy to follow. The story goes along without any big fireworks or huge events, although there is a handful tottered out throughout the book (mostly in the latter half). What made the book for me was seeing the world through Marianne, how she experiences the world, colours and scenery when she has never had any visual reference, I also loved how Keir taught her how to see things.

I have never read a book like it, it isn't a conventional love story but about two people finding a middle ground when they are both from different worlds. It was lovely to see the friendship form and the relationship build. I found myself getting annoyed and frustrated with both Marianne and Keir and how their inability to be upfront with each other lead to so many "issues". Sorry to be vague but I hate spoiler reviews. Overall I really enjoyed the book, it was nice to read something so different, 4/5 for me.

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Review - The Pools by Bethan Roberts

The Pools by Bethan Roberts

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Time taken to read - 1 day

Blurb From Goodreads

“A complex anatomy of a murder. Bethan Roberts is a fearless writer. . . . A compelling debut.”—Louise Welsh“A cool and relevant novel . . . an urban Cold Comfort Farm . . . expertly crafted.”—Sunday ExpressMiddle England, mid-1980s: the kind of place where nothing ever happens. Except something has happened: A fifteen-year-old boy called Robert has died down by the pools. And half a dozen lives will come unraveled. The Pools subtly reveals the tensions and terrors that underpin apparently ordinary lives, causing them to spiral suddenly out of control.Bethan Roberts lives in Brighton in the south of England. The Pools is her first novel.

My Review

The story starts with the death of 15 year old Robert and the chapters flick between Howard his dad and Joanna (not sure what she was to Robert, a classmate or even an acquaintance). Then it jumps back to Howard and his meeting with Roberts mum and their relationship to present day and Joanna's first encounter with Rob to present day.

Howard and Kathryn's relationship makes for good reading and how it changes and they are with their son, Howard's neediness and the different dimensions of his relationship with his wife. Joanna I wasn't sure what to make of her, there seemed to be no reason (none that is explained) to her behaviors and to be honest I didn't much like her character at all but she is a big part in the story.

The event that the book is centered around (Rob's death) is very briefly covered and to be honest I think I would have given a much better rating and enjoyed it more had we had more time devoted to it than say the toying relationship between Joanna and her step dad or even her interactions with her own father. Either way not a bad first novel but I am not raving over it either, so a likable 3/5.

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Review - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Time taken to read - 1 day

Blurb from Goodreads

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

My Review

This kind of reminded me of the old movie Running man with Arnold Swarchenegger but this time with younger people and a different edge to it. Whilst the hunger games serves as a tribute and price to be paid due to the uprising of the people years ago it also provides entertainment for the public almost like back in the Colosseum days.

This is the story of sixteen year old Katniss having to step up and face the horror, murder, brutality and trials of the hunger games, the prize - keeping her life. The story gives us a background on how the games came to be and an insight into Katniss's character very early on and her interactions with others before and during the game, giving us an insight into who she is.

It is a story that evokes and stirs up many emotions and is written so well you can picture and put yourself right into the story along with the characters. The survival side with what they have to eat made me a bit queezy and the ending was a bit sharp for me although it does ensure I will be getting the next book as I have to find out what happens so it is a 4/5 for me.

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A.R.R - The Wicked Wives by Gus Pelagatti

The Wicked Wives by Gus Pelagatti

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Time taken to read - 2 days

Blurb from Goodreads

"Wicked Wives" is based on the true story of the 1938 Philadelphia murder scandals in which seventeen wives were arrested for murdering their husbands. Mastermind conspirator Giorgio DiSipio, a stunning lothario and local tailor who preys upon disenchanted and unfaithful wives, convinces twelve of them to kill their spouses for insurance money. The murder conspiracy is very successful until one lone assistant D.A., Tom Rossi, uncovers the plot and brings the perpetrators to justice. "Wicked Wives" is a story made for Hollywood, combining murder, corruption, treachery, love, lust and phenomenal detail as it vividly captures Depression-era Philadelphia.

My review

What a tangle of deceit, sex, lies and of course murder. Wicked wives is about a group of women who kill their husbands for reasons ranging from murder, sex, love of another man or a combination of all. The man in the middle of it all is Giorgio DiSipio, catering to the neglected wives needs and getting them to do his bidding.

The book goes between the guilty parties movements before the murders and the time leading up to it and then where the investigation kicks off and all the key players involved in it. The chapters are fairly short so it is easy to dip in and out of the book or get through a fair chunk in one sitting.

The language is a lot more modern and crass than I would expect for that era but it only helps paint the crude picture of the depravity going on. Fairly easy to read and it keeps your interest going with a good twist at the end - I think this would make a great movie, 3/5 for me.

Thanks to the author for giving me the opportunity to try his work.

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Review - Body Count by shaun Hutson

Body Count by Shaun Hutson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Time taken to read - 2 days



Blurb from Goodreads



Wounded. Exhausted. Losing blood. The figure in the mask stumbles through the streets. Closing in are others in masks but they don't stumble, they stalk. They carry machetes, clubs and knives. And they know how to use them. They've killed before and they're going to kill again. Who is kidnapping seemingly random victims and then slaughtering them in an elaborate game of cat and mouse? And why are these murders being streamed over the internet? Watching the horror unfold at New Scotland Yard is Detective Inspector Joe Chapman and his team. Chapman searches for clues, hints - anything that might tell him where and when this savage hunt is happening. He'd give anything to know. He'd give almost anything to stop them. Unfortunately for DI Chapman, 'almost' anything might not be enough ...



My Review



DI Joe Chapman has more issues than most cops put together. He has a crap attitude, can't get over his last affair with a colleague and his daughter is missing after he tried to rule with an iron fist. Put on top of that they have a series of murders being taped and broadcast on the Internet, a game of cat and mouse with bloody and brutal slayings.



The chapters are only a few pages long each time which is always a nice change and helps to quickly get through a book I find. It is very different from his work I am used to reading, certainly it still has the graphic gruesome descriptions of the butchery but no supernatural or horror (apart from human brutality) that I am used to.



The book moves at a decent pace and there is plenty of murder and gore to keep you turning the pages. To be honest it reminds me of a movie I have seen or book I have read previously, kind of got a saw theme to it. Overall quite good although as always anything with animals being harmed does put me off a bit so 3/5 for me.

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Kindle Cover Competition winner is..........

announced a day late, my apologies as I had indulged in celebrating St. Patrick's day with friends.

Thank you to everyone who took part and well done to Josie over at http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.co.uk/ who is our winner. Hope you and Jaffa like it and I will pop it in the post in the next few days.