The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 256

Publisher - Hodder & Stoughton

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Amazon (as Goodreads blurb is has spoilers!)

A dark and suspenseful novel of lies, betrayal, and identity - perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror.

It was meant to be an evening to honour and celebrate Evelyn Caldwell's award-winning, career-making scientific research - but Evelyn has things on her mind.

Things like Nathan, her husband, who has left her for a younger, better, newer woman. A woman who is now pregnant - but shouldn't be - and is strikingly familiar. Too familiar to be a coincidence.

A woman who shouldn't exist.

The Echo Wife is a propulsive new novel from an international rising star about identity, murder, and the choices society forces women to make.


My Review

DO NOT READ THE BLURB ON GOODREADS - it has spoiler info (imo). Evelyn is a scientist, making huge strides and there is even an event in her honour. Everyone is asking where her husband is, Evelyn keeps her face on but does let it slip he is likely at home with his new fiance. So for me I thought oh my God, a book about a powerful woman who has been left by her husband for a younger model. However that is just scratching the surface, my God the book has so much more to come and it is explosive.

Evelyn is a bit of a coldfish, professionally brilliant but emotionally stilted however when you start to get into what she actually does as a job, her background, her family life you start to understand it a wee bit better. Evelyn works with cloning, she is making breakthroughs and succeeding in her field, nothing will get in her way. When something comes to light that could threaten it, Evelyn will let nothing get in her way, no matter the cost!

Oooft, so much involved in this one, science, relationships, betrayal, infidelity, ethics - oh the ethics - the things that are done in the name of research and selfish shocking behaviour. Morals are in some serious questioning and just utterly shocking at some points in the story. Really hard to go into without spoiling it (although if you read Goodreads blurb you will get the jist because - spoilers!). I just thought it was so clever, I was thinking it was going to be a relationship cheating/replacement with a younger model story but it is so so much more, would love this to be a movie! ​I read it in a day, this was my first dance with this author, it won't be my last, 4.5/5 for me this time.

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April Giveaway

Happy Easter/April.

Up for grabs is a x4 packet of Dairy Milk Caramel & x1 yellow bunny resin bookmark, as pictured.

And the chocolates

Open to all, use the Rafflecopter to enter. Good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger

Coming Up for Air by Sarah Leipciger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 320

Publisher - Double day

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Three extraordinary lives intertwine across oceans and centuries.

On the banks of the River Seine in 1899, a heartbroken young woman takes her final breath before plunging into the icy water. Although she does not know it, her decision will set in motion an astonishing chain of events. It will lead to 1950s Norway, where a grieving toymaker is on the cusp of a transformative invention, all the way to present-day Canada, where a journalist battling a terrible disease, drowning in her own lungs, risks everything for one last chance to live.

Moving effortlessly across time and space and taking inspiration from an incredible true story, Coming Up for Air is a bold, richly imagined novel about love, loss, and the immeasurable impact of every human life.



My review

We open in 1899, the narrator is about to commit suicide by taking herself a plunge into the river Seine. We hit the 1950s where a toymaker is about to make a huge breakthrough/invention and then our third character, present day in Canada has cystic fibrosis, struggles to breath and is about to embark on a life changing decision.

This book is loved by so many and whilst some of it is very emotive it is also quite stark, dark and i struggles to follow the three different stories/narratives/jumps. I would get into first person's story and start to settle then jump to the toy maker or the kid with the bad lungs who we also visit in present day.

There was a few scenes of animal cruelty that I really really struggled with and one I really don't think it brought anything or relevance to the story. I read horror/crime and all manners of books but I really struggle with animal stuff and when it pops up and seems (to me anyway) to have nothing to add to the story it really impacts how I get on with the rest of it. The mice thing ok I can see a link to what happened, the deer just no, unless it was to highlight the way the man/woman take control of X situation, well she does - he doesn't. Still I really really struggled with it.

That said other parts of the story are really engaging and or shocking/emotive but again so so much of it goes quite dark (it does open with a suicide) so I went back and forth on a 2.5 or 3 star rating. In the end I went with 3, I didn't find it easy reading for most of it but it does engage and I had no idea where it was going. I am absolutely in the minority, so many people loved this book so I totally recommend it but caution to prep yourself for two graphic animal abuse scenes and some really macabre themes. I love gabbing about books that make you feel like this or think about them, I think it would be a belter of a book for a book club discussion/debate so if you have read it please let me know what you thought!

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Ariadne by Jennifer Saint

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 386

Publisher - Wildfire books

Source - Vine

Blurb from Goodreads

A mesmerising retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Perfect for fans of CIRCE, A SONG OF ACHILLES, and THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS.

As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur - Minos's greatest shame and Ariadne's brother - demands blood every year.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods - drawing their attention can cost you everything.

In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne's decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover's ambition?

Ariadne gives a voice to the forgotten women of one of the most famous Greek myths, and speaks to their strength in the face of angry, petulant Gods. Beautifully written and completely immersive, this is an exceptional debut novel.


My Review

I don't think I have read any retellings or if I have it has been one and a long time ago. Ariadne and Phaedra are princesses in Crete, their father King Minos and this is the retelling of Theseus and the Minotaur. I remember the Minotaur story and the labyrinth maze as a kid but didn't know its origins. The book looks at so much more than just King Minos and the Minotaur there are other Gods and legends mentioned, their stories and how they link or relate(d) to each other.

A running theme within the stories of females suffering because of the choices of men (Gods) and the after effects and ripples of that. Absolutely relevant (in some aspects) even in our modern day real life the parallels, greed, infidelity, power, lust, fascination, sex, obsession, wrath of Gods, death, blood lust, parenthood - the list goes on and on.

Ariadne is the main character, we follow through her innocence growing up then exposed to sex, abhorrence with things she bears witness to and experiences. Family ties, cause/effect, there is a level of this that some readers may find hits an emotive spot in them, depending on your life experiences identifying with some of the characters, stories and themes.

This doesn't read like a debut and it has renewed my want for reading myths and legends, some of the stories I hadn't heard since I was a kid and even then only snippets. I LOVED have a character we could walk through these with and quite a few I hadn't heard of at all. Retellings seem to be popular at the moment and I can't wait to grab some more, 4/5 for me this time. I will be keeping an active eye out for Saint's future works!

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Your Turn to Suffer by Tim Waggoner Blog Tour

Today is my turn on the blog tour, for my stop I have my review (as always non spoiler), enjoy.

YOUR TURN TO SUFFER
Tim Waggoner
Publication date: Mar 2021
“His ability to weave the surreal with the hyper-real is his greatest talent.” — Signal Horizon. Lorelei Palumbo is harassed byasinister group calling themselves The Cabal. They accuse her of having committed unspeakable crimes in the past, and now she must pay. The Cabal begins taking her life apart one piece ata time – her job, her health, the people she loves – and she must try to figure out what The Cabal thinks she’s done if she’s to have any hope of answering theircharges and salvaging her life.

Out to BUY in ebook, treebook and hardback from AMAZON or the Publisher website FLAMETREEPUBLISHING now.

Bram Stoker Award-winning author Tim Waggoner writes both original and mediatie-in fiction,and he has published over forty novels and four short story collections. He teaches creative writing at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.

Your Turn to Suffer by Tim Waggoner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 256

Publisher - Flame Tree Press

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

“His ability to weave the surreal with the hyper-real is his greatest talent.” — Signal Horizon.

Lorelai Palumbo is harassed by a sinister group calling themselves The Cabal. They accuse her of having committed unspeakable crimes in the past, and now she must pay. The Cabal begins taking her life apart one piece at a time – her job, her health, the people she loves – and she must try to figure out what The Cabal thinks she’s done if she’s to have any hope of answering their charges and salvaging her life.



My Review

Weird eyes and a weird message "Confess and atone--or suffer." Lorelai thinks it is just a strange encounter with a woman with freaky eyes. Things however start to go wrong quickly, freaky happenings, people she knows behaving strange and things just get worse and worse, darker, more threatening until Lorelai realises this thing is bigger than her and if she doesn't "confess and atone" she will indeed suffer and she won't be the only one!

The thing about Flame Tree Press is the books are always dark, freaky and have dodgy happenings, Your Turn to Suffer is right at home. Some of the scenes are really dark, uncomfortable, brutal - things you often come to expect in horror books. Animal brutality, human brutality and duo world, ours and another you will go to with Lorelai to "help" her appreciate her predicament and work on her atonement/confession.

Super dark, gore fest at times but it has more than that to offer, some scenes are emotive, hard, shocking, echoes of a cult but like none we have ever seen. One for horror fans and if you go through a lot of horror, this will maybe offer you something different, fresh, 4/5 for me this time!

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The Embalmer by Alison Belsham

The Embalmer: A gripping new thriller from the international bestseller by Alison Belsham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 416

Publisher - Orion Trapeze

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

Has the ancient Egyptian cult of immortality resurfaced in Brighton?

When a freshly-mummified body is discovered at the Brighton Museum of Natural History, Detective Francis Sullivan is at a loss to identify the desiccated woman. But as Egyptian burial jars of body parts with cryptic messages attached start appearing, he realises he has a serial killer on his hands. Revenge, obsession and an ancient religion form a potent mix, unleashing a wave of terror throughout the city. Caught in a race against time while battling his own demons, Francis must fight to uncover the true identity of the Embalmer before it's too late...


My Review

Guys this is not for the faint hearted, from the opening chapters it is graphic, brutal, we know what embalming is and we get an insight into what the killer does to his victims. He isn't called the embalmer for nothing and soon a body, mummified, turns up and the police investigate, hello Detective Francis Sullivan. If you have read the previous books in the series you will be familiar with Francis and Marnie - it is totally complicated.

Marnie, poor Marnie cannot catch a break. Every book she ends up involved in what is happening she also has a bit of a history with our Francis so there is tons of threads to the story, if you haven't read the previous you can get away with this one but I would go back.

The bad guy is icky, brutal - in what he does to his victims and his disregard for them, Belsham doesn't hold back in describing what happens so not for the faint hearted. With mummification there is nods and links to Egyptian mythology which I found really interesting as I do like that kind of stuff yet never seem to get round to reading it. Police investigation, gruesome murders, friction between Francis, his colleagues, Marnie, his family. There is a lot going on but you can follow it easily enough, nothing distracts away from the threads and you are pulled in quite quickly. I have read the previous books and very much look forward to the next in the series, maybe not be eating noodles next time just incase, boke, 4/5 for me this time.

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I Survived by Victoria Cilliers

I Survived: A True Story by Victoria Cilliers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 288

Publisher - Pan

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

A chilling, eye-opening story of marriage and attempted murder, revealing the truth about a case that made headlines around the world.

On Easter Sunday 2015, experienced skydiver Victoria Cilliers undertook a parachute jump, a gift from her husband, British army sergeant Emile Cilliers. Her parachutes failed to open and she plummeted 4,000 feet to the ground, sustaining life-threatening injuries. Miraculously, she survived. Then the police arrived at her door. Someone had tampered with her parachute and they suspected Emile.

In I Survived Victoria describes how she fell for Emile, and how the charming man she thought she knew gradually revealed a darker side, chipping away at her self-worth until she found it impossible to sift truth from lies. Can she really believe that her husband – the father of their two young children – tried to kill her? As more shocking revelations come to light, and she has to face his trial and relentless media scrutiny, she struggles to come to terms with the past. Even a guilty verdict does not free her because Emile is not ready to let her go . . .

Powerful and honest, I Survived is the story of a woman who was put through hell and yet found the strength to forge a new life for herself and her children.



My review

I remember seeing this in the news, a husband tried to kill his wife by a rather unusual means AND for her to survive. This is Victoria's story, her life, career choices, her relationship before she met Emile and after the attempted murder.

The book will be very hard going for some readers, the gaslighting is absolutely shocking and even after the attempt it continues and his hole over her. It made for tough going, to see how he controlled, manipulated and hurt her (non physical before the attempt). I got so mad at some of her choices and allowance of behaviours. That said I understand it was because of the control, depending on your background you will experience a range of emotions and reactions to her choices/decisions.

It makes for an interesting and shocking read, survival, abuse, hope, personal journey, 4/5 for me this time.

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