Monthly Musings: MARCH IN REVIEW

I’ve got a lot of wonderful and exciting stuff going on in my life right now, which has been slightly interfering with my reading time. Not that I am complaining!

But in typical bookaholic fashion, I’ve tried to balance out my non-reading with accumulating more books – go figure! I have gone absolutely crazy on Netgalley with requests, which means that there are now 11 books pending in the next couple of months! Plus, I have received more books in the mail, generously sent to me by publishers, which are now staring balefully at me from my bookshelf. Not to mention my bookclub read, which is due next week. Is there ever such a thing as too many books????

Deep breath – ommmmmh!

Seeing that there is nothing to review at the moment, let’s just reflect on last month’s reading and what exciting books are waiting for me in April, my birthday month:

Books I have read in March: click on covers for more info

       

  These two will be reviewed as part of the blog tour on 24 & 25 April

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Favourites for March:

 The Italian Party, by Christina Lynch

A delicious and sharply funny page-turner about "innocent" Americans abroad in 1950s Siena, Italy. Newly married, Scottie and Michael are seduced by Tuscany's famous beauty. But the secrets they are keeping from each other force them beneath the splendid surface to a more complex view of ltaly, America and each other.

When Scottie's Italian teacher--a teenager with secrets of his own--disappears, her search for him leads her to discover other, darker truths about herself, her husband and her country. Michael's dedication to saving the world from communism crumbles as he begins to see that he is a pawn in a much different game. Driven apart by lies, Michael and Scottie must find their way through a maze of history, memory, hate and love to a new kind of complicated truth.

Half glamorous fun, half an examination of America's role in the world, and filled with sun-dappled pasta lunches, prosecco, charming spies and horse racing, The Italian Party is a smart pleasure.

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 Dark Matter, by Michelle Paver

January 1937. Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely, and desperate to change his life, so when he's offered the chance to join an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year, Gruhuken, but the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice: stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return--when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark...

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 Our House, by Louis Candlish

On a bright January morning in the London suburbs, a family moves into the house they’ve just bought in Trinity Avenue.
Nothing strange about that. Except it is your house. And you didn’t sell it.


When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she's sure there's been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern co-parenting arrangement: bird's nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. But the system built to protect their family ends up putting them in terrible jeopardy. In a domino effect of crimes and misdemeanors, the nest comes tumbling down.

Now Bram has disappeared and so have Fiona's children. As events spiral well beyond her control, Fiona will discover just how many lies her husband was weaving and how little they truly knew each other. But Bram's not the only one with things to hide, and some secrets are best kept to oneself, safe as houses.

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What I'm currently reading:

 The Broken Girls, by Simone St. James (Audible)

Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants--the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming--until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . .

Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past--and a voice that won't be silenced. . . .

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 The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, by Holly Ringland

After her family suffers a tragedy when she is nine years old, Alice Hart is forced to leave her idyllic seaside home. She is taken in by her estranged grandmother, June, a flower farmer who raises Alice on the language of Australian native flowers, a way to say the things that are too hard to speak. But Alice also learns that there are secrets within secrets about her past. Under the watchful eye of June and The Flowers, women who run the farm, Alice grows up. But an unexpected betrayal sends her reeling, and she flees to the dramatically beautiful central Australian desert. Alice thinks she has found solace, until she falls in love with Dylan, a charismatic and ultimately dangerous man.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is a story about stories: those we inherit, those we select to define us, and those we decide to hide. It is a novel about the secrets we keep and how they haunt us, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive. Spanning twenty years, set between the lush sugar cane fields by the sea, a native Australian flower farm, and a celestial crater in the central desert, Alice must go on a journey to discover that the most powerful story she will ever possess is her own.

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My reading list for April:

 The Lace Weaver, by Lauren Chater

 The Lido, by Libby Page

 Two Nights, by Kathy Reichs

 The Neighbor, by Joseph Souza

 Birthright, by Fiona Lowe

 Making Peace, by Fiona McCallum

Most anticipated coming soon in 2018:

            

Happy reading!

Book Review: THE ITALIAN PARTY by Christina Lynch

Title: The Italian Party

Author: Christina Lynch
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Read: March 2018

Expected publication: 20 March 2018

My Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

“American tourists come here and they see only the happy, beautiful Italy they want to see, and that the Italians want them to see. The party. They don’t see the scars. The ongoing struggles. Why would they? They don’t see them at home, either.”

Book Description:

A delicious and sharply funny page-turner about "innocent" Americans abroad in 1950s Siena, Italy. Newly married, Scottie and Michael are seduced by Tuscany's famous beauty. But the secrets they are keeping from each other force them beneath the splendid surface to a more complex view of ltaly, America and each other.

When Scottie's Italian teacher--a teenager with secrets of his own--disappears, her search for him leads her to discover other, darker truths about herself, her husband and her country. Michael's dedication to saving the world from communism crumbles as he begins to see that he is a pawn in a much different game. Driven apart by lies, Michael and Scottie must find their way through a maze of history, memory, hate and love to a new kind of complicated truth.

Half glamorous fun, half an examination of America's role in the world, and filled with sun-dappled pasta lunches, prosecco, charming spies and horse racing, The Italian Party is a smart pleasure.

My musings:

I am finding it hard to put into words how much I loved this book! It is one of those rare gems that you accidentally stumble across and which ends up being your favourite book of the year. It has a bit of everything: deception, lies, a mystery (of sorts), humour, adventure, history, romance, and unforgettable, heart-warming characters that will stay with you long after the last page has been turned. Feel-good, charming and utterly captivating are just a few terms that instantly come to mind.

The book starts with newlyweds Scottie and Michael Messina arriving in Siena fresh off the boat from America and getting into a bit of a pickle as soon as they drive their Ford Fairlane into town. The way they react to the situation will set the tone for their actions for the rest of the story: Scottie laughs and waves to the people who stare at them from doorways, whilst Michael is angry of having embarrassed himself. Although husband and wife, the couple are virtual strangers, each carrying secrets which have the potential to destroy their marriage in a heartbeat. How will they be able to make a life for themselves here, without coming unstuck?

I simply adored Scottie. Her youthful, innocent and positive approach to every situation and everyone she encountered on her journey was faintly reminiscent of my own twenty year old self setting off full of excitement and optimism to the other side of the world to start a new life in a new land. Scottie drove this story for me. It is impossible not to be touched by her zest and joy for life, the way she embraces Italy, its culture and its people. Life would be simple if everyone had her can-do attitude and joyful nature. As soon as they arrive, Scottie is happy to embrace everything about their new home and immerse herself in the Italian culture and language.  Unlike Michael, whose parents are emigrants from Sicily and who is able to speak Italian, but clings desperately to his American roots and customs, forcing Scottie to serve up American meals every night even though the Italian cuisine described in this book sounds to die for (don’t read this whilst you’re hungry!).

“She laughed a little, surprised. “Do you really see me as one of those corporate wives who lives in an English-only bubble and looks down on the ‘natives’? Bridge, shopping, tea, art history lectures, a barbecue on the Fourth of July and a turkey at Thanksgiving to keep the American spirit alive?”“Yes”, he said, looking confused. “What’s wrong with that?”“Nothing”, she said. Everything, she thought.

But then, Michael has not been completely truthful about his mission here, and has an altogether different agenda than just selling Ford tractors. He is sure that Scottie doesn’t suspect anything, which is another reason he feels so lucky to have married her:

“And the best part was, she wasn’t that smart. Because that’s what Michael wanted. What he needed. Someone who wasn’t too curious. Someone who would mistake his version of things for the truth.”

With her rich and atmospheric descriptions of Tuscany and the Sienese people, the author brings Italy to life for the reader. I wasn’t surprised to learn that she lived in Tuscany for four years, because her love for Italy, its people and its culture shines through every page and each one of the unforgettable characters she has created. This is armchair travel of the best kind, and one journey you don’t want to end. If you like books where a setting is so rich it is almost another character, then this is a must-read. I was sad when the book ended, and almost feel like I have a holiday hangover at the moment! Set in the 1950’s, during the period of the cold war, the historical background was interesting and lent additional depth to the book that will appeal to lovers of historical fiction but was introduced in a way that never bogged the story down.

Most of all, this book was such an all-around pleasure to read! If I had expected a light-hearted escapist travel story, I was in for a real treat, because it turned out to be so much more than that. There is a deeper message in Scottie and Michael’s story, which gives hope that love can prevail even in adversity. May I also briefly mention Ecco the dog, who added such humour to the story for me. We have a scruffy terrier just like him (even with Italian parentage) and some of the mannerisms and character were just so much like our dog it made me laugh out loud. 

Summary:

The Italian Party is a charming, delightful story of two young people who are trying to find their way in the world whilst staying true to themselves. The atmospheric Italian setting, the historical background and richly drawn characters make this a journey you will not want to end. It will easily make it on my all-time favourites list, to be revisited as a comfort read in the future. If you need a holiday, but don’t have the money or the time, do yourself a favour and pick up this wonderful read. I can’t wait to read more from this author! 

Thank you to Netgalley and St, Martin's Press for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Audiobook Review: DARK MATTER by Michelle Paver

Title: Dark Matter

Author: Michelle Paver
Narrator: Jeremy Northam
Read: March 2018

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

“How odd, that light should prevent one from seeing.”

Book Description:

January 1937. Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely, and desperate to change his life, so when he's offered the chance to join an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year, Gruhuken, but the Arctic summer is brief. 

As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice: stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return--when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark...

My musings:

I’ve been in the mood for a good ghost story for a while, and when another book blogger told me that Michelle Paver’s novel Dark Matter was not only suspenseful and spooky, but also set in a wild remote place, I didn’t need any more persuasion! And I must say that it lived up to all my expectations.

Dark Matter features an Arctic expedition in 1937, when four young men set off in a Norwegian vessel to spend a year on the remote land spit of Gruhuken on the Barents Sea. For twenty-eight year old Jack, who narrates the story through journey entries, his role as wireless operator on the expedition is a way to prove himself and escape his drab job as clerk that has kept him afloat after his family was bankrupted, ending his hopes of finishing his university degree. After his family’s fall from grace, Jack has turned into a loner who has no friends and rarely associates with other people, keeping himself to himself. Gruhuken, in its remoteness, has a strange appeal to him, a way to make a new start, clean his slate. Both his background as well as his personality make Jack an interesting, rounded character whose voice is perfect for the era and drive much of story’s momentum as his initial reserve and preconceived ideas begin to crumble in the remoteness of the Arctic Circle.

Paver does an excellent job in evoking the spirit of the wild setting she describes so vividly. The initial beauty of the Arctic summer with its constant daylight, which makes the men optimistic and confident about their mission, feeling invincible even in the wild, remote region they feel themselves stranded in. As the seasons change, and the days become shorter, there is an obvious change in the men, their confidence eroded by the ever increasing darkness and the eerie silence of the surrounding land when all the birds have fled before winter. As daylight gives way to constant darkness, Paver creates an atmosphere so tense and claustrophobic that I could literally feel the cold creeping in through the cracks in the wall, grateful of my own bedside lamp that kept the night at bay whilst reading.

Tension soon mounts as the isolation plays tricks on the human psyche – or is the threat real? Jack is a man of science, and he is all too eager to explain away the feelings of dread and menace he sometimes feels when venturing outside. But as his last companions are forced to leave, and he is left on his own in this unforgiving place, he soon finds that his rational explanations are woefully inadequate to explain away the fear. Something evil is afoot at Gruhuken, and it is slowly closing in.

Paver has achieved the art of balancing her narrative on the fine line between reality and the occult, in a way that we are never quite sure if Jack’s accounts are the unravelling of his own mind due to the constant dark, the isolation and the absence of other human contact, or whether there really is something evil haunting Gruhuken. All I know is that it was so authentic and believable that I buried deep under my doona and wild horses could not have made me go outside alone in the dark! Personally, I find that it is very difficult to find a book where the supernatural element is just right – enough to make you very, very afraid, but not over the top to make you having to suspend disbelief. It is a balance achieved by very few, and Paver has absolutely nailed it! One passage about the bear post in particular had my hair stand on end as I pictured it so vividly in my mind.

Summary:

For anyone looking for a good ghost story with a rich, atmospheric setting and a historical element (yes, this book has it all!), I cannot recommend this book highly enough! 

Book Review: BRING ME BACK by B. A. Paris

Title: Bring Me Back

Author: B.A. Paris
Publisher: Harlequin Australia

Read: March 2018

Expected publication: 19 March 2018

My Rating: 🌟🌟1/2

Book Description:

A young British couple are driving through France on holiday when they stop for gas. He runs in to pay, she stays in the car. When he returns her car door has been left open, but she's not inside. No one ever sees her again.

Ten years later he's engaged to be married; he's happy, and his past is only a tiny part his life now. Until he comes home from work and finds his new wife-to-be is sitting on their sofa. She's turning something over in her fingers, holding it up to the light. Something that would have no worth to anyone else, something only he and she would know about because his wife is the sister of his missing first love.

As more and more questions are raised, their marriage becomes strained. Has his first love somehow come back to him after all this time? Or is the person who took her playing games with his mind?

My musings:

I enjoyed B.A. Paris previous novel The Breakdown, so was a very happy chappie when a copy of her latest book, Bring Me Home, arrived in the mail – thank you Harlequin Australia! J

Warning – there may be tiny spoilers ahead, so read on at your own peril!

The premise sounds very intriguing and hints not only at secrets kept but also messy relationships, especially seeing that our main protagonist Finn is now engaged to Ellen, the sister of his previous girlfriend, who vanished into thin air twelve years ago. Weird, huh? It reminds me of a distant relative who kept marrying women with the same name as his first wife who died very tragically when they were expecting their first child – and each and every one of them ended up meeting a similar fate. But I digress .... Anyway, to me there just seemed to be something slightly askew with Finn that set all my creep alarms off, and he did little to endear himself along the way. To be honest, neither did Ellen, his soon-to-be wife, who appears quite bland and boring on the surface but who is also just a little bit – odd. Paris certainly knows how to create slightly askew characters, which instantly put me on high alert to be suspicious of everyone!

If you like psychological thrillers with unreliable narrators, who each have their own agenda, then this may be just the right story for you. I admit that despite falling into that category, I didn’t love the book as much as I had hoped. I am blaming it on my struggle with unlikeable characters, being one of those readers who needs someone to root for – I don’t mind flawed, or damaged, or seriously disturbed, as long as there is some redeeming feature that ignites a little spark of  empathy in my cold, cynical heart. And I admit that I didn’t find it here, as the ashes of my compassion failed to re-ignite. To be honest, I thought that Finn was a bit of a rude and know-it-all (pardon the Aussie slang) dickhead, acting like a moody teenage most of the time. How he had any friends left at all beats me, especially one as loyal as Harry. Ellen seemed boring and bland, so I struggle to recall anything she did or said. And Layla just sort of existed without really understanding what made her tick at all. In fact, I think the story would have worked better without her POV, as it gave away parts of the mystery that held my interest.

Whilst I normally love a glimpse into the dark and twisted corners of the human psyche, which Paris offers up so generously, I admit I struggled to comprehend what motivated these people to act the way they did most of the time. Despite Finn’s reminiscence of a great romance with the vanished Layla, and his professed love for her sister Ellen, who he is about to marry, I did not feel any chemistry between any of the characters and they seemed almost like strangers. However, these very dynamics may be the drawing card for other readers!

What I really did like was the idea of Russian dolls serving as messages, which was creepy! Even though I thought that the potential for a lot more menace and suspense was missed here. When one doll arrives in less than perfect condition, I thought: “Ooh! Things are heating up!”, but the thread didn’t develop any further from here, sadly. I think I needed a hook, a climax, an escalation of sorts to make up for my total lack of connection with any of the characters. The final reveal also failed to convince me for the very same reasons, though I can see its appeal to people who appreciate unusual plot twists and don’t lose sleep over loose threads.

Summary:

To cut a long story short, and without giving any more away that may spoil things for other readers, I concede that my inability to connect with a main character marred my reading pleasure. However, other readers who don’t mind unlikeable characters or who are not hampered by the need for a spark of warm-and-fuzzy empathy, may find that this exploration of the dark and twisted corners of the human psyche works perfectly for them. If you normally like the genre, I suggest you give it a go and find out for yourself! 

Thank you to Harlequin Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: SOMETIMES I LIE by Alice Feeney

Title: Sometimes I Lie

Author: Alice Feeney
Read: March 2018

My Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

People think that good and bad are opposites but they're wrong, they're just mirror images of one another in broken glass.


Book Description:

My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:
1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie. 

Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

My musings:

WTH have I just read????? My mind is still reeling! I love it when a book messes with my mind, and this must be one of the darkest, twistiest thrillers I have ever read. I am still trying to work out what just happened here!

Amongst the vast number of books that are marketed as psychological thrillers, Sometimes I Lie certainly lives up to its claim. Amber, the narrator of the story, tells us right from the start that she doesn’t always tell the truth – and with that the stage is set. What can you believe and what is a lie? That is the big question throughout the entire book, and I was quite often wrong in my assumptions. I will not go into the plot at all, since this is a book you should dive into blindly with all seat belts firmly fastened, as you will be in for some turbulence!

It is hard to believe that this is Feeney’s debut novel, as she employs just about every plot device the genre has to offer, and she does this very well. The story unfolds in three timelines – the now, as Amber Reynolds lies in a coma, able to hear those around her but unable to move or talk; the days leading up to the accident that put her in hospital; and diary entries from fifteen years ago. It doesn’t help that Amber is also experiencing strange dreams in her coma, which further blur the line between reality and lies. The frustration Amber feels as she is trapped in her own body and unable to reach out to anyone was well portrayed, as was the feeling of claustrophobia and fear as she slowly remembers the events of “before”. However, of all the timelines, I found the diary the most chilling, and if you read the book you will find out why. It was a very dark and disturbing thread that had me covered in goosebumps many times. The undercurrent of menace is always there, at one point culminating in a situation that had me truly terrified for all the people involved. Enough said.

I started out listening to the audiobook, but once things heated up I switched to the print version as I absolutely could not tear myself away and had to find out what would happen – and I read a lot faster than the narrator. My husband is still slightly miffed that I locked myself away in the bedroom with a Do Not Disturb sign, refusing to talk to anyone until I had found out the answers. Answers I could never have predicted, by the way, so cleverly had the author laid her traps. In fact, there are still things I am not sure I interpreted right, and I am just itching to discuss them with someone. Utterly brilliant!

Summary:

In summary: there are three things you should know about Sometimes I Lie:

1)      It is a dark and claustrophobic psychological thriller that firmly earns itself a place in the “twister hall of fame” for its many unpredictable twists that you will never be able to foresee.

2)      It is totally addictive and will have you firmly hooked, so make sure you have lots of time to spare when you start reading it.

3)      Don’t take anything for face value in this book, and don’t trust anyone!

Anyone looking for a true psychological thriller that messes with your mind – this is it, folks!

Book Review: OUR HOUSE by Louise Candlish

Title: Our House

Author: Louise Candlish
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Australia)
Read: March 2018

Expected publication: 1 April 2018

My Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2

Book Description:

When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she's sure there's been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern co-parenting arrangement: bird's nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. But the system built to protect their family ends up putting them in terrible jeopardy. In a domino effect of crimes and misdemeanors, the nest comes tumbling down.

Now Bram has disappeared and so have Fiona's children. As events spiral well beyond her control, Fiona will discover just how many lies her husband was weaving and how little they truly knew each other. But Bram's not the only one with things to hide, and some secrets are best kept to oneself, safe as houses.

My musings:

My favourite genre is mystery / suspense, but it is getting harder and harder to find an original story that hasn’t been done before in varying shades of grey. So picture my excitement when I stumbled across the blurb of Our House on Netgalley, it sounded so intriguing! Imagine coming home from a weekend away to find that your home has been stripped of all your possessions and strangers are moving in, claiming that they have legitimately purchased the house. How is this possible? And who could have done it? This is the situation Fiona finds herself in when returning from a romantic getaway with a new boyfriend, leaving her ex-husband minding her house and her kids. Scary, huh?

If you think the premise sounds a bit outlandish, don’t worry, because Louise Candlish writes her story with such conviction and lays such a solid foundation that you will think twice about ever leaving your house again! I loved her writing style, which incorporates a “transcript” from a live true crime podcast (in which Fiona tells her side of the story) and a document in which Bram, her estranged husband, confesses his part in the events that unfold. Incorporating social media has become a popular feature in contemporary crime fiction, seeing how it plays such a big part in most of our lives, and Candlish uses this to its full potential. What ensues is a she said / he said type of story that is chilling and ingenious in equal measures.

Have you ever read a book in which one of the main characters makes one bad decision, and that little flutter of butterfly wings soon turns into a huge shitstorm of epic proportion that will alter everyone’s lives? I love those stories, even though at times they make me cringe in horror at the avalanche that is building momentum as you frantically turn the pages. Candlish proves that immense suspense can be built through putting her characters in everyday situations each and every one of us may find ourselves in during the course of our lives. Here we have a couple with small children, who try to work out their marriage problems amicably for the sake of their two sons. I marvelled at the concept of bird’s nest parenting, a shared custody arrangement of separated couples where parents take turns living in the family home where their children live 100% of the time. Sounds good in theory, and I can imagine that it is a good solution for the children involved (if it works). But is it really possible to pull it off successfully? This is a suspense novel, so of course things soon start to go wrong – and escalate with the speed of a runaway train headed for an abyss, building tension and dread as the story speeds along.

The most difficult thing in selling a contemporary mystery is often character development, and Candlish excels in that department, Although I am far from the suburban housewife Fiona is portrayed as, I could easily put myself in her shoes and constantly questioned myself how I would react. I felt her confusion and her pain, and marvelled at her constant optimism and trust in the most dire of circumstances. Even Bram, with the part he plays in the whole situation, was a likeable – if flawed – character, caught up in a terrible situation. Our House is one of those books that made me wonder why I had not discovered this author before, but feeling immensely glad that I now have.

  

Summary:

Our House is a gripping, modern-day domestic-noir mystery built around a unique premise that had me totally enthralled from start to finish. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it cost me hours of sleep as I read deep into the night unable to put the book down. Highly recommended if you’re a lover of the genre or just looking for a cracking good read! 

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Australia for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah

Title: The Great Alone

Author: Kristin Hannah
Publisher: St. Martin's Press & Macmillan
Read: March 2018

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Book Description:

Alaska, 1974.

Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.

My musings:

I am feeling so very torn writing this review. I loved the first ¾ of The Great Alone. No, I mean I really, really LOVED it! There is nothing better than armchair travel into a wild and remote place, and The Great Alone delivered that in spades. Hannah’s description of the harsh and yet beautiful Alaskan landscape created images so vivid that I could have mistaken them for real personal memories. I was living and breathing the story, and it totally sucked me in.

Hannah certainly knows how to wreak havoc with her readers’ emotions, and she proves this once again with her latest book. Telling a story of domestic violence and dysfunctional family dynamics through the eyes of a beautiful and smart thirteen-year-old was always going to upset your average reader, and the descriptions of Ernt Allbright’s violence evoked almost visceral emotions of anger and fear as he terrorised his poor family. I thought that she did a great job in portraying this man affected by PTSD, self-medicating with alcohol to overcome his demons, misunderstood by society in the era the book was set in. I have met men like him, and whilst I could not condone his actions, my heart went out to him for the damage that had been done to him by war. As the Alaskan winter approached, it was not only Leni who could foresee the problems that the dark and confinement would cause the Allbright family – the reader knows it, too. With the construction of the wall, tension built into such a powder-keg of impending doom that I couldn’t put the book down until I knew how this would play out. There was such great potential here for a nail-biting finale that I felt totally devastated and let down when the story took an about turn and turned into a mixture between a hallmark movie and a tea-time soapie.

Apart from the melodrama, which was spread on as thickly as vegemite on my husband’s toast, there was also the lack of research (or proof reading) that let the latter part of the book down. Let me put it this way: I know absolutely nothing about cars. If I was to write a story where one of the main plot lines hinged on car trouble, and wrote about my character accidentally loosening the screw on the carburettor belt, which made the piston head explode into flames and the breaks fail, it may sound credible to those members of the general public that share my mechanical incompetence genes. However, any mechanically adept reader would at this point most likely burst into laughter or develop chest pains! I felt like that with the medical details in this book, which probably slipped past a majority of readers, who took them for the fictional entertainment they were supposed to provide. But I am a nurse, and those mistakes really bugged me! No competent ICU nurse would ever leave her ventilated patient unsupervised in a darkened room for visitors to walk in and out willy-nilly – or “prop up” a patient in C-spine precautions into a sitting position. I lost a lot of respect for the story after that, or perhaps it was eyestrain from exacerbated eye-rolling at some other medical error that was committed for the sake of drama.

As if that was not enough, at this point the story descended into a YA romance / tearjerker that stood in stark contrast to the tense tale of survival and family drama I had so enjoyed earlier. WTH happened? Obviously, I am not the target audience here, as I avoid those melodramatic stories like the plague, being much too old and cynical for such tearjerker moments. I wanted to go back to the moment it all turned to mush, and follow through with the careful groundwork the author had laid for a nail-biting finale full of tension, danger and fight for survival. Instead, there were a few quick fixes, a huge jump in the timeline and lots and lots of melodrama – I could hear the violins playing in the background.

Summary:

So, how do you rate a book you both loved and hated equally? It’s hard to even consolidate the two very separate parts of the story. I am left feeling slightly cheated, as if standing in front of Ernt’s wall with the door firmly bolted shut to the fitting end of a story I had loved. But hey, I am one in a million and don’t let my old cynical self stop you from reading a book 90% of readers obviously adored. Seldom has a book made such waves on social media, so Hannah has found a formula that works for most of her audience. Sadly, that obviously doesn’t include me. Whilst the Allbrights will stay in my mind for some time to come, as I imagine different outcomes to their story, the one thing I will take away from the book is the visual image of a wild Alaska, and a truly magnificent armchair travel experience.

Suggestion:

If you love armchair travel to a remote and wild place ...

1) ...and don't mind a lot of melodrama (and hey, it worked for 90% of readers on social media!), then I urge you to give this book a go - the descriptions of the Alaskan landscape and life there in the 1970's are breathtaking!

2) ... but hate melodrama, and don't mind which country the story is set in: I recommend picking up Our Endless Numbered Days by Clare Fuller, one of the best wilderness survival novels I have read. Ever. Though it is also a bit disturbing. You have been warned. I adored it!

3) ... but hate melodrama and really want the Alaskan setting: I recommend The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, one of the most beautiful novels set in a wild remote place I have ever read. It also has a mystical element to it that adds it an air of mystery and wonder. Highly recommended.

 

Book Review: SKIN DEEP by Liz Nugent

Title: Skin Deep

Author: Liz Nugent
Publisher: Penguin Books UK
Read: March 2018

Expected publication: 5 April 2018

My Rating: 🌟🌟1/2

Book Description:

'Once I had cleared the bottles away and washed the blood off the floor, I needed to get out of the flat.'

Cordelia Russell has been living on the Côte d'Azur for ten years, posing as a posh English woman fallen on hard times. But her luck is running out.

Desperate to escape her grotty flat and grim reality, Cordelia spends a night at a glittering party. Surrounded by the young, beautiful and privileged she feels her age and her poverty.

As dawn breaks she stumbles home through the back streets. Even before she opens her door she can hear the flies buzzing. It hasn't taken long for the corpse in her bedroom to commence decomposing ...

Liz Nugent's novel is the dark, twisted and shocking story of what takes Cordelia from an island childhood in Ireland to ruins in Nice.

My musings:

Skin Deep starts with a death (no spoilers here, it’s literally the first page), and the reader soon becomes aware that there is something slightly off about Delia O’Flaherty, the female character narrating the story. And it’s not just the fact that she is leaving a body behind in her flat in Nice as she goes out trying to clear her head and come up with a plan of how to best dispose of it. It was all very, very intriguing, and I soon felt myself getting sucked into the story. Who can resist a mysterious character embroiled in a violent death at the start of a mystery? Well, lovers of crime fiction will surely know what I mean!

After the first chapter, the story jumps back in time to Delia’s childhood on a remote island off the West coast of Ireland renowned for inbreeding and madness. And Delia’s upbringing certainly isn’t normal. As her father’s favourite, she has learned at an early age to use her beauty to scheme and plot in order to get her way, without caring about the consequences of her behaviour on others. Every life she touches, however briefly, will be irrevocably altered – unfortunately never for the better!

Liz Nugent certainly knows how to create a sociopathic character that burns through the pages like a fireball of destruction (an apt comparison, which you will find out if you read the book). I initially found myself intrigued, then disturbed, and at one point in the book so disgusted by her actions that any empathy I may have felt for this character vanished in a puff of smoke. There was a definite turning point in the story for me, from a kind of morbid fascination to one of outright horror. To say that it disturbed and depressed me is an understatement – some of its images haunted me in my worst nightmares. Perhaps the graphic images in my mind come from a background of seeing such tragedy in real life in my job, which created visuals I did not want to follow me into my sleep. Or perhaps it is parenthood that altered me to the point where I could not get over this one particular event in the book without feeling sickened to the very pit of my stomach. Whatever the reason, I admit that I would have gladly abandoned the book at this point if I had not invested so much time in it already. Delia was not the only dislikeable character in this somewhat bleak tale, but certainly the one who created the most destruction in her wake. All in all, the images created in my mind were bleak, depressing and disturbing. Kudos to the author for evoking such a visceral reaction, but sadly it marred any pleasure I may have gained from reading the rest of the story.  

Summary:

Skin Deep is a powerful, sinister and disturbing character study of a narcissistic, sociopathic protagonist that will appeal to readers who don’t mind their characters dark and unlikeable. Nugent’s writing is engaging and soon manages to draw you into the action. There is an unexpected twist at the end that should please mystery lovers, even though its circumstances just add to the overall tragedy of the story. Personally, I found some of the themes too disturbing for my liking and concede that I am obviously not the right audience for this book. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.

Book Review: SNAP by Belinda Bauer

Title: Snap

Author: Belinda Bauer
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Read: February 2018

Expected publication: 3 July 2018

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

"It was a spectacular day for murder."

Book Description:

On a stifling summer's day, eleven-year-old Jack and his two sisters sit in their broken-down car, waiting for their mother to come back and rescue them. Jack's in charge, she said. I won't be long.

But she doesn't come back. She never comes back. And life as the children know it is changed for ever.

Three years later, mum-to-be Catherine wakes to find a knife beside her bed, and a note that says: I could have killed you.

Meanwhile Jack is still in charge - of his sisters, of supporting them all, of making sure nobody knows they're alone in the house, and - quite suddenly - of finding out the truth about what happened to his mother.

But the truth can be a dangerous thing . . .

My musings:

I know I should wait with this review until a bit closer to the publishing date, but I cannot possibly contain my excitement for that long. This book was amazing!

In Snap, Belinda Bauer has created one of the most terrifying opening chapters ever. And she does so without gore or shock factors, but simply by messing with the mind of the reader. Three abandoned children are waiting on the edge of a motorway in a hot, broken down car for their mother to return. An hour passes. They cannot wait any longer. Hot, thirsty and scared, they start to walk down the road to go looking for her ... And so it begins. Bauer is the queen of small, chilly details. You can hear the buzzing of small insects and the crunch of gravel underfoot, smell the cloying scent of decaying roadkill, feel the trickle of a bead of sweat down young Jack’s neck as he carries his small sister Merry on his back. See the dangling telephone receiver on the side of the road as an ominous harbinger of dread. The whole scene sent goosebumps down my spine!

So, irretrievably sucked into the story I knew I could write off my day as this was one book I would not be able to tear myself away from. Bauer writes with a dry sense of humour vacillating between tongue-in-cheek and outright sarcasm that really appealed to me, and I laughed out loud many times as she comments wryly on her characters’ characteristics. There is the jungle of Marvel’s nose hairs, or the plucky, pregnant Catherine, who muses about the loss of her sexuality to her huge belly and bravely fights off midnight intruders on her own.

She crept on to the landing and picked up the vase from the bookshelf. It was chunky Swedish glass and she’d never liked it. Throwing it at an intruder would kill two birds with one stone.

Small, clever observations strewn into the story like lollies for the observant watcher, bringing the characters to life. I couldn’t get enough of them!

Besides, who would not be touched by the characters of three orphaned children, who have lost their mother to a cold blooded killer and their father to grief? Whilst the story tugged on my heartstrings, I could not have predicted where it would lead, and how devious Bauer’s mind works, creating spine chilling situations in the seemingly mundane.

Summary:

  

Without giving anything away, Snap is undoubtedly one of the cleverest thrillers I have read in a long time, and stands out from the fray in its original premise, writing style and characters. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something clever and different, you won’t be disappointed! 

Thank you to Edelweiss and Atlantic Monthly Press for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.