Book Review: Ruth Ware - The Turn of the Key (published in 2019)

I waited for a long time to pick up a book by Ruth Ware. I always liked her premises. That of The Woman in Cabin 10 sounded fantastic for example. It's only when she started writing gothic books, that my interest was really peaked. This is the first book I decided to read by her. 

I will read more books by her in the future, but I wasn't as enthralled by the story as I thought I would be. I've seen other book reviewers say that the first part of the book was 5 stars. It was the same for me. The last 30 pages get 1 star though. 

The book is deliciously atmospheric. It takes places in Scotland, which is the best setting for gothic books. Rowan takes the post as an in-house nanny for a family with four kids. The only catch is the incredibly high salary and the fact that 4 nannies previously left. 

She has a hard time in the house with the kids, who seem to be tired of nanny rotations. However, every time she goes to sleep she hears something more uncanny. Something which is keeping her awake. 

The book has been written well. The house is part old, part new and incredibly modern. Outfitted with cameras and a full sounds system. It wasn't utilised as well as it could have been. 

Toward the end we get twists and turns. One was uncovered (I think through a mistake) very early on. I mean... It's not the biggest reveal, but I think it was meant to be? 

Then there are storylines that are introduced quickly while we're shoved towards the conclusion of the novel. It was good, it wasn't all that it could've been though. I will read more books by her, but if they end the same way this one did it's not for me unfortunately because I love gothic books!

3 stars

Statistics:

Date read: April 4, 2020

Date published: August 6, 2019

Publisher: Random House

Format: Paperback

Pages: 343

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

Amazon 

Goodreads

Please note, this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchased goods/services at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing!

Book Review: Lee Child - The Affair (published in 2011)

I can't believe I've let a year pass without reading a book by Lee Child. He writes big books but they're so fast-paced. I said it last time and I'll say it again: I'll never get bored by a story about Jack Reacher. 

This one takes us back to the time that Jack Reacher was still an MP. It takes place a few days (or weeks) before the first book Killing Floor in the series. 

Reacher is sent to a small town where the murderer of a young girl might either be a civilian or someone from the nearby army barracks. This is a bit awkward for the army, so Reacher is sent to the town as a civilian to do a bit of his own research, while another MP researchers the situation at the base. 

It's a thrilling story, it kept me reading non-stop. It only slowed down a bit during the end. Too many characters, too many stories, it lost a bit of its appeal for me. That's why I didn't give this book the full five stars. 

I liked the fact that this book was written as a bit of a diary by Reacher later on. It has a few forebearings, and it's written in first person. Child sometimes switches perspective, and it thought it worked really well in this book. I highly recommend it, but then I highly recommend almost all of Child's books.

4 stars

Statistics:

Date read: March 28, 2020

Date published: September 27, 2011

Publisher: Random House

Format: Paperback

Pages: 526

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 16

Amazon 

Goodreads

Please note, this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchased goods/services at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing!

Book Review: Josie Silver - The Two Lives of Lydia Bird (published in 2020)

I read One Day in December by Josie Silver two years ago. I loved the book, and the premise. I'm not generally a fan of romance novels, but since I felt like I knew the author a bit. I decided to pick it up. I don't regret it. 

This book has a completely different premise. Lydia Bird loses her fiance Freddie on her birthday due to a car accident. She's completely overcome with grief, because they've been together for over a decade. All her memories are entwined with him. 

However, she finds out there's a way to cross to a different world. One where Freddie is still alive and where she still spends her life with him as they both had planned. 

This isn't what she had imagined it to be and as she struggles through life leading two different ones at the same time, she learns how to get back on her feet. 

The characters are all well-written and so are the dialogues. I never felt the need to roll my eyes (ok, maybe at the end a little bit), but overall I really liked the story. I'll pick up more books by Josie Silver in the future for sure!

4 stars

Statistics:

Date read: March 28, 2020

Date published: January 30, 2020

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Format: Audiobook

Pages: 369

Genre: Romance

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 2

Amazon

Goodreads

Please note, this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchased goods/services at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing!

Book Review: Taylor Adams - Our Last Night (published in 2015)

This book is quite a ride. I read it because I loved No Exit so much. Little did I know that it resembles The Anomaly and The Possession by Michael Rutger. 

It's about a ghost hunter, who doesn't believe in ghosts. Dan has lost his girlfriend to a drunk driving accident though, and he hopes that buying an ancient Russian rifle could bring her back to him. The fact that everyone who owned the rifle was dead within 24 hours does not thwart him. 

I can tell it's one of Adams' earlier books, because the story isn't always great. However, it kept me on the edge of my seat and reading. The humour is fantastic, and sarcastic and it's worth a read!

4 stars

Statistics:

Date read: March 22, 2020

Date published: November 21, 2015

Publisher: Joffe Books

Format: Paperback

Pages: 280

Genre: Paranormal

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 2

Amazon

Goodreads

Please note, this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchased goods/services at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing! 

Book Review: Blake Crouch - Recursion (published in 2019)

Blake Crouch did it again. He wrote a book which premise I liked but in terms of execution, I once again didn't enjoy it. 

Recursion is about memory. It's about a chair which offers the person sitting in it the chance to go back to a moment in time they want to relive. 

This, as with most scientific experiments, has its risks. One of them is the False Memory Syndrome, a mysterious new disease. 

The books starts differently then it ends. I thought it would be heading a completely different direction than the one I was served. We swing from one catastrophic event to the next, while trying to hang on to the main narrative as well as we can. Unfortunately, overall I felt a distance from the characters and all the developments. I felt like I was a spectator rather than fully immersed in the story. 

It's not a bad book. The thoughts are original, so is the premise. The characters are likeable. It just doesn't contain enough spirit for me to get carried along with it

3 stars

Statistics:

Date read: March 17, 2020

Date published: June 11, 2019

Publisher: Macmillan

Format: Paperback

Pages: 326

Genre: Science-Fiction

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 3

Amazon 

Goodreads

Please note, this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchased goods/services at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing!

Book Review: Thomas Holgate - Rain Will Come (published in 2020)

Every month I pick out a book in the Amazon First Reads selection and every single month I absolutely love my pick.

This time I went for a cat-and-mouse chase by a dirty cop and a vigilante serial killer. I marked so many passages in this book showing what a despicable person Paul Czarcik is. It's impossible to like him, but this fact doesn't ruin the book in the slightest. Usually I can't get into book where I don't like the characters, but this novel is so fast-paced I kind of forgot.

Czarcik is hot on the heels of a serial killer with a penchant for doing good. It's a fun ride. I didn't find it surprising, but I found it exciting the whole time nevertheless.

I would've given it a solid five stars, if there would be a few more twists-and-turns. Other than that, great read! 

4 stars

Statistics:

Date read: March 8, 2020

Date published: April 1, 2020

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Format: eBook

Pages: 302

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

Amazon

Goodreads

Please note, this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchased goods/services at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing! 

Book Review: Tommy Orange - There There (published in 2018)

I expected something different from this book. I didn't really read the synopsis to be honest, I just picked it because of the high rating and because I have never read a book about Native Americans in the USA nowadays. 

This book tells the story of around 20 strangers. I didn't expect the storylines to all come together, but they do. I liked this. I think the audiobook went a bit too fast for me, which means I couldn't fully appreciate the beautiful prose. I think I'll have to pick up a paper version of this book soon to take it all in.

4 stars

Statistics:

Date read: March 4, 2020

Date published: June 5, 2018

Publisher: Knopf

Format: Audiobook

Pages: 294

Genre: Contemporary

My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1

Amazon

Goodreads

Please note, this post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchased goods/services at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting my writing!