Slightly belated book round up this month, sorry! (I actually had two emails asking where it was though, which made me smile - thank you for those!)
Anyway, the delay is partly due to a half term hangover (why is it so hard to remember how the real world works after a week off?) and partly because, as you can see, it's a pretty big ol' pile of books to chat about. Let's jump in shall we?
You might remember last month, I read Rivers of London, the first in a series by Ben Aaronovitch? Well, despite promising to pace myself, I kinda sorta read the rest of them too. One after the other. In a week. I regret nothing!!!
I merrily gorged myself on Moon Over Soho (hello Jazz Vampires!), Whispers Under Ground (Always knew mole people were a thing), Broken Homes (I want to go to a secret supernatural market!!!), Foxglove Summer (UNICORNS!! ...not so friendly mind, but UNICORNS!) & The Hanging Tree (lifestyles of the rich & famous & faceless evil magicians & fox men)... and I loved every ridiculous moment!
Ben Aaronovitch has this magical talent for combining all the supernatural craziness your brain can imagine with just enough 'real life coppers' stuff to make it all seem completely plausible! Alright maybe you need to blessed with an overactive imagination in the first place, but honestly, if you can just go with the flow of ghosts, magic and mythical creatures lon enough to get caught up in the characters and storytelling, these books are so, SO worth reading. I have no doubt I'll be making time to reread them all at least once before the new one comes out in November.
(And I'm still absolutely crushing on Nightingale. #notsorry)
SO! May got off to a really good start, but then it all went a bit pear shaped.
I hate giving books bad reviews, because I know that someone put their heart and soul into writing them, but I promised myself when I started these review posts, I'd always be honest.
Unfortunately, last month, I read three clangers in a row.
Here goes... (I'm sorry authors - I'm sure LOADS of other people think your books are amazing!!)
(Feel free to skip to the bottom for the book that saved the month of May!)
Death & the Lit Chick by CM Malliet
This was probably the most annoying of my three letdowns. I've never really read any old school murder mystery style books, but that's what this seemed to be, albeit with a quirky modern twist.
It's set in an ancient Scottish cancel, during a convention for crime writers, which inevitably turns into a real life whodunnit.
Parts of it are SO good, it's almost cluedo-esque, quite tongue in cheek to the point of sarky in places, poking fun at the formulaic ways of murder mystery books, but then sort of misses the punchline by winding up with the most convoluted 'big reveal' and an utterly random epilogue that could have been from a different book entirely.
It also took me forever to get through the second half because I just kept losing interest - maybe I'm just not destined to be a fan of these sort of books after all!
Friend Request by Laura Marshall
This promised to be 'the most addictive psychological thriller you'll read all year.' ...um, nope.
I found it everso slow, I felt nothing for any of the characters (not even enough to dislike them, just meh) & the 'big twist' was, for me, a big flop.
I try to stay neutral, and other people will probably love this, but can I honestly recommend it? Nope.
In a Cottage In A Wood by Cass Green
This had SO much promise, but was such a let down.
Woman meets another woman on Waterloo Bridge, has a strange conversation.
Moments later, woman 2 jumps into river, to her death.
Few weeks later, Woman 1 (who's life is a bit of a mess) finds out Woman 2, a complete stranger other than a 2 minute conversation has left her a cottage.
Woman 2 pictures an idyllic country dream home, gets a creepy old shack and instead of doing the sensible thing (calling an estate agent to get rid for as many bucks as poss), she moves in, gets scared a lot, discovers long forgotten secrets about her childhood, blah blah blah...
I won't say more, because you know how I feel about spoilers, but the 'twists' are so convoluted and random, it just all felt a bit of a stretch. Plus I couldn't get past the fact she was an idiot for moving in in the first place. Hey Ho!
PHEW!
So, after trudging my way through those three, I was in dire need of something good, and thankfully, I got it!
Tattle Tale by Sarah Naughton
LOVED this book. I don't want to say a whole lot more than that, because there is so much going on throughout the story, so many twists and turns that I didn't see coming and THE most satisfying ending I've read in ages, that I don't want to risk spoiling any of it for you!
Soo, I'll just quote the blurb from the back: "One day changes Jody's life forever. She has shut herself down, haunted by her memories and unable to trust anyone. But then she meets Abe, the perfect stranger next door and suddenly life seems full of possibility and hope.
One day changes Mags's life forever. After years of estrangement from her family, Mags receives a shocking phone call. Her brother Abe is in hospital and no-one knows what happened to him. She meets his fiancé Jody, and gradually pieces together the ruins of the life she left behind. But the pieces don't quite seem to fit...
Packed with twists and turns, this gripping psychological thriller will make you question whether we can ever really trust the ones we love." and say that if you like psychological thrillers, then definitely give this one a go!
What have you been reading lately? Have you ticked off any I've mentioned here? Is there anyone out there appauled by my bad reviews who wants to stand up for the books I didn't love?
Let me know in the comments!
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