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book review

The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton

February 15, 2021 Leave a Comment

A murder on the high seas. A detective duo. A demon who may or may not exist.

It’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent.

But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered. 

And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel.

Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?

With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent can solve a mystery that connects every passenger onboard. A mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board.

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book review, Uncategorized

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

February 10, 2021 Leave a Comment

A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous break up.

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the real reason why they split at the absolute height of their popularity…until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

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book review

Catch The Rabbit by Lana Bastašic

February 8, 2021 Leave a Comment

Sara hasn’t seen or heard from Lejla in years. She’s comfortable with her life in Dublin, with her partner, their avocado plant, and their naturist neighbour. But when Lejla calls and demands she come home to Bosnia, Sara finds that she can’t say no. What begins as a road trip becomes a journey through the past, as the two women set off to find Armin, Lejla’s brother who disappeared towards the end of the Bosnian War. Presumed dead by everyone else, only Lejla and Sara believed Armin was still alive. Confronted with the limits of memory, Sara is forced to reconsider the things she thought she understood as a girl: the best friend she loved, the first experiences they shared, but also the social and religious lines that separated them, that brought them such different lives.

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book review

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

February 5, 2021 Leave a Comment

London: On a fine avenue of grand houses, big cars, and electronic gates, lies a neglected urban wasteland.

It is nearly midnight, and very cold. Yet in this dark place of long grass and tall trees where cats hunt and foxes shriek, a girl is waiting.

When Saffyre Maddox was ten something terrible happened and she’s carried the pain of it around with her ever since. The man who she thought was going to heal her didn’t, and now she hides from him, invisible in the shadows, learning his secrets; secrets she could use to blow his safe, cosy world apart.

Owen Pick is invisible too. He’s thirty-three years old and he’s never had a girlfriend, he’s never even had a friend. Nobody sees him. Nobody cares about him.

But when Saffyre Maddox disappears from opposite his house on Valentine’s night, suddenly the whole world is looking at him. Accusing him. Holding him responsible. Because he’s just the type, isn’t he? A bit creepy?

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book blogger, discussion, personal

Winnie-the-Pooh

January 18, 2020 Leave a Comment

I’ve been feeling rather nostalgic these past few days, and what came to mind amongst other things, was activities I used to do when I was a little girl. Reading is an obvious one of course, watching television, playing with Barbie’s, and whatever else that didn’t involve a mobile phone or iPad.

Then Winnie-the-Pooh popped into my head, as it would of course (?). I’m not sure whether some of you will remember it or not, but I remember watching on VHS, The Many Adventures of Winnie-the Pooh, and a particular episode where Rabbit wants to get rid of Tigger in the woods. Unfortunately not all goes well in Rabbit’s plan, and he ends up lost himself. It made me chuckle at how vivid such a memory could be, but I was that child who would watching things over and over again until the video would chew up its tape and spit it back out. Yeah.

Anyway, many moons ago my Mum bought me A. A. Milne’s collection of Winnie-the-Pooh, and then my boyfriend Sam also bought me the collection but in different editions. So this summer I decided to re-read these much loved short stories and poems, and I thought I would share some thoughts on each of the four volumes. Maybe it will jog your childhood memories too.

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book blogger, book review, discussion

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

September 13, 2018 Leave a Comment

*Header image taken from Hawwa because it’s a beautiful photo. Go read her review too.

It’s early 1945 and a group of people trek across East Prussia, bound together by their desperation to reach the ship that can take them away from the war-ravaged land. Four young people, each haunted by their own dark secret, narrate their unforgettable stories. 

This inspirational novel is based on a true story from the Second World War. When the German ship the Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk in port in early 1945 it had over 9000 civilian refugees, including children, on board. Nearly all were drowned.

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book blogger, discussion

My Most Anticipated Read of 2018

September 12, 2018 Leave a Comment

I’m not sure how I can contain my excitement in this post, but needless to say it’s obvious that my most anticipated read for 2018 is Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak.

This isn’t a promo post, nor is it a paid and sponsored one, I’m simply just wanting to share a bit about the book and my hopes for when I read it. After reading his previous novels, and of course in particular The Book Thief, I have been anticipating a new book from Zusak for a number of years. Now that it’s finally in my grasp, I’m itching to finish my current read and begin a new Zusak adventure.

I’m ready to laugh, cry, and just experience the author’s writing again.

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blog tour, book blogger, book review, discussion

Do Not Disturb by Claire Douglas

August 10, 2018 Leave a Comment

Could your dream home be your worst nightmare?

After what happened in London, Kirsty needs a fresh start with her family. And running a guesthouse in the Welsh mountains sounds idyllic.

But then their first guest arrives.

Selena is the last person Kirsty wants to see. Its seventeen years since she tore everything apart. Why has she chosen now to walk back into Kirsty’s life? Is Selena running from something too? Or is there an even darker reason for her to visit?

Because Kirsty knows that once you invite trouble into your home, it can be murder getting rid of it…

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blog tour, book blogger, book review, discussion

The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen

July 16, 2018 Leave a Comment

Inside the Dead Letters Depot in East London, William, Woolf is one of thirty letter detectives who spend their days solving mysteries. Missing postcodes, illegible handwriting, rain-smudged ink, lost address labels, torn packages, forgotten street names- they are all the culprits of missed birthdays, broken hearts, unheard confessions, pointless accusations, unpaid bills, and unanswered prayers.

When William discovers letters addressed simply to ‘My Great Love’ his work takes on new meaning. Written by a woman named Winter to a soulmate she hasn’t met yet, the missives stir William, in ways he didn’t know were possible. Soon he begins to wonder; could William be her great love?

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blog tour, book blogger, book review, discussion

The Poison Bed by E. C. Fremantle | Blog Tour

June 18, 2018 Leave a Comment

Autumn 1615.

Celebrated couple Robert and Frances Carr are imprisoned on suspicion of murder.

She as been rescued from an abusive marriage by Robert, and is determined to make a new life for herself. Whatever the price.

He has risen from nothing to become one of the country’s most powerful men. But to get to the top, you cannot help making enemies.

Now a man is dead. And someone must pay with their life.

Frances knows the truth can kill. Robert knows a lie can set you free. Neither understands their marriage is a poisoned bed.

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Emma | 26 | Open University graduate blogging about books. ✨ I like cats, Hugh Jackman and anything with peanut butter. ❤ Sam

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Recent Posts

  • The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton
  • Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • Catch The Rabbit by Lana Bastašic
  • Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
  • Winnie-the-Pooh
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