When we meet Evan he is about to face trial for sexual assault. He is a professional football player although he never wanted to be one. He wanted to be a painter but he lacked the talent. Instead, he had a talent for football and so finally he gave in and joint a club. But how did he end up in front of a court?
This is a sad and harrowing story about a young man finding his place in life. It is a short book but it is powerful and packed with difficult topics. This is the second book in Boyne’s elements series. Although “Earth” is not as impressive as “Water” it is still an engaging read. If you love Boyne’s books and especially “Water” you will enjoy this one as well. I am looking forward to “Fire”.
I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was an interesting read. It deals with the topics of abuse and how cultural changes can reshape your own view of what really happens.
When Rachel was seventeen she traveled through Europe with her friend during summer. Their last stop is a small Greek island. Rachel is naïve and shy, not as outgoing as her friend. But on this island she makes a lot of new friends and, most important, she meets a man. Alistair. He is much older than her, he is in his thirties, but Rachel is smitten immediately. It seems that he can see her like nobody else can. She feels special when she is with him. When the time to leave comes she decides to stay. But there is something more sinister going on and Rachel is not aware of that. For her this summer is magical and she is happy because she is in love and feels loved. But is it all as it seems?
Right at the beginning we learn that Alistair left Rachel behind and everything on this island is in shatters. Then the story jumps to adult Rachel fifteen years later. She is back in London, married and has a normal life. But she never got over that first love and she still thinks about Alistair. Rachel idealized this summer on the island but after meeting one of the girls from then she slowly begins to understand that there was something going on that she in her naivety did not realized. Or rather just did not want to see it.
This book reminded me a bit of “My Dark Vanessa”. In both books a woman even as an adult does not see that she was abused. She wants this to be a love story and not a story of abuse. Young Rachel was too vulnerable and impressionable but it is sometimes almost unbearable to see how stubborn she is as an adult. She never moved on in the fifteen years afterwards. She even ruins her marriage because of her love for Alistair and her unwillingness to see the truth. Adult Rachel is not a very nice character. She cheats and lies and she is very selfish. But it is hard to look back and realize you were a victim and not a young girl in love. Unfortunate it is true that in the past abuse of women was just not seen as such. And even the women herself did not see it that way. I hope that the cultural changes #metoo started will go on and change how people see certain things.
I enjoyed this book as far as you can call it “enjoy” reading about such horrible topics. The pace is slow and the reveal about what is going on is protracted a bit although you can easily see what is going on as a reader. But it is still an important topic and I think the author did a good job handling it.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Kaylee is a famous influencer. She uses her family, husband and three foster children, for her vlogs. They are a picture perfect family. But a horrible accident leaves Kaylee as the only survivor of this family. Nora, who works for the child protecting service, was involved with the family. She can’t believe what Kaylee is telling about what happened. Nora, who suffered abuse as a child herself, has the feeling that something is strange about that accident and she begins to investigate.
This story is a character driven domestic drama. So there is much tell and less action. But it is still gripping and haunting. Unfortunately I could not connect to Nora. She had a traumatic childhood and she is still haunted by it. She wants to help other children and women who suffer something similar. But she is a difficult character. She is stubborn and self-righteous. The title of the book suggests that this will become a series. I am not sure if I want to follow Nora on her way. But I would recommend this book even it is very dark and sad.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Nicola and Kim are longtime best friends. They are both married and mother to one child. While Nicola and Ryan are leading a normal life, Kim and Lewis are rich thanks to his successful business that he built. When Kim invites Nicola and Ryan to come with them to their luxury villa in Scotland, Nicola has mixed feelings. She wants to spent time with her friend and she really needs a holiday. And it is for free. But Ryan and Lewis are not getting along so well and she is afraid that it will be awkward. But it gets worse when Nicola overhears something that turns all their lives upside down.
Nicola is our main narrator. Sometimes we get a chapter from Ryan, Lewis, Kim and even the children. I could not connect to any of the characters. They are all whinny and self-centered and especially Nicola is very self-righteous. The story started entertaining enough with the families arriving at this lavish and remote villa. The atmosphere is a bit tense with the husbands competing and the women trying to keep up the appearance. But then everything changed and to be honest it gets a bit over the top. But what really annoyed me was that almost every chapter ended with a foreshadowing statement. That got very tedious very quick. I got the feeling that this should put some tension into the otherwise slow story. But what ruined this book for me was the “last twist”. I love unreliable narrators but this was just ridiculous and hypocritical. Until then it was a 3 Stars read for me but I lower it to only 2 Stars because of that.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Well, this was an entertaining page-turner although it was very conventional and not very surprising. But it held my interest all the time.
It is the often told story of mean girls at school who pick on the nerdy new girl. Newly widowed Kate moves with her daughter Alex to Florida to make a fresh start. Kate soon makes friends among some glamorous mothers who all have also daughters. But they are not as lovely as the title suggests. It is quite the opposite and almost from day one Alex gets bullied by them. When Alex fights one of them for a place in their tennis team things get out of hand.
Right at the beginning we learn that a dead girl was found on the beach. For the rest of the book you can lean back and watch things escalate until you see who the victim is. This is fun although I got the feeling I read something similar before. But it is still juicy and entertaining even if the mothers and daughters fell a bit over the top and the little love-story for Kate felt too-good-to-be-true. And I would have liked to shake Alex because of her stubbornness towards the end. But overall I enjoyed it. It is an entertaining popcorn domestic drama.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Alex and Beth live in Silver Vale. Alex is not very outgoing while Beth is quite the opposite. When a nature trail is developed behind their house Alex gets nervous. Something is hidden there and Alex knows what it is. He gets obsessed with watching the development, always afraid people will find out about his secret.
The story is told in two timelines. We see Alex today and someone called Rick in 1995. It is obvious that the two stories are connected but it is not sure how. Rick is a young man and he falls in love with a mysterious woman. But things get complicated and soon he finds out that he has fallen into a trap.
This is my third book from Louise Candlish and I enjoyed them both. She creates meandering and complicated stories which show exactly how the characters find themselves suddenly entangled in extreme situations. It is again a complicated and elaborate story with a lot of twists but for my taste it was painfully slow. It was almost boring and I had too much time to think about it so I figured out almost all the twist.
I would only recommend this book if you have a thing for meticulously written stories in a slow pace.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Kat waited ten years for the reappearance of con artist Meg Williams. Kat was then a young aspiring journalist and helped covering the story of a teacher who preyed on his students. Kat figured out that Meg had something to with exposing him and run away with his money. But she made a mistake while making her own investigations and she holds Meg responsible for what happened to her then. Kat thinks that Meg led her run into a situation without caring if she gets hurt. So she set a google alert with her name. When Meg turns up as a real estate agent Kat knows that she is up to perform her next scam. And she is determined to expose her.
Last year I read Clark’s “The Last Flight” and loved it. I was surprised how complex and multilayered the story was. So my expectations for her next book were high. I was not disappointed. Quite the opposite. I loved it and after reading so many mediocre books lately I devoured it almost in one sitting. Here we have two strong female characters and I equally enjoyed their alternating chapters. I have a thing for con artists at the moment so this book was right up my alley and Clark’s writing kept me glued to the pages. I think I have a new favorite author.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Selena hat einen harten Tag hinter sich. Gerade erst hat sie im Büro die Nanny-Cam überprüft und dabei ihren derzeit arbeitslosen Ehemann mit der Nanny Geneva beim Sex beobachten müssen. Dann verpasst sie auch noch ihren Zug nach Hause. Als sie dann endlich auf dem Weg nach Hause ist und noch überlegt, was sie tun soll, kommt sie mit ihrer Sitznachbarin ins Gespräch. Irgendetwas kommt ihr vertraut an der mysteriösen Frau vor, und aus einem Impuls heraus (und nach dem Trinken einer Miniflasche Wodka, die die Frau aus der Handtasche gezaubert hat) erzählt sie ihr von ihrem Mann und der Nanny. Da sie sich sicher ist, die Frau nie wiederzusehen, gibt sie nichts auf das ungute Gefühl, das dieses Gespräch bei ihr hinterlässt. Aber dann am nächsten Tag kommt die Nanny nicht zum Dienst und die Polizei steht vor der Tür.
Das Buch hat eine vielversprechende Ausgangsbasis. Am Anfang verwirrte es mich aber gleich mit seinen verschiedenen Perspektiven. Die Story hat nämlich mehrere Erzählebenen und Personen, aus deren Sicht man die Dinge sieht. Ich habe zwar nie den Überblick verloren, aber ich denke, wenn das Buch sich nur auf Selena und auf ihre Gegenspielerin konzentriert hätte, wäre es etwas geschmeidiger zu lesen gewesen. Leider ist auch keiner der Figuren wirklich ansprechend. Selena ist sehr sprunghaft. Ständig ist sie hin und hergerissen zwischen ihren widerstrebenden Gefühlen. Sie liebt ihren Mann, nein sie hasst ihn. Sie will ihre Ehe retten der Kinder zu liebe. Nein, das kann sie doch nicht. Sie hätte bei ihrem Ex bleiben sollen. Nein, besser nicht denn ihr Mann klang nach so viel mehr Abenteuer in ihrem Leben. So gehen ihre Gedanken hin und her und sie führt sich ständig wiederholende innere Monologe darüber. Sie hält der Polizei Informationen vor. Sie hört nicht auf ihren Anwalt und nimmt auf eigene Faust Kontakt zu einer offenbar dubiosen Frau auf. Sie verhält sich eigentlich die ganze Zeit nur dumm. Was aber am meisten auffällt ist der Männerhass in diesem Buch. Es gibt kaum einen anständigen Mann in dieser Geschichte. Die männlichen Hauptakteure sind völlig übertriebene Scheusale und die Frauen duldsame Wesen.
Die Story an sich ist zuerst recht undurchsichtig, aber nach und nach konnte ich erkennen, wohin das ganze führt. Da sich viele Gedankengänge der Figuren wiederholen und insgesamt viel „erzählt“ wird, kommt auch nicht unbedingt große Spannung auf. Trotz der Mängel liest sich das Buch aber unkompliziert weg. Es hat den ein- oder anderen interessanten Moment, ist aber wenig überraschend und die Charaktere sind leider zu eindimensional.
Ich habe das Buchvia NetGalley vom Verlag erhalten, wofür ich mich herzlich bedanken möchte.
Jessica lives with her husband and their three year old daughter in a nice small town. They live in her family home which they bought from Jessica’s Mum. We meet Jessica walking their dog for an evening stroll. Jessica loves those late walks. But something is not right on that particular night. She senses something in the bushes at her neighbor’s house. But maybe it is just a raccoon. When she looks up she sees her neighbor standing at the top window and looking disapprovingly at her. When Jessica hurries home she thinks she hears her neighbor scream. But she is known for her bad temper so Jessica assumes she just shouts at her for walking on her lawn. But the next day they learn that the neighbor is dead. It appears to be death by a freak accident. Jessica soon gets obsessed with the idea that it was not an accident. She is sure it was murder.
Well, that was an entertaining read. Jessica is a stay at home mom but obviously she has too much time on her hand even if she claims she has not. Her husband wants her to go back to work but Jessica has that dream to open a bakery. She loves to bake and she has a unique idea for decorating her cakes. But her husband seems to be a completely jerk because he says it is an unsure business idea and she should stick to her old job. Jessica is clearly not fully stretched because she puts a lot of time into the idea that there is a murderer on the loose in their neighborhood. Jessica is a bit weird and paranoid and she is the weak point in this story. She is not a very compelling character and I almost rooted for the idea that she was losing her mind. But the story is well told and all the characters are interesting and unique. There are a lot of red herrings and although I had some ideas I did not guess the ending. Maybe the story will not stay for long in my mind but it was a quick and entertaining read.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Don’t pick up this book and expect to get some kind of thriller. This is a dark book about a mother out of her mind with grief. Caroline lost her daughter Jessica in a terror attack. The thing is, Jessica should have been in Essex with a friend and not in the middle of London. Caroline desperately wants to understand what her daughter was doing there. One day she finally scrolls through Jessica’s mobile phone and there she finds the information she craves. Jessica wanted to meet a boy she met online but obviously he did not appear and left Jessica waiting there too long. Caroline decides he is responsible for her dead. In her mind he is the real killer of her daughter and she is about to confront him.
Like many other readers I loved “The Dinner Guest” so I was excited to see that there is a new book from this author. What I did not expect were so many dark and disturbing themes crammed into it. Caroline is a character who is difficult to like. I could feel for her and her loss and you can never say how you would react after such an unimaginable tragic event until you have to face it yourself. But she makes some questionable decisions and I just could not understand why she did not leave her husband years ago. He was just despicable.
The story is difficult to read. It deals with grief, anger, guilt, abuse and even murder. You have to be in the right mood to stomach all of the tragedy. For the story itself I would have given 3 Stars. There are some weird episodes. Like when Caroline found the boy and makes contact and all the things that happened afterwards. It is just weird and hard to understand how she acted. But I liked the writing and how masterfully the author managed to weave this web of lives together and form such a complex story. The book draw me in from the first page and I wanted to know what happened. Although there are some weird scenes and Caroline is not very likable I overall enjoyed the book (if I can use the word “enjoy” for this kind of dark story). I think B.P. Walter is an exceptional writer and I will definitely read his next book.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
lavender books 