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I read a lot of books and I write about them on here. Mummy Geek is sometimes a guest blogger....people seem to love her.....Oh and you can find me on Twitter.....@book_geek_says. Shortlisted for Blog of the Year by the 2015 Love Stories Awards...THANK YOU!!

Tuesday 23 December 2014

Review: The Keeper

Publisher: HarperCollins

Women are going missing because HE needs HER...but don't worry, Sean is on the case.

I do wish that whilst I was reading this I could have recalled more of what happened in Cold Killing as I think it would have helped me think about Sally more. But what is past is past.

The whole thing is really bloody creepy and as I am a similar age to the victims, female and live in London I was totally freaked out. WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP DOING THIS TO ME???!?!?!?! HMMMM!!!!!!!

Achem, humm...

Sean would be an amazing TV cop and I think you could get great shows out of these books. They would, I'm sure be as big as The Fall!!  Donnelly just gets worse and worse and I wanted to wallop him one by the time I had come to the end of the book! ARRGH! He makes me so angry!

It was great to see what those who suffer by the hands of loonies start to consider and start to think is behaviour/actions that are acceptable and easy to carryout. I'm sure they wouldn't think and feel such things if not in captivity and this made me start to think about what I would do in their situation and that freaked me out even more!

Oh, back to Sean again sorry...the fact that he is standing on a very fine psychological line makes this book/this series of books/this character what it is...as far as I am concerned. It really does add to the tension and unease felt through out as you are waiting for Sean to snap and you never know if you can 100% trust him. It's brilliant.

As always, I want to know how much of Sean and the plots are drawn from LD's real life! It would be amazing to know!

So, another cracking crime read that really gets under your skin and is completely unputdownable!

Happy Reading
BG
:-D

P.S. I was reading this on the tube and a woman asked me what it was and what it was about. When I told her she wrote it all down. I did however tell her to read Cold Killing first as it doesn't feel as commercial as this book and does set the scene.

Monday 22 December 2014

Review: Child of the River: The First Book of Confluence

Publisher: Gollancz

Forgive me all of you for this review!

I began this book in May 2014, yes MAY! I was away for the weekend with the boy and his fam and I was most looking forward to this book as I love a bit of Scifi and I do love an old classic being brought back to life. BUT OH DEAR GOD!!!

I just couldn't get to grips with this book and I finally finished it on 16 November (Yes I'm still behind on reviews). So, it took me 26 weeks to read and here is why.

1. I kept falling asleep when reading it.
2. Yama is not engaging or likeable.
3. Noting of any uniqueness in this for me really.
4. The old worlds meets machines was way too wishy washy a plot and needed more context.
5. The whole book needed more context so I got fed up every few pages through lack of depth.
6. Did not like the writing style.

So, I finished it, all 270 odd page and I think it's safe to say I will not be reading the other parts.

SORRY

BG
:-s

Thursday 18 December 2014

Review: Crossword Ends in Violence (5)

Publisher: PIQWIQ

Right then, we are with Fellowes who has had a death in the family and his business is going tits, but there is a family mystery to solve!

I wasn't and am still not 100% sure how I feel about this book. I mean, well...even after pondering it I'm not sure what I make of it. All the humour felt a bit too Dad's Army for me to fully embrace it, but the plot was super gripping and rather interesting and it's not even if this book was one of your typical holiday page turners. 

I preferred the portions in the past in the present...except for the Robot Wars bit, Bloody Love a bit of Robot Wars! Also, I really missed Fellowes after he disappeared close to the beginning, I thought he was a really nice character and I liked him.

Overall, (yes I know this is a short review for a novel but I really, as I said above, don't know what I feel or what to make of it) I see this book as a dark and slightly mental comedy of errors. It's a surprising read that I know won't be for everyone but I am glad I gave it a shot.

Happy Reading

BG
*<:-D

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Review: An Eye for an Eye



You are going to get a bit of an influx of posts for the next week or so if I can manage it as I need to catch up on my MASSIVE POSTING BACKLOG!!! Like it or lump it!

Right then, so this is a short story prequal to Knife Edge and it answers a lot of questions that are floating around when you read Knife Edge. It's printed at the end of Knife Edge (in Kindle land) and that's weird as surely you need to read it BEFORE the full length novel.

It was good to be back with Jude. I don't know why, but I do like him. I even feel sorry for him and his desperation with life and all the horrible things that seem to have befallen his family. He is a bit of a dick to Sephy, but I really don't like her, I can't help it! It was also nice to have Minerva's POV even thought she is a bloody idiot!

I would love to know more about the politics and the background to it in this entire series. It's alluded to slightly by Jude in chapter 1 of this short story and if you google the series there is a bit. But is this just some supposing or is it actually from MB. I think I would enjoy the books more and have a more indepth grasp of it all. Also, it would provide more of a deeper context and layer to the whole thing.

Defo read this before you read Knife Edge.
That's an order!

Happy Reading

BG
:-)

Monday 15 December 2014

Review: Moon's Artifice

Publisher: Gollancz

I've had this sitting on my bookshelf for what feels like years. I don't know why I was put off reading it but I was...it's weird I know. However, as soon as I picked it up and opened the cover, I was delighted that I had! We are with Narim and he has a lot on his plate...daaaaaamn!

I was completely absorbed by it all! The characters were fantastic and the intricacies of the politics was absolutely amazing! It was a real surprise. I do have to know however, is there meant to be a book before this as I couldn't help think that I was missing out on something as so much had happened that was previous to this particular plot.

I loved the small elements of magic that cropped up and I loved the fact that you can't see where the plot is going at all. Just when I thought the total and ultimate climax of the whole thing was to hit, it didn't! WAAAAHH! That was great and kept me turning page after page. I also liked the anti religion stuff at the end as well...I'm not all that religious...well at all in fact so ya know. Oh and I was shocked with the lack of tragedy as a whole when considering what went on! I hope that doesn't spoil it for anyone, but some people may be heartened to carry on with the book to know it's not allllll doom and gloom!

Cracking little fantasy read that I think would have totally passed me by if Gollancz hadn't sent it to me and I hadn't finally pulled my finger out and picked it up.

Happy Reading

BG

P.S. I had a massive debate on how to pronounce Artifice with Boy Geek. We are still undecided...weird I know but he says some words in a stupid way!



Thursday 11 December 2014

Review: Knife Edge



So then, Noughts and Crosses has been read as has short story Callum, so now it's book two which picks up a time after book one ended and there was a short story written in between, but I read that after so that comes later on...I think...in review land. 

So, I was 4% in and already found I missed Callum. I also found Sephy's parts rather tedious in the beginning but it was great to get to know Jude...even though he has many issues and is rather scary.

Sephy's parts just seemed very superficial and I know they are still making social comments and what have you but they didn't have the depth, grit and balls that Jude's did. However, Sephy did say the best thing she has ever said, 'I'll kick you ares so hard you'll be wearing your bum cheeks for ear muffs.' POssibly the best line ever in books! Well...YA books!

I could almost sympathise with Jude on occasions and that scared me. It also showed how good the writing is to stir passion in the reader on the side of the slightly deranged terrorist type character!

Also, it was good to see the story develop from Meggie and Jasmine's POV. I hope all that continues in to the next books.

Overall, yeah it's an alright series. I still really don't like Sephy, but I think that may just be me...but we will see as time goes on.

Happy Reading

BG
:-)

Thursday 4 December 2014

Review: See You Tomorrow

Publisher: Arcadia

We're getting all Scandi right now so embrace it!

There is a gang, there are some school kids, there is a father with some problems and they are all about to get mixed up in some very hot shit.

I'm not going to deny it, I like books like this were each chapter is from a different POV of a person in the book. I love having so many different takes on exactly the same situation! It really gives a book layers...god that made me sound like an english student didn't it! Anyway...it's true I love it!

Whilst reading the POVs I was totally convinced that they would all come together in the end but I had no idea how and that was pretty awesome. I kept wondering and developing my own theories...none of which turned out to be correct of course.

When it came to the characters, Rudi 'did my nut in' (to use a very Neath colloquialism), I really couldn't stand him and just wanted him to go away every time he cropped up. Cecilie had my pity, she had the potential to be a beautiful person but was screwed from such a young age there is no hope. The teenage crew drove me round the bend a bit...maybe because we've all been teenagers and can all relate to them. Pal...well, he is basically my Dad and that made me love and hate him at the same time. Odd one that. 

The whole book is incredibly dark and twisted but at the same time it's off the wall and totally nuts in a way that I just can't explain. The ending was completely satisfying but you could tell that the gang is now lined up for another appearance else where...if not then there is something very wrong going on here.

A cracking Scandi read that isn't yet more of the same old, same old, that seems to be coming out of the region. Dark and twisted but with some humour and characters you hate to love and love to hate.

Happy Reading

BG
:-)

Tuesday 2 December 2014

Review: Your Servants and Your People

Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books


If you read Your Brother's Blood then you need to read this....part 2! We're back with Thomas seven years after the end of the last book and we're finding out what life is like for him and some others now!

To be honest, at some points when reading this I struggled to remember part 1 and what exactly was going on...however, don't worry, my enjoyment wasn't ruined!

I had many questions during YBB and I have many now too! I need more history on the Red Coats and Walkin'! I need to know how all this started and I need to know what went wrong and where!! Wahhhh! These questions alone keep you turning pages! The thirst for more knowledge about this world is overwhelming! I want to know where we are and when! Is it the US civil war? Are we in a future dystopia? It's kinda great that you can be anywhere and everywhere...but at the same time I need answers TOWSEY!!!

Moving on.....I loved Bryn, I really did, what a gorgeous character. I hated Mary, god I despised her!!! BINT!!! Thomas was a darling as before!

The whole book was much darker than part one. There were far fewer parallels and mentions of religion and its place in this world, more politics and friendship. However, the epic twists were still there and some were truly truly heart breaking!

If you enjoyed YBB then defo read this and anticipate part 3 as much as I am! This really is a great mashup of genres series and I can't wait to see what part 3 holds. DT really does know how to set fire to a plot and keep it burning!

Happy Reading

BG
:-D