Review: Day Shift

Publisher: Gollancz

So, this is the next book set in Midnight after Midnight Crossroad. We are back in Midnight and we are with the kooky residents once more! There are deaths and intrigue as usual, so you know what you are going to get.

It was great to see more of Olivia and get to know her better. Finding more about her was really rather good and it was great to get to know Cheuy and Joe as well, it was a total shift in focus from MC and I really enjoyed that. Manfred was still there though, don't worry, along with alllllll the others.

There were a fair few Southern Vampire Mysteries references and I think that you would lack depth in the story if you hadn't read them prior to this! Also, even though these are touted as stand alone novels, you will need to read MC in order to really thoroughly get this book.

I loved getting to know some of the residents of Midnight better, I loved the old people who had rocked up for this novel. What I didn't really like all that much was the main story, it was kind of 2D and a bit annoying. But, all of that can be overcome as you read these books for the residents of Midnight. It is their interactions and their personal lives that fuel your need to turn the page and that is awesome!

Happy Reading

BG
:-)

A book with a colour in the title: Little Black Lies

Publisher: Bantam Press

This book really caught my eye when it was being bandied around Twitter so I was over the moon when I was sent a copy! I don't know much about the Falklands so I found alllllll parts of that interesting. From the terrain, the conflict, the population, the way of life, the wildlife. Alll of it really interested me, and if nothing else, this book has inspired me to learn more about the place.

On with the story.

Catrin's narrative is dark, she is very disturbed by what has happened to her, her family and her children. It is worrying to read and, along with being very alarming and on occasions very depressing. Weirdly however, I found myself hating her rather than feeling sorry for her. She isn't a very likeable person, and this I found MOST strange as surely she is who we are meant to ally with! Anyway, this narrative portion was immense (used in the way I used to say it in secondary school) and I loved it.

Callum...Callum...Callum! I am in love with him. His narrative is heart wrenching! He has so much to give, has lost so much and has suffered to much too. You will see everything in a new light with him and you will love him...if you don't I'm having words.

Rachel's narrative was long, and tbh she was soooooo annoying! She was a brat and I couldn't stand her. However, I felt terribly sad for her kids, and I still do.

It was great to see the events of the past and the present (well the present for the book) through three sets of eyes. I really love things like that and the whole thing interwove perfectly.

HOWEVER...

the end all became a bit farcical and it let me down and the very end...well, I couldn't hack it...ARRRGH!!!

Up to a point, this book was SPLENDID. It was all I could have hoped for and asked for and all that was hinted at by the cover, cover text and blurb. But the end portion, oh dear lord...that let the whole thing down and I'm very sad about it. Some people will probably love the entirety of this book, I'm sure, for me, it was great until the conclusion and the very conclusion when it all went a bit to shit!

Happy Reading

BG

:-(

A memoir: All this has nothing to do with me

Publisher: Picador

I've plonked this in the memoir category as well it is a memoir of sorts, so there! It's a memoir of a very unhealthy relationship as well as some of MS' general life and growing up!

This book was not what I at all expected from reading the blurb. It was really abstract, not a story at all and not all that easy to get along with to be totally blunt, at least for me as I'm not that type of person. This is defo a bit more of an arty book, a bit of a coffee table book, and it really is all rather depressing.

I don't think this book will be widely accessible to people and I don't know who would 100% want to read it. I think it would be a book for the melancholy and the pensive/philosophical person.

I was really looking forward to reading this so I'm gutted that I didn't really enjoy it. It was a quick read, but maybe, it is just wasted on me and I didn't 'get it'.

I'd like to know what other people think!

BG

:-s

A book by someone under 30: Bloodrush

So, M's Dad has popped his clogs and he's being shipped off to America, the wild west, where life is going to be turned on its head!

This book is a complete mashup of genres, it's fantasy, it's western, it's coming of age, it's a quest, there is some urban fantasy in there too and some high fantasy! WAAAAHHH!! The book also has a teenage boy as the hero, which is a totally huge contrast to Farden in BG's previous books. AWESOME. Merion is a dude, and so is Lurker, however, I found Aunt Lil a bit too weird and mental, and that's saying something for me. I'm not sure what it was, but she just doesn't sit right with me, but I'm sure there is more to her than meets the eye and as the books go on I could come to like her.

It was tantalising how on the cusp of reality this whole book was. I did enjoy that a lot however! I also thoroughly enjoyed the Spider Man reference :-p

There are a few things that niggled me about the book though. 1. Rhin's story was a bit meh. 2. M's change is very sudden and full on, I didn't find it 100% convincing. 3. What a cheesy ending!!!

Haha!

I did enjoy this book however and I am VERY much looking forward to the next one!

Happy Reading

BG

:-)

A book set in a different country: Finn Fancy Necromancy

Publisher: Titan Books

Set in America, Finn is back from exile but it isn't all going as planned as the necromancer returns to life in 21st century America.

I will admit that it did take a while for me to get into this book, and I think it's because I had a book hangover from The Book of You. When I did eventually get in to it, it became a nice, fun read and I was glad to have that as I am still trying to put off reading the second part of Tess of the d'Urbervilles and I keep having flashbacks to how tedious it is!

I like the way the whole book is a fantasy novel but with a twist as it's set now in the completely modern world and there are only a few oddities here and there to make it fantasy and weird. That's good. The characters were alright (and if you read this blog a lot you know I comment on characters every time I read a book). Mattie made me feel really sad as she is so lonely, I just want to look after Pete!!!!! I did not fall in love with anyone and that is a REALLY big deal for me! The gnome mafia were my favourite and I am over joyed that they are a recurring phenomenon.

The style of writing is very American and some times I didn't quite know what was being referenced. I do however LOVE the fact that the chapters are all titles of 1980s pop songs, BRAVO!!

The book was alright and the ending was satisfactory...all I will say is I KNEW IT and there is another on the way, that's obvious. 

For fantasy that's a little bit different, give it a go. Also, if you were a geeky teen in the 80s give it a go!

Happy Reading

BG 

:-)

P.S. I'm sodding off on a work trip for a week tomorrow, again I know, so I will be quiet until I return!

A book you can read in a day: The Book of You

Publisher: Harper Collins

The first thing I have to say and the main thing about this book is OH MY GOD IT IS TERRIFYING!!!! The whole build up to reading this book was scary as the parcel it arrived in contained a black rose and creepy note card. Well done on that Headline.

In the book Clarissa is having some stalker issues and it's bloody mental. Rafe is horrendous. He is creepy and I'm sure people always worry about men like him appearing in their lives. Miss Norton is a total babe and I'm sure you will all fall in love with her! Clarissa was awesome too. Her diary/note passages were excellent and you really get a feel for her, her voice, her deep deep terror and her other forceful emotions.

The plot as a whole was great and it was brilliant that there really wasn't a good guy and there wasn't any real happiness, ever. Life is hard and a bitch and you have to make the best of everything and this book really does tell you that! Its a very real book that even though the events are to the extreme and the emotions and relationships are also extreme, the ending seems real and your emotions when reading are very real too! I also loved how the ending wasn't tied in a pretty neat bow for all to sit and be happy with, I am sick of books like that! I am also over joyed that it is a stand alone book...about time too!

To summmmmmmmm it up, this is one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in a while!

Happy Reading...or at least try to remain happy and not crap yourself!

BG

:-)

P.S. This is the book I read in a day as I read it when I was off work vomming for a full day.