A Book With a Number in the Title: NOS 4R2

Publisher: Gollancz

Soooooo I have had this on my shelf for a while and thought boom, read it, why not. MAN IS IT DARK!!!! Dark, dark dark! Not only dark, but weirdly inconsistently compelling. When I was reading it I couldn't put it down, but every time I put it down, I wasn't hugely enthused to pick it back up again...weird.

Manx is a truly hideous creation, vile, grotesque, creepy and a real thing of nightmares. Very well crafted. Also, he is horribly mean about red heads which really did put him in my bad books!!!!! I loved Lou as a character, he is a gorgeous man and provides a stable rock in all the craziness. Felt rather sad for Vic. Is she mental or has she been made mental by her circumstance. Poor love. Just wanted to look after her the whole time.

I really couldn't tell if this book was a horror or a thriller and I liked that. I also thought that the ending was superb.

Short but sweet as I read this a while ago!

Happy Reading and don't have nightmares

BG

:-)

Review: The House of Wolfe

Publisher: No Exit Press

Huzzah! It was so great to be reading this book after the last one which was sadly quite the let down. Yay, the good times are back!

I really enjoy how the styles of writing vary between all three books and in this book, the style switched back and for according to which section we were on. I liked the change in POV and from 1st to 3rd person. I also like that with JCB's style, you keep on reading and are completely engrossed, but it is not at all cliched. 

The Wolfe family in this book are once again superb and whilst they are a questionable bunch when it comes to morals and more, you can't help but constantly route for them and love them. They are a loyal pack and it's totally awesome to see. 

This was a hugely satisfying read, back in the realms of the first book!

HUZZAH!

BG

:-)

A Book Set in Your Home Town: Telling Stories

Publisher: Cutting Edge Press

So then, a book set in my home town....well that would be ridiculously hard to find as I'm from a little village in Wales originally...so I chose this as it's set in Cardiff which is the nearest big city and it's where my Dad is from...deal with it.

When it comes to CEP books, I've noticed that the publishers either lead you along by a delicate hand or smack you full on in the face, and this book is definitely of the latter category. Also, this book is easy to get involved in as all of us can relate to it as we all have friends like this group who we want to love, and protect who we have allegiances with, who we have a web of deceit with and who in some instances we lie to!

The whole time I was reading the book I was struggling with my feelings for the main characters. I don't really know if I liked them at all now I think about the book almost 5 weeks after reading it and at the time I continually struggled. Sometimes I felt sorry for one and hated others, some times I loved them all for their own qualities and sometimes I loved them for their group and friendship as a whole. They are a really marmite bunch. 

The style of writing makes the whole novel feel a bit autobiographical and very personal. The end in particular did that and I would indeed be interested to know if BJ has put any of herself/life/friends into the book.

I have one criticism of the novel and that is the use of Welsh turns of phrase. They are not consistent enough to have been included at all, in my opinion. They feel like a bit of an after thought/addition made during editing...but that could be just me.

All in all, a very dark (true to CEP) novel which is overwhelmingly sad at the same time. Defoe another read from the CEP cannon that fans will want to read.

Happy Reading

BG

:-)

Review: The Darkness That Divides Us

Publisher: World Editions

I'm going to let you all know from the start that this is a very intense book, but one you all should read!!!

Part 1 is written by a mass voice of 6 year olds. It was one of the most intimidating and intense things I had ever read. A big homogenous voice/opinion from a collection of tiny humans about one person, their life and family is truly terrifying as a concept and is even more terrifying when written down!!! WAHHH!!!! It makes you think however. Well, at least it made me think about how opinions change as people get older, how group mentality shifts/develops/shrinks or breeds and how stigma is dealt with.

Part 2 is from Lucy's POV. This is far more personal and comfortable to read. But it is still rather dark and out can see that she is very different from the other kids.

Part 3 is so so tragic. It's so sad that life goes meh again for one that is so young and messed up because of their past, and what other people have done. Especially those people who are meant to be the ones who loved you all along. Lucy's more adult POV is good once again as she is so much older, however, I think her emotions really hit me as I wasn't in the best frame of mind when reading and could empathise.

When it came to the characters I would like to say that despite all you may think throughout reading this book, and learn about L&D, you will find them wonderful in the end. Truly wonderful.

Before I finish this review two final notes. The translation is stocking....well done. I really don't get the cover...AT ALL!!

Happy Reading

BG

:-)

Review: The Country of the Bad Wolfes

Publisher: No Exit Press

If you will all recall, I read the first book in this series The Rules of Wolfe when on holiday earlier in the year and thought it was a stonker. So, when this one arrived I was thrilled, especially when I saw the size of it (I like big books and I cannot lie).

It was odd to go back to the history of the Wolfe family after the Rules of Wolfe, however, I can see why this was done, because if this was the first Wolfe book I had received, I honestly would not have bothered to read the others. I mean, I enjoyed reading it to an extent when I picked it up as I had the more recent Wolfe story in mind, however, fucking hell, did I struggle to pick this book up!

The whole thing also seemed to get very rushed after JR and this portion would have been better to have been the focus as it was far far more interesting!!!

So, we can safely say I am not a massive fan of this book..but don't worry.....I'll be reviewing the third one soon and I did enjoy that indeed!

Happy Reading

BG

:-(

A book set in the future: Lockin

Publisher: Gollancz

Hey all

Sorry I've been so quiet for so long review wise. I've been having a shitter of a time. Things are however starting to look a bit better so I've put my review hat on for the first time in FOREVER.

I apologise that until I catch up, my reviews may not be as usual as I'm writing from notes and I read some of these books a long time ago. However, I will try my best, and thanks for sticking with me!

Now the review.

This book is set 15 years in the future (from 2014) and the concept is totally scary as hell! So scary due to the questions it brings up surrounding control of people, disease and technology. Also, as I have a very vivid imagination it gave me the heebie jeebies as such a thing as being locked in one's body but being able to live through tech is possible in my mind!! (It's an odd place) The Agora also freaked me out, as there is a whole virtual community that only the select portion of the population can have access to when they can access the rest of the world with ease!

There were a lot of moral questions brought to mind whilst reading this book and I had a lot of internal debate about if Haden's should be equivalent to people and have the rights of people...don't worry, I came to what I believe is the correct answer. But it's great to come across a book that really gets you thinking and is so politically minded.

It was strange to have the main character without human description until much later on. You really get to know Chris' personality and you completely forget that he is a person. So when his human body was described and his family it was not what I expected. It also got me wondering if physical description has an impact on opinions readers form of characters! 

On the whole a good read that was more business and politically minded than blood and gore minded. That was a good thing to see and was a refreshing when looking at the type of book I've been reading recently (you'll see).

Happy Reading

BG

:-)