Differently Morphous – Yahtzee Croshaw * Book Review *

Format – Audiobook

Synopsis -A magical serial killer is on the loose, and gelatinous, otherworldly creatures are infesting the English countryside. Which is making life for the Ministry of Occultism difficult, because magic is supposed to be their best kept secret.

After centuries in the shadows, the Ministry is forced to unmask, exposing the country’s magical history – and magical citizens – to a brave new world of social media, government scrutiny, and public relations.

On the trail of the killer are the Ministry’s top agents: a junior operative with a photographic memory (and not much else), a couple of overgrown schoolboys with godlike powers, and a demonstrably insane magician.

But as they struggle for results, their superiors at HQ must face the greatest threat the Ministry has ever known: the forces of political correctness….

Differently Morphous is the latest and greatest tale to emerge from the mind of writer (and narrator) Yahtzee Croshaw.

My Thoughts – I brought this book on audible as it was the daily deal a couple of weeks ago and I thought that it would be the sort of book that would really appeal to me. I do enjoy magical/young adult type books however for me it wasnt as good as I was expecting.

I really struggled to get into the plot of this and I got a little bit confused with the different characters. I think the main issue for me is that it isnt a book that is to be taken too seriously and for me I struggle with the writing style and humour in this type of book.

The overall plot was good – a little like if the world found out that there was a Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter but I just struggled with the sub-plots.

The author does narrate this book so it was nice to hear the book read by the author – I always find this quite interesting and it seems like the author has written more books.

There are lots of positive reviews for this book on amazon so I think its probably just one that I couldnt agree with.

Rating – 2/5

Requiem – Lauren Oliver * Book Review *

Format – Paperback book

Series – Delirium #3 Thoughts on Delirium #1 and Delirium #2

Synopsis – An all-out uprising has been ignited and Lena Haloway is right at its centre.

But things have changed. The Wilds are no longer a safe haven for the rebels and pockets of resistance have opened throughout the country.

And when a face from her past reappears, Lena is faced with a devastating choice that could tear her and the revolution apart.

My Thoughts – I’ve absolutely adored this series over the last couple of weeks and as this was the last book in the trilogy I was really looking forward to some of the questions being answered.  This book flits between Lena who is in the wilds and Hana who is still in Portland and has had the cure and the differences in their lives.

Then there is the triangle between Lena, Julian and Alex and how that is resolved and so much more – I was really hoping for answers in this book. unfortunately there is a lot of loose ends that don’t get tied up in this book and for that I’m quite disappointed. I wish there was another book to the series so that some of these ends were tied up.

It was still a good book and I did enjoy the conclusion to the series – I’ve just started the short stories book so I’m hoping that it will be just as good and I’m definitely going to be reading more books by this author!

Rating – 3/5

 

 

The Visitor -K. L. Slater * Book Review *

Format – Audiobook

Synopsis – When Holly moves in to Baker Crescent, a quiet suburban street she causes quite a stir. Beautiful, talented, and friendly, it doesn’t take long for her to charm the other residents. But why has she left the bright lights of the big city behind and settled in with Cora, a lonely old lady who is delighted to offer her visitor a place to stay?

The neighbours are fascinated by Holly and watch her from their windows every opportunity they get. Just when Holly has begun to feel at home someone sees something that they shouldn’t – something that’s impossible to ignore.

What is Holly hiding? And are the dark secrets from her past going to put them all into terrible danger?

My Thoughts – I downloaded this book a couple of weeks ago as it was on the audio daily deal and the thriller genre is really appealing to me at the minute.

This book bounces between three main characters, Holly, David and Cora. Holly has moved back to Nottingham after living in Manchester for a while and falling on hard times. She moves in with a little old lady called Cora, who also has a secret. David lives next door and he has a different outlook to others in life.

Throughout the book you find out what has made the characters the way that they are and what has happened to them in the past. I did enjoy listening to there back stories and it explained why they are like they are.

The ending was really good and it wasnt something that I was expecting too.

This is the first book by the author that I have read/listened too but I would listen to more. It was also narrated very well.

An overall good book.

Rating – 3.5/5

Pandemonium – Lauren Oliver Book Review

Series – Delirium Trilogy #2

Format – Paperback

Synopsis – Lena Haloway’s been to the very edge. She’s questioned everything she’s ever been taught and fought for love and the life-changing and agonising emotions that come with it.

But now, while she may have escaped the tyranny of the government, she is headng into the heart of something that could be just as dangerous – a growing resistance movement where the sparks of a revolution are about to ignite…

Lena made her decision. But can she survive the consequences?

My thoughts on Delirium can her found here.

My Thoughts – I picked this up straight away after I had read the first in the Trilogy – Delirium as it ended on such a cliffhanger! This book is a bit different from the last, it jumps from the end of the last book to the present time where a while has passed and this enables the reader to really get a feel for what happened after the events of the last book.

It was very well written and really hooked me in again – I think I read 3/4 of the book in one sitting as it was just so good. It has themes of death, love, family, lies, truth all running through the pages which has made it a really good story.

This book also ended on a massive cliffhanger so I’ve already picked Requim (The final book in the trilogy) as my next read!

Rating – 4.5/5

Ultimate Teen Book Guide 2nd Edition – Reading Challenge

So I’ve already been doing the Ultimate Teen Book Guide Challenge for a couple of years however I didnt realise that there was an updated version of the book. I’m still going to take part in the original challenge but I need to dig out my original book as most of my books are in boxes still from moving – and probably will do for some time!

Like with the Utimate Book Guide Challenge I’ve been working on the master list for this challenge which can be found HERE.

I’m also going to live by my series reading new mantra – I’ll read the first book in a series but if its not enjoyable for me then I will give up on it – purely because life is too short to be reading books that you dont enjoy – plus this always affects my reading mojo if I’m not enjoying what I’m reading!

According to my list there is 782 books in this challenge and I have read a measley 43 books – which equates to only 5.50% – however there are some amazing books on this challenge that I’m really looking forward to reading!

I’m also going to do some re-cap posts of some of the books that I have read with the reading recommendations etc!

Children of the Deterrent – Ian W Saisbury *Book Review*

Format – Audiobook

Series – Halfhero #1

Synopsis – “My name is Daniel Harbin and I’m a child of The Deterrent.”
What if a super human turned out not to be so super…or even human? Britain’s superhero, The Deterrent, was unveiled to the world in 1979, and disappeared two years later.
The truth about his origins has never been revealed. The rumours about his children—those that survived—and their mysterious abilities have never been confirmed.
Until now.
Armed with a diary that reveals everything about The Deterrent’s early years, Daniel Harbin—discovering powers of his own—finds himself dragged into the same secretive government department his famous father worked for.
Can a halfhero be a better superhero than his father, or is Daniel making a terrible mistake?
When the wrong people know what you’re capable of, no matter how powerful you are, you’re still in danger….

My Thoughts – I downloaded this book from audible as it sounded quite good – but I didn’t realise that it was the first in a trilogy at the time!

This book is about Daniel, a guy who sort of figures out he has super-human powers. It was done in a really good way – I’ve read a few books where super-powers were made to be unbelievable but it really works in this book. Along with Daniel it also jumps back to the 1970’s to a young girl called Cressida. It did take a little bit of getting used to with the double narration but it soon led me to try to work out how the two of them were interlinked – and it took me a while to work this out – it wasnt as obvious as first thought.

This book was both very well written and very well narrated and I’ve already downloaded part two of the trilogy to listen to asap! I can’t seem to find part 3 on audible just yet but hopefully it will be released soon as the first book was really good!

Rating – 4/5

Ultimate Book Guide – A Long Term Reading Challenge

I came across this book a little while ago on Amazon. I’ve already been doing the Ultimate Teen Book Guide Challenge (more about that challenge coming up in another post!) but this book is geared towards the age bracket of 8-12. Having gone through the book there is definitely some more grown up titles in this book too so it does look like quite an interesting challenge.

I’ve complied a list of all the titles to track my progress. This can be found – HERE.

This book runs along the same theme as the UTBG book – a book title, review and then some recommendations of both other challenge books and some others too which I always like.

I’m going to do this challenge slightly differently when it comes to series reading – I will read the first book in the different series but if I don’t enjoy it I’m not going to read the full series – this is something that I’ve adopted all throughout my reading lately. Life is just too short to be forcing myself to read books I’m not enjoying.

Having gone through the list I have read 34 books out of a possible 672 – which means I’m about 5.07% of the way through.I will be doing some catch up posts over the next few months of these books that I have read (In between looking after my 3 year old, having another baby in the next month, working full-time running our own business and studying for an accounting qualification!) as I want to catch up on the recommendations etc!

I have also not marked as read some books that I’d like to read again like the Famous Five series – I’m sure that I’ve missed a couple of books in this series so I’m going to try to read these again.

I am really looking forward to this long-term reading challenge and hopefully I will discover some really good reads along the way!

 

Delirium – Lauren Oliver * Book Review *

Format – Paperback Book

Synopsis -They say that the cure for love will make me happy and safe forever. And I’ve always believed them. Until now.

There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it.

But now love has been declared a dangerous disease.

Everyone who turns eighteen must be immunised with a procedure called the Cure. Lena Haloway is looking forward to being able to live the safe, predictable life the government claims the cure will bring. But meeting Alex, an enigmatic boy from the Wilds, might just make her question everything she’s been raised to believe.

My Thoughts – I picked up this whole series in The Works a couple of weeks back as its a book series that I’ve wanted to read for a while.

This book is centred on Lena, a girl who is really close to getting ‘the cure’ who has believed a system for her whole life despite the fact that it meant that she lost her mother at a young age. She also meets Alex, who challenges everything that she has been taught and believed.

This was a really good young adult book – it was full of twists and turns that I didnt expect. It was also quite easy reading – I read 3/4 of the book in one sitting.  it reminded me a little of The Hunger Games Series – in a good way! I have already started to read the second book in the series – Pandemonium.

Rating – 4/5

This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diary of a Junior Doctor – Adam Kay

Format – Audiobook

Synopsis – Welcome to ninety-seven-hour weeks. Welcome to life-and-death decisions. Welcome to a constant tsunami of bodily fluids. Welcome to earning less than the hospital parking meter. Wave goodbye to your friends and relationships . . .

Welcome to the life of a junior doctor.

Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay’s diaries provide a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking by turns, this is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn’t – about life on and off the hospital ward. And yes, it may leave a scar.

My Thoughts – I downloaded this on audible as I enjoy confession type books and I’d never/read or listened to one by a junior doctor. I found this book a wide range of emotions – some parts had me laughing out loud – the author has such a dry sense of humour that its amazing really. Also totally horrifinging in places realising how under stretched the NHS actually is and the horrific conditions that the NHS staff have to work in.

Also there is the detail of the medical processes that the doctor carries out – I’m due to have a C-section within the next 4 weeks and dont think that I should have listened to this book just before – but I’m sure mine will go ok!

Also there is te ending – I dont want to spoil it for anyone but it was totally heartbreaking and sad.

This audiobook was read by the author too which I felt was really good as you really got a feel for how he actually throught and felt. Overall a really good book that I would recommend.

Rating – 4/5

Their Lost Daughters – Joy Ellis * Book Review *

Format – Audiobook

Synopsis – Introducing Audible Exclusive Their Lost Daughters, the first in the Jackman and Evans crime series, written by Joy Ellis, Audible’s breakthrough crime author of 2018.

Deep in the muddy fields of the Lincolnshire Fens, a teenage girl is found wandering, delirious, claiming to have been drugged at a party. Metres away, the drowned body of another girl is found on an isolated beach. And all this on a small stretch of land where, nearly 10 years ago, the shocking disappearance of a young girl remains an open case.

For DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans, the pressure is on to bring the perpetrators of these shocking crimes to justice. Are the crimes linked? Who are these young girls? And what on earth is going on under the green and pastured land of the Lincolnshire Fens?

An Amazon Kindle number one best seller, Their Lost Daughters by Joy Ellis is performed by the incredible Richard Armitage (The Hobbit) and available exclusively at Audible. Be prepared for your pulse to rise and your nights to be disturbed as our breakthrough crime author of 2018 weaves her dark web of mystery. Perfect for fans of Sarah A. Denzil, LJ Ross and Denzil Meyrick.

My Thoughts – I’ve recently got into listening to audiobooks while I’m driving and this is the first fiction book that I’ve actually listened to in a very long time.

This is about two detectives Jackman and Evans and them trying to solve a few crimes set in the Lincolnshire Fens. This book really appealed to me as I live not too far from the Lincolnshire Fens (well I used too) so a lot of the areas mentioned and villages I was a little bit familar with.

This book was brilliantly written – every time I thought I had worked out the plot it twisted and turned again and I was left with more questions to be answered. Thankfully at the end of the book everything was tied up however it kept me guessing to the very end. I was almost sitting in the car at the end of every journey just waiting to hear more and more!

It was also narrated brilliantly – I have come across some audiobooks and while they sound really good the narration puts me off – but this was brilliant.

Joy Ellis has written more books in this series – the next to listen to according to audible is The Murderer’s Son which isnt out on audible for another few weeks (16/10/2018) but I’ve already pre-ordered it!

There is also another series that she has written based in the same area that I’m also going to buy to listen to.

An amazing book that I cant wait to get more into this authors works!

Rating – 5/5