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I post book reviews as often as possible but at least once a week every Wednesday! I hope they help you to find some new books that you'll love as much as I did!
 The Synopsis In a time of suspicion and accusation, to be a woman is the greatest risk of all . . . Fleetwood Shuttleworth is 17 years old, married, and pregnant for the fourth time. But as the mistress at Gawthorpe Hall, she still has no living child, and her husband Richard is anxious for an heir. When Fleetwood finds a letter she isn't supposed to read from the doctor who delivered her third stillbirth, she is dealt the crushing blow that she will not survive another pregnancy. Then she crosses paths by chance with Alice Gray, a young midwife. Alice promises to help her give birth to a healthy baby, and to prove the physician wrong. As Alice is drawn into the witchcraft accusations that are sweeping the north-west, Fleetwood risks everything by trying to help her. But is there more to Alice than meets the eye? Soon the two women's lives will become inextricably bound together as the legendary trial at Lancaster approaches, and Fleetwood's stomach continues to grow. Time is running out, and both their lives are at stake. Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other. My Review Upon opening the very first page, I was immediately transported back to the 17th century and straight to the Lancashire countryside. Halls sets the scene wonderfully and she drew me straight into the storyline so that I found myself engrossed in reading for a good few hours before bed and then straight away again the next day on the train! I found the writing to be atmospheric and of course I can’t discuss this book without talking about the absolutely beautiful cover, it’s so stunning! I really enjoyed the plot and how it developed over the course of the book. I also liked how the author brought some real life names from the Pendle Witch trials into the story. I would’ve loved for there to be more in the book about the trials as I’m very interested in that period of history, but there was still plenty here to read about and Fleetwood made for an interesting and engaging narrator. Overall I’m giving The Familiars 4 out of 5. It’s atmospheric, well-written and a very enjoyable debut. This book was provided for free in exchange for an honest review The above is an affiliate link About the AuthorStacey Halls grew up in Rossendale, Lancashire, as the daughter of market traders. She has always been fascinated by the Pendle witches. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and moved to London aged 21. She was media editor at the Bookseller and books editor at Stylist.co.uk, and has also written for Psychologies, the Independent and Fabulous magazine, where she now works as Deputy Chief Sub Editor. The Familiars is her first novel.
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The Synopsis They left four children safe upstairs. They came back to three. On the fifth floor of the White Caps Hotel, four young boys are left alone while their parents dine downstairs. But when one of the parents checks on the children at midnight, they discover one of them is missing. The boys swear they stayed in their room. CCTV confirms that none of them left the building. No trace of the child is found. Now the hunt is on to find him, before it’s too late – and before the search for a boy becomes a search for a body... My Review I always know that I really loved a book when I find it difficult to write my review for fear of not doing the book justice, and oh gosh how I struggled to write this review! But here it is anyway and hopefully it expresses how much I loved this book! While I was reading Gone by Midnight, I was thinking about how well it would work as a series because of what great characters Ted Conkaffey and Amanda Pharrell are, not realising that it’s already part of a series - the Crimson Lake series! I think the fact that I was able to get through the whole book without realising that there were previous books or feeling as though I’d missed anything, shows how well written Gone by Midnight is. While I would definitely recommend reading the previous books because (going by this one) it’s a wonderful series, this book can definitely be read as a standalone with no problems at all. I was able to slot straight in and I warmed to Ted and Amanda instantly, so I think you will too. As you might’ve guessed by the fact I’ve mentioned their names twice already, Ted and Amanda’s partnership really made the book for me. They’re so well-developed and layered that they’re really easy to get behind and although they seem like an unlikely pair, they complement each other so well. There’s a fabulous sense of place during the entirety of the book, and while I’ve never been to Australia, I now feel as though I have! This book really has it all. It’s full of tension, action, gripping writing and a complex central mystery but is also packed with plenty of emotion and heart. I read the last third of this book with my eyes glued to the page and I was completely unable to work out who was behind Richie’s disappearance or how it was done. I really enjoyed the ending and found it thoroughly satisfying. Overall, I’m giving Gone by Midnight 4.5 out of 5. It’s immersive, satisfying and expertly written. I absolutely cannot wait for more from Conkaffey and Pharrell! This book was provided for free in exchange for an honest review The above is an affiliate link About the AuthorCandice is the middle child of a large, eccentric family from Sydney’s western suburbs. The daughter of a parole officer and an enthusiastic foster-carer, Candice spent her childhood listening around corners to tales of violence, madness and evil as her father relayed his work stories to her mother and older brothers.
Candice won back-to-back Ned Kelly awards for her first two novels Hades and Eden. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed Fall and co-writer with James Patterson of the Sunday Times No.1 bestseller Never Never set in the Australian outback.  Today is my stop on the blog tour for Tell Me a Secret by Jane Fallon! Thanks so much to Jenny for organising the tour and don’t forget to check out the rest of the stops! The Synopsis Best friends Holly and Roz tell each other everything. So when Holly gets a shot at her dream job after putting everything on hold to raise her daughter, she assumes Roz will be waiting to pop the champagne. But is she just imagining things or is Roz not quite as happy as she should be? And now she thinks about it, a few things don't quite add up... Perhaps it was a mistake to tell Roz all her secrets. Because it takes two to tango. But only one to start a war... My Review Tell Me a Secret is the first book I’ve read by Jane Fallon. Straight away I loved her writing style and found myself adding all of her previous books to my evergrowing to be read list! I think my favourite part about this read was Holly and Dee’s friendship. I found myself smiling many a time at their exploits and it really brought a lot of warmth to the book. I felt that there was a good balance of humour and intrigue all the way through. It worked really well, making sure the overall tone was never too dark or too light. It was a well paced read and there were plenty of twists which kept me turning the pages, but I knew that I was truly hooked when I was reading this book on the train, and we were told the train would be held in the station for at least 30 minutes. Instead of being annoyed at how late it would make me, I was actually delighted and silently celebrated the extra reading time! It was well worth it too, as the extra time meant I managed to finish the book - I really enjoyed the satisfying and feel-good ending. Overall, I’m giving Tell Me a Secret 4 out of 5. It’s twisty, compelling and entertaining. A thoroughly enjoyable read. This book was provided for free in exchange for an honest review. The above is an affiliate link. About the AuthorJane Fallon is the multi-award-winning television producer behind shows such as This Life, Teachers and 20 Things to Do Before You're 30. Her Sunday Times bestselling books are Getting Rid of Matthew, Got You Back, Foursome, The Ugly Sister, Skeletons, Strictly Between Us, My Sweet Revenge and Faking Friends. They have sold over a million copies in the UK alone.
 Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup! Thanks so much to Jenny for organising the tour! Don’t forget to check out the posts by the other wonderful bloggers taking part too! The Synopsis THE DEBUT NOVEL FROM THE CREATOR AND WRITER OF THE KILLING One blustery October morning in a quiet suburb of Copenhagen, the police make a terrible discovery. A young woman is found brutally murdered in a playground and one of her hands is missing. Above her hangs a small doll made of chestnuts. Ambitious young detective Naia Thulin is assigned the case. Her partner, Mark Hess, is a burned-out investigator who's just been kicked out of Europol. They soon discover a mysterious piece of evidence on the chestnut man - evidence connecting it to a girl who went missing a year earlier and is presumed dead - the daughter of politician Rosa Hartung. The man who confessed to her murder is behind bars and the case is long since closed. Soon afterwards, another woman is found murdered, along with another chestnut man. Thulin and Hess suspect that there's a connection between the Hartung case, the murdered women and a killer who is spreading fear throughout the country. But what is it? Thulin and Hess are racing against the clock, because it's clear that the murderer is on a mission that is far from over . . . My Review At around 500 pages, The Chestnut Man is definitely one of the longer reads I’ve enjoyed recently, but let me tell you, it is worth every single one of those pages and more. They’re all completely transfixing and the book is absolutely impossible to put down. In fact, the writing is so engrossing that I didn’t want to look away for a second, even whilst I was reading the most gruesome scenes. Although just a warning, the gory scenes are very unsettling and dark so this book isn’t for the faint hearted! There are lots of twists and the book is well plotted too and while there’s quite a lot going on, everything comes together really, really well. While I enjoyed the first half of the book very much, it was at about the half-way point where this book really came into its own for me. I felt that the tension intensified even more and I really didn’t see the ending coming. Overall, I’m giving The Chestnut Man 4.5 out of 5. It’s unsettling, transfixing and impossible to put down. I’m really looking forward to seeing more from Søren Sveistrup in the future! The Chestnut Man is out tomorrow! (10th January) This book was provided free in exchange for an honest review. The above is an affiliate link. About the AuthorSøren Sveistrup is an internationally acclaimed scriptwriter of the Danish television phenomenon The Killing which won various international awards and sold in more than a hundred countries.
More recently, Sveistrup wrote the screenplay for Jo Nesbø's The Snowman. Sveistrup obtained a Master in Literature and in History from the University of Copenhagen and studied at the Danish Film School. He has won countless prizes, including an Emmy for Nikolaj and Julie and a BAFTA for The Killing. The Synopsis From the number one bestselling author, comes two electrifying novellas and three short stories published in book form for the very first time. A FATHER FORCED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN LOSING HIS OWN LIFE, OR THAT OF HIS SON A TERRIFYING REUNION A KILLER COP WITH NOTHING TO LOSE  My Review What Dead Man’s Gift made me realise most was how much I’d been missing out on, because I had never read anything by Kernick before this book! I’m not sure how on earth I managed to miss reading his work before now, but I’ll certainly be making up for that in the coming months! For those who are well acquainted with Kernick’s work, as I’m sure is the case for many of you, his fluent and engaging writing style won’t come as a surprise but if, like me, you’ve never read Kernick’s work, this book is an absolutely wonderful introduction to his writing and will leave you wanting more. The five stories of varying lengths mean that there’s something for everyone and they cater to any length of time you have available to read. The ability to read the book in bursts, while still getting the satisfaction that comes from finishing a story, worked really well for me and I felt that knowing that the particular part of the book I was reading would be complete in one sitting, lead to me being able to focus more and let myself become totally absorbed in the read. Each individual story is fast-paced and sharply written and so gripping and intense that I often forgot what was happening around me. Overall, I’m giving Dead Man’s Gift 4.5 out of 5. Every single one of the stories is gritty, intense and packed with non-stop action. I’ll definitely be going back to read more of Kernick’s previous books. This book was provided free in exchange for an honest review. The above is an affiliate link. About the AuthorSimon Kernick is one of Britain’s most exciting thriller writers. He arrived on the crime writing scene with his highly acclaimed debut novel The Business of Dying, the story of a corrupt cop moonlighting as a hitman. Simon's big breakthrough came with his novel Relentless which was the biggest selling thriller of 2007. His most recent crime thrillers include Siege, Ultimatum, Stay Alive and The Final Minute. He is also the author of the bestselling three-part serial thrillers Dead Man’s Gift and One By One.
Simon talks both on and off the record to members of the Counter Terrorism Command and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, so he gets to hear first hand what actually happens in the dark and murky underbelly of UK crime. |
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