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Reviews

Sharp Objects Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Sharp Objects Review

*SOME SPOILERS*

When two girls are abducted and killed in Missouri, journalist Camille Preaker is sent back to her home town to report on the crimes. Long-haunted by a childhood tragedy and estranged from her mother for years, Camille suddenly finds herself installed once again in her family’s mansion, reacquainting herself with her distant mother and the half-sister she barely knows – a precocious 13-year-old who holds a disquieting grip on the town.

I love the premise of this book, having Camille return to her home town after years to report about the two murdered children. We learn about the setting through Camille’s memory and how she compares to how it is now. There is already that mystery surrounding why Camille left in the first place and why she doesn’t speak to her mother.

I have to say I found myself at times being sympathetic towards Camille but I can’t say I actually liked her as a character. I think she was at times a little problematic and she really should of recused herself from the story from the beginning. She knew it would be triggering to come back to town and she definitely unravels and makes some strange decisions.

I absolutely hated Adora and Amma but I can say that’s a positive for Gillian Flynn for making me have a reaction to the characters she’s written. The over sexualised nature of Amma and the casualness she exudes whenever she is being nasty or inappropriate was horrifying. I just wish Camille would of exerted some form of authority over her and told her what she was doing was bad which I feel she’s never been told in her life. Adora on the other hand was just unnerving and weird.

I enjoyed the fact that there is the overarching mystery surrounding the girls murdered and I found the way Camille uncovered it to be entertaining for sure. The way the plot unravels and we start to have more a clear picture as to who the murderer was very intriguing. I had my suspicions from the start and the misdirect was a great touch but I was eventually correct.

⭐️3/5 stars Shocking and twisted!

Reviews

Blade of Secrets Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Blade of Secrets Review

Eighteen-year-old Ziva prefers metal to people. She spends her days tucked away in her forge, safe from society and the anxiety it causes her, using her magical gift to craft unique weapons imbued with power. Then Ziva receives a commission from a powerful warlord, and the result is a sword capable of stealing its victims’ secrets. A sword that can cut far deeper than the length of its blade. A sword with the strength to topple kingdoms. When Ziva learns of the warlord’s intentions to use the weapon to enslave all the world under her rule, she takes her sister and flees.

Ziva’a character was definitely interesting. It was nice to hear about how she learnt how to become a blade smith and the process in which she creates her weapons. It went into a lot of detail about how she imbues her magic into the metals and how she incidentally comes up with the various abilities for each weapon. I think she is a very relatable character though I felt like a lot of the guilt she holds in relation to her sister and her upbringing was unnecessary.

Temra I think holds a lot of resentment to Ziva for being too protective over her and for making them have to uproot and flee. But I think again this was very relatable, her sister is the one with the magic powers and the infamy and I can understand why she would want a little bit of separation from that and be her own person. Though I don’t think it was very fair of her to throw that back in her sister’s face.

I like that there was a bit of depth to each of the characters. Kellyn wasn’t just a muscly mercenary, there was more to Petrik than what we are initially told so that kept me intrigued and interested in finding out more about them all. I liked that through their travels they all formed a bond of friendship before the romance started. The romance aspect was a little cringe for me to be honest. Because she has sheltered herself from the world so much Ziva’s social skills aren’t the greatest so her trying to process her feelings for Kellyn was a bit exhausting. I was glad when she just accepted that he might actually like her and moved forward. It just felt a little juvenile in that aspect and then right after we would get quite a graphic fight scenes so that juxtaposition would pull me out of the story.

I’ve found all of Tricia Levenseller’s books to be quite fast paced and action packed and this was in that realm. I think there was just so many scenes were they are just travelling from town to town trying to escape the warlord that I didn’t feel particularly rooted in the story. Though I’m looking forward to learning more about the magic system and this world as the series progresses and we find out what is going to happen next.

⭐️3/5 stars I was expecting more but enjoyed it for what it was!

Book Lists

Ship/Pirate Book Recommendations!

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Ship/Pirate Book Recommendations!

One particular trope or setting I have found to consistently enjoy over the last few years are books that involve ships, pirates or just generally travelling over water on an adventure. So I figured I would recommend a few of my favourites if this is something you are also interested in picking up!

5 of my Favourite Ship/Pirate Books are:

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Fable by Adrienne Young

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

If you have pirate/ship recommendations for me please let me know, I’m definitely looking for more to read!

Reviews

All’s Well Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on All’s Well Review

Miranda Fitch’s life is a waking nightmare. The accident that ended her burgeoning acting career left her with excruciating, chronic back pain, a failed marriage, and a deepening dependence on painkillers. And now she’s on the verge of losing her job as a college theatre director. Determined to put on Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, the play that promised, and cost, her everything, she faces a mutinous cast hellbent on staging Macbeth instead. Miranda sees her chance at redemption slip through her fingers.

Miranda as our main protagonist isn’t the most likeable of characters. She’s quite a miserable person and doesn’t really ensnare me as a reader. But rightly so because of the debilitating nature of her pain. I think the commentary surrounding the medical field not believing woman when they say they are in pain was a great inclusion in this book and was a great topic to explore.

The way Miranda devolves during the course of the plot left me quite confused. I didn’t know what she was talking about half the time and didn’t know what was real or if she was just imagining most of her interactions.

I really want to know Mark’s intentions when he was treating Miranda. Did he really just not believe in her pain or was he just being intentionally harmful to her. She expressed to him a few times in her sessions that he was hurting her and the stretches weren’t helping and he would still persist. I can understand her frustrations for sure and I was somewhat satisfied when she projected her pain onto him or whatever it was that she did.

I think what I didn’t really enjoy about the book was that there was no explanation. How the three men gave her the powers and healed her of her pain and how she was able to transfer it to the others. Did she suck out their energy and vitality and used that to heal herself or did she just give them her pain. At the end of my read I’m still left with questions and I’m just not feeling satisfied.

⭐️2/5 stars Regrettably forgettable!

Reviews

The Paris Apartment Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on The Paris Apartment Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.

Jess’s character felt new and fresh to me. I liked the fact that she’s led a completely different life to Ben and even though they’ve had their differences and grown apart she doesn’t give up her search. She’s definitely wary of those around her and I appreciated how she didn’t just take everyone’s word at face value and dug around a little more to unearth all the dirty little secrets.

The multiple POVs were a great touch I think. It made it easier to differentiate between all the different characters and added depth to the plot. Learning what everyone was doing prior to Ben’s disappearance and seeing how they all weave together was very satisfying.

The setting of this apartment building in Paris was fantastic. We really get a sense of just how gritty and dark Paris can be and how one’s perception of a place can just be so wrong. Having all the secret passages between the apartments and the mysterious nature of the concierge added to the overall tone of the book.

In terms of all the different twists and reveals it was very dramatic for sure. I can’t say it was the most shocking thriller book I’ve read but I feel like the entertainment factor was so high that I was just happy to go along for the ride. In retrospect the main twist was quite obvious but during my read I really didn’t predict any of the main plot points which made for a easy and fun experience.

⭐️4/5 stars I was here for the drama of it all!