In Sight of Stars: A Novel by Gae Polisner Review

I have many, many things to say about this book... First I'd like to begin by saying thank you to NetGally for providing me with a pre-publication copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published on the 13th of March 2018.

Lets begin with how beautiful the cover is before we get serious. I love the sunflowers in the cover and the first thing I thought of when I saw the cover was Van Gogh, and how right I was.

This novel is about a young boy Klee (pronounced Clay) who's father (who was an artist and greatly inspired by Van Gogh) kills himself, Klee's this fact hard to deal with and he spends a couple of weeks in a psychiatric hospital working through what has happened. I'd like to warn now that if you have ever had any experience with suicide this could be a very hard book to read, and I know this from experience. I'm admitting a lot here to the great wide world of the internet, but my dad died when I was younger and this book managed to bring up a lot of feelings that I really didn't want to experience. If I'd know just how "triggering" this book would be it is unlikely I would have picked it up but since I started it before I realised I finished it, and not just because I felt I had to but because I found it really interesting to read about how Polisner portrayed the grief that is felt after experiencing a death in a family.
I felt I should explain my situation before I began my review.

Let us begin with Klee, basically he was messed up in the head. In more detail, Klee had witnessed some terrible things and because of it he wasn't well. I really liked how Polisner portrayed someone who has recently lost someone, it was very accurate (I wonder whether Polisner was able to do that due to extensive research or because she has experienced it herself?). I felt very strongly for Klee due to that fact that I have been in a similar situation (not the same but similar) and know how it feels, blaming yourself and everyone. Not feeling like you are loved, and finding it hard to make connections with people. From my own experiences, I cried at times when Klee was particularly effected by what had happened to him and felt equally happy in the moments he did as well. And during the second part of chapter Day 13 into 14 - Overnight into Morning, my heart basically swam. I felt all the emotion that Klee was putting into what he was doing.
Dr Alvares and Sister Teresa were wonderfully written characters, full of love and only wanting the best for Klee's future, they treated Klee how you would expect carers to treat someone who was working through a death. They were the type of people every child who has lost a parent should have to help get them through it.
All the characters felt very real and I felt strong connects to Klee as well as Sabrina and Martin (also in the psychiatric hospital), they all gave me the impression that perhaps Polisner has in fact had similar experiences and not just done a lot of research, but either way this is fabulously written book in the emotions it was portraying!

The structure I found to be slightly confusing, but not in any major way. The book was present day in the psychiatric hospital with many flashbacks, however in the pre-pub copy I had it wasn't very clear sometimes when it changed from present to past until names were mentioned though this may be different for a fully published, physical copy. The whole book was written from Klee's perspective and besides not quite catching when the flashbacks happened I enjoyed this novel greatly.
This novel was written very well, and I felt everything! It is beautiful, and portrays grief really quite well. I also could barely put it down after the usually taking time to get into the flow of a book, I stayed up much to late last night in order to try and finish it.
Now although this is a Young Adult book, again I'd like to warn that if you react badly to death/suicide, please be wary reading this book. I'm not saying don't, just be wary.
I shall buy this book for my mum when it's released!
8.5/10
xo

Published 13th March 2018

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Review

I have recently decided to partake in an Instagram project called the #TheUnreadShelfProject2018, the aim: to read all the books on your shelf that you haven't read before (and try not to buy anymore)... This was the second book I've read this year from my "Unread Shelf", the first being Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson which I must admit was very good, however that is not the book this post is about.

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

Nick and Amy both lost their jobs, when Nick's parents get ill they must uproot from New York and move to Missouri, that is when the trouble begins...
This book was in three parts and the chapters were written from either Amy's POV or Nick's POV, with the POV changing every other chapter and different dates and such, so often I would be reading a Nick chapter then get slightly confused as I continued reading until I realised that I'd moved on to an Amy chapter without noticing. However after the first few chapters I got used to the structure.
I found Amy's character to be a lot more interesting than Nick's was, Amy seemed more complex and somehow had more of a character than Nick. Amy was smart, in fact I'd venture to say a bit of a genius in how she handled life, this isn't the type of book that you stop after the first part, to understand the true genius you have to read the whole thing, but in my opinion it's worth it. Nick was a dickhead, but also surprisingly interesting (not so much as Amy, but interesting none the less), throughout the book he went from loving to hating to emotionless to an emotional wreck, a man with layers... Like an onion... I was quite a character to watch develop throughout his wife's disappearance/murder.

There was a certain realism that I felt while reading about these characters, I often felt nervous for both Nick and Amy at different parts throughout the book, but I never cried (there was no reason to) and rarely laughed out loud, except for then Amy would write (as an example) "Nick and me (yes that is the correct grammar)", which made me chuckle. However during some parts, I felt like I was just reading a book, not really feeling what the characters were feeling or experiencing a different world. But I guess it could be hard to keep up a perfect story that will always and forever keep the readers full attention. Something that often kept my attention (again the psychologist within me) was the occasionally references to Sociopathy... All I'll say about the matter.

The general storyline of this book kept me guessing, throughout the book my mind would wonder and wind through every possible suspect, then just before the end of Part One (Boy Loses Girl) I'd worked out the bombshell that was dropped on us right at the beginning of Part Two (Boy Meets Girl). And although throughout the whole book that's the only thing I guessed right I still really enjoyed this because for me, I don't mind not being able to guess major plot twists in a book before they happen. My favourite part of the book had to be Part Two, especially Amy's influence over Nick's life/POV, she was smart and cunning and we got to see the true genius that she was. The part I didn't like was the end, the last few chapters of Part Three (Boy Gets Girl Back (Or Vise Versa)). I won't explain why as I fear I might give something away but I just did not like it (personal opinion).

Amy's POV during Part One was very well written and as you read the rest of the book you realise that once again her POV (in Part One they are diary entries) is pure genius. If I could I would hug Flynn, just to say how brilliant Amy's character was.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good crime/thriller, so of course I'm giving my copy to my mother, fab book.
8/10
xo

A post shared by |wonderland| (@book.monkey) on Jan 13, 2018 at 4:29am PST

Book Published 2012

Winner of Goodreads Choice Award 2012

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero Review

Well for a first book of the year this was a great start.

1990. The teen detectives once known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in the Zoinx River Valley in Oregon) are all grown up and haven't seen each other since their fateful, final case in 1977. Andy, the tomboy, is twenty-five and on the run, wanted in at least two states. Kerri, one-time kid genius and budding biologist, is bartending in New York, working on a serious drinking problem. At least she's got Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the team. Nate, the horror nerd, has spent the last thirteen years in and out of mental health institutions, and currently resides in an asylum in Arhkam, Massachusetts. The only friend he still sees is Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star. The problem is, Peter's been dead for years.

The time has come to uncover the source of their nightmares and return to where it all began in 1977. This time, it better not be a man in a mask. The real monsters are waiting.

Growing up I loved Scooby-Doo, The Famous Five (Enid Blyton 1897-1968) and such, so finding a book that incorporated the mystery and fun into a book that I can appreciate was fabulous. The genre of this book is apparently horror and mystery, personally I dislike horror but this did not scare me. Personally I love mystery and this book kept me guessing the whole time. I understand how this book could be described as horror but in my own opinion it doesn't really belong in that genre, I think I'd describe it more as supernatural that horror. The Blyton Summer Detective Club are used to unmasking the monster to find a scared human who's annoyed at being caught by a group of children, however in this book the monsters is real, and they haven't done detective work in 13 years. 

I found the characters to be slightly dull, Andy was standard girl who could do anything a boy could do and Kerri was smart but fell into waitressing, Nate however was a lot more interesting (maybe because I have a slight love for psychology). He often went in and out of mental health institutions and essentially had an imaginary friend, who was in fact the other boy who had been in the BSDC in 1977, Peter. I found they way he talked to Kerri (his cousin) and Andy to often be impatient unlike when he talked to the Peter who was a manifestation of his own consciousness. But even though I did find them to be slightly dull I did become very attached to all of them, and when they were running for their lives I felt I was there too. But interestingly, when they were scared because of the monsters that barely fazed me. 

I don't really know what to say about the storyline, there were many detective bits that reminded me of the old Scooby-Doo cartoons and I truly loved them. The way the characters put together different clues to understand the "bad guys" plot was brilliant. However some bits of this story I found tedious like the detail in which Cantero explained the fighting scenes, and I'm sorry but in my opinion you can only have scenes like that in films otherwise you just have a long paragraph of people hitting each other. (But once again that is a personal opinion)

In terms of the structure of this book, I liked how it was split into five sections that each had its own little theme to make up the whole story, but something I really didn't like about the structure was when the dialogue turned into what was basically text talk and with the actions added as well I felt like Cantero had decided to change the book into a play and then back again. Example:

Kerri: hello

Andy: hey kerri

Nate: (hesitates) we need to talk

A few things I couldn't help but notice Blyton Summer Detective Club as in Enid Blyton and Zoinx River as in Zoinks that Shaggy says on Scooby-Doo. Just in case you somehow didn't notice those...

However besides odd bits and bobs I enjoyed the overall story with all the twists and chemisrty between the characters.

I realise this has been a very mixed review but I'm planning on buying this for my sister on her birthday or maybe Christmas so I can't have thought it to be all bad.

7/10 xo

A post shared by |wonderland| (@book.monkey) on Jan 7, 2018 at 7:22am PST

Book Published 2017

Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin Review

The amount of times I've been told by my mother to read these books is really quite unbelievable. But of course she was right, this was pretty amazing.

Detective John Rebus: His city is being terrorized by a baffling series of murders...and he's tied to a maniac by an invisible knot of blood. Once John Rebus served in Britain's elite SAS. Now he's an Edinburgh cop who hides from his memories, misses promotions and ignores a series of crank letters. But as the ghoulish killings mount and the tabloid headlines scream, Rebus cannot stop the feverish shrieks from within his own mind. Because he isn't just one cop trying to catch a killer, he's the man who's got all the pieces to the puzzle... 

Based in Edinburgh I found that I could visualize a great detail a lot of the scenes mentioned throughout the book including The Meadows and the ever busy Princes Street. 

The majority of the book was not about the crime but about the characters and who they were, particularly about Rebus's character development. Being an ex-army man I have heard of many who find it hard to adjust into normal life after leaving for what ever reason and Rankin managed to capture that very well. Rankin has a way of making his characters feel very real, however this is done in a very different way to Christie's methods as I mentioned in my previous post. Unlike Christie, Rankin's characters have a sense of pain and realism that can't be presented in Christie's "Cozy Mysteries", you feel their pain and fear, their confusion and delight at every point in the book. Whether it be Rebus's resentment of Rhona or his love for Samantha you can feel it and it feels raw. Although every moment was vital to the story their really wasn't too much about the actual crimes committed, just paragraphs and mentions and yet the murders I believe have an impact on the reader, maybe because in the midst of all the character development throughout the book, there is death and lose and that can be a shock to the system.

The clues presented by the killer were smart, as well as mind boggling. Although I must admit I did guess who did it before Gill or Micky or even Rebus knew however it was thrilling to see them get to it and pursue the killer. 

My favourite part of this book would have to be Part 4 - The Cross, chapter 22. 

Side Note: I enjoyed the book being split up into 5 separate parts, each with a theme in itself. The understanding of the characters, the development of the crime, more clues, the last piece the suddenly makes everything fit together and the PURSUIT.

Back to my favourite part, this gave the characters as much a the reader a much deeper understanding of the reasons for the crimes being committed, as well as showing us a side of Rebus that we hadn't previously seen. Altogether this was a very impactful chapter and although it certainly didn't bring me to tears it was heart wrenching in a very emotional way. 

For the first 100 pages I could not put this book down, and only did when I felt my eyes drooping (I had started to read it quite late.)

I was recommended this by someone and will recommend it to anyone who will listen.

9/10 xo

Book First Published 1987

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie Review

The first Miss Marple mystery, one which tests all her powers of observation and deduction. “Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe,” declared the parson, brandishing a carving knife above a joint of roast beef, “would be doing the world at large a favor!” It was a careless remark for a man of the cloth. And one which was to come back and haunt the clergyman just a few hours later—when the Colonel is found shot dead in the clergyman’s study. But as Miss Marple soon discovers, the whole village seems to have had a motive to kill Colonel Protheroe.

I find Agatha Christie to be a genius in her writings, and loved almost every Poirot book I read so far. This is the first Miss Marple I've read and I must admit it was fantastic. And although this is the first of a series the Miss Marple's, like the Poirot books for that matter can be read individually, in any order or in the right order, it's entirely up to you.

When Vicar Clements comes home to the Vicarage he finds a Colonel with a bullet through his head, him and the rest of the village set out to find out who murdered him.
As someone who has never read a Miss Marple before I truly loved her character, she saw everything, and knew everything in the village but I don't think she was actually nosy. She has a hobby and that's something that in a small village you need to have or you will go slowly crazy (and I'd know). I also loved the character who's POV it was, Vicar Clements, with a wife of 25 years of age. I am not religous and although I do recpect them, I don't have any kind of particular love for vicars, I think however that has changed to a certain extent. Clements was smart and constantly in the center of attention, which he didn't particularly seem to like very much. But I suppose when someone dies in your study, what can you do but investigate. Another character who I found to be very interesting throughout the book was a Lawrence Redding, an artist. I guessed almost at once his relationship to the Protheroe, and who he "admired", it was really quite obvious. Unlike the murder which I mention later, had me looking every which way.
Christie has a way of giving each of her characters their own unique personality, I believe it comes from being someone who has really lived life. Something that I found frustrating in this book was that all the women mentioned in this book seemed to blur together at times, making it hard for me to know who had said what at any given time. The three women that I often confused were Miss Wetherby, Miss Hartnell and Mrs Price Ridley as they were basically the three gossipers of the village along with Miss Marple but I knew precisely who she was as she was the detective of the book. Not knowing Miss Marple or confusing her with the other women in the book would be like confusing Sherlock Holmes with DI Lestrade, it just isn't to be done. If you have ever read a Christie book, you'll know that the aim of the book is not to solve the crime but make it so utterly impossible to understand and yet so simple that when you know the conclusion you are both impressed and left with the need to kick yourself for not realizing it all the moment all the facts were presented to you. I couldn't stop guessing and I am sure at one point or another I suspected every character in the book, including Colonel Protheroe...
Quite frankly I've missed reading Agatha Christie books with there smart and unexpected endings and this one was definitely in the top ones I've read along with The Murder of Rodger Ackroyd and And Then There Were None. I am really very glad that I have six more on my shelf, however no more Miss Marple's for the time being. (But Christmas is coming!!)
I would recommend this to everyone and give with a 9/10, because despite how fantastic it was I don't get confused by characters very easily but I did in this.

A post shared by |wonderland| (@book.monkey) on Nov 13, 2017 at 10:35am PST

Book First Published 1930

I See You by Clare Mackintosh Review

Every morning and evening, Zoe Walker takes the same route to the train station, waits at a certain place on the platform, finds her favorite spot in the car, never suspecting that someone is watching her...

It all starts with a classified ad. During her commute home one night, while glancing through her local paper, Zoe sees her own face staring back at her, a grainy photo along with a phone number and listing for a website called findtheone.com. 

I am going to start this review by saying that the blurb of this book isn't nearly as exciting as the content. This book is about stalkers, murders, rapes and altogether things that make you scared to walk alone at night, by the time I'd finished this book it was past midnight and I needed a drink of water. I have never ran so fast or been so scared about going downstairs to my own kitchen, though by the time I woke up this morning I was fine. I am thankful that I didn't start reading this book until I was on the train leaving from London, this book is not only based in London but in the South of London where I've been staying for the past two weeks, I'd never have been able to leave the house. 

The two main characters in the book is Zoe Walker a mother with two children over 18 and a PC Kelly Swift, and although both these characters were quite something and developed a lot throughout the book neither was my favourite. My favourite character was actually Katie Walker, Zoe's 19 year old daughter, the reason she was my favourite character in this book was that I can relate to her at this point in my life, her a wannabe actor and me a wannabe technician. But this isn't about me. Both Zoe and Kelly have back stories that are necessary to the plot but seem slightly unrealistic in some of the ways Mackintosh linked the past to the present. However the characters themselves felt real, and during the climax of the story (the last few chapters where shit goes down) I felt like I was each character in turn, feeling the fear and betrayal that came with the story.

Side Note: I feel there is a certain art to making the reader feel exactly what the characters feel.

I am the type of person that enjoys working out a problem so the favourite part would have to be the conclusion, the catching of the bad guy (I'm using the word 'guy' in a gender neutral manner) but because it is the conclusion and the catching I can reveal very little. Though I can tell you that a was shaking, inches away from tears and frankly I was so caught up that my house could have burnt down and their is a very high chance that I would not have noticed, the story had twists and turns and I spent the whole time accusing every person that was mentioned. 

I will admit, it was a very slow start but once it picked up it didn't stop. And as I mentioned earlier I had some issues with how the past of the characters fitted perfectly with the events that were happening now, it just felt unrealistic. But of course I have never been a policeman or a victim of stalking, rape or murder so for all I know links between the past and the present happen all the time.

One last thing that I will mention before I finish is that I like how the chapters were set up, it would start with Zoe in first person then for the next chapter it was switch to Kelly's story but in third person, then ever five or so chapter you'd get narrative from the bad guys (again gender neutral) perspective. I will tell you know that narrative chilled me to the bone. If you are reading a book in the middle of the night and you turn the page to find the first line saying "I see you. But you don't see me. You're engrossed in your book..." Then believe me you will be chilled.

I would and will recommend this to anyone who will listen.

9/10 

xo

A post shared by |wonderland| (@book.monkey) on Nov 10, 2017 at 4:18am PST

Book published April 2017