Bookmark

So, up until now, I’ve been using a cut up piece of red cardboard to keep my place withing my book. Every time I looked at it I thought to myself ‘just buy yourself a pretty bookmark, you muppet’. So I did! These little beauties arrived today. The panda is my favourite, it is most definitely the cutest little thing in the world. I’m also scared to use him as he’s that cute! Now to start a book that isn’t on my iPad just so I can use this little guy…

Book Haul

It’s always a good day when you come home from work to find your latest book delivery has arrived. I’ve been pretty busy this month so haven’t even managed to finish all the books from my last haul, but I’ve been enjoying a good hundred pages or so every night before bed! The worst thing about getting a haul of books is the not knowing where to start, there are so many there that I want to read, I just don’t know which one I want to read the most. Not to mention, I also have 11 books on NetGalley I have to read and review too (not bad, considering I’ve only been a member for 5 days). It’s a good job I love reading. This time last month, I couldn’t have ever imagined myself to be the sort of person to curl up and read a book, but now… now I can’t imagine myself to be anything but that sort of person.

Burn Baby, Burn Baby

 Burn Baby, Burn Baby- Kevin Craig.

Thank you to NetGalley and Curiosity Quills Press for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

 

Francis Fripp has no confidence. No self-esteem. And practically no friends. Why should he? After all, he’s horribly scarred which most definitely makes him a freak. Having endured physical and mental abuse from his father as a child, he has been left damaged. Not only does he carry those torturous memories around with him everyday, he also has to endure the daily bullying from another boy at school. Will the bully ever get his comeuppance?  Will Francis ever see that he is deserving of a happy life? And will he ever find someone that could love him despite his scars?

 

Burn Baby, Burn Baby didn’t take me long to read. Fair enough, it’s fairly short compared to other books I’m used to reading, but I had this one finished in just two short sittings. Not because of its length, but because I just didn’t want to stop; the author had me hanging on his every word. It takes talent to make a reader become emotionally involved with words on paper, but this is a talent that Kevin Craig definitely has. I was involved from the beginning, from the descriptions of everyday bullying, memories of his fathers torture, and the portrayal of a certain amount of isolation. I genuinely felt for Francis, this fictional character, as if he was a real person.

Kevin Craig has done a superb job at creating likable characters. Trigg, Francis, Paul Simon and Rachel all seemed real. I could picture the scenes in my head from the well thought out descriptions and imaginative vocabulary. Trigg quickly became my favorite character and left me wishing that I too had someone as loyal and heroic in my life.

There are books that are just entertaining to read, and there are books that ‘do good’. I would label this as a ‘do good’ book. It highlights the physical and emotional impact of bullying on youths, something that hundreds of thousands, if not millions of youths have to endure every day. It sensitively touches on the subject of child abuse, which is hugely important that such things are spoken about in order to gain awareness. So not only has this book done the fantastic job of being a very, very entertaining read, it also has the potential to touch many, many people who are lucky enough to read it.

★★★★

Painless

Painless – S. A. Harazin

 Thank you NetGalley for proving me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

 

David is a teenager, although, not a normal teenager; David cannot feel pain. Without the ability to feel pain, life becomes very dangerous. Not knowing whether somethings wrong, not knowing whether you’ve seriously injured yourself, not being able to regulate temperature efficiently; Davids life is fragile. ‘Painless’ tells the story of Davids adolescent life with this rare genetic disease. 

 

I finished this book fairly quickly, I started it as a bedtime read and had it finished the morning after. It was a very easy read, which I quite enjoyed. Sometime’s it is nice not being mentally challenged by a book and it’s nice to be able to breeze through one. I feel as though the author kind of rushed through it at certain points, the book lacked description and any form of depth.

David, the main character, I actually grew to like. We are given a very simplistic idea of what it is like to live with this rare genetic condition by Davids descriptions of previous injuries. Ultimately making the reader emphasize with David, as the author effectively portrayed the ways in which this held him back from being a ‘normal teenager’. When another character was thrown in to the mix (Luna), I found the story became very predictable, to the point I had the entire story correctly mapped out in my head. This could potentially be due to the fact that I read an awful lot, so it’s something similar to what I’ve read many, many times before; so for a casual reader it is likely to be much more shocking.

The story deals with many issues such as: living with disease, Alzheimers. abandonment, cancer, relationships, death of peers and many more. This is refreshing. It gives the reader an honest and raw insight to the reality and harshness of life. I for one, enjoyed reading about struggles that I’ve been lucky enough not to have to face in life, and it is probably very educational for younger readers that know very little about the reality of the world.

Overall, although a quick and easy read that could have been improved by including much more detail, I enjoyed the book. It served as a reminder that life is precious and you should live it to the full. It left me wanting more, there are many unanswered questions; did David ever find his father? Did Luna survive? Did they get finally get together? Has David managed to go without hurting himself for longer than a couple of hours? I now live in hope that there will be a sequel and these questions will find answers.

★★★

You Can’t Hide

You Can’t hide – Tina Renton

 

The heartbreaking autobiography of how Tina Renton endured multiple counts of sexual abuse as a child at the hands of her stepfather, and the courageous account of how she brought that monster to justice.

 

I like books that evoke emotion. Therefore, an autobiography based on such awful and heartbreaking events seemed appealing to me. Renton speaks about from the age of just six years old she endured sexual abuse from her stepfather, David, for numerous years. At times, I thought it was a little ‘close to the mark’, and I would even say it made me feel a little uncomfortable. I don’t believe this is a bad thing. This is an honest account of what Tina Renton was going through. To mask this, or to water it down, would be counter-productive. By writing this autobiography, I believe that Renton has empowered or helped other people who have been subjected to various forms of abuse come to terms with what has happened to them, and maybe even acted as some form of encouragement to bring themselves justice.

We need books like this. We need to know that horrible, vile, awful things like child sexual abuse goes on in the world. We need to know that monsters like David exist. It is far too easy to go through life thinking ‘oh, that would never happen to me’; but Tina’s story proves that it can happen to just anyone, as she was just a normal six year old child, and it happened to her.

I can’t say that I enjoyed reading Tinas story, I think that ‘enjoyed’ would be the wrong word to use. I read the whole book within a day, I rooted for her throughout it all. I wanted her to find the strength to tell someone what was happening to her, and when she finally did, I felt elated. Very few authors are capable of putting the reader through such an emotional roller-coaster as effectively as Renton has done here.

I don’t want to criticize the book, purely because this is someones life. Someone that’s been through so, so much. Who am I to say that at some points of the book I found it slow and repetitive? When they had to endure the repetitive nature of their traumatic childhood. So I will end this here, a heartbreaking but empowering read but a truly brave author.

★★★★★

Darkly Dreaming Dexter

 Darkly Dreaming Dexter – Jeff Lindsay

 

Dexter appears like any normal man, some would even describe him as a gentleman. Although, this gentleman hides a secret. He is a serial killer. A serial killer with a difference. He only kills people that are bad. He works for the police which in some ways helps him maintain his normal identity, but what happens when another serial killer wants him to play?

 

I’m guilty of watching the entire Dexter series before picking up these books. I only really purchased the books as the ending of the series had left a large, Dexter sized void in my life. I wasn’t quite ready to give up my Dexter addiction just yet. Sometimes, I’m a bit wary about reading a book after watching a film or TV adaptation, because I don’t like knowing what’s going to happen; it takes away some of the much needed suspense. I was concerned about this as I started readingDexter as floods of familiar scenes entered my head, but I’m glad I held out and gave it a go.

Firstly, I’m glad to say that the books are not completely the same as the TV series. I found myself almost talking to the books saying “No, that’s not how it happened, you’re wrong!”, but I liked it, it made me feel involved, it left me confused and wanting to read more. I found the authors descriptions of Dexter helped to provide really strong imagery (although at times, I pictured him exactly how I had seen him on the TV). If you ever need a book that provides a good example of effective descriptive writing – then this is the one.

The books evoked some form of internal battle with my conscience. Dexter was a serial killer. We all know we should not like, or feel any form of positive emotion for a serial killer. Yet I did. I put this down to the fact that Dexter only kills ‘bad guys’. Often he kills other killers, and that’s where this internal battle arises. By killing other killers, he’s ultimately saving the lives of the innocent; but it’s still murder, so it’s still wrong, but part of it feels acceptable with Dexter.

The book involved a lot of speech, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It allowed the reader to really understand the different characters and their different personalities. At times I found the language very ‘wordy’ and unnecessarily lengthy. A wide range of vocabulary has been used, which is in no way a bad thing, but at some points I felt that it impacted on the flow.

Overall, I’m not sure where I stand on the Dexter books. I loved the television series, so the books have an awful lot to live up to. I feel that if I hadn’t watched the television series prior to reading this, then I would have enjoyed it much more; but I’m excited to give the next two books in the series a good go.

★★★

Numbers

Numbers – Rachel Ward

 

Jem has a secret, she can see numbers when she looks people in the eyes. But what did this mean? Eventually we learn that these numbers, are in fact peoples date of death. 

 

What would you do? If every time you looked in to someones eyes you could see the date that they were going to die. What if you looked in to one of your best friends eyes and saw that they only had weeks, or even days left to live? Would you tell them? Would you want them to spend however long they had left worrying? Or would you like to give them the opportunity to make those last moments count? This was Jems life. Every day she faced the internal conflict of these questions.

Numbers is a young adult read. I purchased this book mainly because of the front cover, its simplistic white background made for a very clean and attractive cover. Luckily, it had a very interesting blurb too, but I think I’m guilty of ‘judging this book by its cover’, as either way, I would have bought it.

I found myself unable to put it down from start to finish. I actually finished it within two days, two very busy days. For me, I really enjoyed Wards style of writing. The variation of sentence structure and length made it an enjoyable read. I personally don’t like reading books that have continuous long sentences, it becomes a little boring and hard to digest. Where as short, snappy sentences every now and then helps to emphasize certain points. This is something Rachel Ward has mastered.

If I had to place this book in to a specific genre, I don’t think I could. At times it seems to be a sci-fi, at others, a romance. I suppose for people who are very set on which genres they do and do not like, this may pose a problem. But for someone like me, who can read and enjoy almost anything, I quite like the switching genres.

In my opinion, a fairly predictable ending in some ways took away from the greatness of this book. I really enjoyed reading it, but at some points I felt as if I was almost one step in front of the author. I like to be kept guessing, I like twists and turns, but I don’t believe that this book always delivered. Nevertheless, I am very excited to read the next two in the series as I just can’t wait to find out what happens next.

★★★

The Room

 Emma Donoghue – Room

“Jack is five. He lives in a single, locked room with his Ma.”

Room is about a mother and child who live together in a single room. The mother was kidnapped as a young adult and forced to live in confinement. Eventually, she fell pregnant and gave birth to Jack. Throughout his five years, Jack never got to experience the outside world – in fact, he didn’t even know that a world outside of this room existed. So imagine his bemusement when he discovered that it did.

 

The blurb caught my attention with this one. A simple two sentences and I was already hooked. The Room was obviously a popular book, the fact that it had “The No.1 bestseller” splashed across the top and mentioned that it was shortlisted for the man booker prize as well as the orange prize meant that it obviously had a certain amount of appeal. The book didn’t need a long, flashy blurb to make me want to buy it, those two sentences were enough (along with several positive testimonies filling up the back cover).

I must admit, I started reading this book with high hopes, and at first I was a little disappointed. It is written in the five year old childs perspective and this was something that I couldn’t immediately get my head around. It felt strange that sentences were not always grammatically correct, almost as if it didn’t flow as well as it should have; but with perseverance, I managed to grow to actually appreciate this. That style of writing helped the reader to remember the innocence and youthfulness of this five year old child. Personally, I felt that it had a fairly slow start. There were times I found myself waiting and waiting for something interesting to happen only to find another few chapters of much the same.

Eventually, it all changed. I was hooked. I found myself reading a 100 pages in one sitting, daring not to move in case I missed something or skipped a line. That innocence of the five year old child that I wrote about above had me hooked, I felt for him, I found myself willing for them to be free and in someways, I was emotionally involved. It takes an awful lot to move me, I’m a strong person, but at one point a tear rolled down my cheek and splashed upon the page.

The more I read, the better it seemed to get. I often find that book endings leave me disappointed. It’s almost as if authors sometimes have nowhere else to take their stories so lead them to a predictable end. This was not the case with Room. I was left wanting more. I want to know what happened to that five year old child, I want to know if he grew up to live a normal life, and I want to know whether ‘Ma’ became emotionally and mentally stable, for the sake of her son.

A brilliant read.

★★★★

The Reading List

The Reading List

Every month I order myself a bundle of books that I intend to read. They’re not always the latest books, or the books that have the best reviews, in fact, I very rarely even bother to read other peoples reviews before I purchase a book. Peoples opinions on books vary so much, what I find completely fascinating might be what someone else finds complete drivel. So I look for books with eye-catching covers, to capture my attention on first sight is half the battle. The other half of the battle is won by the blurb. I will read it over, and over, and over again until I decide that it’s for me and it’s worth a read. Sometimes, I make wrong choices. Sometimes, the books I pick I find incredibly boring; but I never give up on a book. No matter what, I always finish. Some books get better, and unfortunately, some don’t. So this here, is this months reading list;

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Room – Emma Donoghue

Numbers – Rachel Ward

Numbers 2 The Chaos – Rachel Ward

Numbers 3 Infinity – Rachel Ward

Darkly Dreaming Dexter – Jeff Lindsay

Dexter in the Dark – Jeff Lindsay

Dearly Devoted Dexter – Jeff Lindsay

Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding

Runaway – Emily MacKenzie

The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold

Never a Mother to Me – Tracy Black

You Can’t Hide – Tina Renton