bookswithlydscl's Reviews (635)

Read HHGTTG but prefer the ABs so unhauling

What can I say other than that The Lantern of Lost Memories is a beautiful, poignant, sadly poetic, dark but also hopeful piece of writing. I loved it from page one and loved the three stories all with a connected element which together will make you smile, tear up, get angry and break your heart.

This is probably my favourite release in the publishing trend of Japanese translated, cosy, interconnected short story fiction works that we’ve seen over the last few years. 

So human, so touching and so moving and one I'll return to repeatedly.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan | Picador for this digital review copy of "The Lantern of Lost Memories" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review. 

a fantastic insight in the life and writing of Stephen King. Loved when we moved into the writing sections and got his view on writing, how to write and the process for some of his books including Carrie, Misery and The Stand.

Such great fun! I love a game show gone wrong trope and this one certainly lived up to it. Read a little YA at times but overall it was a great story, plenty of secrets and lies and loved the use of mixed media. Highly recommended.

Solid YA scifi- nothing too original but enjoyable nonetheless 

Such a wonderful premise from Caro De Robertis for "The Palace of Eros" giving us a beautiful, powerful and gender fluid re-telling of the story Psyche and Eros. Unfortunately the writing style didn't work for me. I'm not a fan of flowery, purple prose and there was a lot of it with this book. The plot itself felt a little lacking and was much more character driven focusing on the seduction, romance and blooming love affair between Psyche and Eros which for me wore a little thin quite quickly.

This book will be a must read for fans of books like The Last Tale of the Flower Bride and it genuinely has an amazing heart and powerful message about autonomy, it was just a miss for me based on the writing style which didn't suit my preferences.

2.5*

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | The Borough Press for a digital review copy of "The Palace of Eros" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review. 

Bleak, sparse and pretty dark. A modern dysoptian/post apocalyptic classic.

A Scottish prison set crime thriller debut from Claire Wilson but from the perspective of an Intelligence Analyst who is trying to uncover plots from within the prison whilst realising that there's no one around her who she can really trust.

I love a different take on a police procedural style thriller and following Kennedy Allardyce, our IA under threat, was a really intriguing premise and gave this book an edge over a number of others. Sadly for me it just didn't quite work. My main problem was the character of Kennedy. She made a number of decisions that just didn't read as logical or particularly smart but were needed in order to keep the story moving (returning to the prison after an attack at the start being one of them).

It is also a particularly brutal look at life inside a male prison and the attention to detail for the day to day routines and general life was interesting but as I was reading along I realised that it isn't something that I was enjoying reading about. When this was combined with our lead character's choices and her attitude towards others in the story (poor Jacob), I just found myself being more and more put off.

Genuinely a unique angle on a prison/police crime thriller and if you as a reader enjoy gritty prison settings and a bleaker, rougher procedural story then this will be ideal for you. Unfortunately the style, characters and ultimately the open ending (prepped for a sequel undoubtedly) didn't work for me but I feel that is mainly because of a realisation about my reading preferences rather than the quality of writing on offer.

2.25*

Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for a digital review copy of "Five By Five" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

An unsolved murder, an isolated, creepy sanatorium setting and a young criminologist's attempt to let the ghosts of the past finally rest.

In a huge nod to Agatha Christie, with Death at the Sanatorium, it seems that Ragnar Jónasson has set out to deliver a book that is reminiscent of the Golden Age of Crime with modern touches to keep it relevant to today and overall he does deliver on that mission.

There are multiple points of view, multiple timelines that flash back and forward to build the story and a number of intriguing twists that all combine to give us a satisfactory crime novel that for most readers will prove to be intriguing, extremely readable and generally well plotted.

I loved the premise of this book and I hoped for a creepy, dark and suspenseful read. For me, the desire to hark back to the classic age of crime meant that it didn't quite deliver at those levels and I think hampered the atmosphere as it couldn't go as dark mystery/thriller as it possibly should have.  For a relatively short novel it also felt quite long as there was a feeling of repetition of story elements. For me the most intriguing elements were the opening few chapters and last few as that's where the most potential for a truly interesting story lay.

Fans of Agatha Christie and crime novels of that era will really appreciate the nods and affectionate references back to the masters of crime as well as the pacing, plot points and character development, but for me sadly it fell a little flat as I wished for a darker, grittier and creepier story than what was delivered.
 
 2.5* rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for a digital review copy of "Death at the Sanatorium" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Another enjoyable installment. Love Tyson.