gimmebooksjoanna's Reviews (326)

What a funny little book. The characters are eccentric and I must say I found Keiko fascinating. But not as fascinating as Shiraha. He's an angry little man.

I don't really know what the intention is behind this book, but it was quirky, held my attention and made me snort with laughter in all the right places.

That combined with my current fascination for reading fiction based in cultures other than my own, made it an enjoyable read.

Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams | Jenny Colgan
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⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5
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As a general rule I don't "do" chick-lit these days. I find them a bit "samey". You know. Girl moves to Ireland after breakdown of relationship. Lead to believe girl is a bit dumpy and average. Girl turns out to be a stunner that bags the hottest guy in the village, but not without all sorts of complications. I'm not cynical. I just find them a little repetitive and predictable.
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In many ways, this was no different but at the exact same time it was completely different.
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Whilst the majority of the novel is written from Rosie's point of view, the narrative is interrupted with flashbacks of Aunt Lilian's story. We get excerpts from her self-published book too which are quite frankly hilarious and it captures the very essence of her. This mix of style really helps with the pace of the book which is almost 500 pages.
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I found the ending predictable but it didn't take away from the warmth, charm and sweetness of this book. Somehow, the nostalgia of childhood sweets is completely captured which makes this a truly lovely read.
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Thanks to @katielouisepollard1983 for sending me this one back in January in the #busymamabookswap

The five people you meet in Heaven | Mitch Albom
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
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This book is wonderful. I was half expecting to ugly cry at the end, but I think I was all cried out from Toy Story 4!
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How I actually felt was a mixture of sadness/horror when Eddie meets the fifth person, and feeling totally uplifted. I have a belief in the After Life but not in Heaven. I love the take on the idea of what Heaven is though; a place where we understand our lives, significant events and significant people.
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We first meet Eddie on the day he dies. We find out how he dies and then before you know it, he's in Heaven and meeting the first of his five people.
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The book flits between Eddie in Heaven, past memories that the person he meets is involved in and previous Birthday's. I liked this as it kept me engaged and changed the pace.
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This book will stay with me for a long time and it's probably one of the elusive "keep me forever books" rather than passing on.

I tend to avoid chick lits if they're a bit samey, but this one grabbed my attention with that simple tag line of "Tiffy and Leon share a bed, Tiffy and Leon have never met". I was intrigued from the off.

The characters are warm and the whole concept is so different to anything I've ever read before. I loved how you got to see Tiffy and Leon's relationship develop via post it notes.

It made me laugh and cry in all the right places and I was thoroughly swept away in Tiffy and Leon's story.

In terms of the plot, whilst I think before you even open it, you know how it's going to end, that didn't phase me at all. I was simply happy going on that journey to find out how the ending would happen.

Eleanor & Park meet on the bus. Gradually, over time their meeting blossoms into love.

People have raved about this book. And I'm not going to lie. I don't get it. I mean, it was alright. I "liked" it. But that's about it.

It's actually quite dark, and although you'd be forgiven for thinking it's a YA novel, it's really not appropriate for anyone younger than 18 as it deals with some really hard-hitting issues.

What I did love was the ending and the sentiment of the author's note about why it ended as it did 😍

I'm definitely not saying it's not worth a read, but for me it was an average, middle of the road read.

This book is brilliant.

It is such an insight into what life is like to be a 16 year old black girl from "the ghetto".

I enjoyed it, even though that feels like the wrong word to use. It's a horrific story really.

Starr is such a likeable character and you really feel her inner conflict and turmoil when it comes to whether she should speak up. The fear.

Everyone should read this. Particularly white people. As much as it was a gripping read, it was educational for me too.

I received a free advanced copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

I've never read any Nicola Marsh, I'm a first timer. And I was NOT disappointed.

This book blew me away.

My favourite thing about this book was how Marsh kept me guessing for at least 75% of the book about who was playing which role. There were certain personality traits that the key men in the book shared and as soon as I felt that Avery was the guilty party, something came in from left field that suggested that Dane was a bit off.

There are so many lies and secrets in this book it will keep you guessing until the bitter end.

At the point of everything coming together, it's just twist after twist. I was thoroughly gripped. The only reason this wasn't a five star for me was that it lagged slightly about two thirds of the way through - but it's totally worth working through to find out what happened.

Fans of thrillers - you will not be disappointed!

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book - it's a 3.5 rounded up for me.

First off though, I thought the writing was exquisite. I loved it. The tone was lovely and so engaging.

But for some reason it took me over two weeks to get through and it's less than 300 pages. What is with that?

The story is about a young 17 year old girl who cries rape, and it's nowhere near as frivolous as the cover suggests.

I enjoyed this book because the detail and imagery around Nofars lies and the consequences of them were wonderful. I fully felt her stress. I understood why she allowed the lie to carry her.

Definitely worth a read.

My review is simply this.

The greatest book I have ever read. Wow.