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gimmebooksjoanna's Reviews (326)
This was a lovely nostalgic read which I sang through!
When I was a child, my Grandad had the musical "Cats" on VHS. I was always so excited to go to his so that I could be singing along to Macavity and Mister Mistoffelees. Honestly, this book totally warmed my heart!
Great read for anyone who's a fan of the musical, or wants to know the roots of the incoming movie due at the end of this year!
When I was a child, my Grandad had the musical "Cats" on VHS. I was always so excited to go to his so that I could be singing along to Macavity and Mister Mistoffelees. Honestly, this book totally warmed my heart!
Great read for anyone who's a fan of the musical, or wants to know the roots of the incoming movie due at the end of this year!
Audio book. I still love Mel's message.
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Synopsis
Eve is pretty special. She's the first female born in 50 years. So the survival of the human race is dependent on her. In an effort to protect her, she is kept in the Tower where she is looked after by "The Mothers". In the absence of her own mother, "The Mothers" are some of the only surviving women. And their sole purpose is to ensure the future of mankind by raising Eve.
It must be hard being a young girl, with no other young girls to befriend. That's covered too. Holly is a holographic creation to keep Eve company. Someone to confide in. Someone her own age.
We meet Eve as she's turned 16. That means she is of age and can begin her life purpose: to procreate, in the hope she gives birth to a baby girl who can continue her legacy. She was always quite compliant with the requests upon her and accepted her fate. But things go a bit Pete Tong with a security breach. As a result Eve meets Bram. And she starts to see the world that she's been brought up in, very differently.
What I loved
This book was told through the eyes of both Eve and Bram, characters who are both pretty likeable. The tone of voice for each character is different enough to be able to follow who's side of the story you're following. I really like the evolution of Eve, from young, timid, agreeable girl, to a young woman who questions everything and wants to fight for love and her right to her body.
What I didn't love
Whilst I loved the character growth of Eve, I was frustrated about how she came across as a bit of a brat at points. But then she's only 16. Her emotional intelligence isn't necessarily going to be all that developed yet and she's been put on a pedastool for the vast majority of her life.
I've seen reviews where people have complained that it's not obvious why female children stopped being born, but this doesn't particularly bother me. I'd say that Eve of Man falls under the genre of sci-fi so I tend to accept that we don't always get an explanation for everything!
Conclusion
I would totally recommend this book - but prepared for a real lack of closure at the end as it's the first in a trilogy. But hey, the lack of closure just got me wanting more for the next one!
It says that the second part is due in 2019 but I'm yet to see it anywhere and we're drawing to a close. I'd love to know if anyone can shed light on when we can expect the next part in the story.
Eve is pretty special. She's the first female born in 50 years. So the survival of the human race is dependent on her. In an effort to protect her, she is kept in the Tower where she is looked after by "The Mothers". In the absence of her own mother, "The Mothers" are some of the only surviving women. And their sole purpose is to ensure the future of mankind by raising Eve.
It must be hard being a young girl, with no other young girls to befriend. That's covered too. Holly is a holographic creation to keep Eve company. Someone to confide in. Someone her own age.
We meet Eve as she's turned 16. That means she is of age and can begin her life purpose: to procreate, in the hope she gives birth to a baby girl who can continue her legacy. She was always quite compliant with the requests upon her and accepted her fate. But things go a bit Pete Tong with a security breach. As a result Eve meets Bram. And she starts to see the world that she's been brought up in, very differently.
What I loved
This book was told through the eyes of both Eve and Bram, characters who are both pretty likeable. The tone of voice for each character is different enough to be able to follow who's side of the story you're following. I really like the evolution of Eve, from young, timid, agreeable girl, to a young woman who questions everything and wants to fight for love and her right to her body.
What I didn't love
Whilst I loved the character growth of Eve, I was frustrated about how she came across as a bit of a brat at points. But then she's only 16. Her emotional intelligence isn't necessarily going to be all that developed yet and she's been put on a pedastool for the vast majority of her life.
I've seen reviews where people have complained that it's not obvious why female children stopped being born, but this doesn't particularly bother me. I'd say that Eve of Man falls under the genre of sci-fi so I tend to accept that we don't always get an explanation for everything!
Conclusion
I would totally recommend this book - but prepared for a real lack of closure at the end as it's the first in a trilogy. But hey, the lack of closure just got me wanting more for the next one!
It says that the second part is due in 2019 but I'm yet to see it anywhere and we're drawing to a close. I'd love to know if anyone can shed light on when we can expect the next part in the story.
Title: The Titanic Sisters
Author: Patricia Falvey
Pub Date: 2019
No. Of pages: 372
Where I got it: Readers First
Time to read: 6 days
One sentence review: It doesn't dwell on the events of Titanic too much. It's more focussed on the aftermath.
Who'd enjoy it: Lovers of historical fiction and human interest stories around real life events
Stars: 3.5 / 5
Synopsis
The Titanic Sisters is the story of Nora and Delia Sweeney from Donegal, Ireland.
The story begins with the arrival of a letter from America. There's an opportunity for one of the girls to go to America to become Governess to Lily, the daughter of a distant, recently widowed family member. Oh, and let's just chuck in money for a first class ticket aboard the Titanic. Yes. I know. Impending sense of doom kicks in right about now.
It's clear from the off that Nora is far more favoured by their mother and she definitely wears the shoes in the household, so she chooses Nora, over Delia to go on this opportunity (ahem) of a lifetime.
Well as you can imagine, Delia is devastated. But Dad steps in. Because he prefers Delia to Nora. He manages to secure her a job as a maid and much to the despair of Nora, insists that the money is spent on two tickets in steerage instead. (Basically where Leo's digs were. Let's be honest. Him and Kate had way more fun down there anyway).
So off the girls go, oblivious to the disaster that awaits. Now as luck would have it, they both survive (not a spoiler - there would literally be no book if they didn't). However, neither knows whether the other did.
Nora never makes it to her expected destination, but Delia does. And she never corrects a misunderstanding that she is not her sister.
What I loved
This is not my usual choice of genre at all, but I'm finding myself more and more interested in historical fiction. I had zero interest in history at school, but add a human interest story where I can empathize with what life was like for people and "BAM". You got me.
The book is written, alternating in point of view of the two sisters. It's obvious how different they are and the different tones of the two of them were easily differentiated.
I loved the development and growth of both sisters in this book. They more or less have complete personality transplants and they grow into wonderful human beings. The relationship between Delia and Lily is beautiful too and just so heartwarming.
The ending left me feeling warm and fuzzy too, which is a nice change from to thrillers I usually insist on reading.
What I didn't love
This is hard to articulate. Because there wasn't really anything I didn't love apart from some pretty long chapters. Yet it's not more than 3.5 star book for me.
Conclusion
This is a great book if you're interested in historical fiction. If you're obsessed with Titanic and that's your only reason for picking it up, it's probably not for you. This book is less interested in the events and more about "what happened next?"
I would definitely say it's worth a read though and would recommend it.
Author: Patricia Falvey
Pub Date: 2019
No. Of pages: 372
Where I got it: Readers First
Time to read: 6 days
One sentence review: It doesn't dwell on the events of Titanic too much. It's more focussed on the aftermath.
Who'd enjoy it: Lovers of historical fiction and human interest stories around real life events
Stars: 3.5 / 5
Synopsis
The Titanic Sisters is the story of Nora and Delia Sweeney from Donegal, Ireland.
The story begins with the arrival of a letter from America. There's an opportunity for one of the girls to go to America to become Governess to Lily, the daughter of a distant, recently widowed family member. Oh, and let's just chuck in money for a first class ticket aboard the Titanic. Yes. I know. Impending sense of doom kicks in right about now.
It's clear from the off that Nora is far more favoured by their mother and she definitely wears the shoes in the household, so she chooses Nora, over Delia to go on this opportunity (ahem) of a lifetime.
Well as you can imagine, Delia is devastated. But Dad steps in. Because he prefers Delia to Nora. He manages to secure her a job as a maid and much to the despair of Nora, insists that the money is spent on two tickets in steerage instead. (Basically where Leo's digs were. Let's be honest. Him and Kate had way more fun down there anyway).
So off the girls go, oblivious to the disaster that awaits. Now as luck would have it, they both survive (not a spoiler - there would literally be no book if they didn't). However, neither knows whether the other did.
Nora never makes it to her expected destination, but Delia does. And she never corrects a misunderstanding that she is not her sister.
What I loved
This is not my usual choice of genre at all, but I'm finding myself more and more interested in historical fiction. I had zero interest in history at school, but add a human interest story where I can empathize with what life was like for people and "BAM". You got me.
The book is written, alternating in point of view of the two sisters. It's obvious how different they are and the different tones of the two of them were easily differentiated.
I loved the development and growth of both sisters in this book. They more or less have complete personality transplants and they grow into wonderful human beings. The relationship between Delia and Lily is beautiful too and just so heartwarming.
The ending left me feeling warm and fuzzy too, which is a nice change from to thrillers I usually insist on reading.
What I didn't love
This is hard to articulate. Because there wasn't really anything I didn't love apart from some pretty long chapters. Yet it's not more than 3.5 star book for me.
Conclusion
This is a great book if you're interested in historical fiction. If you're obsessed with Titanic and that's your only reason for picking it up, it's probably not for you. This book is less interested in the events and more about "what happened next?"
I would definitely say it's worth a read though and would recommend it.
Title: How to play dead
Author: Jacqueline Ward
Publication Date: 2019
No. Of pages: 335
Where I got it: Pre-publication read from Readers First
Time to read: The first 80 pages, one week. Then finished it in two days! I blame the time of year.
One sentence review: Good solid thriller, with interesting character development and a couple of good twists.
TRIGGER WARNING: This book focuses on domestic violence. There is also a reference to animal cruelty.
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 5
Synopsis
This book primarily focuses on Ria, the manager of SafeMe, a refuge for anyone suffering domestic violence, but primarily women and children.
But Ria herself has problems. Bailiffs knocking on the door and an estranged father due to his racist attitude towards her husband, Danny. Danny is mostly prominent through Ria's thoughts and their text messages as he's gone away to work on a 30 day contract which should help their financial worries.
But it's a long 30 days, especially when Ria receives a burner phone and starts to receive creepy and threatening messages.
What I loved
I struggled to get into this book. But at 80 pages I was totally drawn in and my poor boyfriend didn't see me for two days as my head was stuck in its pages! I really felt intrigued by Freya's diary entries and was definitely thirsty for more where they came from, as it drip fed the story to me. What I didn't quite get was that we were reading the diary entries in real-time, whilst for a long time I thought more time had lapsed since they'd been written.
I also really liked the insight into what life is like in a refuge and understanding the challenges faced by the AMAZING people who work in them. It was really insightful and I feel like a delicate subject was handled well.
What I didn't love
Although this is a spoiler, it won't ruin how the story unfolds for you. There's one point where a dog gets drowned as a form of emotional abuse on the owner of the dog. It broke my heart. I can imagine this sort of thing really does go on all the time.
I also found in parts that points that were potentially quite significant, weren't explicitly set out. I found myself a few times skipping back to see if I'd missed something. Often I found that wasn't the case - I'd just missed the inference as it wasn't particularly obvious.
One final thing - the title. I couldn't quite get the link to the story being told. On reflection, I sussed it out, but it was definitely tenuous.
Conclusion
All in all this is a good read. It's a tough subject matter though so it definitely won't be for everyone.
Author: Jacqueline Ward
Publication Date: 2019
No. Of pages: 335
Where I got it: Pre-publication read from Readers First
Time to read: The first 80 pages, one week. Then finished it in two days! I blame the time of year.
One sentence review: Good solid thriller, with interesting character development and a couple of good twists.
TRIGGER WARNING: This book focuses on domestic violence. There is also a reference to animal cruelty.
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 5
Synopsis
This book primarily focuses on Ria, the manager of SafeMe, a refuge for anyone suffering domestic violence, but primarily women and children.
But Ria herself has problems. Bailiffs knocking on the door and an estranged father due to his racist attitude towards her husband, Danny. Danny is mostly prominent through Ria's thoughts and their text messages as he's gone away to work on a 30 day contract which should help their financial worries.
But it's a long 30 days, especially when Ria receives a burner phone and starts to receive creepy and threatening messages.
What I loved
I struggled to get into this book. But at 80 pages I was totally drawn in and my poor boyfriend didn't see me for two days as my head was stuck in its pages! I really felt intrigued by Freya's diary entries and was definitely thirsty for more where they came from, as it drip fed the story to me. What I didn't quite get was that we were reading the diary entries in real-time, whilst for a long time I thought more time had lapsed since they'd been written.
I also really liked the insight into what life is like in a refuge and understanding the challenges faced by the AMAZING people who work in them. It was really insightful and I feel like a delicate subject was handled well.
What I didn't love
Although this is a spoiler, it won't ruin how the story unfolds for you. There's one point where a dog gets drowned as a form of emotional abuse on the owner of the dog. It broke my heart. I can imagine this sort of thing really does go on all the time.
I also found in parts that points that were potentially quite significant, weren't explicitly set out. I found myself a few times skipping back to see if I'd missed something. Often I found that wasn't the case - I'd just missed the inference as it wasn't particularly obvious.
One final thing - the title. I couldn't quite get the link to the story being told. On reflection, I sussed it out, but it was definitely tenuous.
Conclusion
All in all this is a good read. It's a tough subject matter though so it definitely won't be for everyone.
Title: The Pact
Author: Amy Heydenrych
Year of publication: 2019
Pages: 480
One sentence review: Different book, great thriller, draws you in but lags a little in the middle.
Where I got it: Readers First
Time to read: About a week
Who’d enjoy it: Lovers of twisty crime/suspense novels
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5

Synopsis
Freya grew up in foster care and she never thought she'd amount to much. It turns out she's a coding genius though, and when she lands her dream job at 'Atypical' she can't believe her luck.
To top it all off, she meets her dream man, Jay. Jay is everything she wants and more. He "gets" her. They have everything in common. Jay "sees" her.
As with all things, it doesn't stay perfect for long. Turns out Jay's ex, Nicole, also works at Atypical and it doesn't take long for Nicole to start making Freya's life a living hell. She goes and speaks to the boss in an attempt to sort everything out but it falls on deaf ears.
Freya and Jay decide to take matters into their own hands and play a prank on Nicole. But the next day, they get the news that Nicole has been murdered.
Who's responsible?
What I loved
This book plunges you straight in. You're not waiting around too long for the action to begin. It's a great pace too with short chapters.
The character development is interesting, yet I didn't feel particularly connected to any of them. I would say I felt warmer towards Isla than Freya. I loved that the book totally kept you guessing about who killed Nicole. Just as I thought I'd sussed it the book threw a curveball.
One of my pet hates is a book being awesome all the way through and then the ending being so totally ridiculous that it would never happen. I want it to be within the realms of possibility. This book did not disappoint.
I really enjoyed the development of the relationship between Simon and Isla throughout the book. It was definitely something that kept me hooked.
The book is told from the point of view of Freya and Isla. The chronology jumps about a little too, but I didn't find this too confusing as I often do which is always a winner!
What I didn’t love
The book felt like it lagged in the middle for around 100 pages or so. I feel like the story could have been told just a little quicker. Even so, it's worth going through that to get to the ending.
Conclusion
This is well worth a read. I've never read anything by the author before but I would definitely read more. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed it and totally recommend it.
Author: Amy Heydenrych
Year of publication: 2019
Pages: 480
One sentence review: Different book, great thriller, draws you in but lags a little in the middle.
Where I got it: Readers First
Time to read: About a week
Who’d enjoy it: Lovers of twisty crime/suspense novels
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5

Synopsis
Freya grew up in foster care and she never thought she'd amount to much. It turns out she's a coding genius though, and when she lands her dream job at 'Atypical' she can't believe her luck.
To top it all off, she meets her dream man, Jay. Jay is everything she wants and more. He "gets" her. They have everything in common. Jay "sees" her.
As with all things, it doesn't stay perfect for long. Turns out Jay's ex, Nicole, also works at Atypical and it doesn't take long for Nicole to start making Freya's life a living hell. She goes and speaks to the boss in an attempt to sort everything out but it falls on deaf ears.
Freya and Jay decide to take matters into their own hands and play a prank on Nicole. But the next day, they get the news that Nicole has been murdered.
Who's responsible?
What I loved
This book plunges you straight in. You're not waiting around too long for the action to begin. It's a great pace too with short chapters.
The character development is interesting, yet I didn't feel particularly connected to any of them. I would say I felt warmer towards Isla than Freya. I loved that the book totally kept you guessing about who killed Nicole. Just as I thought I'd sussed it the book threw a curveball.
One of my pet hates is a book being awesome all the way through and then the ending being so totally ridiculous that it would never happen. I want it to be within the realms of possibility. This book did not disappoint.
I really enjoyed the development of the relationship between Simon and Isla throughout the book. It was definitely something that kept me hooked.
The book is told from the point of view of Freya and Isla. The chronology jumps about a little too, but I didn't find this too confusing as I often do which is always a winner!
What I didn’t love
The book felt like it lagged in the middle for around 100 pages or so. I feel like the story could have been told just a little quicker. Even so, it's worth going through that to get to the ending.
Conclusion
This is well worth a read. I've never read anything by the author before but I would definitely read more. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed it and totally recommend it.