readwatchdrinkcoffee's Reviews (382)

A motivational look at entrepreneurship from a female perspective, emphasising the importance of us supporting each other and looking after yourself in the meantime. Denise provides some brilliant insights into how you can align your work-life balance and maximise your strengths. For someone who doesn't particularly have a business mindset, it's easy to follow and super engaging because of Denise's funny and open narrative.

If there’s one thing that I will remember Jessicaca for, it’s the powerful voices that it gives to its female leads, who unashamedly like to enjoy a few cocktails after work as they try to find a partner who will lead to more than just sex. Jess and Soo have experienced enough men who will roll over in bed to check their Tinder messages, and it’s these honest conversations that I will take away from this debut book most of all.

The blurb compares this book to Eleanor Oliphant and The Flatshare, and while I definitely saw a bit of Eleanor and Tiffy in Jess, there wasn’t as much going on in regards to the plot to make it as exciting, for me. Although there were a number of funny and sexy scenes that stood out, the big events were too few and far between to keep my interest fully piqued.

There were two things that really prevented me from fully engaging with this book. The first was because of the heavily condensed narrative. Sometimes this worked because I enjoyed Jess’ perception of things, but the plot was quite slow-moving so it took me a while to get into. Although I was eager for things to progress more quickly, the final few chapters really grabbed my attention, though, so it certainly picked up the pace in the end.

The second issue was that I struggled to relate to Jess. I thought that because I’m 29, I would agree with her outlook on life. But maybe it’s because I met my now-husband at 22 and haven’t gone out ‘clubbing’ in a long time, so I’ve never had to try and find a man old enough amongst the youngsters that now frequent the bars and clubs, but I felt that Jess acted a lot younger than her age.

Jess is a very genuine character and there was a lot that I liked about her, but I often felt like I would act differently to her in almost all of her situations (apart from the last one where I applauded her for standing up for what’s right). I really liked the steamy sex scenes, but then these scenes would be followed by a conversation between Jess and Steven about being scared of “doing stuff”. There just seemed to be two sides to her character at times, so it was things like this that led my engagement to be so up and down.

What I like most about this book, however, is that it addresses some really important issues regarding the healthy sex lives of women, abortion, body image, and sexism in the workplace. There’s certainly a lot of impressive qualities to pick out about Suzy Blackledge’s Jessicaca, but it is the kind of story that will depend on your relatability to its lead characters, so it was only the personal connection that was missing for me.

This is the second book I have read by John Marrs after absolutely loving What Lies Between Us, and he's done it again with this high adrenaline, fast-paced and immensely enjoyable thriller that I did not want to stop reading.

Set in a future with a slight dystopian twist, Marrs crafts his setting brilliantly. Using thumbnails of blog posts, newspaper articles, and search engine results to begin each chapter, he provides insight into this new era without having to give too much heavy detail. While doing so, he also explores many different issues that are important to our modern world, looking out how we use technology to make our lives easier but also appear better, how we use our morals in drastic situations but how easily we can get caught up in mob-culture, and the importance of action over words when you want to stand up for something you strongly believe in.

With the concept of having eight characters whose lives are in your hands, I was immediately drawn into the premise. But when the action is so impacting at the start, I was worried it wouldn't live up to its own hype. If the hacker is telling the truth about his intentions to kill innocent people merely to prove a point, how would such a dark storyline about a reckless act of terror be classed as entertaining? But if the hacker is lying, how would Marrs make up for this without readers being left disappointed?

Of course, there was never any need to worry, as Marrs isn't one to disappoint. I knew to not expect things to be so straight forward, but he always goes further than my expectations and does an impeccable job of delivering a twisty thriller with every angle thought out. To say that it keeps you on your toes would be an understatement, as Marrs keeps your heart pounding and your jaw in a constantly dropped position.

What I love about Marrs most of all is that he is great for a cliffhanger, and yet again he manages to fit one into almost every chapter. This is a book that needs you to decide whether you like a character or not in a short amount of time, as you play the jury alongside the other characters. But just when you think you know someone, Marrs throws in another curveball through the hacker's narration. He also includes a great variety of characters from different backgrounds and classes and tackles some important prejudices along the way.

And just to impress me even more, Marrs pays super close attention to detail. So many times I've read thrillers where characters hint at the bigger picture to tease readers about what's to come, but such comments are often ignored by the characters themselves, leaving me thinking, "Why aren't they asking more into that?" But Marrs makes certain that his characters are paying attention. A few things are said that aren't picked up on straight away, but he comes back to all of these points a few chapters later, acknowledging where he has implied certain revelations to keep the tension building with great momentum.

The Passengers has instantly become another one of my favourite books. Marrs is a master of thriller writing and is now one of my newfound favourite authors. I can't wait to get stuck into another one of his stories soon.

Watch Her Vanish is a book of two halves. First and foremost, it’s a well-constructed thriller with strong characters. There’s a lot I liked about it. Kane is certainly a good writer as the concept is brilliantly explored and I enjoyed how the story progressed, but there were a few qualities that disrupted my engagement with it.

My main issue was with the romantic subplot. I like thrillers that have a more emotional core, but the relationship between Will and Olivia felt very immature. With the use of the Dr Smarty Pants and Mr Wise Guy nicknames for each other, which were said more times than necessary, their connection often felt childish. It almost felt like the story was set in a schoolyard rather than during a murder investigation at times.

Even during the darker revelations, Will and Olivia were daydreaming about each other rather than dealing with the more interesting topic at hand. I wanted to know about the gritty details of the case, not about how they can’t stand each other yet were secretly pining to kiss each other. It just felt out of place, so I couldn’t buy into it.

The trouble was that so much about these characters felt cliche. The schoolyard quips, the “funny” nicknames that most characters gave each other, the typical laddish banter in the police station: the conversations were just so immature that it felt like the characters were spending more time sticking their tongues out at each other instead of putting their energy into the case.

On top of that, every character had a stereotypical flaw. Most of the women had been abused either sexually or mentally, and all of the men were either perverts, murderers, a brute, or sexist. Having a dark past certainly gives characters a motive to feel or behave a certain way to relate to this case, but there wasn’t a single character who broke the mould.

JB, especially, was really unlikeable. He thought that every woman who liked him fancied him and that every woman who didn’t was on her period. His comments were constantly inappropriate, stopping talk of the investigation to joke about getting his sergeant a vibrator for Christmas. I know this is how some men still behave in an office environment–or anywhere, for that matter–but when the female sergeant doesn’t put him in his place and he isn’t called out for his disgusting attitude towards women, his outdated stereotype isn’t used with any purpose.

There are a lot of good qualities about this book and the characters all have strong personalities, but it was just their traits that didn’t sit well with me. And although the plot is a well-developed, there were many scenes that felt slightly ambiguous or inconsistent. Descriptions often felt choppy which interrupted the flow of the story for me, as I found myself having to glance back at the previous chapter a few times to see if I had missed something.

However, the final few chapters certainly deliver in a more concise and fast-paced read with a satisfactory conclusion. The final twists did come as a surprise, but there were so many other suspects hinted at whose actions weren’t explained that I was still left with some questions at the end.

There is obviously going to be a follow-up, though, so maybe some of these loose ends will get answered eventually. And who knows, I may even be tempted to give Rockwell and Decker another go now that the pigtail pulling is all out of the way.

I Know What I Saw is an intriguing thriller with a unique concept. Its lead character has a condition called hyperthymesia which means she can remember every single thing. But now her memory is put to the test. She may know the basics of how the events of that night played out, but she doesn’t understand them.

It’s such an absorbing story, as Nicola must piece together her own memories–which she’s certain are fact–with those of her friends, family, and neighbours, to try and figure out what really happened on that night over thirty years ago.

As we experience events through Nicola’s narration, the story progresses quickly making this a swift and enjoyable read. I wouldn’t say that I was gripped, but it certainly kept me reading through at a fast pace out of pure interest. The narration feels like the workings of Nicola’s mind which is what keeps it rapidly developing, but this also means that the truth is relayed in quite a fragmented way, which is a little frustrating at times as you are only given snippets of information at a time. But you know that these small bits of information will eventually build-up to the full picture, and the truth is definitely one that I didn’t see coming.

Nicola is a difficult character to like because she’s not only caught up in her past, she’s stuck there. Because of her condition, she must constantly relive the memories of her parents’ possible divorce brewing in her childhood home, as well as the emotional rollercoaster of the relationship with her first love, from the butterflies of their first kiss to a later betrayal of the heart.

Nicola can remember every single feeling of happiness and excitement in her life, but also every feeling of sadness, heartache, and fear, so I did feel some sympathy for her as it’s an impossible situation to imagine yourself in. Nicola can’t get over Dec because she still vividly remembers what it felt like to fall in love with him, and she isn’t close to her mum because she still feels the distance between her parents, despite her more recent apologies. It’s a harsh reality, one that the book cleverly uses to centre its story around, but one that I think could have been better emphasised to get us to relate to Nicola more and in a more empathetic way.

While it’s this concept that makes I Know What I Saw such an intriguing read, what I liked most about this book is how it got me thinking about how we remember things. Our memories aren’t always the same as those belonging to others involved. We experience things differently to how others perceive them, often remembering events through the tint of our emotions at that time, which is what brings in some of the book’s twists and turns.

I Know What I Saw may not have shocked me in any big way, but it was an entertaining read with many stimulating ideas. I will certainly be keeping an eye out for more of S.K. Sharp‘s work in the future.

Just like every other Agatha Christie book I have read so far, Death On The Nile is another intelligent, masterfully-crafted murder mystery with excellent character development and lush descriptions. But this time, it’s set against the exotic backdrop of the beautiful Egypt as we cruise down the River Nile with the always impressive Hercule Poirot.

Christie brilliantly draws you into this compelling and complex whodunnit with an unpredictable mystery and enigmatic set of characters. Although I suppose your enjoyment of this book will depend on whether you like Poirot or not, but I love him probably just as much as he loves himself.

He may be a little arrogant, but he has a certain charm about him, too. You know he’s going to pull something clever out of nowhere at the very end to reveal a truth that was right in front of you the whole time, but what I enjoyed so much about this story was that Christie hides the lies and secrets so well. They take you by surprise, but they never come across as unbelievable or impossible.

Everything is detailed and developed so incredibly well that it’s just about fitting together a puzzle that only Poirot can complete. And while the twists are impossible to see in plain sight, it’s still an easy mystery to follow and enjoy.

Nobody can write a murder mystery like Agatha Christie. Her books always become an instant favourite of mine, and this is certainly one of them.

Although quite a slow-moving story, Every Missing Thing is well-written with brilliant descriptions and, most notably, it takes a few risks. However, it is a slightly bumpy ride and needed a little smoothing out to fully appreciate the effect of its final punches.

Although the characters and story are set up well, it needed more context in the beginning. One of the Clarkes’ children went missing eight years ago, and now their daughter has been taken too. But to simply state the facts doesn’t make it a compelling case. We needed a reason to care. What were the emotions at the time of Ethan’s disappearance? How was everybody involved feeling now that history was repeating itself? Most importantly, why is Detective Sam Maguire so caught up in this case?

The trouble with Sam as our lead character is that he is so self-destructive that he’s difficult to relate to. But I did feel some empathy towards him at times. He makes plenty of insightful comments, but his actions are by no means justifiable. He certainly has a lot of good qualities as he’s determined to find out the truth about the Clarkes. But at what cost? His reasons for going to the extreme are clear, but it’s not enough to make his efforts seem valid or even worthwhile.

It isn’t the easiest of stories to follow as the plot feels quite jumpy so it didn’t grip me, but there were definitely a lot of aspects that kept me interested. I like the scenes that were described from the points of view of webcams and CCTV cameras as this felt original, although I was expecting it to build up to something bigger so it didn’t completely come together, for me.

In the end, it just felt like another distraction, and with so much going on, it was easy to get lost in the plot. I really liked the concept and story, and the final revelations were definitely worth the wait, but I do think that it could have been tightened up better to give more of an impact. Most of all, I was missing the emotional connection.

Still, Every Missing Thing is a well-written book with some original ideas, one that is daring enough to do things differently which is definitely worth some praise.

When I first joined #Bookstagram a few months ago, this was one of the first books that I added to my wishlist. It’s a book/series that everybody seems to have on their shelf, so I thought it was about time I found out why.

One Of Us Is Lying is an easy but wholly enjoyable read with a great mystery at the centre of the story. It kept me guessing throughout and was paced well enough to keep me excited to find out more. The final reveals certainly came as a surprise, and I came away from the story feeling really at home with its characters.

Inspired by the classic The Breakfast Club combined with a more modern Gossip Girl/Pretty Little Liars edge, this is a young adult book that will appeal to quite a large audience. I’m a bit hit and miss with young adult fiction at the minute as I’m 29 years old now, so sometimes YA books can make me feel old (or just, you know, a little pervy). But I didn’t feel any of that with this book.

Although the characters are at high school and are dealing with issues of that age – the pressure of maintaining your reputation at school and trying to fit in, finding out who you are and accepting yourself for who you are, as well as the stresses of living with your parents and the heavy or lack of support they provide – none of their coming of age issues felt aimed primarily at a younger readership.

The characters are all likeable and friendly, so it’s easy to warm to them. They don’t act immaturely or irresponsibly, and they are a much more accepting group of teenagers than if this book were written ten years ago, so it’s easy to engage with them, no matter what you’re age. If I had read this in my teens, I know that I would have been swooning over a certain relationship, too, and it did give me a few butterflies even now.

One Of Us Is Lying can easily be read in a couple of sittings, so if you have this book on your shelf and have been putting it off, or you’re in a bit of a slump and need something to lift you out, then pick it up this book and revel in its simple likeability.