stuckinthebook's Reviews (248)

I’m glad that Beth picked an easy book to finish October off. The book itself is just over 200 pages, with short chapters and an easy-to-follow storyline and it was everything I needed when I decided to pick this one up.

The book is about Manhattan lawyer Dannie Cohan, who has the perfect life; a good career, a gorgeous fiance and the dream flat in New York. But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and next to a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night—December 15—but 2025, five years in the future.

There was fantastic character development in this book and I had really started to bond closely with the protagonist Dannie by the end. I really liked the idea that she saw what was going to happen in five years and the story led us to that very moment with twists and turns along the way.

I expected a light-hearted love story/rom-com but I got something very different so I would just pre-warn you if you are thinking about reading this book that isn’t your usual romance novel. I still thoroughly enjoyed it and I devoured the book in one day.

First of all, I expected this book to be a thriller but what I didn’t expect was it to be a ghost story too. I personally think if you got the creators of ‘The Conjuring’ or ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ to make this book into a film, it would be genuinely terrifying. Ghosts surround the main character throughout the majority of the story, and some of the imagery it was creating in my very own head was phenomenal ‘keep-your-bedroom-light-on-whilst-you-sleep’ sort of stuff.

The Woods follows protagonist Tess who is haunted by the death of her sister 10 years ago. It’s been 10 years since she’s left her hometown but upon her stepmother’s imminent death, she has to return to say her goodbyes but instead, has to relive the nightmare of that night all over again when a body is found at the empty house on the edge of the woods. The truth about that night needs to be revealed but for that to happen, Tess needs to return to the woods…

All the reviews say that this book is ‘unputdownable’ and ‘utterly additive’ and they are right. I started this book at 8:30 pm one Wednesday evening and was up till 2 am still reading. I had to force myself to put down the book and get some sleep. I was also worried that going to sleep after reading this book would give me some pretty horrific dreams, so I made sure to watch something lighthearted and funny before eventually getting to sleep.

I love a book that keeps you guessing and this book did exactly that. It made me feel uneasy about every single character in the book, second-guessing them all at some point...even our protagonist. Yet I think the defining element of this book is the imagery it creates. Everything is so descriptive, it was like I was actually watching the film in my head whilst reading. I could picture the house, the woods, each and every character so clearly, it was CREEPY.

I would highly recommend you give this book a read this Halloween but don’t blame me when you’re having nightmares...

As you’ve probably gathered, this year, to get in the mood for Spooky Season, I decided to read some spooky books. I’ve read Angela Carter’s other book Nights at The Circus which I loved and I have been recommended The Bloody Chamber SO many times, so I thought it was about time I ticked this one off.

I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. I’m usually not a huge fan of short stories but have tried to widen my horizons this year by getting involved in the 2020 National Short Story Award and by reading more short stories.

So if you didn’t know, The Bloody Chamber is a collection of short stories that play upon popular fairy tales and folklore. There are 10 short stories featuring different bad-ass female protagonists, that are all based around famous tales such as Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast and Puss In Boots.

Even though I loved the Gothic elements of each story, I think my favourite by far has to be the first story and the one that features in the title of the book, The Bloody Chamber. The reason why I love this one so much is that it is Angela Carter at her finest. Combining sexual desire, fear, passion, virginity and femininity all in one 42-page story, the story follows a young virgin, who has married a secretive bachelor who tells her she can have every key to every room in the house except one…and from there all his dirty, dark secrets come crawling out.

I think what is so excellent about these stories is that they focus heavily on female sexuality and womanhood, making it still as shocking to read now as it was when it was first released in 1979. In the introduction to the book (written by Helen Simpson in 2006), it states that ‘The Bloody Chamber is like a multi-faceted glittering diamond reflecting and refracting a variety of portraits of desire and sexuality – heterosexual female sexuality – which unusually for the time, 1979, are told from the heterosexual female viewpoint’ which I think beautifully sums up exactly what Carter set out to achieve when writing the book.

In true Gothic tradition, Carter uses fiction to draw upon society’s fears. Following the wave of feminism taking over the world during the 1970s, it’s interesting to see how Carter uses violence, gore and the uncanny to explore love and sex from the female POV.

This is definitely one I wish I had studied during University. However, I (thankfully) did get a chance to study Carter whilst at University with reading Nights At The Circus which opened my eyes to the journey that femininity has and is still experiencing.

Personally, I would say that I am a little crude when it comes to the vocabulary used to describe sex scenes and some of the language in this book definitely made me cringe. But by the end of this book, it’s safe to say I’ve got used to the language.

Just to warn you, if you erotica or dark romance isn’t normally your thing, I wouldn’t start with this book. I had no idea that this book was classed as a dark romance until I got about five chapters in and it was evidently clear. There are some pretty horrific scenes in this book and I would like to urge anyone thinking about delving into this genre, to be careful about which books you pick. For me, I’ve read some pretty dark and disturbing stories over the years, but even for me, this book was eye-opening.

Corrupt follows a rich young woman named Erika who, whilst she was at school, got mixed up with the wrong sort of boys and ended up causing a lot of trouble. Since then, years have passed but the group of four men haven’t forgotten the pain she’s caused them and set out to get their revenge. What makes this difficult is that the leader of the group, Michael Crist, and Erika are both irresistible to each other, blurring the lines between love and hate.

I would say that for my first-ever erotica novel, this one was quite a rollercoaster and one that I didn’t feel comfortable reading in a room full of people. However, the ending for me became too dramatic and over-the-top and began to ruin all the drama, suspense and tension that the author had created prior. Safe to say, I can’t wait to discuss this one with book club!

This book is described as a Gothic thriller which if you know me, is RIGHT up my street, so as you can imagine, I was ridiculously excited to start this. I have to say that there were some fantastic moments of horror throughout this book, mostly stemming from the description and appearance of the woman from the woods.

Pine is a story that is set in a desolate highland town and follows a father and daughter (Niall and Lauren) who are coming to terms with the death of the wife/mother. With more people in the neighbourhood knowing more than they let on, combined with the uncanny sightings of a strange woman and the disappearance of a young girl, Lauren, must learn who to trust and who not to.

Although this book ‘on paper’ should have been EXACTLY the type of book I love, I found the story a bit flat and struggled to stay interested in the story. It was perhaps because, in my opinion, the story couldn’t seem to make its mind up on what it wanted to be. Was it a murder mystery? Was it a thriller? Was it a ghost story? Was it a coming-of-age story? I’m not entirely sure.

Overall, it was quite a big disappointment for me because I feel like it should have been everything I wanted…but it wasn’t. I think the only saving grace was that it had some fabulous creepy scenes.

FAVOURITE BOOK EVER!!

Read this with my fabulous book club, 'Let's Get Classical'.

This book definitely wasn’t what I was expecting it to be. I thought it would be more personal to the author himself rather than focusing on the stories of patients but now that I’ve read it, I love that it was about the patients that he saw and all their different problems and complications. I think we don’t hear a lot about his personal life other than that his relationship with his girlfriend at the time was undoubtedly suffering due to the long hours and the unexpected 16-hour shifts.
It makes me think about everything that NHS staff have to sacrifice to save the lives of others. Relationships, memories, all that fun stuff that you do in your 20s was put on hold by the author and junior doctor, Adam, because his job needed him more.
It’s not all doom and gloom though I suppose. There are stories in this book that are ultimately heartbreaking and truly shocking but there are also pretty funny stories. It amazes me that there are some pretty ridiculous people out there. One particular story that stands out to me is the removal of a Kinder Egg from somewhere it DEFINITELY should not have been - not the kind of Kinder surprise anyone wants and I’m sure Adam Kay was not impressed after a long 14 hour shift.
There are also stories within this book that have obviously stemmed from people searching their symptoms, finding little but compelling evidence that it could be the worst-case scenario and admitting themselves into hospital to demand urgent medical care. Cmon, we’ve all been there haven’t we? There’s been countless times where I’ve googled my own symptoms and been like yeah, that’s it...the end is near and then just realised that I haven’t drank a single drop of water for three days. Stupid I know but I continue to do it don’t I!
However, back to more serious matters...right now more than ever we are thankful for the NHS and the vital work that the frontline staff are doing every day to cure those with this uncertain illness and to help prevent the spread. These people are heroes. They are giving up their time and putting themselves at risk to ensure that the nation is looked after. I think reading this book really opens your eyes to the amount of hard work these doctors, nurses and all hospital staff do and how the NHS ultimately get by because the staff are willing to sacrifice their lives for the health of others. Let us never forget what everyone in the NHS is doing for the UK right now, because without it, things could be a hell of a lot worse.
Stay at home. Save Lives. Protect the NHS.

I read this book after reading quite a few dark, heavy and spooky reads and I hoped that this book would give me something light to read. I hadn’t realised that it was ‘young adult’ novel and I really loved the ‘coming of age’ element of this story.

If you are unaware, Breathless follows Claudine Henry’s final summer before moving to college. But instead of spending this time with her friends, she and her mother head off to a remote island off the Georgia coast. There, amidst the wild beauty of the place, she meets the free-spirited Jeremiah Crew. Their chemistry is immediate and irresistible, and even though they both know that whatever they have can only last the summer, maybe one summer is enough…

What I really loved about this book is the story about how Claudine goes from hating the little remote island to loving it. It gave me flashback to when I used to go to a little Welsh island for the weekends with my grandparents and absolutely hate it until I grew older and it became a place of sanctuary and quietness.

Claudine experiences the teenage dream of having a summer romance whilst staying on the island. This is where she meets the mysterious and island-hottie, Jeremiah Crew, who will make her experience on the island one she won’t forget. I also love the part that Jeremiah plays in the development of Claudine. We go from witnessing a very torn, emotionally distressed young girl to a girl comfortable in who she is and what she wants to be.

Overall, I enjoyed it as it provided me with the getaway I needed (even if it was only fictional) but I feel like the ending was missing something…

If you don’t know I’m a HUGE fan of Strictly Come Dancing and anything dancing related really so when I was able to read an ARC of Ballroom Fever I was over the moon!

Everyone LOVES getting the inside scoop on all the gossip and goings-on backstage and what I loved about this book was I got to learn all the secrets behind showbiz!

The book follows George Lloyd’s experience of how he became a rising star in Ballroom during the 1970s.

A moving memoir to say the least but one I thoroughly enjoyed!

I absolutely adored this book and its format. If you haven’t heard about this book, it is written by the wonderful Turkish author, Elif Shafak, and the first part follows the 10 mins and 38 seconds before our protagonist’s brain dies.

As each minute ticks by, we get a glimpse into a different part of Leyla’s life and there were some truly heartbreaking moments. I loved the cultural references and historical background, and all of this mixed into beautifully written prose was exactly what I needed.

Elif Shafak beautifully depicts the struggles of the women of Istanbul in terms of culture, equality and sex. Her harrowing depiction of the impacts that religion, faith and shame have on families is one that will stick with me forever. Not that Elif Shafak shuns religion or Turkish culture in any way, she simply shows how dangerous and detrimental the most extreme versions can be, especially during a time of political turmoil.

The only thing criticism I have is that after Leyla’s chapters, I lost interest a little and kind of just wanted it to go back to Leyla…but overall the story itself was magnificent!