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Ooh you are in for such a treat with this book.
Welcome to crazy town,
Do not pass GO,
Do not collect $200
Meet Gabe, he drives up and down the motorway (freeway) all day every day, he’s hoping to catch a glimpse of his daughter, just once, just like last time.
You see, three years ago, Gabe was driving home, he was late as he’d been caught at work, and he wanted to get home to see his daughter, but the traffic was such a nightmare!
He happens to look at the back of the car near him, and he sees a little face peeping out of the window, after the initial thoughts of “why is that child not strapped in” he suddenly comes to the realisation, that the girl ahead looks very familiar! And a phone-call by the local police informing him that his wife and child have been found murdered makes even less sense.
We follow Gabe on his hunt for his daughter that he swore that he saw, Katie, who works in the roadside cafe, and has also lost a loved one, and Fran, who is on the run with her daughter.
Why can't Fran's daughter look in mirrors?
Why doesn't anyone believe Gabe when he tells them about his daughter?
And who the hell are The Other People?
Intrigued yet?
I challenge you to put this book down once you have started it!
Welcome to crazy town,
Do not pass GO,
Do not collect $200
Meet Gabe, he drives up and down the motorway (freeway) all day every day, he’s hoping to catch a glimpse of his daughter, just once, just like last time.
You see, three years ago, Gabe was driving home, he was late as he’d been caught at work, and he wanted to get home to see his daughter, but the traffic was such a nightmare!
He happens to look at the back of the car near him, and he sees a little face peeping out of the window, after the initial thoughts of “why is that child not strapped in” he suddenly comes to the realisation, that the girl ahead looks very familiar! And a phone-call by the local police informing him that his wife and child have been found murdered makes even less sense.
We follow Gabe on his hunt for his daughter that he swore that he saw, Katie, who works in the roadside cafe, and has also lost a loved one, and Fran, who is on the run with her daughter.
Why can't Fran's daughter look in mirrors?
Why doesn't anyone believe Gabe when he tells them about his daughter?
And who the hell are The Other People?
Intrigued yet?
I challenge you to put this book down once you have started it!
Whelp, if this book doesn’t put you off of EVER going camping again, then I don’t know what will!
This is another superb book by Mindy McGinnis, totally different as usual, I love the way that she is not afraid to mix up her themes, and this one certainly will certainly mix you up!!
Ashley is a teenage girl, but she’s not a ‘girly girl’ oh no, she loves everything outdoorsy, and checking out things like animal bones to find out how they dies, is like a walk in the park to her…literally.
But a camping trip with her friends turns all of that on its head!
After drinking too much and falling asleep, Ashley wakes up still pretty drunk and dying for a pee.
After finding a place to relieve herself, far enough from everyone to see and still half naked, she hears a noise and goes to investigate, and sees her boyfriend doing the nasty with one of the girls, worse still it’s his Ex who she hates!
Ashley gets spotted so she runs away from the situation as she’s obviously upset, but unfortunately not watching where she is going, tumbles down a ravine and gets knocked out. It’s only when she wakes in the morning she realises that she is alone in the forest, she doesn’t know where she is, she has no supplies at all, she’s nearly naked, and should her foot really be that colour??
Although the book is 90% Ashley’s POV, I didn’t find myself getting bored at all, in fact I was on the edge of my seat rooting for her, some of the things that she has to do to save her own life made me gasp out loud, flinch and also gag a little.
I absolutely know that if I was in the same situation as Ashley, I would probably manage a day at most, maybe only a couple of hours before giving up, but who can you have to save you if not yourself?
This is another superb book by Mindy McGinnis, totally different as usual, I love the way that she is not afraid to mix up her themes, and this one certainly will certainly mix you up!!
Ashley is a teenage girl, but she’s not a ‘girly girl’ oh no, she loves everything outdoorsy, and checking out things like animal bones to find out how they dies, is like a walk in the park to her…literally.
But a camping trip with her friends turns all of that on its head!
After drinking too much and falling asleep, Ashley wakes up still pretty drunk and dying for a pee.
After finding a place to relieve herself, far enough from everyone to see and still half naked, she hears a noise and goes to investigate, and sees her boyfriend doing the nasty with one of the girls, worse still it’s his Ex who she hates!
Ashley gets spotted so she runs away from the situation as she’s obviously upset, but unfortunately not watching where she is going, tumbles down a ravine and gets knocked out. It’s only when she wakes in the morning she realises that she is alone in the forest, she doesn’t know where she is, she has no supplies at all, she’s nearly naked, and should her foot really be that colour??
Although the book is 90% Ashley’s POV, I didn’t find myself getting bored at all, in fact I was on the edge of my seat rooting for her, some of the things that she has to do to save her own life made me gasp out loud, flinch and also gag a little.
I absolutely know that if I was in the same situation as Ashley, I would probably manage a day at most, maybe only a couple of hours before giving up, but who can you have to save you if not yourself?
This is a fabulous murder mystery set in post war Britain.
1948, the war is finally over and bombed out Britain is set to rebuild, but to that they need people in London after so many were lost in the war, so the government send an invitation to its colonies asking for workers, in exchange for their help, these lucky people will be helped with accommodation and be part of something amazing!
Except, it doesn't quite work out like that.
Jazz musician Lawrie Matthews travels from Jamaica to the UK along with hundreds of other people on the Empire Windrush, thinking that his life was going to start, there was going to be so many different things for him to do, jobs for him to choose, friends for him to make, he was a British citizen now, and people were going to love him.
Unfortunately, when the ship arrives, it seems that London wasn't ready at all for the people that they had invited, and had done very little to accommodate them, on arrival they are escorted to an old bomb shelter and told this is where they will be staying until further accommodation was provided!
After eventually being housed, Lawrie gets a job as a Postman, and falls in love with a girl called Evie, who is a neighbour.
Lawrie loves his job, and in the evenings he plays in a Jazz band around SoHo, but what he doesn't love is the blatant racism towards him and his friends, considering they were there to help, Lawrie doesn't feel appreciated at all, and even though he was now a British citizen, it didn't matter, as the colour of his skin said otherwise.
While doing his post round one morning, Lawrie makes an awful discovery, that sets the future plans that he has with Evie on very thin ice.
This was at times a very hard hitting book mixed in with the mystery, to see all of these people being treated so badly just because of the colour of their skin makes me so angry, and even more so because of the Windrush situation that came to light in the news back in 2018 and is still going on now.
Louise Hare has managed to create a very atmospheric story and I could almost hear the Jazz band, and smell the smoky bars as I listened to this audiobook
Narrated By Theo Solomon and Karise Yansen who did a wonderful job recreating the character voices
**Thank you to HQ Stories for giving me a free copy of this audiobook**
1948, the war is finally over and bombed out Britain is set to rebuild, but to that they need people in London after so many were lost in the war, so the government send an invitation to its colonies asking for workers, in exchange for their help, these lucky people will be helped with accommodation and be part of something amazing!
Except, it doesn't quite work out like that.
Jazz musician Lawrie Matthews travels from Jamaica to the UK along with hundreds of other people on the Empire Windrush, thinking that his life was going to start, there was going to be so many different things for him to do, jobs for him to choose, friends for him to make, he was a British citizen now, and people were going to love him.
Unfortunately, when the ship arrives, it seems that London wasn't ready at all for the people that they had invited, and had done very little to accommodate them, on arrival they are escorted to an old bomb shelter and told this is where they will be staying until further accommodation was provided!
After eventually being housed, Lawrie gets a job as a Postman, and falls in love with a girl called Evie, who is a neighbour.
Lawrie loves his job, and in the evenings he plays in a Jazz band around SoHo, but what he doesn't love is the blatant racism towards him and his friends, considering they were there to help, Lawrie doesn't feel appreciated at all, and even though he was now a British citizen, it didn't matter, as the colour of his skin said otherwise.
While doing his post round one morning, Lawrie makes an awful discovery, that sets the future plans that he has with Evie on very thin ice.
This was at times a very hard hitting book mixed in with the mystery, to see all of these people being treated so badly just because of the colour of their skin makes me so angry, and even more so because of the Windrush situation that came to light in the news back in 2018 and is still going on now.
Louise Hare has managed to create a very atmospheric story and I could almost hear the Jazz band, and smell the smoky bars as I listened to this audiobook
Narrated By Theo Solomon and Karise Yansen who did a wonderful job recreating the character voices
**Thank you to HQ Stories for giving me a free copy of this audiobook**
Oh my goodness, I simply ADORED this story (insert heart eyes emoji here)
This is the story of Millicent Carmichael aka Missy.
Missy is 79 years old and lives alone in her large house in London, she lost her husband a few years back, and her 2 children have flown the nest, one of them to Australia, taking her grandson with them.
Missy is lonely.
She emails her son in Australia all of the time, telling him what a "lovely day" she has had, but she beefs-up the stories to make them sound more interesting.
One day Missy sees a young boy, about the same age as her grandson is now, and watching him playing makes her heart ache, she sits in the park and watches him play, and then gets talking to another woman walking her dogs, Sylvie.
Turns out that Sylvie also knows the young boys mother, the red headed and foul mouthed creature Angela.
One day Angela turns up at her door and asks a favour, well kind of bamboozles her really, and by the time Angela has gone, Missy has acquired a dog called Bob.
Thus creating a wonderful friendship that only one can have with a dog.
With the commitment of owning a dog, Missy begins to venture out of the house, and starts to interact with other people in the community, and as much as she doesn't like to admit it,she kind of starts to enjoy herself.
This was such a wonderful story, and by the end I had a big tear rolling down my face.
This is the authors debut novel, and if this is what she is starting with, I'm sure she will have a fantastic writing career in front of her.
If you liked stories like Eleanor Olliphant, then you will LOVE this one.
Coming in February 2020, keep your eyes peeled for this one, I think it is going to BLOW UP!!
This is the story of Millicent Carmichael aka Missy.
Missy is 79 years old and lives alone in her large house in London, she lost her husband a few years back, and her 2 children have flown the nest, one of them to Australia, taking her grandson with them.
Missy is lonely.
She emails her son in Australia all of the time, telling him what a "lovely day" she has had, but she beefs-up the stories to make them sound more interesting.
One day Missy sees a young boy, about the same age as her grandson is now, and watching him playing makes her heart ache, she sits in the park and watches him play, and then gets talking to another woman walking her dogs, Sylvie.
Turns out that Sylvie also knows the young boys mother, the red headed and foul mouthed creature Angela.
One day Angela turns up at her door and asks a favour, well kind of bamboozles her really, and by the time Angela has gone, Missy has acquired a dog called Bob.
Thus creating a wonderful friendship that only one can have with a dog.
With the commitment of owning a dog, Missy begins to venture out of the house, and starts to interact with other people in the community, and as much as she doesn't like to admit it,she kind of starts to enjoy herself.
This was such a wonderful story, and by the end I had a big tear rolling down my face.
This is the authors debut novel, and if this is what she is starting with, I'm sure she will have a fantastic writing career in front of her.
If you liked stories like Eleanor Olliphant, then you will LOVE this one.
Coming in February 2020, keep your eyes peeled for this one, I think it is going to BLOW UP!!
This sweet little Christmas novel is just too cute for words.
Always packed to the rafters with fun banter and sexy sweet talk, although this one is short, it never felt rushed, and was jam-packed with Christmas Cheer.
Lauren Blakely ALWAYS has her audio fans at heart and this one was no exception, brilliantly narrated by Andi Arndt, Dan Bittner, Jason Clarke, and Emma Wilder,a treat for everyone.
This will certainly get you in the Christmas spirit!
Always packed to the rafters with fun banter and sexy sweet talk, although this one is short, it never felt rushed, and was jam-packed with Christmas Cheer.
Lauren Blakely ALWAYS has her audio fans at heart and this one was no exception, brilliantly narrated by Andi Arndt, Dan Bittner, Jason Clarke, and Emma Wilder,a treat for everyone.
This will certainly get you in the Christmas spirit!
Hello book friends, how are we all doing so far with the lockdown?
I hope that you are all safe and reading some great books.
One that you won't go far wrong with, is this one.
OK, before we start, I need to make something VERY clear, although I occasionally pop in a trigger warning or two if I think a book warrants it.
This one has TRIGGER WARNING written in capital blinking red flashing lights - If you do not like reading about the following, then I would steer clear of this one if it is a trigger for you.
Child abuse
Rape
Manipulation
Grooming
Gas lighting
Emotional abuse
That being said, I still gave this book 5 stars.
It is story told from the POV of Vanessa, it flips between now and then, then being when she was a 15 year old school girl.
If you are not aware of the context of the book, here we go!!
Vanessa is 32 years old, and still really struggling with life, she hasn't settled down with anyone, and finds it incredibly difficult to hold down any kind of relationship with a man. She is in a spiral of drink, drugs and one night stands, that is because she always finds herself drifting back and daydreaming about her ex lover Jacob Strane.
This love affair would be all very well and ok, BUT this love affair happened when she was 15 years old, and Strane? Well Strane was her Forty Two year old teacher, that she is still in contact with today.
Yes you read that right!
Even though we know, and can clearly see the red flags waving helplessly in our faces as we watch 15 yr old Vanessa fall in love with her teacher, he is a master at manipulation, gas-lighting and grooming her, so much so, that she believes that this "relationship" is absolutely real, and when he tells her that he loves her, she doesn't think anything different, why would she?
Strane is an English teacher, who likes to flaunt his cleverness at Vanessa, but also like to make her feel 'special' by giving her presents, like a book for example, I mean, what student wouldn't be happy with a copy of Lolita *insert Eww face here!!*
But to Vanessa, that book reads like a love story, their love story!!
And this is why Vanessa can not see what is happening to her, even though you as a reader are SCREAMING at her to run, to just tell someone, ANYONE!!
But now Vanessa has reached 32, and Strane is contacting her about a possible sexual abuse case that he is being accused of, but obviously she wasn't abused, she was different, wasn't she? And if she is a victim, what does that make her now?
Despite the subject content, which is sometimes very graphic (you have been warned) I couldn't stop listening to this audiobook, the narration was brilliant, and the story was very complex and beautifully written.
I absolutely disagree with the people saying that they are conflicted, was it love or was it abuse?, and did she instigate it or was she manipulated? The answer to both of these questions is SHE WAS 15 YEARS OLD!!!
This book will certainly make you uncomfortable, and that is good, because it also shows us that the world through a teenagers eyes are sometimes not as cut and dry as we think, sometimes they don't even know what they are getting themselves into, sometimes they think that it *is* love.
I would highly recommend this book, especially in audio form
I hope that you are all safe and reading some great books.
One that you won't go far wrong with, is this one.
OK, before we start, I need to make something VERY clear, although I occasionally pop in a trigger warning or two if I think a book warrants it.
This one has TRIGGER WARNING written in capital blinking red flashing lights - If you do not like reading about the following, then I would steer clear of this one if it is a trigger for you.
Child abuse
Rape
Manipulation
Grooming
Gas lighting
Emotional abuse
That being said, I still gave this book 5 stars.
It is story told from the POV of Vanessa, it flips between now and then, then being when she was a 15 year old school girl.
If you are not aware of the context of the book, here we go!!
Vanessa is 32 years old, and still really struggling with life, she hasn't settled down with anyone, and finds it incredibly difficult to hold down any kind of relationship with a man. She is in a spiral of drink, drugs and one night stands, that is because she always finds herself drifting back and daydreaming about her ex lover Jacob Strane.
This love affair would be all very well and ok, BUT this love affair happened when she was 15 years old, and Strane? Well Strane was her Forty Two year old teacher, that she is still in contact with today.
Yes you read that right!
Even though we know, and can clearly see the red flags waving helplessly in our faces as we watch 15 yr old Vanessa fall in love with her teacher, he is a master at manipulation, gas-lighting and grooming her, so much so, that she believes that this "relationship" is absolutely real, and when he tells her that he loves her, she doesn't think anything different, why would she?
His hand slips out from under my skirt and he slides like liquid out of his chair and onto the floor. Kneeling before me, he lays his head on my lap and says, “I’m going to ruin you.
Strane is an English teacher, who likes to flaunt his cleverness at Vanessa, but also like to make her feel 'special' by giving her presents, like a book for example, I mean, what student wouldn't be happy with a copy of Lolita *insert Eww face here!!*
But to Vanessa, that book reads like a love story, their love story!!
And this is why Vanessa can not see what is happening to her, even though you as a reader are SCREAMING at her to run, to just tell someone, ANYONE!!
But now Vanessa has reached 32, and Strane is contacting her about a possible sexual abuse case that he is being accused of, but obviously she wasn't abused, she was different, wasn't she? And if she is a victim, what does that make her now?
I can’t lose the thing I’ve held onto for so long, you know?” My face twists up from the pain of pushing it out. “I just really need it to be a love story, you know? I really, really need it to be that.”
“I know,” she says.
“Because if it isn’t a love story, then what is it”? I look to her glassy eyes, her face of wide open empathy. “It’s my life,” I say. “This has been my whole life.”
Despite the subject content, which is sometimes very graphic (you have been warned) I couldn't stop listening to this audiobook, the narration was brilliant, and the story was very complex and beautifully written.
I absolutely disagree with the people saying that they are conflicted, was it love or was it abuse?, and did she instigate it or was she manipulated? The answer to both of these questions is SHE WAS 15 YEARS OLD!!!
This book will certainly make you uncomfortable, and that is good, because it also shows us that the world through a teenagers eyes are sometimes not as cut and dry as we think, sometimes they don't even know what they are getting themselves into, sometimes they think that it *is* love.
I would highly recommend this book, especially in audio form
