I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review


Wini, Pia, Rachel and Sandra think they are getting away from the daily drudgery of normal life when they take a trip to Maine to white water raft. However, a tough trip to the outdoors becomes a nightmare when disaster strikes and the women are left alone to survive in the wilderness.

This was a really thrilling read and by the time the book really got into the women’s survival journey I just couldn’t put it down. I read this in one sitting!

I really loved that this survival story focused on a group of women in their late 30s rather than a group of men and a group in their early 20s.The women had a 15 year friendship between them which meant they were able to work together but also knew each other moods and were able to easily deal with each other’s freak outs at, at times, hard works. Win is the main character and she definitely got a lot of development throughout. She was meek and scared at the start and I definitely felt she was a stronger, more confident woman by the end of the novel.

This book got quite dark and twisty at one point with the entry of two new character who I wasn’t expecting at all. It turned the book from a survival/adventure story into a thriller and it really had me on the edge of my seat.

I think this would make a great movie with some bad-ass older actresses rocking the roles and the wilderness!

3.5 stars

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Jared Stone is dying and has found out he only has about four months to live. Worried about his family’s financial future when he’s gone, Stone signs up for a reality TV show where cameras can follow him and his family’s lives until he dies.

This was a really interesting premise and for the most part I think it lived up to what I thought it was going to be. The story combines the heartbreak of a family losing someone they cherish with the almost comical strangeness of having the precious moments trampled over by film crews and fame. The whole thing is very Kardashian but with people who just want to be normal. I think it also highlighted our world’s dangerous and often unethical obsession with reality TV and raises the question of how far is too far? How private is too private? etc.

I thought the author’s decision to personify the tumour was really interesting and for me, it reminded me of cancer patients and survivors naming their tumours to make them seem less scary. I don’t know much about human neurology but I found the path of the tumour and what it did to Jared’s body fascinating.

I also hated what happened to Trebuchet. I understand why it was put in for the sake of the storyline but just the thoughts of it hurt my heart so much :(

I didn’t really bond to any of the characters in this book to be honest. A majority of them I found a bit annoying, though I could definitely understand Jackie and her situation. I did think the obsessive, weird nun was a bit much too.

But this was a really fast read, I more or less read it in a day and it definitely made me think about some things in our TV-laden world and what’s important and what’s not. An entertaining book by all means (though not as sad as I thought it would be!)

DNF at 28%

This book follows a young woman called Lily who wakes up after a car accident in a strange hospital and she finds out her brother Cole is seriously injured. There are some strange rules regarding the place she is now in but she is prepared to break them to save her twin's life.

I DNF'd this at about 28% in as I knew I wasn't enjoying the book and if I had gone further I would have ended up skim-reading it. From the get go, this book seemed a bit all over the place with very little explanation with what was going on and I felt, as a reader, I was left in the dark while all sorts of crazy things seemed to happen. At no point did Lily seem to really question where she was or what was happening, she just wanted to be with her brother. But at no point did she take a moment to say,"all of this is a bit weird." And I didn't get that.

I also felt the writing in this just tried way too hard. Even the way Lily was talking was really unrealistic and I'm not sure why the author tried to stress her love and compassion for her brother so much. They're twins, the connection is there, the reader isn't stupid, let it be natural.

I just couldn't keep reading this knowing I would end up hating it and I didn't want to waste time skim reading it. One of my only resolutions for 2017 is to know when to DNF books I'm not enjoying so I'm following that rule early on now.

I received a free copy of this book from Penguin Ireland in exchange for an honest review.

David Connolly is a college lecturer and happy married father of two. Until the two becomes three when a young student reveals to him that he's her dad. David invites Zoe into his life and his home and soon things within his family become strained and tense. Who is Zoe really? And can she be trusted?

From the get go, this had me on edge just really wanted to know what happens and how it all goes down. I feel like tension in this book was written really well and the author really carried the readers along with all the drama and the goings-on until we were just screaming for answers but also afraid of what we'd find out next. I do think as 'thrillers' go, this is a very tame one. It focuses a lot on just the domestic life of the family and how Zoe creates disharmony in it and for a little while i did just want the plot to hurry along so we could get to the end and the big reveals.

The end was slightly anti-climatic for me until I got to the very, very end and the big reveal and that was definitely a bit of a shocker! I would recommend people to read this if they are maybe starting thrillers or just want a tamer one, as that's what this is. It's well written and well constructed a definitely worth a read. Unfortunately, it just didn't wow me.

I received a free copy of this graphic novel from Abrams&Chronicle in exchange for an honest review.

The Best We Could Do is a gripping graphic novel telling the story of author Thi Bui's family who escaped Vietnam after the war and made their way to America.

I found this a very striking and enthralling tale, with a beautiful honesty throughout. The black and white drawings really highlighted the serious side of the story which was a young couple's struggles to bring up their family in the middle of a terrible war and then striving to give them a better life in America, working for a mere wage just so they could go to school and get a good education. There were some really striking images, a few being the moment Thi Bui's son is born and a moment on the boat escaping Vietnam to Malaysia where her father looks up to the stars. I haven't read a whole lot about the Vietnam War or what life was like there before and during the war but this graphic novel really gave me a great picture of it.

I thought the struggles of the parents having to deal with their memories of the war and the struggle Thi Bui had to connect with her parents in different ways was told really well. I really felt a connection to the characters and their struggles. Thi Bui's own new understanding of family and what it meant to be a parent after the birth of her son was also told in a really nice way.

Overall, a striking graphic novel that told an important story about a family uprooted in a lovely yet serious way. It made some difficult topics easy to understand. This is also a wonderful diverse book and an own voices read as it is a memoir of Thi Bui's family.

Narrated by Lara Hutchinson.

This is the third book in the Molly Murphy Mystery series and follows Molly, a young Irish woman in New York, as she takes on some new commissions in her new job as a PI. This time around Molly goes undercover at a garment factory to find a spy stealing designs but ends up getting involved in the worker's fight for better conditions. At the same time, Molly is also looking for the daughter of a wealthy man who ran away from Ireland with an employee of her father's estate, and the two jobs may be connected.

I really enjoyed this installment of Molly's journey. I feel like a lot happened in this one and we not only got some adventures with Molly that saw her get in all sorts of trouble as usual including being mistaken for a prostitute and a violent protester on two different occasions but also a look into what life was life for the poor immigrants in New York forced to take any measly job they could so survive in the land of the free. I feel this book highlighted more so than the other books, the problems Molly could have being a female PI in a time when it was strange for a woman to be so independent. Like I mentioned above, at one point while she is spying on someone she has been employed to follow, she is arrested by policemen for simply being a woman alone and out after dark. She also, again, has several men tell her how stupid her dreams are and how she should give up the dangerous work of being a PI because as a woman, it would be impossible for her to be successful.

I also enjoyed the entrance of a male character that finally was able to divert Molly's attentions from police captain Daniel O' Sullivan. Jakob was extremely cute, and though not enamoured by Molly's PI job wasn't as forceful about it as Daniel. It's obvious Molly will end up with Daniel at some stage but I'm glad to see she's not waiting around like a lost puppy. With Jakob, we also get to see the difficulties of religious differences and cultural differences with Jakob being from a strict Yiddish background and the problems he and Molly may face because of this.

This book kept me interested and entertained though as usual a lot of Molly's success comes from a lot of a luck and some bad decisions that lead to surprising discoveries rather than any real skill. I really like the narrator Lara Hutchinson who gives Molly a really unique voice and does other characters and accents really well (I just realised how much I love Hutchinson having started the next book in the series which has a new narrator and she's awful.)

3.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from Paper Lanter Lit in exchange for an honest review.

This book takes place in the Macedon, a country in ancient Greece, and follows a teenage Alexander (who would later become known as Alexander the Great) and his struggles to gain some authority among his father's lords and leaders as the heir to the kingdom. In other parts of the world, Katerina sets out on a mission to kill the Queen, Zo runs away to find her lover and eventually on a search to change her fate, Jacob enters a tournament in order to gain notoriety and the love of Kat and Alexander's best friend Heph struggles with self-doubt and his place in the world.

I had heard some mixed reviews about this book and so I had some doubts going into this, though I do really enjoy stories set in Ancient Rome and Greece and this is a book that has intrigued me for some time. However, I found it a mostly entertaining book and I was really into the story. I really enjoyed most of the characters and my favorites were probably Kat and Alex, though I have to say the link between them was very obvious and I saw it coming from a mile off.

I think the main problem with this book was a lot of information was squashed into the one book and I feel like because the author was trying to tell so many different character's POVs, a lot of them became very rushed. When Katerina visits a woman called Ada who can help her with some special abilities, what seemed like weeks of training was fit into one page. I love reading books that have training in them and learning new skills so I was disappointed that we got nothing from Kat (also I don't believe she suddenly became a trained warrior after what could have been a couple of days or a few weeks, I have no idea of the timeline.) I feel because of the rush in squeezing in everything, some characters became flat and let down such as Jacob who honestly was more of a side character if anything. I would loved way more time with Zo as well as she honestly seemed to only have about 3 or 4 chapters compared to Kat and Alex and she had an interesting storyline as well.

I feel like the characters forced character traits as well at times and made them seem unnatural such as Heph's storyline. I really liked Heph and then it felt like teh author was trying to make me hate him but I couldn't. The same goes with Zo's captor near the end, who doesn't seem to be a terrible guy (despite the whole enslaving part but tbh even that seems out of character seeing as when we met him he was freeing the slaves in the first place!).

Overall, despite some of my problems with the book I definitely still enjoyed it and I was glued into the story. I am eager to see what happens next and will move on to the next book soon.

3.5 stars

i received a free copy of this book by Liberties Press in exchange for an honest review.

It’s the year 2110 and 27 million people are living in an underground city called Creo, situated in France. As a mysterious virus makes its way throughout the city, Danae Grant tries to cling to a life that’s crumbling apart following the death of her father and an unfair eviction. She crosses paths with Boston Turrow, a young man struggling to care for his younger siblings after his mom walked out on them. Without knowing it, Danae and Boson’s relationship could be the key to help stop the destruction of the city they call home but it means revealing a secret Danae has kept for her entire life.

This is an incredibly detailed book that has a mixture of dystopia, science fiction with a touch of survivor story. There is so much in this book to love and RB Kelly worked incredibly hard at giving a reader a well-thought out and well-detailed story. It’s obvious a lot of work went into this book and it’s great to see a strong sci-fi book coming from an Irish author and Irish publishers.

It took me about 50 pages to really get into the story and that long for me to get a grasp of the world and what was going on. The world building for Creo though was incredibly rich in detail and I felt like the reader was really been given a lot of detail to work with and I personally got a great map of Creo in my head and some sort of idea of what ti must like and be like to live in.

The spreading virus was interesting to follow and I felt like, as a survivor story, it gave me just enough to keep me following with interest but the mix of dystopia and sci-fi made the story different and intriguing. It took me a while to really get the whole idea of a-naunts and what they were and what Rens were but with the help of the documents at the end of each chapter, it gave me a great idea of what had happened and I feel like i eventually got a good understanding of what was going on.

The book slowed up for me a bit at the end of the middle part, making its way to the end and I need lose a small bit of interest (I feel like the scene in the hospital with Boston and Danae lasted too long). But as things got going and the situation became more intense, I was on the edge of my seat and I loved the conclusion.

On a final note, I loved the developing relationship between Danae and Boston. They both needed each other so much and growing feelings between them were so raw and beautiful and I just loved them a lot!!

I’m really hoping to keep following this story and will have RB Kelly on my radar from now on as she has proven she can write a really great story!

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In Traitor to the Throne, the war to claim the desert becomes more intense as Armani, the Blue-Eyed Bandit, becomes even more central to the rebellion. As Armani becomes a leader, she has to deal with her love troubles with Jin and things become more complicated when she is captured and taken to the palace where she comes face to face with the Sultan himself.

I really loved Rebel of the Sands and all the places it took me but for me, Traitor to the Throne was even better. Armani was the rebel I wanted her to be and I feel like we got so much character development with her. She has really come into her powers in this book and we actually see her use them more than her guns, unlike the last. Amani is confident, clever and outspoken in this book and I really loved her. Her friendship with Shazad is more prevalent than ever and I feel like Traitor to the Throne gave us a better look at Amani without Jin and I was grateful for that.

I loved that we got to see a look at inside the palace and not only got a look at the Sultan but also Rahim, Leyla, Kadir and more of Ahmed and Jin's siblings. Amani's relationship with the Sultan was great to follow and I really liked how I almost started to like him and how his interactions with Amani would genuinely let you forget the horrible things he had done and would do. I think I might have liked a bit more world building outside the walls of the palace and in the surrounding areas and I think some chapters in Ahmed and Jin's POV while Amani was captured in the harem would have worked well.

Overall I loved this book a lot and it's got me so excited for what's to come. I don't think this book suffered from 'second book syndrome' at all and I'm just sad I will have to wait so long for the third book now as I need more and I need it right now, especially with that heartbreaking ending.

Deanna Madden is a 22-year-old cam girl with a secret - her desire to kill. She has shut herself off from the world, earning money through cybersex and buying everything in bulk so she never needs to step outside. But in The Girl in 6E, Deanna's limits were tested and in Do Not Disturb she begins to explore a new freedom and sees how far she can go.

This book was definitely good and kept me hooked. I actually forgot just how graphic this series is and I was reading it in an airport and slightly paranoid someone would see what I was reading and be a bit shocked. However, while I enjoyed this story a lot there were definitely some scenes that had me laughing because of how ridiculous everything was. I feel like a lot comes pretty easily for Deanna, and I don't know, it's a bit unrealistic that everything just works out for her. I'm hoping in the third, someone will start suspecting her just to make it a bit more dangerous and realistic. The chapters are really short in this book -I actually feel some of them could be lumped into one, particularly near the start when Deanna and Jeremy were getting hot and heavy, it kept jumping into another chapter and breaking the scene up. I feel like this could have all been one chapter. The short chapters do make the book a very quick and enjoyable read though.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and do recommend for people who like sexy, dangerous thrillers. Not one for anyone who doesn't like crude language or strong sex scenes though!