Author: emmasbibliotreasures

Saturdays at Noon by Rachel Marks ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Post author By emmasbibliotreasures
Post date 21st Feb 2020
1 Comment on Saturdays at Noon by Rachel Marks ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Penguin UK
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Domestic Fiction

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this lovely debut. Thank you to Michael Joseph Books for the invitation to take part and the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

Emily just wants to keep the world away.

After getting into trouble yet again, she’s agreed to attend anger management classes. But she refuses to share her deepest secrets with a room full of strangers.

Jake just wants to keep his family together.

He’ll do anything to save his marriage and bond with his six-year-old son, Alfie. But when he’s paired with spiky Emily, he wonders whether opening up will do more harm than good.

The two of them couldn’t be more different. Yet when Alfie, who never likes strangers, meets Emily, something extraordinary happens.

Could one small boy change everything?

MY REVIEW:

In this wonderful debut, the author draws on personal experiences with her own son to shine a light on one of the lesser-known conditions on the autistic spectrum. It is a story about love in its many forms, about self-discovery, and how sometimes it takes an outsider to make you see what’s right in front of you.

Emily and Jake clash from the moment they meet at anger management. Jake is a stay-at-home dad who’s overwhelmed by his son’s behavioural problems and is attending the course to try and save his rocky marriage. Emily is a spiky young girl who says only that she doesn’t belong there. Unlike his father, Emily finds herself drawn to six-year-old Alfie; there’s something about him that cries out to her. And to Jake’s dismay, Alfie feels the same way. When his wife leaves Jake gives in to Alfie’s demands that Emily be his nanny, the pair forming a reluctant acquaintance to keep him happy and find that they start to see the world, and each other, differently; slowly peeling away the layers to reveal their true selves and accepting parts of themselves they’ve been ashamed of for so long.

This warm, tender and nuanced story started slowly but soon took up residence in my heart, just as Alfie does with Emily. I was fully immersed and invested in their world thanks to the author’s deft, witty and truthful prose. And while the story did follow a somewhat prescribed and predictable track in places, it also felt organic and real, coming second to the more gritty storylines that dominate the book and make it stand out from your stereotypical love story.

While Emily and Jake are great characters that are richly developed, Alfie is undeniably the star of the show. He’s not an easy kid to take care of, and my heart went out to Jake as he battled with his son every single day over the smallest thing. As outsiders it can be so easy to judge, but living in a situation is very different and wears a person down, no matter how much you love your child. The author ensures that the reader never doubts Jake’s fierce love for his son, even in the darkest moments, and expertly portrays the anguish and pain that they both feel. No parent is perfect but it can be hard to see the wood for the trees and accept what they think is right isn’t always best for their child (goodness knows I’m terrible at this), but it takes Emily’s fresh observations and ideas for Jake to really see his son for the first time. It’s like she breaks away the clouds that were hiding him from view. Alfie’s chapters were heartbreaking to read but they finally give him the voice he feels unable to use. Reading the torment and confusion he’s going through made me want to wrap my arms around him and tell him it will all be ok. For me these were the most poignant parts of the book.

I’m a sucker for a happy ending so I really wanted Jake, Emily and Alfie to overcome their obstacles and live happily ever after. Did they? I’m not telling. You’ll have to read the book to find out. And I highly recommend that you do. Saturdays at Noon is a beautiful and thought-provoking story, and you’ll find Alfie and the lessons we learn from him stay with you even after you close the book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rachel Marks studied English at Exeter University before becoming a primary school teacher. After having her first son, she decided to focus mainly on being a mum, teaching one day a week and nurturing her creative side by starting a small photography business.

Despite always loving to write, it wasn’t until she gained a place on the 2016 Curtis Brown Creative online novel writing course that she started to believe it could be anything more than just a much-loved hobby. Her inspiration for her first novel came from the challenges she faced with her eldest son, testing and fascinating in equal measure. When she discovered Pathological Demand Avoidance, a poorly understood Autism Spectrum Disorder, she could finally make sense of her son’s behavior, and the idea for the first novel fell into place.

When not writing, she loves dragging her husband and two boys around Europe to off-the-beaten track and sometimes sub zero destinations, snowboarding and sightseeing, the kind of trips that would undeniably be easier without children but only half the adventure…

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Tags contemporary fiction, Domestic Fiction, February 2020, February books, Four star reads, Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House UK, Penguin UK, Rachel Marks, romance, Saturdays at Noon

Blog Tours book reviews

The Guest List by Lucy Foley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Post author By emmasbibliotreasures
Post date 21st Feb 2020
3 Comments on The Guest List by Lucy Foley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Published: February 20th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this magnificent thriller. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to HarperCollins UK for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

A gripping, twisty murder mystery thriller from the No. 1 bestselling author of The Hunting Party.

On an island off the windswept Irish coast, guests gather for the wedding of the year – the marriage of Jules Keegan and Will Slater.

Old friends.
Past grudges.

Happy families.
Past jealousies.

Thirteen guests.
One body.

The wedding cake has barely been cut when one of the guests is found dead. As a storm unleashes its fury on the island, everyone is trapped.

All have a secret. All have a motive.
One guest won’t leave the wedding alive…

MY REVIEW:

“It feels personal this storm. It feels as though it has saved all its fury for them.”

The scene is set for the perfect wedding for the perfect couple. It is the first wedding to be hosted on the remote island and the wedding planner hopes it will help silence the whispers about ghosts and launch it instead as sought-after wedding venue. But things don’t go to plan. As a storm rages on the evening of the wedding, a waitress runs into the marquee screaming that there’s a body outside. The story then gradually unfolds in dual timelines over the course of two days, as secrets are revealed, relationships unravel and someone takes their revenge…

This book was SPECTACULAR. I was transfixed from start to finish, and by the end I was completely shook. I am in awe of the author’s talent and her ability to weave such a tangled web of inextricably linked characters and plot lines in this enthralling mystery. You are left wondering which of the rich and distinct characters could be victim or killer and why it has happened. I had so many questions and theories swimming in my head that shifted as things slowly coalesced.

The setting of the book is vital to its whole tone. The remote island, the whispered tales of ghosts and the bleak weather all come together to create a sense of isolation and hopelessness. The guests are unable to escape each other or the island, and find themselves at the mercy of the increasingly toxic atmosphere and the storm brewing both inside and outside the folly.

The Guest List is a sinister, suspicious, captivating and unexpected page-turner. A wonderfully twisty whodunit that reels you in and spits you out when it’s finished with you, this is the perfect read for anyone who enjoys mysteries and thrillers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lucy Foley studied English Literature at Durham and UCL universities and worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry, before leaving to write full-time. The Hunting Party, an instant Sunday Times and Irish Times no. 1 bestseller, was Lucy’s debut crime novel, inspired by a particular remote spot in Scotland that fired her imagination. Lucy is also the author of three historical novels which have been translated into sixteen languages. Her journalism has appeared in ES Magazine, Sunday Times Style, Grazia and more.

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Tags crime fiction, Emma's Anticipated Treasures, February 2020, February books, Five star reads, Harper Collins UK, Lucy Foley, mystery, psychological thrillers, Random Things Tours, suspense, The Guest List, thriller

Blog Tours book reviews

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Post author By emmasbibliotreasures
Post date 17th Feb 2020
1 Comment on The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre
Published: February 20th, 2020
Format: Paperback
Genre: Literary Fiction

I am thrilled to be one of the people opening the blog tour for this breathtaking novel. Thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers and to Bonnier Zaffre Books.

SYNOPSIS:

In the midst of war, he found love.
In the midst of darkness, he found courage.
In the midst of tragedy, he found hope.
What will you find from his story?

Nuri is a beekeeper, his wife, Afra, an artist. They live happily in the beautiful Syrian city of Aleppo – until the unthinkable happens and they are forced to flee. But what Afra has seen is so terrible she has gone blind, and they must embark on a perilous journey through Turkey and Greece towards an uncertain future in Britain.

As Nuri and Afra travel through a broken world, they must confront not only the pain of their own unspeakable loss, but the dangers that would overwhelm the bravest of souls. Above all – and perhaps the hardest thing they face – they must journey to find each other again.

Moving, compassionate and beautifully written, The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a powerful testament to the triumph of the human spirit.

MY REVIEW:

“If I could give her a key that opened a door into another world, then I would wish for her to see again. But it would have to be a world very different from this one.”

I inhaled this mesmerising, poignant and illuminating novel in under a day. It is honestly one of the most beautiful books I’ve read and I was captivated by the exquisite, lyrical prose and stunning imagery that made every word one to savour.

This timely story shines a light on the struggle of those who are forced to flee because of war, from a perspective we rarely hear: the voice of a refugee. At a time where there is so much vitriol against them, where so many people see as the enemy, as someone who shouldn’t be in our country, it is refreshing to read a book that tells their story is such a beautiful and heartbreaking way; helping those of us who’ve never experienced such horror to have a small amount of understanding.

It is told by Syrian refugee, Nuri, who made the perilous journey from Syria to the UK with his wife Afra, who was blinded by a bomb. In the present day we follow their battle to claim asylum while trying to adjust to the strangeness of the new country they hope to call home. In flashbacks we see their life in Aleppo before the war, how it was torn apart, their heartbreak as they lost their only child, and then follow them as they make the dangerous journey to England. We see the impact of all they’ve gone through on themselves and their marriage, threatening to tear them apart at their core as well as breaking apart the only thing they have left to hold on to – each other.

“Where was home now? And what was it? I’m my mind it had become like a picture infused with golden light, a paradise never to be reached.”

This was the first time I’ve read a book by this author and I will definitely be reading more. Her writing enveloped me in their world, making me feel like I was right beside Nuri every step of the way both physically and emotionally. The characterisation was spectacular, with the author providing an eclectic mix of people who had very different stories from war-torn places around the world, and different reactions to what they’d gone through. There were wonderful examples of the best of humanity in the darkest of times, but also of the depth of evil that exists in our world and the damage that is done by such people. The raw devastation and grief that each character exuded was hard, but necessary, to read, and was a humbling reminder of how our problems pale in comparison to being forced from your home and fighting each day to survive and find safety.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a story about the horrors of war, trauma, grief and survival. But most of all for me it is a multifaceted love story. It is an astonishing book that went straight to my soul. I can’t recommend you read this highly enough.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Brought up in London, Christy Lefteri is the child of Cypriot refugees. She is a lecturer in creative writing at Brunel University. The Beekeeper of Aleppo was born out of her time working as a volunteer at a UNICEF-supported refugee center in Athens. She is the author of the novel A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible.

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Tags Bonnier Zaffre, Christy Lefteri, Compulsive Readers Tours, favourite books, February 2020, February books, Five star reads, Literary Fiction, recommended books, The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Blog Tours book reviews

The Foundling by Stacey Halls ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Post author By emmasbibliotreasures
Post date 13th Feb 2020
3 Comments on The Foundling by Stacey Halls ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre
Published: February 6th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Genre: Gothic Fiction, Historical Fiction

Today I am thrilled to be taking part in the blog tour for this phenomenal novel. Thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers Tours for the invitation to take part and to Bonnier Zaffre for my gifted copy of this book.

SYNOPSIS:

Two women, bound by a child, and a secret that will change everything….

London, 1754. Six years after leaving her illegitimate daughter Clara at London’s Foundling Hospital, Bess Bright returns to reclaim the child she has never known. Dreading the worst, that Clara has died in care, she is astonished when she is told she has already claimed her. Her life is turned upside down as she tries to find out who has taken her little girl – and why.

Less than a mile from Bess’s lodgings in the city, in a quiet, gloomy townhouse on the edge of London, a young widow has not left the house in a decade. When her close friend – an ambitious young doctor at the Foundling Hospital – persuades her to hire a nursemaid for her daughter, she is hesitant to welcome someone new into her home and her life. But her past is threatening to catch up with her and tear her carefully constructed world apart.

From the bestselling author of The Familiars comes this captivating story of mothers and daughters, class and power, and love against the greatest of odds…

MY REVIEW:

Ms. Halls has once again created a masterpiece. The Foundling is a lush, enthralling and lingering read that left me speechless. It is very different from her debut novel, The Familiars, but again Halls has infused this story with her exquisite, pitch-perfect prose, luring me in slowly until the world outside this novel no longer existed.

The story is narrated by Bess and Alexandra, two very different women from two very different walks of life, and begins on a cold night in November 1747 when Bess, an impoverished shrimp hawker, arrives at the London Foundling Hospital with her newborn daughter, Clara. Unable to raise her she has come for the monthly raffle to try and give her child a chance of survival. When Clara is accepted, Bess vows to one day return and claim back her little girl, leaving behind a token of half a heart made out of whalebone and carved with their initials so she can be identified. Six years later she finally has enough money saved to return but is told that Clara was claimed the day after being left. And that she was the one who claimed her…

I don’t want to say much more about the plot as part of the beauty of this book is discovering it as you go along. We know that Clara/Charlotte was taken, so the mystery is why. When the story shifts to Alexandra’s dark, gloomy townhouse that is more like a prison full of fear than a home, we slowly begin unravelling the complex motivations that led to her being taken and discovering if Bess will be reunited with her daughter.

The two narrators are very different women at opposite ends of the social spectrum. Both were richly drawn and felt sympathetic and relatable. It was fascinating to read their diverse views on life and motherhood and how differently they dealt with the problems life has thrown their way. Though I wanted Bess to be reunited with her daughter properly, I also could never fully get behind either woman in their battle for the child as they both loved her, wanted what they thought was best and there would be no winners, only losers in this battle. With Clara/Charlotte facing heartache and loss whatever the outcome was. Ultimately the story became more of an exploration of what it really means to be a mother, to want what’s best for your child and what matters most when raising them.

Halls is a true storyteller who makes reading this book an immersive experience. Her imagery made me feel like I was in The Foundling Hospital with Bess and the other women, in Alexandra’s gloomy townhouse, that I walked the dank, dirty and filthy streets of Georgian London and could smell the decay. I could feel Bess’s anguish as she’s forced to hand over her child, her determination to get her back, Alexandra’s anxieties and fear and was waiting with bated breath as the tension mounted. She illuminates the huge inequalities between the have and have nots and examines mental health problems at a time they aren’t recognised or understood.

Utterly magnificent, heart-rending, compelling and cleverly executed, The Foundling is a superior work of gothic fiction. She has created a tender, restrained masterpiece that I have no doubt will have a place in my top 10 books of 2020. This is one you don’t want to miss. READ IT NOW!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Stacey Halls grew up in Rossendale, Lancashire, as the daughter of market traders. She studied journalism at the University of Central Lancashire and moved to London aged 21. She was media editor at The Bookseller and books editor at Stylist.co.uk, and has also worked as a journalist for Psychologies, the Independent and Fabulous magazine. TV rights of The Familiars shave been sold to The Bureau production company.

Bought in a nine-way auction, The Familiars was received with much praise and is nominated for an HWA award.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

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Tags Bonnier Zaffre, Emma's Anticipated Treasures, favourite authors, favourite books, February 2020, February books, Five star reads, Gothic Fiction, historical fiction, Recommended authors, recommended books, Stacey Halls, The Foundling

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The Secret Admirer (Detective Natalie Ward Book 6) by Carol Wyer

Post author By emmasbibliotreasures
Post date 11th Feb 2020
No Comments on The Secret Admirer (Detective Natalie Ward Book 6) by Carol Wyer

Publisher: Bookouture
Published: April 2nd, 2020
Format: Kindle
Genre: Crime Fiction, Crime Series, Police Procedural.

I’m thrilled to be taking part in the cover reveal for the sixth book in the Detective Natalie Ward Series, The Secret Admirer. This is one of my favourite series by one of my must-read authors and after the dramatic and emotional end of book five, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

SYNOPSIS:

‘I tried to talk to you today but you snubbed me and walked away. It wasn’t wise to give me the brush-off, Gemma. I can be a truly good friend but I also make the perfect enemy.’

Sasha’s eighteen-year-old daughter Gemma was all she had in the world. Sasha fell pregnant with Gemma when she was still at school, and the two are as close as sisters. So when Gemma’s burned and broken body is found, Sasha’s world ends. What kind of person would want her beautiful daughter dead?

Leading the case is Detective Natalie Ward, scarred by her own recent tragedy. When she finds a note in Gemma’s diary from a ‘secret admirer’, she moves quickly, determined to un-mask them. But interviews with Gemma’s devastated ex-boyfriend, and her charismatic teacher, who has been seen embracing his student far away from the classroom, don’t give Natalie the answers she’d hoped for…

And then the case takes a devastating, personal twist. CCTV footage reveals Natalie’s estranged husband David followed Gemma home every evening the week before she died.

Natalie is forced to put personal feelings aside and follow procedure, even though she can’t believe David could be guilty. But when Gemma’s housemate is found murdered, Natalie thinks the killer could still be at large. Is she right to trust her instincts about David and can she discover the truth before another precious life is taken?

Grippingly fast and nail-bitingly tense, The Secret Admirer will have you flying through the pages long into the night. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karin Slaughter.

Pre-order now from Amazon

Tags book series, Bookouture, Carol Wyer, Cover Reveal, crime fiction, Crime series, Detective Natalie Ward, Emma's Anticipated Treasures, Police Procedural, Recommended authors, Recommended Series, The Secret Admirer

Blog Tours book reviews

Real Life by Adeline Dieudonné ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Post author By emmasbibliotreasures
Post date 10th Feb 2020
2 Comments on Real Life by Adeline Dieudonné ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: World Editions
Published: February 13th, 2020
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre: Coming-of-Age Fiction
Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse.

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for this fantastic debut novel. Thank you to Anne at Random Things tours for the invitation to take part, and World Editions for the gifted copy of the book.

SYNOPSIS:

Translated from the French by Roland Glasser.

At home there are four bedrooms: one for her, one for her little brother Sam, one for her parents, and one for the carcasses. Her father is a big-game hunter, a powerful predator, and her mother is submissive to her violent husband’s demands. The young narrator spends her day s with Sam playing in the shells of cars dumped for scrap and listening out for the melody of the ice-cream truck, until a brutal accident shatters their world.

The uncompromising pen of Adeline Dieudonné wields flashes of brilliance as she brings her characters to life in a world that is both dark and sensual. This breathtaking debut is a sharp and funny coming-of-age tale in which fantasy and reality collide.

MY REVIEW:

“There are things you can’t accept. Otherwise you die.”

A powerful and affecting coming-of-age journey with elements of fantasy, Real Life explores the dark truths of growing up within a home laden with violence and fear, and the results of a life lived without love or guidance from those who should protect you.

Our unnamed protagonist is a jaded young girl who lives at home with her parents and younger brother Sam, who she adores. Their home is a malignant place, filled with the constant threat of her father’s wrath and their attempts to avoid it. She is indifferent towards her mother, who she refers to as an amoeba, seeing her as weak for living this life and not protecting or comforting her children. It is just her and Sam against the world. So when a tragic accident rips them apart and her brother becomes unreachable, a mute ‘robot’ who then slowly morphs into a sadistic young boy who seems to feel nothing unless he’s terrorising others, she feels like she’s lost everything and becomes obsessed with finding a way to go back in time and save her brother from this dark fate.

“Nothing made sense anymore. My reality had dissolved until a vertiginous void from which I saw no way out. A void so palpable I could feel its walls, its floor, and its ceiling tightening around me.”

The story takes place over five years, beginning the summer of the accident. During this time the protagonist goes from a girl of ten to a young woman of fifteen who has seen more than anyone her age should ever have to see. She’s scarred by the toxic life she’s been forced to live and the horror she witnessed that first summer, and is fighting to find a way back to when she felt happy and she and Sam were everything to each other. Along the way she discovered a talent and passion for science and is trying to both understand and hide the changes brought to her body through puberty. She slowly sees a shift in her father as he notices these changes and begins to see her as a target for his rage just like her mother, while the changes in Sam bring the pair closer together and our protagonist learns to fear her brother too. From the start of the book there are distressing scenes of domestic abuse. The fear and terror jumps from the page as they talk about having to tip-toe around him and feeling like they can only breathe when he’s not there.

There is a mythical element to the story that is provided by how the protagonist sees the change in Sam; she believes that an evil being has taken up residence inside him and that his sadistic behaviour is at its bidding. This adds a mythical element to the story as well as highlighting how young she is at the time the story starts. She truly believes she will one day succeed in travelling back in time to save her brother and it becomes her only focus. Despite my rational mind knowing this isn’t possible, I was willing her to succeed and have some much- deserved joy and happiness in her life.

Real Life is a superb and wonderfully written debut. The punchy, offbeat prose is compelling, insightful and raw. It makes it impossible to pull yourself away. I needed to know where this was heading, if she would save Sam and what would become of her. Unflinching and uncompromising, Harrowing and heart-rending, but with an indomitable hope running through its veins, this is a story that will stay with me.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Adeline Dieudonné was born in 1982 and lives in Brussels. A playwright and short-story writer, her first novella, Amarula, was awarded the Grand Prix of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Two further booklets were published by Editions Lamiory in 2017: Saule dans le noir and Bonobo Moussaka. Real Life was recently awarded the prestigious Prix du Roman FNAC, the Prix Rossel, the Prix Renaudot des Lycéens, and the Prix Filigrane, a French prize for a work of high literary quality with wide appeal. Dieudonné also performs as a stand-up comedian.

Ronald Glasser is an award-winning translator of French literature, based in London.

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Tags Adeline Dieudonne, Coming of Age fiction, February 2020, February books, Four star reads, Random Things Tours, Real Life, Translated Fiction, World Editions

Blog Tours book reviews

Beast (Six Stories #4) by Matt Wesolowski ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Post author By emmasbibliotreasures
Post date 7th Feb 2020
3 Comments on Beast (Six Stories #4) by Matt Wesolowski ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Orenda
Published: February 6th, 2020
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Horror, Crime Fiction, Coming-of-Age Fiction.

Welcome to my spot on the blog tour for this dark and thrilling book. Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part and to Karen at Orenda for the eBook ARC.

SYNOPSIS:

Elusive online journalist Scott King examines the chilling case of a young vlogger found frozen to death in the legendary local ‘vampire tower’, in another explosive episode of Six Stories…

In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four-year-old vlogger, Elizabeth Barton, had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death.

Three young men, part of an alleged ‘cult’, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong’. However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the convicted youths were even responsible.

Elusive online journalist Scott King speaks to six witnesses – people who knew both the victim and the three killers – to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, the tragic and chilling legend of the ‘Ergarth Vampire’….

Both a compulsive, taut and terrifying thriller, and a bleak and distressing look at modern society’s desperation for attention, Beast will unveil darkness from which you may never return…

MY REVIEW:

Beast is a chilling, captivating and suspenseful story told by an original voice in a fresh and creative way. It is a story of the search for the truth of a young girl’s brutal murder that lies hidden behind the differing perspectives of those who knew her. It is an exploration of internet culture, the obsession with becoming internet famous and what motivates three young men to murder a popular young woman without apparent reason.

Elizabeth Barton was a YouTube star on the rise and the darling of Ergarth, a bleak, rundown town on the Northumrian coast. Her brutal murder left the town stunned. But could there be more to Elizabeth and her death that has been reported? In his podcast, Six Stories, online journalist Scott King attempts to find the answer to this and other questions surrounding the crime by talking to those who knew those involved best of all.

I loved the podcast format of this book. It’s the first time I’ve read anything like it and as a true crime buff it is exactly the kind of thing I listen to. I loved how realistic it felt, like I was actually listening to the interviews and commentary. The different perspectives provided a unique and fascinating look at the crime and the effects on those left behind, as well as helping to slowly reveal the pieces of the puzzle King was trying to solve. Wesolowski’s writing was absorbing, atmospheric and descriptive; demanding your attention and pulling you in. The eerie legend of the Vampire Tower and the Ergarth Vampire permeate the pages and provide an air of spine-tingling unease.

We only get a first person glimpse of Elizabeth in the YouTube videos she posted leading up to her death. It’s clear she’s on in these videos; being the person she wants the world to see. But is it the real her? Everyone in town loved Elizabeth. She was popular, kind and known for her philanthropy. Girl wanted to be her, and boys wanted to be with her. But as he digs deeper King learns there is another story, things she made sure was hidden from the world that didn’t fit the image she was trying to maintain. But we aren’t sure which is real and the more we learn the more the mystery deepens. I liked that Scott was so elusive in this book. Though he’s there throughout we don’t know a lot about him and I found that helped me focus on the story he was trying to tell. The book does hint at things about him being revealed in a previous book, but it’s a passing comment here or there and didn’t affect my enjoyment or understanding of the story. It just made me even more eager to read the other books in the series.

The Six Stories series is one I’ve been meaning to read for a while after seeing a lot of praise for it online and I’m glad I’ve finally read a book by this marvelous author. Spectacularly written, chilling, cryptic, ominous and unpredictable, this is a book that will stay with you for all the right reasons.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Matt Wesolowski is an author from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK. He is an English tutor for young people in care. Matt started his writing career in horror, and his short horror fiction has been published in numerous UK and US based anthologies such as Midnight Movie Creature, Selfies from the End of the World, Cold Iron and many more. His novella, The Black Land, a horror set on the Northumberland coast, was published in 2013. Matt was a winner of the Pitch Perfect competition at Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in 2015. His debut thriller, Six Stories, was an Amazon bestseller in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia, and a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick, and film rights were sold to a major Hollywood studio. A prequel, Hydra, was published in 2018 and became an international bestseller. Changeling, book three in the series, was published in 2019 and was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year and shortlisted for Capital Crime’s Amazon Publishing Reader Awards in two categories: Best Thriller and Best Independent Voice.

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Tags Beast, book series, Coming of Age fiction, crime fiction, Four star reads, Horror, Matt Wesolowski, mystery, Orenda Books, psychological thrillers, Six Stories Series

Blog Tours book reviews

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Post author By emmasbibliotreasures
Post date 6th Feb 2020
1 Comment on The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Publisher: Picador
Published: February 6th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Genre: Historical Fiction

SYNOPSIS:

Inspired by the real events of the Vardø storm of 1617, The Mercies is a story about how suspicion can twist its way through a community, and a love that may prove as dangerous as it is powerful.

On Christmas Eve 1617, the sea around the remote Norwegian Island of Vardø is thrown into a reckless storm. As Maren Magnussdatter watches, forty fishermen, including her father and brother, are lost to the waves – the menfolk of Vardø wiped out in an instant.

Vardø is now a place of women.

Eighteen months later, a sinister figure arrives. Summoned from Scotland to take control of a place at the edge of the civilised world, Absolom Cornet knows what he needs to do to bring the women of Vardø to heel. With him travels his young wife, Ursa. In Vardø, and in Maren, Ursa finds something she has never seen before: independent women. But Absolom sees only a place flooded with a terrible evil,one he must root out at all costs.

MY REVIEW:

Breathtakingly beautiful, mesmerising, lingering and consuming, I drank in this astonishing novel quickly and fell in love.

Inspired by real events, the story begins on Christmas Eve 1617 when a terrible storm hits the remote island of Vardø and kills the forty men at sea, leaving the island now one of mostly women. Slowly they learn to survive without them, taking on roles usually for men in a bid to survive. A year later, just as things feel like they’ve settled, the island is disrupted again by the arrival of a new commissioner from Scotland. The women are wary, unsure what this means for them, and soon they find themselves caught up in the witch trials of the era, with neighbour turning against neighbour as they face a new battle for survival.

It’s taken a while to be able to get my thoughts about this book down in a review I felt would do it justice and in that time I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I first heard about this book last year when author Elizabeth Macneal raved about it on her page and I immediately knew I needed to read it. I read this book as part of a readalong with the Tandem Collective. It was my first readalong with them. It made it a much more immersive and sensory experience and increased my already high excitement for the book.

It is a story about sisterhood, a matriarchal society that is still beholden to the rule of men. It is a story about love, relationships, bravery, power and betrayal; about witchcraft, folklore and faith. At the centre is the story of a friendship of two women just trying to survive in a harsh and terrifying time.

It is told through the eyes of two women from very different backgrounds: Maren was raised in Vardø and knows nothing but the bleak, harsh landscape and the drudgery of life in the far north. Ursa was raised in the city and the new bride is shocked at the barren, hard circumstances she must now live in and struggles to adjust. The two form a quick and unexpected bond, becoming eachother’s confidant and balm. I liked both narrators and their different voices. They were both kind, sympathetic characters and had strengths they didn’t recognise in themselves. For Ursa the culture shock of life Vardø, her dismay at finding herself married to a man who shows little affection or attention to her and missing her family, combines into a deep depression she can’t pull herself out of. Maren becomes a beacon of light pulling her from the dark as they bond when Maren teaches her how to keep house. Maren is used to the realities of life in Vardø but finds herself ashamed of how she lives and shocked at Ursa’s innocence and incapability. Ursa is a beautiful being and she feels honoured to have been asked to teach her. She is her escape, just as Maren is hers. I enjoyed their friendship and how Ursa in particular fought for it when others didn’t approve, saying Maren wasn’t good enough.

Every story needs a villain and the biggest villain in this story was Absolom, Ursa’s husband. He was a vile, cruel man who uses his religion to justify his actions. We know early on that he’s there to root out the evil that is believed to reside in Vardø but Ursa knows nothing of this or his past. When she learns the truth she is horrified and afraid. He had no redeeming qualities and got more repugnant as the story went on and I was terrified of what would become of both women as they skated on the edge of what is considered acceptable in their society.

The writing in this book is simply beautiful. With lyrical and elegant prose that tells the story fluently, this is an example of storytelling at its finest. It is my first time reading a book by this author but I do have one of her others on my shelf and am even more impatient to read it now.

The Mercies is an exquisite, powerful and enchanting read that seeped right into my soul. It is as stunning inside as it is on the outside and I’ve no doubt it will be one of my favourite books this year. READ THIS BOOK.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kiran Millwood Hargrave (b. Surrey 1990) is a poet, playwright, and author. Her books for children and young adults include the bestselling The Girl of Ink & Stars, The Way Past Winter, and The Deathless Girls. Her debut novel for adults is The Mercies (February 2020).

Between them, her children’s books have won numerous awards including Children’s Book of the Year at the British Book Awards, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the Historical Association Young Quills Award, and the Blackwell’s Children’s Book of the Year. They have been shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize, the Little Rebels Prize, the Branford Boase Award, the Blue Peter Best Story Award, Costa Children’s Book Prize, and Foyles’ Children’s Book of the Year, amongst others.

The Mercies has been selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club, and was called ‘unquestionably the book of the 2018 London Book Fair’ by The Bookseller.

Kiran lives in Oxford with her husband, the artist Tom de Freston, and their rescue cat, Luna.

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Tags Emma's Anticipated Treasures, February 2020, February books, Five star reads, historical fiction, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Pan Macmillan, Picador, recommended books, Tandem Collective, Tandem Collective Readalong, The Mercies

Blog Tours book reviews

The Wreckage by Robin Morgan-Bentley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Post author By emmasbibliotreasures
Post date 5th Feb 2020
No Comments on The Wreckage by Robin Morgan-Bentley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Published: February 6th, 2020
Publisher: Trapeze
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Genre: Mystery, Suspense

Today is my stop on the blog tour for this exhilarating debut. Thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for the invitation to take part, and Trapeze and NetGalley for the eBook ARC.

SYNOPSIS:

Things will never be the same again…

Ben is driving on the motorway, on his usual commute to the school where he works.

A day like any other, except for Adam, who in a last despairing act jumps in front of Ben’s car, and in killing himself, turns the teacher’s world upside down.

Wracked with guilt and desperate to clear his conscience, Ben develops a friendship with Alice, Adam’s widow, and her 7-year-old son Max.

But as he tries to escape the trauma of the wreckage, could Ben go too far in trying to make amends?

Gripping and sinister, The Wreckage is guaranteed to keep you up all night….

MY REVIEW:

Wow! What an exhilarating and breathtaking rollercoaster ride this was. The Wreckage is an utterly gripping debut. Cleverly crafted, perfectly paced and full of heart-stopping tension, I devoured this book, unable to put it down and staying up to the early hours until my eyes betrayed me and I had to sleep.

The two protagonists are flawed and fractured characters, but that is where the similarities end. Their approach to life and how they deal with trauma is vastly different and were fascinating to observe. Ben is immediately shaken by the accident and struggles to cope with the knowledge that he’s killed a man. An already anxious person, it plunges him deeper into his anxiety and brings on a depression that he can’t seem to climb out of. When he decides to visit Adam’s family it’s as a form of restitution, to try and make amends for what he’s done. He’s a sensitive, kind soul who falls apart easily and is very concerned with how others see him. I could relate to his anxiety and felt a great amount of sympathy for him. Alice is a different kettle of fish. She’s stoic, spiky, pragmatic and resilient. She doesn’t seem to care what others think and can come across as unemotional at times. I soon warmed to her though, especially her often scathing observations that made me chuckle, especially when they were at such odds with the tragedy or seriousness of a situation. They both go on an emotional journey over the course of the book and I enjoyed seeing how they changed and the way it affected my feelings for them, with my sympathies drastically changing by the end of the book.

As Ben and Alice became closer, it was clear that he thought there was more to their relationship and had deeper feelings than she did. As his feelings grow he also begins to lose control and things start to take a more sinister turn. We see a different side to him as he becomes obsessive, menacing and unhinged. The atmosphere was ionised as his behaviour became increasingly unpredictable and frightening.

The Wreckage is an outstanding page-turner from a sensational new talent. It’s a story that has tension running through its veins, the pulse beating more rapidly over its course until we reach an electrifying crescendo and an ending that gave me chills. If you enjoy well-written, exciting thrillers, then do yourself a favour and read this book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born in London in 1987, Robin Morgan-Bentley has been making up stories since he was very little. After graduating from Cambridge University with a First Class degree in Modern and Medieval Languages, he worked at Google in London, Madrid and New York.

Since 2014, he has worked with authors and actors at Audible. For the Audible Sessions podcast, he has interviewed many thriller writers, and it was his conversations with them that inspired him to start writing his stories down. Robin lives in north London with his husband, Pauly.

Robin’s debut psychological thriller, The Wreckage, will be released on February 6th 2020.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR:

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Tags debut novel, Emma's Anticipated Treasures, February 2020, February books, Five star reads, mystery, recommended books, Robin Morgan-Bentley, suspense, The Wreckage, Trapeze Books

Blog Tours book reviews

Never Look Back by A. L. Gaylin ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Post author By emmasbibliotreasures
Post date 4th Feb 2020
1 Comment on Never Look Back by A. L. Gaylin ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Publisher: Orion
Published: February 6th, 2020
Format: Paperback, Kindle
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Mystery, Suspense

Today is my stop on the blog tour for this fantastic thriller. Thank you to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for the invitation to take part and to Orion for the gifted copy of the novel.

SYNOPSIS:

She was the most brutal killer of our time. And she may have been my mother…

When website columnist Robin Diamond is contacted by true crime podcast producer Quentin Garrison, she assumes it’s a business matter. It’s not. Quentin’s podcast, Closure, focuses on a series of murders in the 1970s, committed by teen couple April Cooper and Gabriel LeRoy. It seems that Quentin has reason to believe Robin’s own mother may be intimately connected with the killings.

Robin thinks Quentin’s claim is absurd. But is it? The more she researches the Cooper/LeRoy murders herself, the more disturbed she becomes by what she finds. Living just a few blocks from her, Robin’s beloved parents are the one absolute she’s always been able to rely upon, especially now amid rising doubts about her husband from internet trolls. Robin knows her mother better than anyone.

But then her parents are brutally attacked, and Robin realises she doesn’t know the truth at all…

MY REVIEW:

Wow! This was a roller-coaster ride that I didn’t want to end. Multiple plot lines and characters were woven together like an intricate patchwork quilt in this complex, thrilling and addictive read.

In letters to her future daughter, infamous murderer April Cooper reveals what really happened in the summer of 1976, when she and her boyfriend, Gabriel LeRoy, better known as the Inland Empire Killers, embarked on a murder spree that terrorised their town before finally perishing in a fire. In the present day, Quentin Garrison is working on his new podcast Closure, telling the story of his family connection to the case and how the couple’s actions have impacted survivors and their families. When he contacts journalist Robin Diamond and tells her he has reason to believe her mother Renee is connected to the killings, she dismisses the idea as preposterous. But then her parents are attacked in their homes and she realises she doesn’t know her mother as well as she thought. Could her mother know something about what happened forty years ago? Both determined to get to the truth, we follow as it is slowly unveiled and lives are changed forever.

The mystery of April Cooper, her true role in the murders and if she survived the fire that supposedly killed her is the heartbeat of this story. She is an enigmatic, vivid character who looms large on every page. Through her secret letters, which were my favourite part of the book, we were offered an insight into who she was and the truth behind the lurid, sensationalist headlines and local lore. I had a real soft spot for her, even in the moments she wasn’t likeable and I was desperate to find out what had really happened to her.

I devoured this book and knew it was one I’d love from the first page. When I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about reading it. I loved that I couldn’t figure it out, vacillating so many times in my suspicions. While I was right about some things, there was a lot I never would have thought of in a million years. On the surface it seemed a simple storyline but it morphed into something unexpected, something much more complex and inextricably linked than I imagined. The shocking revelations had my jaw on the floor and at one point in my notes I wrote “F***!! This is mental!” The twists came so fast at one point I thought I was going to get book whiplash. I’m in awe of the intricate plots that authors create and, while it would be kind of terrifying, I’d love to get a look inside their brain to find out how on earth they think of them.

Never Look Back is a first class psychological thriller. The plot is nuanced and peppered with clues and red herrings that keep you on your toes until the last pages. It is a story about family, long-held secrets and the ripple effect caused by trauma. It is a search for the truth that shatters people’s lives while giving others a chance at redemption.

Compelling, tense, atmospheric, deliciously suspicious and utterly brilliant I would recommend this book to any thriller lover.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alison Gaylin’s debut book was nominated for an Edgar Award in the Best First Novel category. A graduate of Northwestern University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Alison lives with her husband and daughter in upstate New York.

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