Book Review: The Girl from the Sea by Shalini Boland

Synopsis from goodreads

A chilling suspense story of wounded hearts and dark secrets.

Washed up on the beach, she can’t remember who she is. She can’t even remember her name. Turns out, she has an idyllic life – friends and family eager to fill in the blanks.

But why are they lying to her? What don’t they want her to remember?

When you don’t even know who you are, how do you know who to trust?

Review

The Girl from the Sea by Shalini Boland tells the story of a woman who wakes up at a beach with no memory about who she is or why she is even on the beach. The story starts with her search for identity. We get to experience the events from her perspective as she begins a journey of trying to put together the pieces of her life. It’s a scary process for the protagonist who doesn’t even recognize her own face and has to rely on other people to give her details about her own life.

The author takes us through the journey with the girl. We get to find out details about her life at the same time that she does. It was interesting to try and determine whether people were deceiving her or being honest. The author does this very well by creating doubts in the mind of readers. There were also other clues based on how people acted towards her. I tried to guess their real relationships before the amnesia but it was hard.

And then the biggest twist!

 I didn’t see it coming. I thought I knew where the story was going but something happened that threw the whole narrative into a whole new direction. I assumed that the identity of the bad guy was pretty obvious but boy was I wrong! The twist led to a brilliant, unexpected ending. The type of endings all fans of thrillers love!

The Girl from the Sea by Shalini Boland is one of the best psychological thrillers that I have ever read this year. I have never read an amnesiac thriller before so I found the angle to pretty intriguing. It is the kind of story that will take you on a roller-coaster ride. It will get you making the wrong guesses and liking the wrong people before throwing huge twists at you. I recommend this book to all fans of psychological thrillers. It is short and captivating and I bet it will make a great read for everyone who enjoys these kinds of books.

About the Book

• Title: The Girl from the Sea
• Author: Shalini Boland
• Kindle Edition, 306 pages
• Published June 9th 2016 by Adrenalin Books
• My Rating: 5 STARS!

Book Review: After Anna by Alex Lake

Synopsis from goodreads

A girl is missing. Five years old, taken from outside her school. She has vanished, traceless. The police are at a loss; her parents are beyond grief. Their daughter is lost forever, perhaps dead, perhaps enslaved. But the biggest mystery is yet to come: one week after she was abducted, their daughter is returned. She has no memory of where she has been. And this, for her mother, is just the beginning of the nightmare.

Review

After Anna by Alex Lake is a book about deception, malice, betrayal and a family torn apart. Basically, it has everything that makes a great psychological thriller. The book starts with the abduction of Anna and we are thrown right into the drama as her parents start looking for her.

At the forefront, we learn of their anguish as they seek answers about her whereabouts. We see things from Julia’s perspective and it is easy to sympathize with this mother going through the horror of losing a child. Interestingly, the abductor is the second narrator. Getting into the abductor’s head adds to the eeriness of the story. Their identity is definitely kept a secret. Also kept secret is the motive behind the abduction. All these work well is building the suspense of the story and keeping readers guessing. I had so many questions about who took Anna and why.

I also liked how the author used the aspect of social media. There are all these other stories going around about the missing child and especially her mother. There is also the mystery concerning the identity of the person behind all the media reports.

Julia as the protagonist starts off as being very unlikable. She seems so cold and detached especially from her marriage. However, as the story progressed, I was able to see another side of her and understand the motives behind her actions. The other characters are portrayed in form of clues. I liked how the author gradually develops their characters. We actually get to know them better as the story progresses. They become more intriguing and this definitely added to the thrill of the narrative.

After Anna by Alex Lake was quite a fascinating read. I devoured the book in just a day and couldn’t put it down until I was done. I just had to get all the answers! The pacing is wonderful with so much happening in each chapter hence I was at the edge of my seat until the last page. I recommend this book to all fans of psychological thrillers.

About the Book

• Title: After Anna
• Author: Alex Lake
• Kindle Edition, 309 pages
• Published July 30th 2015 by Killer Reads
• Original Title: After Anna

Friday Finds #July 29

Friday Finds is a meme currently hosted by Books and a Beat.  This is an opportunity to share the books that you have recently found and added to your TBR.

Here are my new Finds:

I am really excited about my new books. I have been looking forward to reading the two and I finally have them with me.

Home Going by Yaa Gyasi

 Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and will live in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle, raising children who will be sent abroad to be educated before returning to the Gold Coast to serve as administrators of the empire. Esi, imprisoned beneath Effia in the Castle’s women’s dungeon and then shipped off on a boat bound for America, will be sold into slavery.

Stretching from the wars of Ghana to slavery and the Civil War in America, from the coal mines in the American South to the Great Migration to twentieth-century Harlem, Yaa Gyasi’s novel moves through histories and geographies.

 

The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah

 Memory is an albino woman languishing in Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison in Harare, Zimbabwe, where she has been convicted of murder. As part of her appeal, her lawyer insists that she write down what happened as she remembers it. As her story unfolds, Memory reveals that she has been tried and convicted for the murder of Lloyd Hendricks, her adopted father. But who was Lloyd Hendricks? Why does Memory feel no remorse for his death? And did everything happen exactly as she remembers?

 

How about you? Did you add any books to your bookshelf this week? Have you read of my new finds? Let me know.

 

Happy Friday!

 

 

Book Review: A Sharia London by Vinay Kolhatkar

Synopsis from goodreads

A forbidden love draws the Mafia into fighting Radical Islam

An affair between Marlon, a politically correct history teacher, and Jamila Khan, his young student, must be kept a secret. Jamila works covertly toward liberating women oppressed by radical Islamism.

As Marlon awakens to the dark underbelly of orthodox Islam, a turn of events leads to Marlon becoming a fugitive charged with murder. Jamila’s testimony can free him, but her eyewitness account could incur a death fatwa from the Islamic orthodoxy. Marlon won’t let her risk herself.

Hunted by Scotland Yard, and betrayed by England, Marlon must now work with the men he once loathed—his Sicilian uncles. Jamila’s life, and his, depend on it.

Review

A Sharia London by Vinay Kolhatkar is like nothing that I have ever read before. I picked this book mainly because of the beautiful cover. I loved the image of the partially-veiled woman with the London Bridge in the foreground.  I was also intrigued by the synopsis because of my interest in the subject of radicalization.

The book is very well paced. The action and drama starts right at the beginning. At first, Marlon and Jamila just seem like any other regular people as they interact during a class. However, soon their worlds collide outside the class and their lives are thrown into turmoil as it becomes a fight to stay alive.

The main theme of this book is radicalization and religious extremism. It covers different aspects such as homosexuality, religious fanaticism (jihad in this case), gender roles within religion and also liberalization. Other themes include revenge where most of the action lies. At the background is the love story between two very unlikely individuals thrown together by the chaos in their lives.

The main setting of this story is London. River Thames and the London Bridge feature predominantly in the narrative. I liked this aspect because I haven’t read any book set in London. The setting added to the beauty of the narrative. Events taking place on the bridge were tragic and quite haunting. There is a particular description that has stayed with me about the river being unforgiving. Part of the story is also set in Sicily, Italy and finally in India. I really enjoyed the diversity of the settings bringing together so many different worlds and cultures.

The characters of the book are well developed and likeable. The male protagonist starts off as a tormented, lost soul who eventually finds his footing and a purpose for his life. Jamila is a wonderful female protagonist. She is strong, defiant and quite brave. I just wish that the author would have given us a bit more information on how she ended up that way. Her family background is so strict that it is hard to imagine how she ended up finding her own voice.

The story is action packed. There are so many twists that occur throughout the narrative. Every time I thought that it was over, something new came up and the action started again. In spite of the heavy themes, A Sharia London by Vinay Kolhatkar is actually an enjoyable and captivating read. It so fast paced that I found myself struggling to put it down. The book is not political and the author definitely does not try to force any ideologies on readers so don’t shy away from reading it due to the themes.

I recommend this book to all fans of thrillers. If you are looking for something different then you should definitely pick this one. It does address topics that not most people write about. However, I think it is only fair to warn you that the book is also a bit graphic. There are scenes which maybe a tough read for some people. Nevertheless, this is just one of those books that you should definitely check out for yourself.

About the Book

• Title: A Sharia London
• Author: Vinay Kolhatkar
• Kindle Edition, 403 pages
• Published April 28th 2016 by Vinay Kolhatkar
• Source: NetGalley
• My Rating: 4.5 Stars

WWW-Wednesday# July 27th

This weekly feature is currently hosted by Sam @  Taking on a World of Words.

To take part all you need to do is answer the following questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

So here’s my 3 W’s for the week.

Recently Finished

I recently finished two books by Jack Jordan(NetGalley) and two other psychological thrillers from my TBR.

My Girl by Jack Jordan- This book was a five star rating for most readers but not for me. I do enjoy a good psychological thriller but this was way too dark for me. It was twisted but in a way that made it tough for me to read. However, with all the many wonderful reviews around, the story-line seemed to work for others readers but not for me.Here is my full review.

Anything for Her by Jack Jordan has everything that makes a good psychological thriller. It has deceit, stalkers, terrible secrets and a haunted family. It also has creepy robins, lots of them. You will understand what I mean by that when you read the story. Here is my review.

I really enjoyed reading After Anna by Alex Lake and The Girl from the Sea by Shalini Boland. I will post the reviews later on this week.

 

Currently Reading

This is different from anything that I have read in a while. It has religious extremists, the mafia and a lot of action. It is an interesting read so far though.

A Sharia London by Vinay Kolhatar

 

 

 

 

Reading Next

Someone must die by Sharon Potts and The Chosen Child by Linda Huber

So how about you, any interesting books that you have read lately? What are you reading now? What do you plan on reading next? Feel free to leave your WWW links in the comments section.

 

 

Book Review: Anything for Her by Jack Jordan

Synopsis from goodreads

Sometimes the past comes back to haunt you.

Louise Leighton’s life has fallen apart, all because of one fateful night. Her husband is an adulterer, her sister is his mistress, and soon, Louise will lose everything she owns. But she never imagined she would lose her daughter.

Eighteen-year-old Brooke Leighton is missing. It’s up to Louise and the Metropolitan Police to find her. Has Brooke run away? Or has she been taken against her will? And can Louise aid the investigation without mentioning the night where all of her troubles began?

If she mentions that night, she will incriminate her daughter for heinous crimes. But if she doesn’t, she may never find Brooke; and if she has been abducted, the person who took her may come for Louise, too.

 

Review

Anything for Her is the second book that I have read authored by Jack Jordan. The first book was My Girl. You can read my review here.

This book is fast paced with short chapters that are full of twists. The chapters end with cliffhangers that that will keep you turning the pages to see what the next chapter will reveal. The book also has multiple narrators. The main narrators are Louise and her daughter Brooke. However, along the story, other narrators are introduced to help build the narrative. There are some who are only featured in a chapter or two and a final narrator whose main story is told in form of a letter explaining all events that took place.

What I liked…

I liked the setting of this book and the eerie atmosphere throughout the story. For instance, the robins that appear on the cover also randomly appear all through the book. I kept wondering what they meant and was pleasantly surprised when this is finally explained at the end. The birds definitely add to the spookiness of the whole story. I also liked the cottage where Louise was during the most part of the story. It added to the creepiness of the narrative by introducing a secluded location where the protagonist was alone.

I also liked how the suspense was built. It was clear that Brooke and Louise had a secret and that something big happened on that ‘night’ when all their troubles started. Clues  to the secret were dropped throughout the narrative and I found myself trying to guess what the two women were hiding. I kept turning pages trying to figure it out, eager to learn about it.I just had to know what the secret was! The secret definitely helped build the tension in the story. It was also not easy to guess who the stalker was. This book definitely had some really good twists and surprises that kept me glued to the narrative until the last page.

The characterization was also done pretty well. I guess it’s becoming the norm to have flawed characters in all psychological thrillers. In this case, I disliked all characters. They were all terrible, well apart from Dominic who is just an innocent kid caught up in the drama. Everyone else was holding awful secrets revealing own despicable acts. However, the flawed characters helped add to the  intrigue of the story as it was interesting to unravel the mystery and establish why the characters were so flawed.

What I didn’t like…

I had one minor issue with this book. There are characters who I feel were a bit unnecessary perhaps because they were underdeveloped. One such character is Louise’s sister, Denise. I was also confused by another character whose role was unclear. This was Brooke’s stalker on the train, the man from ‘the night’. Once you read the events of the night and the identity of the antagonist then you will get my confusion about this man. However, I can’t reveal any more details about this because I don’t want to post spoilers.

Final Thoughts…

Anything for Her by Jack Jordan has everything that makes a good psychological thriller. It has deceit, stalkers, terrible secrets and a haunted family. It also has creepy robins, lots of them. You will understand what I mean by that when you read the story.

I recommend Anything for Her by Jack Jordan to all fans of psychological thrillers. This book is dark though not as dark as My Girl. However, it is  a fascinating read that will keep you guessing to the last page.

 

About the Book

• Title: Anything for Her
• Author: Jack Jordan
• Paperback, 370 pages
• Published May 31st 2016 by JJP (first published June 1st 2015)
• Source: The Publisher through NetGalley

Book Review: My Girl by Jack Jordan

Synopsis from goodreads

Paige Dawson: the mother of a murdered child and wife to a dead man.

She has nothing left to live for… until she finds her husband’s handgun hidden in their house.

Why did Ryan need a gun? What did he know about their daughter’s death?

Desperate for the truth, Paige begins to unearth her husband’s secrets.

But she has no idea who she is up against, or that her life isn’t hers to gamble – she belongs to me.

Review

This was quite a fast read. The narration is easy to follow and I was able to read the whole book in just one sitting. My Girl by Jack Jordan is narrated in three main sections. The main narrator is the protagonist, Paige. We start off the story from the time when she lost her husband, years after losing her daughter (as indicated in the blurb). We get to see Paige struggles  after the death of her loved ones. Her actions then are bizarre and downright destructive although it was easy to sympathize with her. At the same time, there was some mystery building in the background.

I really liked how Jack Jordan was able to do this. Paige is such a flawed character that her actions bring doubt in the story. I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t. This was definitely well done and that is one of the reasons why the first section of the book was my favorite part of the whole book.

There is a second narrator who is introduced in the second part. However, the identity of this narrator is part of the biggest twist in this book so I can’t really say who the narrator is. The level of deception in the narrative is revealed in this section.  The antagonist is also introduced here and this is where things became very uncomfortable for me. The final section sort of brought all characters together and wrapped things up. It contained the two main narrations by Paige and the second narrator.

My Girl by Jack Jordan is the kind of book that will appeal to many readers. The writing is superb. The descriptions are so vivid that it was easy for me to get drawn into the narrative. The pacing is also quite fast from the first page to the last one. In addition, it is one of those books that don’t leave readers with too many questions at the end.

Final Thoughts

Okay, so I always feel bad when a book has so many wonderful reviews but I just don’t like it as much. This one was a five star rating for most readers but not for me. I do enjoy a good psychological thriller but this was way too dark for me. It was twisted but in a way that made it tough for me to read. However, with all the many wonderful reviews around, the story-line seemed to work for others readers. So give it a try and see how you feel about it.

I have heard so many great things about the author so I am already on his second book. I am currently reading his first book, Anything for Her which so far is proving to be quite interesting.

A special thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

About the Book

• Title: My Girl
• Author: Jack Jordan
• Paperback, 240 pages
• Published July 4th 2016 by JJP

Friday Finds #July 22

Friday Finds is a meme currently hosted by Books and a Beat.  This is an opportunity to share the books that you have recently found and added to your TBR.

Here are my new Finds:

The Girl from the Sea by Shalini Boland

 Washed up on the beach, she can’t remember who she is. She can’t even remember her name. Turns out, she has an idyllic life – friends and family eager to fill in the blanks.

But why are they lying to her? What don’t they want her to remember?

When you don’t even know who you are, how do you know who to trust?

 

 

The Fire Child by S. K Tremayne

When Rachel marries dark, handsome David, everything seems to fall into place. Swept from single life in London to the beautiful Carnhallow House in Cornwall, she gains wealth, love, and an affectionate stepson, Jamie.

But then Jamie’s behaviour changes, and Rachel’s perfect life begins to unravel. He makes disturbing predictions, claiming to be haunted by the spectre of his late mother – David’s previous wife. Is this Jamie’s way of punishing Rachel, or is he far more traumatized than she thought?

As Rachel starts digging into the past, she begins to grow suspicious of her husband. Why is he so reluctant to discuss Jamie’s outbursts? And what exactly happened to cause his ex-wife’s untimely death, less than two years ago? As summer slips away and December looms, Rachel begins to fear there might be truth in Jamie’s words:

‘You will be dead by Christmas.’

 

Land of Careful Shadows by Suzzane Chazin

 A body is found in a reservoir fifty miles north of New York City. The victim is young, female and Hispanic. In her purse, the police find a photograph of a baby they believe is her daughter–a little girl they can’t identify. Or find. Where is the child? Is she still alive? And what is the meaning behind the disturbing note in the woman’s bag? “Go back to your country. You don’t belong here.”

Arriving at the scene is homicide detective Jimmy Vega, who spent the better part of his childhood in the area and still carries the scars. A Latino himself, Vega knows all too well how hard it can be for an outsider to fit into a close-knit place like Lake Holly. Even now, as a respected officer of the law, he has to watch his step in an investigation simmering with ethnic animosities and steeped in local gossip. Both challenged and intrigued by Adele Figueroa–a passionate defender of immigrants’ rights who reminds him uncomfortably of his own family’s struggles–Vega must rethink everything he believes to uncover long-buried truths about his community, his loved ones . . . and himself.

How about you? Did you add any books to your bookshelf this week? Have you read of my new finds? Let me know.

 Happy Friday!

Book Review: The Beauty of the End by Debbie Howells

Synopsis from goodreads

“I was fourteen when I fell in love with a goddess. . .”

So begins the testimony of Noah Calaway, an ex-lawyer with a sideline in armchair criminal psychology. Now living an aimless life in an inherited cottage in the English countryside, Noah is haunted by the memory of the beguiling young woman who left him at the altar sixteen years earlier. Then one day he receives a troubling phone call. April, the woman he once loved, lies in a coma, the victim of an apparent overdose–and the lead suspect in a brutal murder. Deep in his bones, Noah believes that April is innocent. Then again, he also believed they would spend the rest of their lives together.

While Noah searches for evidence that will clear April’s name, a teenager named Ella begins to sift through the secrets of her own painful family history. The same age as April was when Noah first met her, Ella harbors a revelation that could be the key to solving the murder. As the two stories converge, there are shocking consequences when at last, the truth emerges.

Or so everyone believes. . .

Review

A special thank you to Kensington and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story is really well paced. It has a nice flow to it and moves well. It is fast in the sense that a lot is happening in each chapter, however, it is also  well balanced. The voice of the narrator feels calming and enthralling even in the chaos. I felt drawn into the narrative from the start and was mesmerized by the narrator’s voice which is why I fell in love with the story right from the start.

The writing is beautiful. I got lost in the story and in Noah’s life. I love how the writer portrayed the relationship between Noah and April. For instance, I loved how in Noah’s eyes April was a goddess no matter what she did (this relationship reminded me of he notebook). The writing is quite convincing.

Noah is the main narrator in the story. He tells the story in two main timelines, the past and the present. His narrative starts off with April being in a comma and a murder suspect. As Noah rushes off to help April, he also narrates about their past. He explains about his relationship with her from the first time that he saw her twenty years ago. The narrative on the ups and downs of the relationship through the years helps provide a background to the current happenings.

The interesting bit is that there is a third narrator whose identity is not immediately revealed. In between Noah’s narrative, the second narrator’s story would come up mainly through sessions with a therapist. At first, this really nagged me and I found the narration annoying and interfering with Noah’s narrative. However, it soon became apparent that this was an important part of the story as this character is tied to the main narrative. One of the main twists in this book concerns this narrator and their relationship with the main characters. I admit that I didn’t see that coming. Through the story, I kept trying to guess the identity and role of this narrator but I was so wrong.

I loved the characterization in The Beauty of the End by Debbie Howells. Noah and April are so damaged, fighting their own demons but they are sympathetic characters and so it was easy for me to connect with them. Their flaws were endearing instead of being repulsive.

There are different themes in this story. There was love, abuse, murder, rape and deceit. It was hard to guess how everything would unravel. I really liked how the author built the suspense with wonderful twists along the way and then tied up everything at the end.

I enjoyed reading this book and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Beauty of the End by Debbie Howells. This book is perfect for readers of suspense novels. If you fancy a good love story with the right amount of twists, mystery and tragedy then this one is for you.

 

About the Book

Title: The Beauty of the End

Author: Debbie Howells

Hardcover, 320 pages

Expected publication: July 26th 2016 by Kensington

My Rating: 5 Stars!

ps: The two quotes used in this review were in the book.

WWW-Wednesday# July 20th

This meme is currently hosted by Sam @  Taking on a World of Words.

To take part all you need to do is answer the following questions:

• 
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

So here’s my 3 W’s for the week.

 

 

 

Recently Finished

I read three books this week and I finally got to watch Me Before You. I enjoyed the movie though I was a little irked by all that was left out from the book. I loved the casting though and I think it was a pretty decent movie. Now I can’t wait to watch The Girl in the Train later on this year. So here is what I recently finished reading:

The Stepmother by Claire Seeber

This book was a bit hard to review. I have seen numerous positive reviews of this book but I don’t think that this one was for me. You can read my review here.

Twisted by Hannah Jayne

This was another book that had quite an interesting synopsis but was a little bit predictable. Here is my full review.

The Beauty of the End by Debbie Howells

Okay, you can now bring out the confetti. We have a winner! My second 5 star ARC rating. This book is good. My review will be up tomorrow.

Currently Reading

 

My Girl by Jack Jordan

I just started reading this so I haven’t formed an opinion yet apart from the fact that I really hate a certain Dr. Abdullah from the first chapter.

 

 

 

Reading Next

Anything for Her by Jack Jordan

I will be reading my second book by Jack Jordan this week.

So how about you, any interesting books that you have read lately? What are you reading now? What do you plan on reading next? Feel free to leave your WWW links in the comments section.