House of Silence by Sarah Barthel

About the book

Oak Park, Illinois, 1875. Isabelle Larkin s future like that of every young woman hinges upon her choice of husband. She delights her mother by becoming engaged to Gregory Gallagher, who is charismatic, politically ambitious, and publicly devoted. But Isabelle s visions of a happy, profitable match come to a halt when she witnesses her fiance commit a horrific crime and no one believes her.
Gregory denies all, and Isabelle s mother insists she marry as planned rather than drag them into scandal. Fearing for her life, Isabelle can think of only one escape: she feigns a mental breakdown that renders her mute, and is brought to Bellevue sanitarium. There she finds a friend in fellow patient Mary Todd Lincoln, committed after her husband s assassination.
In this unlikely refuge, the women become allies, even as Isabelle maintains a veneer of madness for her own protection. But sooner or later, she must reclaim her voice. And if she uses it to expose the truth, Isabelle risks far more than she could ever imagine.
Weaving together a thread of finely tuned suspense with a fascinating setting and real-life figures, Sarah Barthel’s debut is historical fiction at its most evocative and compelling.”

Review

House of Silence by Sarah Barthel is cross-genre between historical fiction and thriller. The story is about Isabelle, a young woman about to get married to a charming bachelor, Gregory. Her fiancé is the kind of man that all women wanted and everyone especially Isabelle’s mother believed that she couldn’t have found a better suitor. However, after the engagement, Isabelle witnesses Gregory commit a horrible crime. She is left confused and scared for her life and makes the decision to go to the sanitarium for her safety. To achieve this, she decides to go mute and convince everyone of her insanity.

This book is set in 1875 and I think that the author did a great job in portraying the time period. I liked the description of the clothing, the corsets and long skirts that swept the floor. The horses and carriages and social norms made me get lost in the 19th century and in the lives of the characters.  The importance of belonging to right social circles was also emphasized and some of the practices such as condemning women who lost their virginity before marriage were brought up in the book. What stood out even more is how issues such as mental illness were treated during that time. Being admitted to a sanitarium was enough to ruin a woman’s reputation and hence  destroy her whole life. This illustrates just how brave Isabelle was to decide to go to the sanitarium despite the risks.

What I really liked……

I liked the Isabelle as the main character. She was so strong-willed. There were dire ramifications to her actions but she still went through with her charade of insanity to avoid getting married. She also went after Gregory despite the dangers. Women in the book are portrayed as being quite submissive but not this heroine. Her best friend, Lucy, was another endearing character especially due to her defiance to her parents,the arranged marriage and also her support of Isabelle who everyone else was shunning. Other notable characters included, Samuel and Mrs. Lincoln.

Despite Gregory being the obvious villain in the story, the most unlikable character was Isabelle’s mother. The woman was so concerned with reputation and making the right connections in life that she put everyone else ahead of her daughter.  This conflict added to the tension in the story but still, that woman was despicable! However, I was intrigued by this angle and kept wondering how the relationship between mother and daughter would survive.

I really liked how the author mixed reality with fiction in this book. Bellevue sanitarium in Batavia, where Isabelle was admitted, actually existed at that time. The proprietors of the place are also characters in this book. Mrs. Lincoln who is also a key support character in the book spent time in the sanitarium during that period.

I read a little about the sanitarium and found this image online. Bellevue and Mrs. Lincoln are main features in this book

What I didn’t like so much….

The book has some interesting support characters including Mary Lincoln. I just wish we saw more them at the sanitarium. They were only mentioned briefly through their interactions with Isabelle. I wanted to know more about them and the conditions that brought them to Bellevue. I do understand that this is Isabelle’s story but those women really did seem interesting so it would have been nice to have their characters developed just a little bit more.

Finally

House of Silence by Sarah Barthel is a well-paced book that is quite easy to read. There are a number of twists as Isabelle’s fate hanged precariously. This added to the mystery and tension in the story. The issue of the importance of a woman’s reputation was at the background of this narrative and I found it quite interesting especially given the time period. The book has a great mix of characters with some being likeable and others quite unlikable like Isabelle’s mother but most of them were definitely memorable. I recommend this book to fans of historical fiction and mystery novels.

About the book

• Title: House of Silence
• Author: Sarah Bathel
• Paperback, 300 pages
• Expected publication: December 27th 2016 by Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Rating: 4.5 stars
• Cover: I really liked it!
• ARC Source: Publisher through NetGalley

From Africa with Love: African Literature

I grew up reading African literature books. I read so many books by African authors throughout high school and Uni as part of  assigned reading and also out of my own interest. Most of these books were by Nigerian authors such as the legendary Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka. My favorite Kenyan author is Ngugi Wa Thiong’o. What I love about Ngugi’s books is that they gave me an insight into my culture. A culture that is gradually getting lost due to globalization and effects of westernization.Traces of the cultures are now found mainly in the pages of books and museums.

 

My ethnic tribe is called Kikuyu. This is a photo of a Kikuyu woman taken in 1936 in the traditional attire. With the passage of time and westernization, this attire is now worn as a costume or modified versions of it are worn for occasions such as traditional weddings.

 

 

 

Books by African authors that I have recently added to my TBR:

The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah

(Click on title to read my review)

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?

 

The Secret Lives of Baba Segis Wives by Lola Shoneyin

(Click on title to read my review)

Meet Baba Segi . . .A plump, vain, and prosperous middle-aged man of robust appetites, Baba Segi is the patriarch of a large household that includes a quartet of wives and seven children. But his desire to possess more just might be his undoing.

And his wives . . .Iya Segi—the bride of Baba Segi’s youth, a powerful, vindictive woman who will stop at nothing to protect her favored position as ruler of her husband’s home.ya Tope—Baba Segi’s second wife, a shy, timid woman whose decency and lust for life are overshadowed by fear.Iya Femi—the third wife, a scheming woman with crimson lips and expensive tastes who is determined to attain all that she desires, no matter what the cost. Bolanle—Babi Segi’s fourth and youngest wife, an educated woman wise to life’s misfortunes who inspires jealousy in her fellow wives . . . and who harbors a secret that will expose shocking truths about them all

 

 The Fishermen by Obioma Chigozie

(Click on title to read my review)

In a Nigerian town in the mid 1990’s, four brothers encounter a madman whose mystic prophecy of violence threatens the core of their close-knit family. Told from the point of view of nine year old Benjamin, the youngest of four brothers, The Fishermen is the story of an unforgettable childhood in 1990s Nigeria, in the small town of Akure. When their strict father has to travel to a distant city for work, the brothers take advantage of his extended absence to skip school and go fishing. At the ominous, forbidden nearby river, they meet a dangerous local madman who persuades the oldest of the boys that he is destined to be killed by one of his siblings. What happens next is an almost mythic event whose impact-both tragic and redemptive-will transcend the lives and imaginations of its characters and its readers. Dazzling and viscerally powerful, The Fishermen never leaves Akure but the story it tells has enormous universal appeal. Seen through the prism of one family’s destiny, this is an essential novel about Africa with all of its contradictions—economic, political, and religious—and the epic beauty of its own culture. With this bold debut, Chigozie Obioma emerges as one of the most original new voices of modern African literature, echoing its older generation’s masterful storytelling with a contemporary fearlessness and purpose.

 

Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John

In far northwestern Nigeria, Dantala lives among a gang of street boys who sleep under a kuka tree. During the election, the boys are paid by the Small Party to cause trouble. When their attempt to burn down the opposition’s local headquarters ends in disaster, Dantala must run for his life, leaving his best friend behind. He makes his way to a mosque that provides him with food, shelter, and guidance. With his quick aptitude and modest nature, Dantala becomes a favored apprentice to the mosque’s sheikh. Before long, he is faced with a terrible conflict of loyalties, as one of the sheikh’s closest advisors begins to raise his own radical movement. When bloodshed erupts in the city around him, Dantala must decide what kind of Muslim—and what kind of man—he wants to be. Told in Dantala’s naïve, searching voice, this astonishing debut explores the ways in which young men are seduced by religious fundamentalism and violence.

 

We need new names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Darling is only ten years old, and yet she must navigate a fragile and violent world. In Zimbabwe, Darling and her friends steal guavas, try to get the baby out of young Chipo’s belly, and grasp at memories of Before. Before their homes were destroyed by paramilitary policemen, before the school closed, before the fathers left for dangerous jobs abroad. But Darling has a chance to escape: she has an aunt in America. She travels to this new land in search of America’s famous abundance only to find that her options as an immigrant are perilously few. NoViolet Bulawayo’s debut calls to mind the great storytellers of displacement and arrival who have come before her-from Junot Diaz to Zadie Smith to J.M. Coetzee-while she tells a vivid, raw story all her own.

 

Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future.

However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.

 

My favourite quote on Africa and African Literature:

“There are as many Africas as there are books about Africa — and as many books about it as you could read in a leisurely lifetime. Whoever writes a new one can afford a certain complacency in the knowledge that his is a new picture agreeing with no one else’s, but likely to be haugthily disagreed with by all those who believed in some other Africa. … Being thus all things to all authors, it follows, I suppose, that Africa must be all things to all readers.

Africa is mystic; it is wild; it is a sweltering inferno; it is a photographer’s paradise, a hunter’s Valhalla, an escapist’s Utopia. It is what you will, and it withstands all interpretations. It is the last vestige of a dead world or the cradle of a shiny new one. To a lot of people, as to myself, it is just ‘home.”
― Beryl Markham, West with the Night

Book Review: The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah

Blurb

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?

In The Book of Memory, Petina Gappah has created a uniquely slippery narrator: forthright, acerbically funny, and with a complicated relationship to the truth. Moving between the townships of the poor and the suburbs of the rich, and between the past and the present, Gappah weaves a compelling tale of love, obsession, the relentlessness of fate, and the treachery of memory.

Review

The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah tells the story of Memory who is thethe main character. One of the things that intrigued me about this book is the fact that the main character was an albino. I haven’t come across many books that feature albinos. Actually, Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code is the only one that I have read that featured an albino who also happened to be the villain in the story.

Memory’s story is quite different though. There is a lot of insight provided about albinos and how they are perceived by society. It mentions the fact that they don’t really fit in with the black or white people. The character describes the open stares and mockery especially from other kids. She also talks about the superstitions about albinos although this is described with a touch of humor. For instance; there is a part where she decides to scare an inmate by just unflinchingly staring at her at mealtimes. The fact that people don’t know how to react around albinos played out in Memory’s favour at times in the jail. Needless to say, the main character was the best part for me in this book. I really liked Memory, sympathized with her and went through  heartbreaks as she narrated about her ordeal.

“When we talk of fate, when we talk of a fatalistic vision of human experience, what we mean is that the most important forces that shape human lives are out of human control.”
― Petina Gappah, The Book of Memory

I also liked the setting of the book. This book is set in Zimbabwe and I have never read any books set there. I only know of the country based on the news reports. I liked the descriptions of the land and the people. I was also curious about the names. Most of the characters in this book have names based on attributes and just random nouns like Memory, Loveness, Evernice, Princess, Synodia…there were so many such names. I wasn’t sure if that was just for the book or if it’s a cultural thing but it was interesting nevertheless.

There are a number of themes that were covered in this book. There was the issue of race and homosexuality. Being a Kenyan, I could relate with the narration on these issue especially on the matter of homosexuality. Different countries have different attitudes towards such issues and although Kenya is a bit more accepting, there is still a lot of bias on the issue of sexuality. Albinism is also a major theme in this book. Memory doesn’t only talk about herself but also others like her. She also mentions the general treatment of albinos all over the world and also in literature where they are mostly portrayed as being odd due to their appearance hence end up being the villains. Another theme that comes up is mental illness. I think the attitude of a number(not all, of course)Africans about mental illness, the misconceptions, superstitions all come out clearly. This reminded me of how much awareness needs to be done concerning the issue in our continent. Just recently, I heard someone say that PTSD is not an African condition. This was during a discussion concerning counseling for victims of a terrorist attack whereby the argument was that it was unnecessary. It was hard to explain how real PTSD but the other party was so adamant that it is ‘un-African’. Anyway, I digress.

The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah is not a fast-paced book. It is slow but quite interesting. It shifts between the present and past times flawlessly. I loved how well written it was. Everything came alive through the pages and I found myself so emotionally involved in the story. I definitely recommend this book to everyone.

 

TTT : Ten Books Every Memoir Lover Should Read

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish. Each week, bloggers get a topic which entails giving a list of ten things based on the topic.

Ten Books Every Memoir Lover Should Read

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Child Soldier by Ishmael Beah is about Ishmael’s experiences as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. It is shocking but inspiring. Definitely one of the most powerful memoirs that I have ever read.

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt- One of my favorite memoirs. The book is based on Frank McCourt’s life in Ireland.I have never read anything more devastating like this narrative. Angela’s struggles were unimaginable and the poverty described in the book was heartbreaking. The narrative by young Frank is really good though. You can read my review here.

Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barrack Obama-An inspiring book by/about a great man.You can read my review here.

I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou- Inspiring but  heartbreaking. The things that Maya went through especially at age 8 were quite overwhelming.

I am Nujood, Age 10 years and Divorced by Nujood Ali and Delphine Minoui- A child’s bride story. A sad book but Nujood’s bravery was motivating.You can read my review here.

Infidel by Ayaan Hassan Hirsi- This memoir was quite controversial. I have never read anything like it. There were parts of the book that I hated especially the parts that involved the author’s scathing remarks about Kenya. She was a refugee here and I didn’t understand her hatred for the country that offered her refuge from the war in Somali. She didn’t just hate this country, she made all kinds of hate remarks about Kenyans(apparently,we stink and so does our food lol) However, her remarks about Kenya were nothing compared to her remarks about her former religion, Islam. That is what got her running for her life.  I don’t even know how to describe Ayaan. Let us just say, she went through a tough time after the release of this memoir. This is the kind of memoir that everyone should read for themselves and see how they feel about it.

Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer- This is a very heartbreaking story about a boy who was abused by his own mother.You can read my review here.

Left to Tell by Immaculée IIibagiza- An inspiring book about the Rwandan genocide and one woman’s journey.You can read my review here.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert- I loved this book. I wish I could travel like Elizabeth but I guess only a few people can be that lucky.

Dreams in a time of war by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o- A beautiful memoir about pre-colonial Kenya

I also have the following memoirs on my TBR. I have heard good things about them.

 

Have you read any of the memoirs on my list? Do you think you that will add any of them to your TBR list? Share your TTT links so I can read your posts too and please let me know in case you know of any other wonderful memoirs that I should read.

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Book Review: The Sister by Louise Jensen @littlebookcafe @Fab_fiction @thecrimevault @bookouture

Exciting News!

Today is the day that Louise Jensen’s The Sister is being published in paperback.  It is now out in shops and supermarkets. The Sister will be available in Asda, Sainsbury’s and WH Smith from 24th and in Tesco from September 7th.

I posted my review of The Sister by Louise Jensen a year ago. It was my third ARC and the first one that I gave a 5 stars rating.

I decided to share my review just as it was when I published it a year ago. So here goes…

Synopsis (from goodreads)

Grace hasn’t been the same since the death of her best friend Charlie. She is haunted by Charlie’s words, the last time she saw her, and in a bid for answers, opens an old memory box of Charlie’s. It soon becomes clear there was a lot she didn’t know about her best friend.

When Grace starts a campaign to find Charlie’s father, Anna, a girl claiming to be Charlie’s sister steps forward. For Grace, finding Anna is like finding a new family, and soon Anna has made herself very comfortable in Grace and boyfriend Dan’s home.

But something isn’t right. Things disappear, Dan’s acting strangely and Grace is sure that someone is following her. Is it all in Grace’s mind? Or as she gets closer to discovering the truth about both Charlie and Anna, is Grace in terrible danger?

There was nothing she could have done to save Charlie …or was there?

Review (no spoilers)

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy of this book.

I have read and reviewed three books so far from NetGalley but this one has to be the best one yet. It is the first ARC that I have given a rating of five stars.

I really liked the balanced,easy pace of this book. I was able to get into the story from the first page. The writing and imagery was also masterfully done. The author effortlessly takes readers right into the middle of the story. The Sister by Louise Jensen is narrated in two main timelines labelled as ‘then’ and ‘now’ and both timelines are narrated in Grace’s voice.

The then tells about Charlie, Dan and Grace’s background and goes all the way up to Grace’s eighteenth birthday when some major events took place. The now takes place years later and start after Charlie’s death. The final chapters focus more on the ‘now’. The two timelines help tie up everything together and made the story more exciting. It was like fitting pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together to get the full picture.

As for the characters, I sympathized with Grace at times. Other times, I wanted to shake to wake her up. She comes off as a really weak character especially at the beginning. However, my thoughts about her changed as the story moved forward and I started to empathize with her. I liked Charlie’s character too. She was portrayed as being strong, loyal,full of life.Basically, the kind of girl who makes the perfect best-friend. I also liked some of the other characters especially Grace’s grandparents, they were so cool and laid-back, just so awesome and supportive.

The Sister by Louise Jensen book is so suspenseful that it kept me turning pages to the end. There are new revelations that occur in each chapter. Events that will keep you wondering what else could possibly go wrong for the protagonist. I love a good suspenseful novel with  drama and this one definitely delivered.

I liked the fact that I wasn’t able to guess how the story would unravel. I thought I knew Charlie’s secret but I was proved wrong. I also thought I had figured out Grace’s first stalker but again I was wrong. Again, I also tried to guess the secret involving Grace’s parents at the start, let us just say, I was wrong each time.Even when I finally managed to figure out the person behind things going wrong for Grace in the now, again another twist occurred that threw everything into a new direction.

This book definitely took me on a roller-coaster ride. It is not your typical whodunit story; it’s the kind of story that will keep you trying to figure out why things were happening as opposed to who is doing them.

Final Thoughts…

I recommend The Sister by Louise Jensen to all fans of psychological thrillers. It’s a story about secrets, deception and lost friendships all masterfully interspersed with suspense that will keep you at the edge of your seat. Seriously, if you like psychological thrillers then you should get this book. I can’t wait to read the next book by Louise Jensen

About the book

• Title: The Sister
• Author: Louise Jensen
• Kindle: 307 pages and 291 on Aldiko
• Published July 7th 2016 by Bookouture
• My Rating: 5 stars

 

 

 

 

 

ARC Review: Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis

Blurb

A literary page-turner about a beloved college professor accused of murdering his entire family, and one small-town cop’s dangerous search for answers.

Thomas Huston, a beloved professor and bestselling author, is something of a local hero in the small Pennsylvania college town where he lives and teaches. So when Huston’s wife and children are found brutally murdered in their home, the community reacts with shock and anger. Huston has also mysteriously disappeared, and suddenly, the town celebrity is suspect number one.

Sergeant Ryan DeMarco has secrets of his own, but he can’t believe that a man he admired, a man he had considered a friend, could be capable of such a crime. Hoping to glean clues about Huston’s mind-set, DeMarco delves into the professor’s notes on his novel-in-progress. Soon, DeMarco doesn’t know who to trust—and the more he uncovers about Huston’s secret life, the more treacherous his search becomes.

Review

Two Days Gone b Randall Silvis is a about a man on the run. This man is suspected of having killed his whole family and then taking off. On the other hand, Sergeant DeMarco is the detective on the case who is more interested in this particular case especially because he knows the man. Based on their interaction, he has doubts about the guilt of the man. In addition, he also wants to find him before anybody does in an effort to keep him safe.

The story is narrated in these two main perspectives. Sergeant Demarco gives the perspective of the investigation. It was interesting to watch him put the pieces together as he got clues to solve the case. The second narration is by Huston. It is clear to see his desperation and struggle while on the run.The two protagonists both have very complex lives. They are both suffering from loss that threatens to overwhelm them. Sergeant DeMarco is haunted by a loss in his family that broke his marriage. It was  sad reading about his anguish over his wife and the turn that both their lives have taken. The author created two complex yet very sympathetic characters.

The book has quite a number of twists. Huston is a writer who was working on his latest novel before the murder of his family.  I found myself trying to figure out what was fact and what was fiction. I also liked the fact that his book was inspired by the classic Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. In addition, finding the actual book and then trying to link fictitious characters to the real ones is a struggle in itself for the detectives.

I recommend  Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis  to fans of police procedural and thrillers. It is well-paced with enough suspense to keep you guessing to the end. I kept trying to guess whether Houston committed the murders and if so, why. If it want Houston then who was it and why? The answers were not obvious hence making this book suspenseful to the last page.

About the Book

• Date Read: September 20^th 2016
• Publication date: January 17^th 2017 by Sourcebooks Landmark
• Paperback, 400 pages

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Friday Finds #November 18th

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

 I added three books to my TBR this week.

 

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

 California’s gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.

Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.

Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything, Michael obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw.

But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael does … the One who will never let her go.

 

I almost Forgot about you by Terry McMillan

 In I Almost Forgot About You, Dr. Georgia Young’s wonderful life–great friends, family, and successful career–aren’t enough to keep her from feeling stuck and restless. When she decides to make some major changes in her life, quitting her job as an optometrist, and moving house, she finds herself on a wild journey that may or may not include a second chance at love. Like Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, I Almost Forgot About You will show legions of readers what can happen when you face your fears, take a chance, and open yourself up to life, love, and the possibility of a new direction

 

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

 In this deeply suspenseful and irresistibly unnerving debut novel, a man and his girlfriend are on their way to a secluded farm. When the two take an unexpected detour, she is left stranded in a deserted high school, wondering if there is any escape at all. What follows is a twisted unraveling that will haunt you long after the last page is turned.

In this smart, suspenseful, and intense literary thriller, debut novelist Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Reminiscent of Jose Saramago’s early work, Michel Faber’s cult classic Under the Skin, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is an edgy, haunting debut. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, this novel pulls you in from the very first page…and never lets you go

So those are my newest books. 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!

 

 

ARC Review: Pretty Wicked by Kelly Charron

Synopsis from goodreads

The daughter of a local police detective, fifteen-year-old Ryann has spent most of her life studying how to pull off the most gruesome murders her small Colorado town has ever seen.

But killing is only part of it. Ryann enjoys being the reason the cops are frenzied. The one who makes the neighbors lock their doors and windows on a hot summer’s day. The one everyone fears but no one suspects.

Carving out her own murderous legacy proves harder than she predicted. Mistakes start adding up. And with the police getting closer, and her own father becoming suspicious, Ryann has to prove once and for all that she’s smarter than anyone else—or she’ll pay the ultimate price.

 

Review

I read two reviews about this book before I decided to get it from NetGalley. What really grabbed my interest is the fact that Pretty Wicked by Kelly Charron is narrated from the serial killer’s point of view. It reminded me a lot of You and Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes that have the same kind of narration. As reader’s we get to see things from Ryann’s perspective. This POV explains her reasons for the murders. It is both chilling and intriguing to get lost in such a twisted mind and see things her way.

There are a few chapters in the book which give an alternative POV. One of the detectives, Estevez is onto Ryann. Estevez is not only investigating the murders but also happens to be partners with Ryann’s dad. His chapters come later in the book when the suspicions surrounding Ryann start.

The story is pretty straight forward because it is obvious who the killer is. The motives are also sort of spelled out in the blurb; she wanted to commit the perfect murders. However, this doesn’t make the story predictable or boring. It was still quite interesting to read about how she executed each kill and how she picked the victims. The fact that the blurb mentions that she got careless made it a bit obvious that she would get caught but I found myself glued to the story to find out how it would all go down.

I also liked how the story is narrated in such a way that the readers are in the know but the other characters aren’t. Watching Ryann interact with other people who didn’t know that other side of her was quite remarkable. It reminded me of Dexter and how he used to commit murders and then join his family for dinner and go to work at the police department where his crimes were being investigated. Ryann is cold and calculating. She enjoys each kill and the devastation that occurs with each one.

Ryann as a main character was likeable despite her twisted crimes. The fact that the story is narrated from her point of view makes it easy to connect with her and sort of get her reasons behind the murders. I found myself rooting for her especially in the first chapters. However, towards the end, I started to dislike her smugness. I found it annoying. There is also a particular case that involved a fire that also got to me. This made me start wishing that she would get outsmarted and caught. She kept making so many mistakes so I just knew that it would happen. The tension was still so think through this chapters as she got close to her end.

“Some Killers are Made. Some Killers are Born.”

The book mentions a number of infamous serial killers though history that Ryann looks up to. There are mentions of Bundy, Cindy Collier and Shirley Wolf, Gary  and Jack the Ripper. There is also a mention of Mary Bell, one of the youngest serial killers who was eleven years old at the time of her murders. Ryann looks up to these killers and tries to be like them. If you read Bell’s case, she killed a little boy and then went to the family to taunt them even asking if she can see the body in the coffin. One of Ryann’s first kills sort of reminded me of this case when she tried to put herself in a position to witness the grief of her victim’s loved ones. Kelly Charron’s profile on goodreads describes her as a True Crime fan so it was great to see how this was incorporated into the story. The book also makes a reference to Criminal Minds which is one of my favorite shows. It was nice to see how this was included and how the show had turned some of the young characters into BAU specialists.

Pretty Wicked by Kelly Charron is a dark, twisted thriller. It is described as YA although it is quite dark hence seems more suitable for a  mature audience or at least teens over the age of sixteen. If you like thrillers then this one is for you. However, do keep in mind that it is narrated in a YA voice so it is a bit different from the usual adult thrillers. Ryann is not like Dexter or Joe Carol although she is still meticulous and cold just like them. The fact that she is young, intelligent,seemingly adorable  cheerleader by day  but  killer by night makes her creepier than other serial killers.  Nevertheless, this is a wonderful, very dark, suspenseful read. I can’t wait for the second book in the series, Wicked Fallout.

Thank you to Dark Arts  and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange of a honest review.

Title: Pretty Wicked
Author: Kelly Charron
Publisher: Dark Arts
Publication: September 30, 2016
Genre: YA, Thriller
Format: eARC
Pages: 300

About Kelly Charron

Kelly Charron is the author of YA and adult horror, psychological thrillers and urban fantasy novels. All with gritty, murderous inclinations and some moderate amounts of humor. She spends far too much time consuming true crime television (and chocolate) while trying to decide if yes, it was the husband, with the wrench, in the library. She lives with her husband and cat, Moo Moo, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Friday Finds #September 30th

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

 I added four books to my bookshelf this week. They are all from NetGalley.

Stay With me by Ayobami Adebayo

 ‘There are things even love can’t do… If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But even when it’s in a thousand pieces around your feet, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer love…’

Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything – arduous pilgrimages, medical consultations, dances with prophets, appeals to God. But when her in-laws insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear. It will lead to jealousy, betrayal and despair.

Unravelling against the social and political turbulence of 80s Nigeria, Stay With Me sings with the voices, colours, joys and fears of its surroundings. Ayobami Adebayo weaves a devastating story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the wretchedness of grief, and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood. It is a tale about our desperate attempts to save ourselves and those we love from heartbreak.

I was super excited to find this one on NetGalley. It is my first African Literature from the site and I really like the sound of it.

 

Miracle on 5^th Avenue by Sarah Morgan

 It will take a Christmas miracle for two very different souls to find each other in this perfectly festive fairy tale of New York!

Hopeless romantic Eva Jordan loves everything about Christmas. She might be spending the holidays alone this year, but when she’s given an opportunity to house-sit a spectacular penthouse on Fifth Avenue, she leaps at the chance. What better place to celebrate than in snow-kissed Manhattan? What she didn’t expect was to find the penthouse still occupied by its gorgeous—and mysterious—owner.

Bestselling crime writer Lucas Blade is having the nightmare before Christmas. With a deadline and the anniversary of his wife’s death looming, he’s isolated himself in his penthouse with only his grief for company. He wants no interruptions, no decorations and he certainly doesn’t appreciate being distracted by his beautiful, bubbly new housekeeper. But when the blizzard of the century leaves Eva snowbound in his apartment, Lucas starts to open up to the magic she brings…This Christmas, is Lucas finally ready to trust that happily-ever-afters do exist?

I decided to get something different this time and went for a Christmas romance.

 

Pretty Wicked by Kelly Charron

The daughter of a local police detective, fifteen-year-old Ryann has spent most of her life studying how to pull off the most gruesome murders her small Colorado town has ever seen.

But killing is only part of it. Ryann enjoys being the reason the cops are frenzied. The one who makes the neighbors lock their doors and windows on a hot summer’s day. The one everyone fears but no one suspects.

Carving out her own murderous legacy proves harder than she predicted. Mistakes start adding up. And with the police getting closer, and her own father becoming suspicious, Ryann has to prove once and for all that she’s smarter than anyone else—or she’ll pay the ultimate price.

I read reviews of this book written by Kim @ By Hook or by Book and Lauren’s Page Turner and I just had to request this book on NetGalley. Thankfully, I got approved. Thanks ladies for the recommendation!

 

And now, drum-roll please…..Robert Bryndza’s latest book is now available on NetGalley. I saw it yesterday and immediately requested it. Seriously, I didn’t even read the blurb at that time. Luckily, the approval email came in just a few minutes later. I really enjoyed The Girl in the Ice and The Night Stalker .Dark Water by Robert Bryndza will be published on October 20th.

Beneath the water the body sank rapidly. She would lie still and undisturbed for many years but above her on dry land, the nightmare was just beginning.

When Detective Erika Foster receives a tip-off that key evidence for a major narcotics case was stashed in a disused quarry on the outskirts of London, she orders for it to be searched. From the thick sludge the drugs are recovered, but so is the skeleton of a young child.

The remains are quickly identified as seven-year-old Jessica Collins. The missing girl who made headline news twenty-six years ago.

As Erika tries to piece together new evidence with the old, she must dig deeper and find out more about the fractured Collins family and the original detective, Amanda Baker. A woman plagued by her failure to find Jessica. Erika soon realises this is going to be one of the most complex and demanding cases she has ever taken on.

Is the suspect someone close to home? Someone is keeping secrets. Someone who doesn’t want this case solved. And they’ll do anything to stop Erika from finding the truth.

From the million-copy bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice and The Night Stalker, comes the third heart-stopping book in the Detective Erika Foster series.

Have you read these books yet?Have you read the other two books by Robert Bryndza in the Detective Erika Foster series?And have you added any books to your bookshelf this week? Let me know.

Happy Friday!

 

 

Diversity Spotlight Thursday# September 29

Diversity Spotlight Thursday is a weekly feature hosted by Aimal at Bookshelves and Paperbacks. Please click on this link to get more details about the feature.

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

1. A diverse book you have read and enjoyed
2. A diverse book that has already been released but you have not read
3. A diverse book that has not yet been released

 

A Book I Have Read

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaleed Hosseini

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them—in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul(Afghanistan)—they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation.

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. I really like Khaleed Hosseini and have read all his books. The Kite Runner and And the Mountains Echoed are both pretty good but A Thousand Splendid Suns is my favorite of the three.

 

A Book on my TBR

The Lovers: Romeo and Juliet in Afghanistan by Rod Norland

Zakia and Ali were from different tribes, but they grew up on neighboring farms in the hinterlands of Afghanistan. By the time they were young teenagers, Zakia, strikingly beautiful and fiercely opinionated, and Ali, shy and tender, had fallen in love. Defying their families, sectarian differences, cultural conventions, and Afghan civil and Islamic law, they ran away together only to live under constant threat from Zakia’s large and vengeful family, who have vowed to kill her to restore the family’s honor. They are still in hiding.

I have had this memoir for a while now. I hope to read it sometime soon.

 

 A Book that has not yet been released

Stay with me by Ayobami Adebayo

‘There are things even love can’t do… If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But even when it’s in a thousand pieces around your feet, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer love…’

Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. It is all her husband wants, all her mother-in-law wants, and she has tried everything – arduous pilgrimages, medical consultations, dances with prophets, appeals to God. But when her in-laws insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear. It will lead to jealousy, betrayal and despair.

Unravelling against the social and political turbulence of 80s Nigeria, Stay With Me sings with the voices, colours, joys and fears of its surroundings. Ayobami Adebayo weaves a devastating story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the wretchedness of grief, and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood. It is a tale about our desperate attempts to save ourselves and those we love from heartbreak.

Hardcover, 304 pages

Expected publication: March 2nd 2017 by Canongate

 I received this book from NetGalley and I can’t wait to read it.I just know that I will like this book!

Exciting News: I wrote about Trevor Noah’s Memoir: Born a Crime on my post last week on Thursday. I didn’t think that I would get the book and it took three weeks before I got feedback.However, I am happy to say that I got approved last night!

Have you read any of these books? Which other books would you recommend that I add to my TBR. If you participated in this weekly feature, please leave your link in the comments section and I will visit your post.