Review: The Boy That Never Was

The Boy That Never Was by Karen Perry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What would you do, if one small decision you make, would change your whole life for the worst?

It's every parent's nightmare, that one little decision, the questions of, what if?

That's what Harry has to deal with one night, just a quick ten minute trip to recover some forgotten presents at a friends house, an earthquake and a choice that would leave him feeling guilty for years to come and a believe that his son is still alive.

Full of twists and turns which you don't see coming, 'The boy that never was' Is a novel that breaks your heart, tares it apart and then slowly pieces it back together again, only to rip it apart again. Karen Perry has written a story which draws you in to the nightmare of losing a child and living through guilt, both Harry and his wife Robin.

But can a boy which is believed dead be the same boy, five years later and a world away from the country where he was meant to of died in? And is Harry the only one hiding some guilty secret inside of him for the past five years?

The Boy That Never Was is a novel which explores all different levels of guilt, heartbreak and life. IT fills you with an emotion you probably didn't realize that you had inside of you. The book grips you tightly and makes you want to keep turning the pages until you have sat and finished the book in one go.

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Review: 101 Amazing Facts about Jack the Ripper

101 Amazing Facts about Jack the Ripper by Jack Goldstein
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was rather disappointed with this book, mainly because as many others have said, a lot of the 'facts' are already well known, a few new to myself and maybe to others too. But I was also disappointed because many of the 'amazing facts' seemed more of a statement than an actually fact. As well as the images included, a few of them are rather hard to read and understand, so I don't think they should've worried about including them within the booklet.

When I first brought the book online, I was also expecting a nice, thicker book that the 50 odd pages that was really the booklet. For the price I had paid, if I had known how small the book was, I wouldn't of brought it at all.
But at the end of the day I'm also glad for it because of the few facts that I didn't know at all.

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Review: When We Collided

When We Collided by Emery Lord
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*Goodreads giveaway*

Can you fall in love, when you're falling apart?

That is the main question, the answer that everyone wants to know, and yet dreads to find out. Dating is hard, being a teenager is hard and being and doing both when you're not fully yourself can be even harder again.
Yet Vivi somehow worms herself through life and in to Jonah's life, twisting herself around him and his siblings in one beautiful and nearly perfect summer in a beautiful little coastal town. Through every twist and turn of their adventure, we learn their stories, their lives and their losses.

At first, I struggled a little to get in to the book, mainly because it is written in the first person, a way I have come to loathe and not enjoy, often putting books down because of. But I wanted to press on and I am so glad I did because 'When we Collided' became one of the most beautiful books that I have ever read. Emery Lord has taking a important subject and twisted it in to a tale so loving and so kind that it does wonder towards being beautiful and respectful too. I give many Kudos to Lord for tackling such an hushed up subject of mental health, a lot of authors try and often or not, they end up twisting it all in the wrong way, making mental health sound like it's something which should be swept under the carpet and not spoken about.

I highly recommend that everyone reads this book, it's a novel of all times.

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Review: The Dry

The Dry by Jane Harper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Returning back to a town that held so many memories, isn't easy and sometimes, some memories are hard to let go off when you at looked at like a suspect twenty four seven. Aaron Falk returns home for the funeral of his childhood best friend and his family, returning home to the small town of Kiewarra, a place where tempers were running high and the ground was growing dryer and dryer as time ticked past two years for a rainfall.

Planning on only staying for a short time, get in and get out again, Falk finds himself being asked by Luke's parent's to look in to their deaths a little more, joining forces with the local cop, a newby almost himself they start searching more about their deaths, looking for clues off the book for anything they could find to prove that the killings were not done by the hand of Luke himself.

Battling the heat and the towns suspicions of him because of a 20-year old death of Ellie, a friend of Aaron's and Luke's as a teenager. Falk deals with threats and even criminal damage to his car during his time in his home town.

Filled with nothing but page turners and excitement, The Dry is one of those novels which leaves you asking 'whodunit' with ever page you read. The Dry leaves you wondering and waiting to find out the truth until the last few chapters, showing you that no matter how much you think of something that it can be wrong, despite all of the evidence pointing in one direction.
I give many praise towards Jane Harper for creating such a masterpiece with this book, it had me hooked from the very first page until the last and left me reeling from the truths which came up as Falk went through his journey to the very end.

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Review: At Night: A Guide for the Wakeful

At Night: A Guide for the Wakeful by Alex Quick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: Beneath the Skin

Beneath the Skin by Caroline England
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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First of all, I want to say that I won this book in one of Goodreads giveaways a while back and finally got around to reading it.

I have a few things that I like and dislike about the book really, but in a whole, the book was well written, each character thought out and described quite well, each of their stories were also well written as well and very thought out about.

But one thing I do dislike is how the blurb makes the book sound like it's going to be all about Antonia, of course, she is the main character, but with the way the author switches between all the characters, that main character kind of gets lost in amongest it and I felt like the Sophie had more time within the book than Antonia. Of course, at the end, Antonia's story does come out with everything which had happened and closes her chapter.

Another thing I found hard to swallow was the few endings which was left more as a cliff hanger than anything else. One was David, why did he kill himself? Two, whose baby was it really, Mike's or Sami's? And three, did Sophie ever tell Sami the truth about not being able to have a child?

But honestly, other than those couple of things, I rather enjoyed reading the novel. It was full of suspense and page turners, there was a few times when I couldn't even put the book down because I needed to know what had happened next.
It's a book I will be happy to keep on my bookshelves and to recommend to others if I was to ask for a recommendation. I give the author, Caroline England may kudos for creating a wonderful piece of work and I thank Harper Collins Publishers for sending me a copy and goodreads for picking me as a winner.

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