What You Did by Claire McGowan // BOOK REVIEW

Book: What You Did

Author: Claire McGowan

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Adult

Synopsis: A vicious assault. A devastating accusation. Who should she trust, her husband or her best friend?

It was supposed to be the perfect reunion: six university friends together again after twenty years. Host Ali finally has the life she always wanted, a career she can be proud of and a wonderful family with her college boyfriend, now husband. But that night her best friend makes an accusation so shocking that nothing will ever be the same again.

When Karen staggers in from the garden, bleeding and traumatised, she claims that she has been assaulted—by Ali’s husband, Mike. Ali must make a split-second decision: who should she believe? Her horrified husband, or her best friend? With Mike offering a very different version of events, Ali knows one of them is lying—but which? And why?

When the ensuing chaos forces her to re-examine the golden era the group shared at university, Ali realises there are darker memories too. Memories that have lain dormant for decades. Memories someone would kill to protect.

My Thoughts

This review has been pending for so long. I've finished reading this book a couple of months ago but I only felt the need to review this because I want to give reviews to the books I read starting August last year.

I was so mad at this book. I was so mad at all the characters here especially with Ali. Ali, a supposed feminist who fights for women's rights, who hates rape. I know it's easier said than done especially if it's your husband who's involved and you can't think straight. But her friend, Karen, is a rape victim and she doesn't wanna believe that because it's her husband who's the suspect? She's like invalidating what happened to Karen because (SPOILER) her husband and Karen has an affair?

This story is messed up. I can barely remember details so that's it for now.

My Verdict

Not worth it. Don't bother. The plot may be intriguing but meh.

MY RATING

★☆☆☆☆

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides // BOOK REVIEW + FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS

“Remember, love that doesn't include honesty doesn't deserve to be called love.”

SPOILER ALERT

Book: The Silent Patient

Author: Alex Michaelides

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Adult

Synopsis: Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him...

What I like about it…

 

It frustrates the hell out of me and I like it. I kept figuring out what happened to Alicia but I just can’t crack it. When Alicia started talking about what happened that night and Theo said she’s lying, I then thought, “Damn it. Alicia is really crazy. She’s lying and she’s unreliable.” I mean, most of the books I’ve read in this genre (the girls anywhere particularly) always make the female leads have some illness, make them unreliable by being a drunkard, divorced with husbands but in the end what they see is what they see and they’re always right and not just hallucinating, they don’t lie… they’re honest. But here, Alicia is really crazy. Or was crazy. There was a scene where they were smoking in the courtyard and she’s telling Theo everything but then she suddenly turned and walked back inside and I was like, “Alicia what now? Talk cos there are few pages left of this book.” But you know it was really good because it kept me at the edge of my seat. Forget the plot holes because there are loads of it. The anticipation and mystery and thrill blinded me. It was oh-so good.

 

That night…

 

Damn I like it. I love it, actually. I love it that Alicia did it and not some crazy twist that she didn’t do it. It was very painful for Alicia to be sentenced to death, again, by the love of her life. She was blindsided and I am too (with this story). I have no right to tell who should die or who shouldn’t but since it’s fiction I’ll be brave to say that the cheater husband deserved it. She shot him in the face, atta girl!

 

Questions 

• Why did Alicia let Theo read the diary if she recognized him?

• Why did Theo want Alicia to start talking even though Alicia going back to normal will lead to a possibility that she might recognize and expose him?

• There was a part where Yuri told Theo that Jean-Felix was in the waiting room of the Grove and when Theo went there, he was gone. What was he doing there?

• What does Jean-Felix mean when he told Alicia, “You need to be careful. You’re way too trusting. The people around you… you trust them. Don’t. Don’t trust them.” Does this mean he knows something about Gabriel? No conclusion.

• Also with Max, there was no conclusion whatsoever. Like, why did Theo think that he’s dangerous? And why did Tanya seemed so scared of him? And in the end he was the one so sad and so heartbroken of Alicia dying. I mean of course he was sad because he loves her but there was no conclusion at all.

• Why was Paul lying even when Theo told him that he knew about Paul asking Alicia for money because Paul was gambling. What can he get from still lying? It’s not as if he has something to do with what happened to Alicia.

• Why did Theo not get Alicia’s Alcestis painting when he was there when Gabriel chose his life over hers?

• Why did Gabriel bring Alicia to Christian West? Not to treat her but to make her crazier, is it? And was Christian so mean to Alicia? I’m guessing he just doesn’t want to get exposed that he’s doing some illegal part-time work. And why was he rude to Theo, too?

• What really happened in the end?

• That was it for Kathy? She’s the other part that completes the cheating duo and that was it for her? I wanna know her reaction when she discovers that Theo played a part in Gabriel’s death.

• I think, and what I less like about this, is that Alex Michaelides made it appear like all the characters have questionable motives and are all suspicious so we don’t know what’s happening.

My Verdict

 

I don’t know about people who said that this book was boring and just like some other poorly rated thriller / mystery but this was brilliant for me. It was, maybe, slow in the beginning but I enjoyed every bit of it. Very highly recommended like I want someone who I can discuss this with.

MY RATING

★★★★★

Siege and Storm (Shadow and Bone Trilogy #2, The Grisha Trilogy #2) by Leigh Bardugo // BOOK REVIEW

“The less you say, the more weight your words will carry.” 

SPOILER ALERT

 

Book: Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #2, The Grisha Trilogy #2)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, Adventure

Synopsis: Darkness never dies.

Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her—or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

 

What I thought about it…

 

Set right after Alina and Mal escaped the Darkling while they were on the Fold, they’re living a normal life away from Ravka when one day the Darkling and his Grisha barged into their boardinghouse and summon his shadow soldiers. So Alina and Mal were, again, captured by the Darkling and were in the middle of the sea looking for yet another amplifier, the Rusalye. Detained in a whaler under the command of a weird privateer named Sturmhond and his rogue Grisha, Alina and Mal was hopeless. The Darkling wants Mal to track the Rusalye and they found it. But shit happens. Sturmhond betrayed the Darkling and freed Alina and Mal just to bring them back to Ravka and deliver them to his client. When they get to Ravka, Sturmhond turned out to be Nikolai, the youngest son of the King. Proposing for them to work together against the Darkling, Alina will bring the Second Army back but she will have to gain the trust of the remaining Grisha. She also have to tame her powers and make the most of it now that she has two amplifiers. But she’s changing and everyday she hungers for more and more power. Deep inside her there’s a gnawing part where she knows there’s something missing until Nikolai showed her the little book that the Apparat gave her and in there shows that there was yet another amplifier – the firebird.

 

Characters

 

Recurring characters include Alina and Mal (of course) and also the remaining Grisha after The Darkling’s coup against the King – Zoya, Sergei, Marie, Nadia and David– and then Baghra, who we discovered is actually the Darkling’s mother and Botkin, the instructor tasked with preparing Grisha for physical combat. On the opposing side is the Darkling, Genya and Ivan and some unnamed Grisha.

 

New characters include Nikolai, the youngest prince, who was rumored to be a bastard, then his two loyal Grisha soldiers, Tolya and Tamar who are twins and some other Grisha who remained on the Little Palace was also there but not much exposure until book three. There’s also stupid and idiot and arrogant Vasily, the oldest son and the heir to the throne.

 

The only character developments are of Alina and the Darkling. I mean of course they are the main leads but isn’t others important too? Like Mal, was he ever just a talented and handsome tracker? Anyway, the Darkling learned how to summon his shadow soldiers. He also learned how to magically appear in front of Alina like an apparition. On the other hand our damsel in distress turned leader of the Second Army and the powerful Sun Summoner Alina only became hungrier for power. But she also learned how to do the Cut (just like the Darkling). Aside from that there’s nothing more remarkable that she can do.

 

What went wrong…

 

This book is a filler. Nothing really extraordinary happened because the book was filled with Alina and Mal’s back and forth bickering, miscommunication and lover’s quarrel. What’s also annoying is the cat-and-mouse / hide-and-seek stuff between Alina and Mal against the Darkling. Alina became a power hungry brat. I hated her here as much as I loved her character in Shadow and Bone. She’s changing and though she’s aware of it, she’s not doing anything about it. The Darkling was nowhere aside from that appearance during the first few and last chapters. Unlike others, I’m not smitten by him. I don’t ship him with Alina and though I’m irritated with Alina and Mal’s lover’s quarrels, their relationship is the one I’m rooting for. I was annoyed with Mal, yes, but I always root for the underdog. Also, I would say, there was a part where I want Alina and Nikolai to be together – in the back of my mind. But whatever, Alina being the apple of the eye of almost (if not all) the men in this book is absurd that I kept rolling my eyes every time.

 

My Verdict

 

This was sad because I loved the first book. I’ve read some reviews that the first book is the less enjoyable one but I don’t think so. Although I was not bored while reading this, still, I was disappointed. I’ll still continue to read the series just so I can get to Six of Crows Duology.

 

MY RATING

★☆☆☆☆

I Was Here by Gayle Forman // BOOK REVIEW

“Anything that kills hope is a sin.”   

Book: I Was Here

Author: Gayle Forman

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Synopsis: Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.
 
When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.
 
I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.

What I think about it…

The story / plot were okay. I thought this story has something to do with Meg and Cody’s friendship but I was wrong. It was more about Cody not forgiving herself, misunderstanding each and every character in this story – be it another main character or the background characters. Cody comes across as a whiny teen. She’s also super judgmental like it amazes me how she makes up stories in her head and point fingers to Ben, Tree, Richard, Alice and herself. Thank the Lord that this is a standalone book. The only thing that I liked in this book is the part where Cody and Ben stayed in Richard’s home and attended the congregation the morning before they leave for Laughlin. It was intimate, for me. You see, talks about forgiveness have a sore spot in my heart. Anyways, I also think that Cody and Ben’s love story was so instant and not necessary in the plot. If it happened in the Epilogue I might understand but during her investigation about Meg’s suicide? Meh.

My Verdict

I was ecstatic when, finally, I get to put my hands on this book. I’ve wanted to read another Gayle Forman book after I’ve cried river of tears from If I Stay ten (or more) years ago. Since then I’ve been tucking Forman’s books in my TBR, waiting for the right time to come. But this was a disappointment. Now I kept looking back if I was just an overly emotional teen when I read If I Stay back then.

MY RATING

★☆☆☆☆

Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone Trilogy #1, The Grisha Trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo // BOOK REVIEW

“The problem with wanting," he whispered, his mouth trailing along my jaw until it hovered over my lips, "is that it makes us weak.”

Book: Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #1, The Grisha Trilogy #1)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, Adventure

Synopsis: Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

What I think about it…

The Story

Alina and Mal were inseparable, they grew up together in an orphanage and years later they were both working in the First Army. Alina was a cartographer and Mal was a tracker. As they were crossing the Shadow Fold, which was the home of volcra, Mal was injured and Alina, wanting to help Mal burst out of bright and blinding light that killed (or kept away) the volcras. Alina woke up confused with what happened and suddenly she was standing before the Darkling pleading before him that she was not what they thought she was – a Sun Summoner. The Darkling, being always right and one of the most (if not the only one) powerful men in all of Ravka, sent Alina to Os Alta to tame her power, leaving Mal all alone in the Kribirsk.

Oh I love this story. This was new to me and although it was a little bit confusing in the beginning because of many unfamiliar and weird words, I still loved it. Actually the unfamiliar words are help build the magic that’s what’s keeping me from reading it because I literally think that I’m inside their world.

The Characters

I was actually kind of not feeling Alina or Mal’s characters at first but as I went on and get to know them better, I am with them in their adventures. Alina who looked so thin and sickly actually has powers as strong (or as destructive) as the Darkling’s. Keeping her powers make her weak and weary but she does it anyway because of Mal. On the other hand, Mal is an attractive and talented tracker.

The Darkling is the second most powerful man in Ravka (only next to the King, not that the King has any powers. Maybe just out of respect?)  has plans about the Shadow Fold and about the Sun Summoner. A lot of reviews I’ve read gushed about him but I don’t find him that interesting. Shadow and Bone focuses more on building up their magical world so I think there’s not much exposure of the Darkling. As what is described in the book, he is a handsome one hundred something year-old guy. But beneath that handsome face lies decades and decades of secrets and darkness that Alina is yet to discover.

One of the most notable and consistent background characters in this book is Genya the Tailor. She’s like the make-up artist slash fashion designer in this day and age. She can make people beautiful or more presentable. She’s working under the Queen but the short story The Tailor, which I read before the second book, Siege and Storm, talks more about her life, her motives and whose side she is on.

My Verdict

Though there was endless of story and less dialogues, it didn’t bore me. I would not say that it was a slow book but I do understand that for Leigh Bardugo to create a magical world like this one – Grishaverse – she needs to build up the characters and the magic or powers that they possess and the world they’re living in itself. That’s what worries me before, actually, about fantasy series – that it will bore me to death because a lot of building up is going on and a lot of vocabulary will be thrown here and there and that I will have a hard time to cope up but now I learned to love this kind of genre and series-es (is there such a word lol). So what’s keeping me from giving it a five-star? I don’t know too. I just don’t feel it. I usually feel when to give it but I didn’t feel it here. But this was an amazing book. This is just book one and I’d say that it already surpassed the Uglies series that I love. I only pick this up because I badly wanna start reading Six of Crows Duology but knowing that they are in the same world made me read this trilogy first and it didn’t disappoint. I’m happy with my book choices lately.

MY RATING

★★★★☆

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan // BOOK REVIEW

 Even when I detach, I care. You can be separate from a thing and still care about it. If I wanted to detach completely, I would move my body away. I would stop the conversation midsentence. I would leave the bed. Instead, I hover it for a second. I glance off in another direction. But I always glance back at you.

Book: The Lover’s Dictionary

Author: David Levithan

Genre: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Poetry

Synopsis:

basis, n.

There has to be a moment at the beginning when you wonder whether you're in love with the person or in love with the feeling of love itself.

If the moment doesn't pass, that's it―you're done. And if the moment does pass, it never goes that far. It stands in the distance, ready for whenever you want it back. Sometimes it's even there when you thought you were searching for something else, like an escape route, or your lover's face.

How does one talk about love? Do we even have the right words to describe something that can be both utterly mundane and completely transcendent, pulling us out of our everyday lives and making us feel a part of something greater than ourselves? Taking a unique approach to this problem, the nameless narrator of David Levithan's The Lover's Dictionary has constructed the story of his relationship as a dictionary. Through these short entries, he provides an intimate window into the great events and quotidian trifles of being within a couple, giving us an indelible and deeply moving portrait of love in our time.

What I think about it…

I don’t really have much to say about it so here goes nothing…

I love how it was creatively written and it’s easy to read too, however I’d like to understand more about the story. Though I think the story written that way made it so much more interesting that it kept me wanting for more, still I feel like it was so vague and there’s something lacking. It’s not boring but the way it was written made it more confusing like I was thinking if the characters are still in love with each other? Are they still together? What really happened to them? I’d like to think that they’re still together but I’m not sure because there was no conclusion at all.

My Verdict

This was my first David Levithan book and I like the way he writes. This book gave me feels but I rated it only two stars because again, I think it was so vague. I’d like to pick up more of Levithan’s books though. It looks like he makes great contemporaries.

MY RATING

★★☆☆☆

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager // BOOK REVIEW

“Never take anything you haven’t earned," my father used to say. "You always end up paying for it one way or another.”

Book: Lock Every Door

Author: Riley Sager

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Synopsis: No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen's new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan's most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story—until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid's disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew's dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building's hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

What I think about it…

Jules is a broke mid-20’s girl. After being cut off from the company where she was working, she came home in the apartment she shared with her boyfriend only to witness that he’s having fun with another girl. She broke up with him and stayed on her friend’s apartment. With nothing but a few hundred dollars in her bank account, she responded to a job offering to be an apartment sitter in the Bartholomew. A job too good to be true and yet she can’t resist the offer – to live in an apartment with not doing anything and get paid so much money – I mean, even I can’t resist. But behind the captivating building, beautiful walls and luxurious apartments lies the dirty secret of the people living in it and the Bartholomew itself.

It was written in a way that it is not difficult to read. The story itself is different from everything else I’ve read but it is so predictable. I kinda know who the bad guy/s is/are and also I kind of not care about Jules. Her life is a tragedy and I pity her but she should be more careful after everything that happened to her. Although I applaud her for being brave even if no one seems to back her up, still, she’s careless.

My Verdict

It was an okay, quick read. If you’re in for a mystery and you can tolerate a careless protagonist, go for it.

MY RATING

★★☆☆☆

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes // BOOK REVIEW

Book: Into the Darkest Corner

Author: Elizabeth Haynes

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Thriller

Synopsis: When young, pretty Catherine Bailey meets Lee Brightman, she can't believe her luck. Gorgeous, charismatic, and a bit mysterious, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true.

But what begins as flattering attention and spontaneous, passionate sex transforms into raging jealousy, and Catherine soon discovers that Lee's dazzling blue eyes and blond good looks hide a dark, violent nature. Disturbed by his increasingly erratic, controlling behavior, she tries to break it off; turning to her friends for support, she's stunned to find they don't believe her. Increasingly isolated and driven into the darkest corner of her world, a desperate Catherine plans a meticulous escape.
Four years later, Lee is behind bars and Catherine—now Cathy—is trying to build a new life in a new city. Though her body has healed, the trauma of the past still haunts her. Then Stuart Richardson, her attractive new neighbor, moves in. Encouraging her to confront her fears, he sparks unexpected hope and the possibility of love and a normal life.
Until the day the phone rings . . . 

What I think about it…

From the point of view of Cathy, the book alternates between what happened before and during her relationship with Lee – her control-freak, murderer and abusive boyfriend – and what’s happening three years after she was almost killed by him.

Now living far away from Lancaster – with a new name –  to escape Lee and forget the trauma he put her through, just when she’s making progress with the OCD that was caused by the abuse she experienced with him, she received a phone call telling her that he was about to get out of prison. With Lee’s release come the anxiety and panic attacks and a certain person who walked out of her life all those years ago.

I like Cathy, I pity this poor girl and though I understand her situation, I just don’t like that she’s pushing away people who only want to help her – particularly Stuart. There are times when I detested her when she was still that Catherine but years after that, she changed and she’s stronger and braver than I give her credit for.

My Verdict

This one is pretty intense. I don’t think I’ve liked any thriller before like this one. I just finished reading Big Little Lies and these two books both have tackled a very sad reality a lot of women is facing today… domestic violence. Though I was kinda annoyed with how it was written – jumping from the past and then the present and then back to the past and so on – because it confuses me, as I went on I get the hang of it, adjusted and enjoyed it midway. There were some parts that were pretty graphic and disturbing that it was hard for me to read because I can clearly see it in my head. But that’s the beauty of this book – the message it portrays – to open your eyes and do something for someone who’s suffering it.

This is highly recommended. I can’t say for sure that this is unique from other books because I know there may be other books that are similar to this but it was kind of a breath of fresh air cos this time it’s not the woman somewhere… under the table, in the chair, in the door or elsewhere.

MY RATING

★★★★☆

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty // BOOK REVIEW

“They say it's good to let your grudges go, but I don't know, I'm quite fond of my grudge. I tend it like a little pet.”

Book: Big Little Lies

Author: Liane Moriarty
Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny, biting, and passionate; she remembers everything and forgives no one. Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare but she is paying a price for the illusion of perfection. New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for a nanny. She comes with a mysterious past and a sadness beyond her years. These three women are at different crossroads, but they will all wind up in the same shocking place.
Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the little lies that can turn lethal.

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Contemporary

Synopsis: A murder...A tragic accident...Or just parents behaving badly? What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.

What I think about it…

Big Little Lies is a very interesting story with some mystery, a murder, a whole lot of fun and catfights. It revolves around the lives of three moms and what’s going on in their families, the problems they have, their struggles and hustles and the secrets they keep. The back stories on how the characters are related to each other are just crazy. The plot is more about the dilemma and abuse that the women are facing –be it that you’re single or married.

I love all the characters – Madeleine’s nonstop chattering, Jane’s simplicity and Celeste’s vulnerability – they represent a lot of women in this planet.

Madeleine was once a young, single parent that’s why when she met Jane, she can identify with her. Madeleine is having problems with her teen daughter Abigail. I can also relate to Madeleine in so many ways. Not that I was once a single mother or that I am married or that I have a teenage kid but more so on the fact that she can’t forgive her ex, Nathan, after all these years and even after they have their own families. It’s difficult to forgive especially when you can see that the person who wronged you doesn’t suffer for what he/she did to you. And so Madeleine, I so feel you.

Jane, a single mom to Ziggy, has her own secrets to keep. No one knows who was Ziggy’s father and Jane is not ready to share it to anyone, not even to her family. But one night she just felt like she needed to tell her story and be free from it. She told Madeleine what happened to her and who the father is Ziggy’s father. One of the endings I love in this book is of Jane’s. There’s so much hope in her ending and I hope she finds true love and happiness.

People think Celeste have it all – the beauty, the money, the handsome, successful husband and the perfect family living in the perfect house – but what they don’t know is she’s been keeping a dark secret …. You only see what other people want you to see. Sometimes what lies beneath is not what it seems on the surface. Celeste’s story is the proof that reality is painfully ruthless.

My Verdict

I love that ending. The stories of the women in this book could be happening to anyone in reality. I’ve never been so awestruck with an ending. There are books that bring warmth, make me cry or surprised me but so far Liane Moriarty’s plot twists are the only ones that make my jaw drop and say, ‘sh********t’ – yes, the super long one. So, I need to see that TV adaptation. Also this book is highly recommended.

MY RATING

★★★★☆

Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush #1) by Becca Fitzpatrick // BOOK REVIEW

Book: Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush #1)

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Synopsis: A SACRED OATH. A FALLEN ANGEL. A FORBIDDEN LOVE.

Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

What I think about it…

I put this on my TBR shelf not expecting anything. I remembered this because this was the series my college friend was looking for in the local bookstore and she didn’t find it. Reading it many years later after knowing the story was appalling. I kinda regretted picking this up.

This story bothered me in so many levels it actually is creepy. I hate the message it’s trying to convey – that it is somehow okay to fall in love with your evil stalker. The plot was okay, many readers said that it was a rip off of Twilight and I don’t have a say in that. I just hate the instant love here – it is absurd, annoying, unbelievable and horrible.

These people killed it for me especially our damsel in distress Nora Grey. Nora’s thinking and the way she acts is totally contradicting. She’s scared of Patch (because why not, she have every right to be scared of him, the man, after all, is not human) but also attracted to him. It’s annoying to see how the first minute she’s so scared and then suddenly is kissing Patch the same minute. Like she’s so sure that he wants to kill her and then thought that he cannot hurt her in that same sentence without punctuation. Whatever happened to “I secretly enjoyed the attraction between us, but the mystery and eeriness outweighed it. From now on, I was going to flush Patch out of my system – and this time, I meant it…” ? I hate that she can’t make up her mind. She’s that idiot in a horror movie who will enter a creepy and haunted room instead of running for her life.

Nora’s supposed best friend and sidekick Vee Sky doesn’t help at all. I thought she’s really not a friend of Nora. She doesn’t listen and doesn’t believe Nora at all. How can a best friend be like that when she should be the first person that Nora can confide with. Vee is the biggest joke in this book. I so hate her.

I have no issues with Patch though. He is the most consistent character in this story. What I just don’t like is how openly he threatened Nora. He’s hot? I don’t think so. I don’t think he is up to something good too but I will never know that because I don’t have plans to finish this series.

My Verdict

I usually don’t have a problem with the plot or the writing of the authors but what always get to me are the characters. So no matter how good the story may be if the characters are stupid and continuously choose to make bad decisions over and over again, it’s also over for me. I don’t recommend this at all. It’s exasperating and annoying and a complete waste of time.

MY RATING

★☆☆☆☆

Vanished by Danielle Steel // BOOK REVIEW

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Book: Vanished

Author: Danielle Steel

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery

Synopsis: Vanished tells the story of a man and woman faced with an almost unthinkable tragedy--the mysterious abduction of their son.

In the late 1930s, in the shadow of the Lindbergh kidnapping, and as war looms in Europe, Marielle Patterson shares and elegant Manhattan brownstone with her husband, Malcolm, and their little boy, Teddy. Though the couple's lives are filled with secrets, Marielle is a devoted wife and mother, and Malcolm is a man everyone admires.

On the eve of Teddy's disappearance, Marielle runs into her first love, American expatriate Charles Delauney. And when Teddy is kidnapped, Charles is first blamed, then arrested. But as the search for Teddy widens, even Marielle is scrutinized by the FBI and special agent John Taylor. Suspicions and accusations mingle with terror and heartbreak as every threat, every failure, every fear, is remembered, examined, explored.

During Charles Delauney's trial, a series of revalations begins to unravel the about Marielle, Charles, and Malcolm, uncovering the motives and passions controlling their lives.

Vanished is a tale of guilt, desire, suspense, and of people drawn inexorably together, seeking the child who... vanished. From the Paperback edition. 

What I think about it…

I love the story and the mystery behind it. I pity Marielle so so bad. A lot of people hated her and treated her like a weakling but obviously, with everything that’s happened in her past and what she’s been through, she’s one hell of a woman.

I love how brave she is and that she made a right choice with her relationships. I was never disappointed with her choices – except kissing John Taylor.

Also that ending is very satisfying. I love endings like that because it felt so realistic and it gives a sense of hope in the future – that there’s so much more to come. It’s neither an open ending nor a cliffhanger. It ended just the way it needed to be.

What I liked less…

Everything is going okay until Special Agent John Taylor and Marielle started to have an affair. I mean, Marielle, you know better than to get involved with a married FBI agent who’s handling the kidnapping case in the midst of the trial of your ex-husband while you yourself are also married with the father of your kid who was kidnapped. It is just absurd but knowing Danielle Steel, I know everything is going to turn around in the last few pages of this book. I. Knew. It. It’s not the first time that she did it. Just as you thought Marielle and John Taylor is the end game? Well, get ready for another OTT stuff that’s gonna happen. I would say though that that thing with the lawyer was extremely ridiculous. Marielle is that beautiful that a lot of men she’s meeting is falling in love with her in just a short amount of time, eh? I think that DS just put it there just so we can have another twist. Although I don’t really mind Marielle being with the lawyer than to be with the married John Taylor (I hate cheating!!!) and I want her and Charles to be happy and go on with their lives separately.

My Verdict

I knew that a Danielle Steel book will never disappoint. It’s been years since this was published, it’s in the works even before I was born but I’ve seen a TV soap with the same plot and I don’t know if they got it from DS and though this is quite predictable, I’m still hooked. I think it’s beautiful and very engaging. I like it!

MY RATING

★★★☆☆