Chuyển đến nội dung chính

Bài đăng nổi bật

Book Review - Scorch Trails

Title: The Scorch Trials Author: James Dashner Series: The Maze Runner (book 2) Publisher: Chicken House Ltd Release Date: 5 Jun. 2014 ISBN: 9781909489417 Synopsis Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escaping meant he would get his life back. But no one knew what sort of a life they were going back to... Burned and baked, the earth is a wasteland, its people driven mad by an infection known as the Flare. Instead of freedom, Thomas must face another trial. He must cross the Scorch to once again save himself and his friends. My Review I enjoyed Maze Runner overall but had a few reservations, but I was intrigued to find out more so started to read Scorch Trials. The Gladers are out of the maze, but it's not the comforting end they hoped for, instead the experiments continue, but on a much larger and more dangerous scale. Thomas and his friends must once more band together to try and overcome all the trials an...

The Secret

Book Review - Whistle in the Dark

Title: Whistle in the Dark
Author: Emma Healey
Publisher: Viking
Release Date: 3 May 2018
ISBN-13: 978-0241327623

Synopsis
Jen and Hugh Maddox have just survived every parent’s worst nightmare.
Relieved, but still terrified, they sit by the hospital bedside of their fifteen-year-old daughter, Lana, who was found bloodied, bruised, and disoriented after going missing for four days during a mother-daughter vacation in the country. As Lana lies mute in the bed, unwilling or unable to articulate what happened to her during that period, the national media speculates wildly and Jen and Hugh try to answer many questions.
Where was Lana? How did she get hurt? Was the teenage boy who befriended her involved? How did she survive outside for all those days? Even when she returns to the family home and her school routine, Lana only provides the same frustrating answer over and over: “I can’t remember.”
For years, Jen had tried to soothe the depressive demons plaguing her younger child, and had always dreaded the worst. Now she has hope—the family has gone through hell and come out the other side. But Jen cannot let go of her need to find the truth. Without telling Hugh or their pregnant older daughter Meg, Jen sets off to retrace Lana’s steps, a journey that will lead her to a deeper understanding of her youngest daughter, her family, and herself.
 

My Review
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I've never actually read Emma Healey, I know her first novel was very popular but isn't really my go to genre. However this arrived and I thought it sounded interesting. The cover is very pretty and when you take the jacket off the book is embossed with birds, it's a nice effect -they've really worked on the presentation, I just hoped the inside would match up to it.
I started to read and was instantly intrigued, I wanted to know what had happened to Lana and how her parents were going to cope with the aftermath of it all. The book is narrated by her mother who I found to be funny, slightly neurotic, a bit of a hypocrite, totally insecure but very likeable - she was human, she gave off a real feeling of the sort of personality a real mother in her situation would be. Sometimes she was annoying and I wanted to shake her but other times she was very endearing, but all of her actions had an origin and a point to them, it is her way of dealing with the situation - not only the days of panic and grief when Lana was missing, but the not knowing what happened to her when she was gone. Lana also suffers from depression and has made suicide attempts in the past so Jen still has that worry on her mind - every time Lana leaves she wonders if she will see her again.
This book deals with some very sensitive and very sincere issues in a compassionate and concise way, it didn't feel like I was being preached at or warned or scared, but informed and understanding about the characters problems and how they do effect others. 
Lana herself is very closed off, she's quiet, doesn't want to engage and seems very unsure of herself, you could feel her pain and misery without even knowing the full story, despite her problems though she still has a wicked sense of humour and loves to wind up her mum, she's quite tongue in cheek.
The Dad doesn't make much of an appearance but when he is you can tell that he is a big support for both his daughter and his wife but also a voice of reason and he has some of the best one-liners in the book, I actually laughed out loud at times.
I read this book in 2 days, I had to know what was going to happen. There is quite a lot of descriptive text but to me it didn't feel slow or dragging, it all just helped set the scene and characters and I found myself turning the pages and racing through the story. I stayed up til almost Midnight to finish it as I just couldn't wait to find the truth of what happened to Lana.
Part of me was hoping for a more dramatic ending, some great revelation that no one was expecting, but then again the ending also felt right - you could completely understand why the author went that way and it did fit with Lana's character, it all made perfect sense and I loved that her mother was the one to discover the truth. 
This story is quite sad, but very moving and really makes you feel for the characters. It is a book that will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions but it will be a ride you won't forget. I really enjoyed Healey's writing style and would definitely read other books by her.

My Rating
  

Nhận xét

Bài đăng phổ biến từ blog này

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

It's the holiday season again and to celebrate I decided to read the latest offering from co-authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.  This book is set in NYC during Christmas-time.   It's protagonists are Lily, a Christmas loving girl, and Dash aka Snarly.  One day, while in his favorite bookstore, Dash finds a red notebook with Lily's first dare to him.  He accepts the dare in the notebook and so starts his and Lily's adventures. As with the author's first two co-authored books ( Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List ) the book is told in alternating chapters by the male and the female main characters.  So, we really get to know both Dash and Lily from their own perspectives and from each other's perspectives. I liked this book even more than Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist .  I am not sure if is because of the holiday time, or because I related that much to Lily, but I just could not put this book down.  In Lily I...

Cover Reveal and Promo - Defects

Defects - The Reverian Series (Book One): In the happy, clean community of Austin Valley, everything appears to be perfect. Seventeen-year-old Em Fuller, however, fears something is askew. Em is one of the new generation of Dream Travelers. For some reason, the gods have not seen fit to gift all of them with their expected special abilities. Em is a Defect—one of the unfortunate Dream Travelers not gifted with a psychic power. Desperate to do whatever it takes to earn her gift, she endures painful daily injections along with commands from her overbearing, loveless father. One of the few bright spots in her life is the return of a friend she had thought dead—but with his return comes the knowledge of a shocking, unforgivable truth. The society Em thought was protecting her has actually been betraying her, but she has no idea how to break away from its authority without hurting everyone she loves. Preorder here: http://amzn.to/1Rj1p1Q Website: www.sarahnoffke.com Facebook: https://www.fa...

Cover Reveal - Destiny Disrupted

Book Cover Reveal Today author, Sherry Soule has some exciting news to share with us! The next book in the epic Spellbound series, DESTINY DISRUPTED (older YA paranormal romance) will be published in November 2014. To help promote these thrilling serial novels, Sherry is doing this guest post to share the news with fellow booklovers. For information on the Spellbound Series visit : www.thespellboundseries.blogspot.com Hunting Demons is One Thing…Dating Them is Another. Life sucks for Shiloh Trudell. And being a demon hunter who’s in love with a cocky half-demon makes things even suckier. Especially when she discovers that Trent, her sinfully hot boyfriend, is hiding a few dangerous secrets. Like the fact that he’s losing his humanity. To complicate matters, witches from the local coven are mysteriously turning up dead, and as Shiloh searches for answers, she confronts her worst nightmare…Trent is being blackmailed into becoming the next leader of the Underworld. Bu...

Free $100