What I've Been Reading: Will Trent series by Karin Slaughter

So I've been a little lazy about posting reviews lately, but part of that is because I've been swept up by a series!  I tried Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter about a year ago and couldn't get into it, but her Will Trent series is another story altogether! I'm completely addicted to this series, and I'm already on book six as I write this post!

(Click on cover for Goodreads link)

So what is it I love about this series?

  Each mystery grabs you, takes hold until you know the culprit, the motivations, and the final outcome. I have to say book three, Undone, was at times very disturbing. Some of the disturbing nature is the fact that I've seen news stories that echo the crimes featured. Real life can be absolutely frightening!

The characters! 
(I've hidden some of the kind of spoilery information)

Will Trent is very much the underdog hero! He's dyslexic, and feels stupid because of his disability, yet because of his seemingly uncanny detecting abilities, he's one of the top Agents in the Altanta GBI. Will tries to hide his dysfunction, but that doesn't always work out, and soon others figure it out and help, to his great dismay.  There are reasons he still feels inadequate in spite of all his successes, and one big reason is Angie Polaski (see below).

Amanda Wagner, the GBI's Deputy Director. Amanda hand-picked Will for her team and yet she sometimes acts like the "the worst mother he never had".  Amanda can be a cold-hearted old broad, cross her at your own peril, but oddly, she seems to have Will's best interests at heart. Well, most of the time.  

Faith Mitchell, a cop. (Highlight for spoiler) Will's partner. She can be like a grouchy older sister, but she's loyal and a great detective.  A fortuitous pairing for Will, even though they didn't get off on the right foot at first.   (end of spoiler)

Dr. Sara Linton *sigh* LOVE her! (Highlight for spoiler) She's grieved the death of her husband for the last few years. It's a sad story, but she meets Will and a spark is ignited! (end of spoiler) She has a sharp mind and is an excellent sounding board for these cases, which she seems to become directly involved with in some way or another.

 Angie Polaski, a woman Will has known since childhood, is a piece of work!  And that's putting it very politely.  I have some very choice descriptions that I won't write here. Suffice it to say that I can't stand her!  Angie's introduced in the first book, Tryptich, and even has her own POV, but it's quickly clear that she has a lot of damage.  I even felt a bit sorry for her at first, and maybe I will again at some point,(Highlight for spoiler) but when you're the victim of hideous treatment, and then you dish it on out to others, like Will, chipping away at their self-esteem, and hindering them from healing and moving on, I've got a BIG problem with you. Let's just say Angie is the character EVERYONE loves to hate on in this series! (end of spoiler)

I'm currently reading *listening* to book six, Criminal, and after that I have three more books left, including a novella, until 2018! I'm gobbling these stories up so it's going to be hard to have to wait for the next one. 

So, that's what I've been reading lately. What about you?  Do you get sidelined by a series, putting all other books to the side until you finish? Let me know in the comments below!

Review: Skitter by Ezekiel Boone

Skitter (The Hatching #2) by Ezekiel Boone
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication date: May 2nd 2017
My rating: 4 stars 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | TBD | Kobo

 

Tens of millions of people around the world are dead. Half of China is a nuclear wasteland. Mysterious flesh-eating spiders are marching through Los Angeles, Oslo, Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, and countless other cities. According to scientist Melanie Gruyer, however, the spider situation seems to be looking up. Yet in Japan, a giant, truck-sized, glowing egg sack gives a shocking preview of what is to come, even as survivors in Los Angeles panic and break the quarantine zone. Out in the desert, survivalists Gordo and Shotgun are trying to invent a spider super weapon, but it’s not clear if it’s too late, because President Stephanie Pilgrim has been forced to enact the plan of last resort: The Spanish Protocol. America, you are on your own.

My Thoughts:

Skitter picks up pretty much right where The Hatching left off.  Spiders have come, overwhelmed and taken out large portions of the population on the globe.  Did I mention that spiders scare the HELL out of me? Oh, my goodness, yes!! And let me tell you, the last book was terrifying for anyone with a spider phobia, but the events and plight of some in this installment made my skin crawl in horror!  The world is up in arms wondering if the worst is over, but with new egg sacks, hot and pulsing to the touch, that scenario would be too good to be true.  Now the world has to wait and see what is coming next, and let me tell you, it is BAD!

While on one hand I thought the story would’ve benefited from eliminating some of the many POV’s, I get it was a way to give a window, a vivid picture into what was happening in different locations around the world.  Still, IMO I think if the story was more focused on just the POV’s I’ve come to know and care about, it would’ve had more impact.  I’d rather have more page count spent on them.  I wasn’t thrilled with the addition of POV’s that were just few short scenes and then killed off.  I want to be invested in my characters, worried about their survival, because I’ve already been acquainted with them. I was disappointed Melanie and Mike Rich’s connection from the last book wasn’t built upon, because there’s certainly enough room for a little bit of romance if you edit out all the POV’s that came to an abrupt end, ones I wasn’t invested in at all.  I still have hope for them in the next book.  There are a couple of other relationships I’d like expounded on, furthered, as well: Manny and the US President, Stephanie Pilgrim, and Julie and Pierre.  I guess we’ll see how it all shakes out.

Even with all of that, I found the story completely engrossing. At times I was filled with dread and wanted to yell: RUN!!  End of the world scenarios, be it from earthquakes, tsunamis, aliens, zombies, or in this case spiders, have always fascinated me.  I put myself in the situation, wonder what I would do; would I be smart enough, lucky enough to survive while so many perish around me? 

Everything is coming to a head, more desperate and frightening.  The choices made by the President where extreme, necessary, and terrifying! I hope all my favorite characters survive. I hope Gordo and Shotgun come up with an effective “Spinal Tap”, that Melanie figures out these spiders, I hope Mike and his group are able to wait it out in safety.  I wouldn’t say this ended in a cliffhanger, but everything is left up in the air.  I need the next book ASAP!

Connect with Ezekiel Boone:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Review: Always and Forever Lara Jean by Jenny Han

Always and Forever Lara Jean by Jenny Han
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: April 6th 2017
My rating: 5 stars.  

P.S I Still Love you was one of my favourite reads last year, there wasn’t a lot I could remember about this book when going into Always and Forever Lara Jean,  but despite this however, this did not take away the excitement that I was feeling going into this book. I was anxious with the way things could potentially end, but also so happy to be with these great characters once more. Lara Jean really has come a long way since we first met her in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, she’s grown more confident and really become her own person. Still however Lara Jean finds herself having to make important decisions in this book once again, she’s got a beautiful relationship with Peter, but what’s going to happen with college? Will they even end up at the same one? And if they don’t will their relationship be able to last? I really did feel for Lara Jean at times, there’s pressure from her sister and her mother who always said never to be with your boyfriend at college, but this is Peter we’re talking about. Peter was my absolute favourite, I couldn’t but help fall for him more as the series progressed, and once again his considerate and tender side came out in full force with this latest instalment, and I was honestly a goner. There was nothing more that I wanted that Peter and Lara Jean’s relationship to last and I had my fingers crossed that this would be the case until the very last page.

Once again I was glad that the family dynamics came through strong in this book, Han really did a wonderful job with this. I loved being back with Lara Jean’s family, Kitty and Margot once again bought a lot of drama to the story, but also had me laughing out loud several times, they definitely made me hugely grateful for having my sisters in my life. Always and Forever Lara Jean was a fantastic follow up to one of my all time favourite series, the ending although I was left happy with I was definitely left longing for more. Han once again creates a wonderful set of characters with fantastic friendships, unforgettable romances and a family everyone would wish to have in Always and Forever Lara Jean. I for one would highly recommend giving this series a go! 

Review: The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: April 11th 2017
My rating: 4 stars 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | TBD | Kobo

 

In the masterful follow-up to the New York Times bestseller All the Missing Girls—“think: Luckiest Girl Alive, The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl” (TheSkimm)—a journalist sets out to find a missing friend, a friend who may never have existed at all.

Confronted by a restraining order and the threat of a lawsuit, failed journalist Leah Stevens needs to get out of Boston when she runs into an old friend, Emmy Grey, who has just left a troubled relationship. Emmy proposes they move to rural Pennsylvania, where Leah can get a teaching position and both women can start again. But their new start is threatened when a woman with an eerie resemblance to Leah is assaulted by the lake, and Emmy disappears days later.

Determined to find Emmy, Leah cooperates with Kyle Donovan, a handsome young police officer on the case. As they investigate her friend’s life for clues, Leah begins to wonder: did she ever really know Emmy at all? With no friends, family, or a digital footprint, the police begin to suspect that there is no Emmy Grey. Soon Leah’s credibility is at stake, and she is forced to revisit her past: the article that ruined her career. To save herself, Leah must uncover the truth about Emmy Grey—and along the way, confront her old demons, find out who she can really trust, and clear her own name.

Everyone in this rural Pennsylvanian town has something to hide—including Leah herself. How do you uncover the truth when you are busy hiding your own?

My Thoughts:

There’s something to be said about a book that captures your attention and compels you to read the story straight through in one sitting.  While The Perfect Stranger is not without faults, it was a pretty captivating read.

We meet Leah Stevens as she’s making a fresh start in a somewhere-small-town in Pennsylvania. Formerly an investigative sort of journalist, Leah’s left Boston after an article she wrote led to tragedy, a restraining order, and questions regarding her integrity as a reporter.  Her move is spur-of-the-moment, impulsive, and encouraged by a college-time friend Leah hasn’t seen in eight years: Emmy.  Emmy is a flighty, charismatic, mysterious girl; a girl Leah instantly bonded with all those years ago when Leah was in a desperate place in life. It seems like fate when they by chance meet up again eight years later when once again, Leah is in a desperate situation. 

They move to Pennsylvania, rent a cabin in the woods, get jobs, and begin to acclimate to their new life when a woman is assaulted close to their cabin, and soon after Emmy disappears.  The search for Emmy spotlights the fact that Leah knows so very little about her friend.  Soon the police wonder if Emmy even really existed or some made up character Leah dreamed up to shift suspicions. 

At first I was a little stunned at Leah for stupidly, IMO, picking up and moving States with this woman she knew so little about!  But as I read on and discovered the extent of damage Leah was trying to escape, I understood the desperation that drove her to act without fully assessing the situation.  Emotions ran high and the fight or flight response kicked in.

This first half of the book I felt a real disconnect with Leah.  Because of this it wasn’t clear at first if Leah was an unreliable narrator, and I was wondering right along with the police if Emmy was an invention of Leah’s imagination. That didn’t last for long, though. I will say that I never did feel a real connection with any of the characters; they all felt a little remote and held at a distance mentally and emotionally from me as a reader.  While I appreciate the romance with Detective Kyle Donovan and Leah, I wouldn’t say it was particularly moving, because I never really felt the attraction between them. I will say I’m pleased it wasn’t a depressing mess like most of the psychological thrillers out there today, but it wasn’t the driving force of the story for me.

The addictive part of this mystery was finding out what was a lie, what was the truth, finding out what exactly happened to Leah back in Boston, getting to the bottom of the whole Emmy situation (friend or foe?), and the current danger Leah was facing in Pennsylvania. I was on the edge of my seat in parts!  There were some seriously hair-raising, creepy scenes!  Before going to bed I made sure all the windows and doors were locked, because the suspense of the story got to me!

There were a few threads I wish were explained a little more by the end, nothing critical, but for the most part this was a really satisfying, justice-being-served type of conclusion for me.

Connect with Megan Miranda:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Bookworm Candles and Crafts

I've always been the biggest fan of bookish candles, I can never resist a candle which ties so well to a book that you've been a huge fan of, that when you light up, it instantly reminds you of why you fell so hard for that book/series in the first place. I've tried quite a few different bookish candles over the years, but being a U.K. based blogger it can be quite difficult find a decent place to order that doesn't cost a lot in terms of shipping costs. And so when I discovered Bookworm Candles and Crafts I was delighted, Danielle has really gone all out in her gorgeous designs and I love how closely she's related each candle to it's book. 

Here's a bit more about Bookworm Candles and Crafts!

Bookworm Candles and Craft are a UK based company that take inspiration from books and create handmade items for all you book lovers out there. They have been trading since July 2016 starting out with a small selection of products available on Etsy and just nine months later, they have a huge selection of items available for purchase and even have their own website which has just recently launched.

Bookworm Candles and Crafts range is mainly focused on YA books but you will find a few different genres included. The have a huge selection of candle products featuring some of your favourite books like A Court of Mist and Fury, Throne of Glass, Shadowhunters, The Wrath and the Dawn, The Hunger Games to name just a few. They also have a large range that you can choose from such as The Moment Candles, The Feels Candles, Couples Candles, Location Candles and of course Character Candles. Most of their candles come in a variety of different sizes depending on how small or big you like your candles but they all come with signature handmade crochet bands as well. And they also have bookmarks, jewellery and many more handmade items for sale.

Each month they also have a monthly box which features a different theme and includes between six to eight products. And the best thing is you won’t know what is included until it turns up on your doorstep. The seller may offer a few hints along the way though. They also release a selection of limited edition candles based on the chosen theme each month.

You may have seen some of their products on some of the social media websites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter where several reps are currently promoting their items. It’s always worth checking out their profiles as they do offer discount codes for all purchases you make. You can find Bookworm Candles and Crafts information below:

 

Twitter | Instagram | Website | Etsy | Facebook

And for the month of April if you purchase through Bookworm Candles and Crafts website they are offering three sample candle FREE with ANY purchases. The chosen candles would be Aelin, Chaol, Dorian or Manon from Sarah J Mass’s Throne of Glass series. It will be a random selection but if you have a favourite put a note on your purchase and the seller will try to honour your request.

Giveaway:
Bookworm Candles and Crafts are offering any UK/IRE winner two sample candles of their choice from the selected list:
Feyre, Rhysand, Aelin, Rowan, Katniss, Peeta, Cinder, Kai, Day, June, Juliette, Tris, Four, Khalid, Shazi, Bella or Edward.