Festive Book Review: A Proper Family Christmas by Chrissie Manby

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: You are part of London’s Yummy-Mummy nation. Which means you’d definitely be part of London’s affluent. Your house is Downton Abbey standards, your vacations are glamorous and your Christmases are well… very grande.

If only your teenage daughter would realize what class entails and would stop dressing like a ho. If only your teenage daughter’s mind isn’t preoccupied with going to the hottest parties, staying online all the time slagging you off to her followers, and dating boys already in college. Boys with bad reputations.

But that’s fine, you’d do all you can to protect your daughter and keep advising her to stay off drugs and alcohol. Until during once concert, your daughter goes against your advice in the hopes of becoming highly ecstatic.

Now she needs a kidney. And sadly, you and your husband are no match to donate. You have no option but to trace your biological mother who gave you away when you were young.

Turns out, your biological family are huge, loud, and very not… proper not-the-kind-of-people you’d want yourself or your daughter to be associated with. But it’s alright, all you need to do is to convince them you really want to be part of the big, happy, working class picture, so you could nick a kidney.

Meanwhile Christmas is approaching. And although there’s nothing to look up to this year, you are praying for a Christmas miracle. A proper family kidney not a poorer family’s Christmas.

Annabel Buchanan’s sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious and always sensational Christmas summarised for your delight.

MY REVIEW

I loved, loved this book! There’s certainly no way you should miss reading it this Christmas like I did last year (L)

Chrissie Manby is fab! One thing about family books. You cannot help but put your 

family into situations in the story and see how you would react if it were happening to you. You cannot help but make a running commentary as you read noting who’s being too much of a bitch and who’s just plain crazy. That is to say, the storyline is so relatable! I mean, who wouldn’t want to find themselves hunting for a kidney when they could be making (hectic) Christmas preparations!── ★

You would love the two main women placed side by side. Annabel Buchanan who is uptight, considers herself not-a-snob but within is such a snob, who chairs committees and loves to keep appearances but is so sweet at heart—even if sometimes she’s faking it. Ronnie Benson, who’s proud of her family and wouldn’t want to have them any other way though sometimes she wishes she could have a more upscale kitchen and pay the bills with less working hours, who’s harsh on the outside and is quick to voice her opinions despite them being not sweet at all. A star to these main characters. You’d find yourself judging the two, wishing you had the perfect personality trait that is a merge of both extremes, and just simply siding with one over the other. But mind you, Ronnie isn’t afraid to show you the finger if you do not choose her side.── ★★★

Other characters are just brilliant. There’s Richard, Annabel’s husband who loves to hang out in his own cellar and look forward to weekends alone with his wife when his daughter away. There’s Mark, Ronnie’s husband whose cellar is down at a pub’s and considers the perfect weekend as one away from the family drinking with his wife’s dad and her granddad. There’s Sophie, Ronnie’s Goth daughter who’s at the age where texting boyfriends and finding her family embarrassing are her highlights. There’s Izzy, Annabel’s privileged daughter who’s about to die and has suddenly become a machine for popping out Hallmark stuff and fortune-cookie shit about carpe-diem-ing. There’s Jack the little boy of Ronnie who’s at the age where Doctor Who and Minecraft seem like the best conversation starters during family dinners. There’s Granddad Bill, who burps popular rhymes and songs (and makes you wonder how [crazy] you'd be if senility sets in). Trust me, lots of fun characters I could go on and on about.── ★★★★

You would love the voice in which this novel is told. I loved it. Very Mary-Alice-Desperate-Housewives-y; funny and nice to listen to—in this case, read.── ★★★★★

I see no reason why this book shouldn’t be given a five-star, because it’s amazing (5/5 stars).

You should go purchase Chrissie Manby’s A Proper Family Christmas now because chances are by Christmas she might have released a fab book everyone would be raving about and you’d feel left out.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants something that would remind them of their very happy Desperate Housewives days. Anyone who wants a family read to cosy up to. Anyone who wants something funny. Or anyone looking for something warm and appropriate for the holidays.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Book Review: The School Gate Survival Guide by Kerry Fisher.

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: Your life smells (nothing like Chanel No.5, but) of bleach and Glade as a cleaner of spas, country clubs and ginormous homes of the well-to-do. You do not have an easy life. Not with your children and their constant needs. And a ‘partner’ who hasn’t proposed for nineteen years who’s so much of a lazy slob, all he does for full-time is rant at you.

Life couldn’t get any worse than this when the people around your estate are mostly crack-heads, teenagers who get knocked up and become dropouts. Could this be the future of your kids?

Then when the death of a Professor who was always keen on you as her cleaner, catapults your children into the life of highly-esteemed schools where all the mums arrive in Land Rovers, organize tea meetings in their plush homes after the school drop-off so the new mums could get acquainted with the system of things (and hierarchy of things), have mani-pedi dates with one another discussing which tutor is shipped from where helping their child’s math, you are both enamoured and frightened.

How are you going to pay the bills now that the children want to go on rugby tours in South Africa? Or put much effort into organizing bake sales with all the mums who know nothing about running shifts to scrub other people’s toilets? How can you cope with a partner who cannot wait for you to arrive so he could berate you for all the wrong choices you’ve made in your life (excluding running off with him, of course)?

And what do you do about the Head Teacher who’s showing such interest in you you can hardly focus when you are doing someone’s toilet?

Maia Exteleku’s life summed for your delight.

MY REVIEW

I loved, loved this book! So in my review you know I’d be urging you to grab a duster and do your own cleaning so you could take (mini) breaks and sit cross-legged with this book in your lap?

Beautiful story-line! Girl’s day job is cleaning. Girl doesn’t really dream of life more than that, but she’d like that the council tax people would take it easier on her. Girl has always dreamt of going back to school for a degree to better her life, but if only the man who has never proposed to her for nineteen years would give her a little encouragement rather than take up all her savings to hit the pubs when he’s grumpy (which is always). If only Girl could get her life together and give her children the good life they deserve, she’d be more than accomplished. Except on the way to giving children a good life, children want horses, bitchy mums cannot wait to downgrade her, Head Teachers cannot help but flirt and neighbours cannot help but envy what she has (which is nothing!). Brilliant. A star to the story-line.── ★

I adored the main character, Maia. She’s so relatable. She has this whiplash, direct tone laced with humour that gives the reader no chance to indulge in annoying constant bemoaning of her troubles. You would love her for trying to make the school run when she’s so late to scrubbing off someone’s floors. You would also love her for being about the only mum who doesn’t have the luxury to mani-pedi yet isn’t envious of all the others. You would also love her for being committed to succeeding in a life that keeps slamming her on her bottom with mountains of debt (so she could imitate a late aunt with a Spanish accent to tell off the creditors). A star to her!── ★★

The development of the supporting cast made this book worth-reading too. You would love Sandy, the neighbour next-door who cannot always wait to rub it in our lead’s face how much she’s trying to be prim and proper when cleaning other people’s shit is all she does. You would want to kick the gonads, of Colin, the ‘partner’ who only cares about his beers and West Ham. You would find Jennifer, one of the school mums, utterly annoying for wanting to be such a bitch every time to our lead for her chosen profession. There’s also Clover, one of the nicer mums, whose foul-mouth causes her children to take after her. Venetia, who is always going on about the necessity to pick out colleges for your nine year-olds and teaching them foreign languages so they could easily get into Oxford even if they wouldn’t encounter anyone in their lives who spoke Mandarin.  A star to all these and more.── ★★★

In every chapter there’s a cliff-hanger, something to keep you flicking the pages. I was hooked. Lots of OMG moments thrown in there as well. There’s also so much you could giggle at as an extra to make this book a kicking read.── ★★★★

I did love this book. But the first opening pages (twenty) were not that engaging and were shaky for me. However, after I got past the shaky bit I read all the others in a day!

So my rating: 4.5 stars/ 5 (4.5/5)

Too much for a debut, Kerry Fisher’s book is available on Amazon. I do hope you get it as well as her latest, The Island Escape which also sounds equally fab!

I recommend this book to anyone who loves chick-lit leads with not-so-glamorous lives and jobs. Anyone who wants a book into the life of an immigrant should also run off with this book. Anyone who wants to get on with something from a debut author they’d love to stick with through all other bestsellers in the future.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Book Review: Saving Grace by Jane Green

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: You have the perfect life. The perfect marriage with a best-selling author. The perfect daughter who’s almost engaged to the sweetest guy. A perfect assistant who makes your life looks, um, yes, perfect and seem seamlessly glamorous.

A perfect life. At least on the outside.

You might head charities. You might always be in style sections of magazines labelled ‘Most Stylish’. You might have the weight every woman your age would dream of. The face that keeps anti-ageing as Forties rear its head.

Your perfect life is being held by its perfect seams. Till your godsent assistant leaves.

No one knows the moment you get home and drop your keys on your kitchen counter, you are terrified your husband is still in a fit. No one knows you are scared shitless of your husband’s tantrums and dread the day the vases he flings against a wall might accidentally crush into your face. No one knows your husband is a complete lunatic when he doesn’t get what he wants. And no one knows you are terrified. Terrified, not only by your husband, but by the fear of becoming… JUST. LIKE. YOUR. MOTHER. Terrified by the fear of becoming severely manic.

You need a new assistant quick. Someone to hold it all, so your life seems perfect again.

Fortunately, you get one soon enough.

She’s too perfect she’s a dream come true. But this perfect stranger, wants your perfect life. And you’d bloody go through hell to a) realize, b) stop her before it’s too late and c) convince everyone your mother never passed off her genes to you.

Grace Chapman’s perfect life torn to imperfect shreds for your delight.

MY REVIEW

I loved, loved this book. So you know in my review I’d be yelling at you to go get it, don’t you?

My experience with Jane Green’s style came from Swapping Lives. A book I happily devoured… till it’s owner demanded her book back! (Apparently, it was a taboo to enjoy her book than she would WHEN SHE HAD NOT EVEN BOTHERED READING IT!)

I adore the storyline to this title. Woman is terrified of her husband. Woman’s perfect life is almost dissolved by her husband’s tantrums when their perfect assistant leaves. Woman introduces a new assistant into their home. Assistant might be bent on claiming everything Woman has. Or is Woman just being paranoid like her husband says? Love, love, love it! A star to the storyline.── ★

One thing about Jane Green’s writing, you fans already adore is her approach to the very difficult omniscient point-of-view in present tense(!) It gives this solemn quality to her titles and enhances her communication of the dense themes she seems to portray in her titles. A star.── ★★

You’d absolutely revere Grace Chapman. I do love highly composed women in their forties who exude grace under pressure and do a great job of bottling it all up so no one is privy to what goes on indoors in their homes. But how much more could you take before you finally crack? Amazing character! You would love her poise, her perfect image as society’s perfect wife. You would probably not relate to her, but you’d be enamoured of how she manages to keep it all under control without a flip switching off in her head (yet). A star to Grace.── ★★★

Other characters make this novel the literary engaging masterpiece it is. There’s Sybil, the friend who’s far from perfect, far from a size ten, far from polished and far from looking like she has it all under control like our lead (Grace). There’s also Ted, Grace’s husband who switches from complete jerk and lovely husband in a split second. There’s Clemmie, the perfect daughter who’s engaged to the perfect guy. There’s Lydia, the woman who taught Grace the number one thing that brings her joy: cooking. There’s Patrick, the adorable childhood friend who possibly still carries a torch for Grace (or has Hollywood already done his head in and made him a complete moron? but why would Grace care?). You’d also love-to-hate Beth, the assistant who at one time, Grace considers heavensent, then the next is contemplating if she’s wearing a mask over hellish features. A star to these characters.── ★★★★

Don’t you love Women’s Fiction that’s highly analytical? Women’s fiction that gives you a deeper insight into issues all you women face? Moreover, women’s fiction that offers you recipes for making meals that are sure to make your blood pressure go down a notch when you are feeling intensely worried?── ★★★★★

Suspense, check.

My rating: Five/Five stars (5/5 stars).

Saving Grace is available on amazon. Get it, and while at that, scoop all the other Jane Green titles you haven’t picked up.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a book with a lovable, relatable, enviable heroine. I recommend this book to anyone who wants their Women’s Fiction laced with lessons they could learn and pass on to friends. Anyone who is fan of Jane Green should grab this as she doesn’t disappoint with this title. The perfect book for a group of women to sit around a brunch table and discuss.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads. 

Book Review: Don't Tell The Boss by Anna Bell

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: You are happily married to the man of your dreams. You’ve put your act together and quit gambling. You idle at work blogging about planning weddings on a tight budget. You and your husband are trying to move up to stage six of your life plan, the baby stage. Everything in your life is running smoothly.

Until one of your blog followers pleads with you to plan her wedding. You are more than psyched. You are ecstatic. Your very first wedding. But your husband isn’t pleased. You guys are supposed to be planning for a baby and he doesn’t think you or the (yet-to-be) incoming baby could cope with the stress. Just this one wedding, you tell him.

It goes smoothly, thankfully, despite a few glitches with the music (——Beyoncé’s Single Ladies for the wedding march). A wedding guest sees your effort, and wants you to plan her wedding on a budget too for double the amount your first bride is paying you. An offer you cannot refuse. But your husband has other thoughts even though he knows he has no right to stop you from doing whatever that makes you happy.

A crazy bride who won’t stop calling you during work hours discussing a million ideas she has for her wedding, a husband-to-be you are acquainted with who entreats you to keep a secret from his fiancée despite your reluctance, mentoring a gambling teenager who would see some progress if only she ever looks up from her cell phone once in a while, and now a possible promotion at work keeping you on your feet, in competition with another co-worker and spending less time with your husband.

You are keeping a secret from the bride, you are keeping your wedding planner business from your boss, and there’s also the issue of your period showing up every month though you and your husband keep trying.

Penny Robinson’s crazy hours summed up for your delight.

MY REVIEW

I liked this title.

Despite it being a sequel to the author’s previous work, Don’t Tell The Groom, it fits as a perfect standalone with a unique storyline. So Girl is juggling between two jobs, moonlighting, and struggling not to keep secrets from her husband as he hates it. If only Girl could take a break, and spend more time with her husband, there’d be higher chances of her having a baby. If Girl could plan a wedding on a tight budget for a bride who always shows up for brunch with the season’s latest designer labels and accessories, she’d feel accomplished. A star to the storyline.── ★

Penny Robinson is a star. If she ever had a literary sister, it should be Becky Bloomwood. Funny, optimistic, has a soft spot for Vera Wang wedding dresses and Kurt Geiger shoes, utterly charming! You would love her voice, her admiration for anything quality and cheap (much like you!), her tendency for being the peacemaker in every situation, and the ever-complicated adventures she finds herself on without asking for them.── ★★

Other characters in this title made it a blast. You would love Henri, the obsessive bride who’s particular about little details like her dog being the ring bearer. You would love Beth, the teenager who’s addicted to nicking credit card details and gambling away hard-earned money promising herself she’d pay back after winnings that never come.── ★★★ 

You would also adore Gilles, the cold boss who loves assigning Penny with challenging tasks. Shelly, the competitive co-worker who loves teasing Penny with treats the former cannot resist. Louise, the friend who faintly remembers her encounter with Henri’s Husband-to-be. Baz, the army retiree who loves channelling his frustration on corporate men and women in his camp for team-building activities. There’s also a troublesome co-worker who doesn’t believe in armies and wouldn’t want to cooperate wearing army gears on team-building trips. A star to these characters.── ★★★★

Humor, check. Suspense, check.

My rating: Four/Five stars. (4/5 stars)

Do not fail to get Don’t Tell The Boss on Amazon and also check out the latest in Penny Robinson’s adventures coming out this month, Don’t Tell The Brides-To-Be.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves their chick-lit funny and Kinsella-esque. Anyone who wants tips on how to plan their weddings on a tight budget should grab this title as every chapter begins with posts from Penny’s blog with so many helpful (and——shockingly——practical) tips. Anyone who loves chick-lit that has an adorable main character they’d love to see do a comeback over and over again, should also pick this.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Book Review: Some Girls Do by Clodagh Murphy

Imagine This: You are in your late twenties. You used to dream of a job in publishing. You wished to be a writer. But then your mum’s ailment got you tied down to Dublin as you are the only daughter who cares enough of her survival. Your other brothers don’t.

You have no social life. You are pleased to be working in a bookshop that’s close to home. You are used to a colleague telling you to hightail it and go get a life. But who is she to judge when she’s a trust-fund kid with no sense of direction, doesn’t have a mother who is in bad health, and would sell any dieting book to anyone looking for Jamie Oliver’s latest?

You are just pleased writing a blog. A blog about sex. A blog about your inexistent sex life. A blog that has lots of viewership.

An email from a super-hot guy in the publishing circles who’s been flirting with you since twitter was founded appears in your inbox. His request? He’s thinking of making your blog a book.

You are thrilled. Over the moon. The closest to an orgasm you’ve ever had.

But wait! He wants to meet. And might there be any book deal if he finds out you are not the sexy, cocky girl you portray on your blog? You don’t want to risk that. And it doesn’t help that he seems genuinely interested in you.

You must learn how to suck cock. You must learn how to give a good hand job. You must learn how to transform yourself into the sex goddess you’ve always claimed to be online.

Then you meet Luca. Far more experienced in this sex thing than any escort you ever thought of hired.

Before you know it, you are juggling between a fuck buddy who hates clingy girls and a sorta boyfriend who can’t wait to see your prowess in bed. Thank God for the existence of five-date rules!

Claire’s sensuous dilemma summed up for your enjoyment.

MY REVIEW

Late in September, I found out something. My love for Irish chick-lit. I have read Marian Keyes’ Sushi for Beginners, and Cecilia Ahearn’s P.S I Love You, but those are classics. And would you ever forgive me if I told you I am a total book snob? But then I read Zoe Miller’s A Husband’s Confession and OMG, I had to request more Irish chick-lit!

Clodagh Murphy writes very sensational chick-lit, I found out. This book was released last year and I am so ashamed to put across I’m now catching up on the fun.

I loved, loved this book. So you know in my review, I’d be yelling at you to scout your country’s bookstores and find out if there are still copies available! (If not, go home defeated).

The storyline is fabulous. It’s not fresh. But it’s amazing. Girl has no experience in sex whatsoever. Her first orgasm was inexistent. She writes a sex blog which has been noticed by a doting big-time publisher who wants to get into her pants as much as get her book on the shelves. She meets a man-ho who agrees to give her lessons in all she wants to know and so much more. And what’s more? Make herself confident, and sexy, and sassy, and explore her sexuality. Beautiful! A star to the storyline. ── ★

I loved the heroine, Claire. She’s amazing. The kind of girl so shy she spends hours chewing her lip. The kind of girl who’s only bold when she’s behind her computer and online. The kind of girl who secretly hates being referred to as sweet. The kind of girl who has dreams of becoming a writer she cannot yet accomplish because she cannot fathom leaving her mother to die somewhere along the line despite her brothers have managed to abandon her successfully. Couldn’t you relate to her? Sometimes, it sucks to read books about girls who aren’t confident. But Clodagh Murphy doesn’t portray this to irritating levels that make the reader gets put off. You would adore Claire. A star to her. ── ★★

The other characters also make reading this title entertaining. There’s Yvonne, the trust-fund kid who would sell signed copies of Jane Austen novels to a husband who wants to surprise his wife with books of her favourite author on their anniversary. There’s also Espie, Claire’s mum who’s the bane of every nursing home for throwing parties with booze for all the patients. There’s Mary, the arthritis patient who butchers violin classics just because her joints are a bit weak. There’s the nursing home’s director who has the annoying attitude of using the ‘royal we’ and referring everybody’s mums as hers too. There’s Luca, the sex god who would set your knickers on fire (and I don’t even own knickers, so you can imagine!). There’s Mark, the charming publisher guy who’s doing his best to get through Claire’s five-date rule before sex. Oh, yeah, almost forgot, a super-fave, Catherine, the popular Lesbian mummy blogger who blogs about toilet-training her first when she doesn’t exactly have any children of her own. ── ★★★

The humour in this title was excellent. You would guffaw. You would chuckle. Even during the hot sex scenes, Clodagh Murphy tries to inject some amount of humour that would make readers who are not so comfortable with sex scenes (not like me!) desist from flipping the pages. ── ★★★★

My rating: Four/Five stars.

Clodagh Murphy’s 2014 hit, Some Girls Do, is available on amazon.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to get something to boost their sex life but cannot get over the embarrassment of moving to the sexual literature section of their bookstores. Anyone who wants a book with a heroine they could so relate to. And anyone with writing dreams or owning a blog of any kind. 

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Book Review: I'll Take New York by Miranda Dickinson

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: Your boyfriend, no matter how perfect, is known by your friends to stand you up. A LOT. Anniversary celebrations, he stands you up. Time with the girl pals, he stands you up. But you really do not mind, because even if all through your five years together he’s never been on-time to a single date (give or take three hours after), you overlook his flaws. I mean, isn’t that the essence of a long-(forget healthy)-relationship?

Until he’s known to stand you up by your family, one incident after inviting them all from England for something ‘special’ and he never shows. You are so furious you decide it’s over with him. But would he even show up for the breakup date?

So now you are single. In New York. Focusing on your bookstore. Becoming the successful woman you’ve always dreamed of. Putting love on the back-burner and having one only true love: New York City.

Then you meet a guy at an engagement party. You two are the only singles present. He’s recently divorced. After going on and on about how being in a relationship sucks, you two make a pact. The Pact: You would never be in a relationship again. Even if it’s with each other no matter the sizzling chemistry shared between you two. The beginning of a friendship and a three way with the city.

But except your friends do not believe you two could be friends by setting you up on blind dates. The city doesn’t believe two people who share as much chemistry could take on Wolman Rink and still be friends.

Heck, sometimes you don’t believe you two could be just friends. But there’s one thing keeping you guys apart, that is, even if you tried taking the next step: The Pact.

Bea James’ chaotic life summed up for your delight.

MY REVIEW

Have you noticed any tale about New York goes with you cheering, “Woo-hoo”s within reading intervals? Well, I have anyway, and I’ll Take New York is one of those.

Woo-hoo! Don’t you just love books set in New York? The city (and the sex), the rush, the people, the Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind. I am one of those unpatriotic fellas who wears an ‘I Heart NYC To Bits’ t-shirt on (my country’s) Independence Day. And can you ever go wrong with a chick-lit set in New York City with the city embodying a character on its own? Miranda Dickinson certainly didn’t. ── ★

Woo-hoo! Bea James and Jake Steinmann, the main characters in this tale were adorable. Bea James being your typical Brit who’s fallen in love with New York since arriving in Columbia. She loves books, loves Brooklyn, and owns a bookstore in Brooklyn. You would love Bea James for being a redhead (score one for the gingers!), you would love her for how often she loves to explore the city, and her emotional connection to the iconic Pond in Central Park. Jake Steinmann was also written well. I did love his point-of-view. Mostly, I hate contemporary romances because most writers portray their male leads as dark, broody, uptight, and very virile–––eek! I love that Jake’s POV wasn’t that dark, broody kind that made all men seem sexists and so into ourselves–––so refreshing! A star to both characters. ── ★★

Woo-hoo! Other characters you would love(to-hate) are Otis, Bea’s ex who never shows up for anything unless it’s something that has got cheap all over it; Desiree, Jake’s P.A who’s always missing the point; Russ, Bea’s co-owner of the bookshop and friend who has an aversion to men wearing suits in Brooklyn; Rosie and Ed, sister-in-law and brother of Jake who keep setting Bea and James on blind dates. Aunt Ruby, who’s so concerned about eating at home before attending an invite from Bea’s ex to dine for something ‘special’.  Grandma Dot, who always has a book popped in the mail to explain something significant (mostly about love and relationships and her first-true love) to Bea. ── ★★★

Woo-hoo! Humour in this book isn’t the laugh-out-loud, crack-a-rib kind, but the chuckling moments are constant. ── ★★★★

My rating: four-point-five stars (4.5/5 stars)

Miranda Dickinson’s latest, I’ll Take New York is available on amazon.

I recommend this book to any fan of Miranda Dickinson as she doesn’t disappoint in this title, anyone who loves romantic comedies, anyone who loves romantic comedies set in the City That Never Sleeps, and anyone who wants a book that would keep them awake (says my mum, who spent hours gazing at the stars on the cover and declaring them hypnotic).

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Book Review: Daughter by Jane Shemilt

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: You are the mother of three hormonal teenagers. And a surgeon whose job demands she spends little time with her kids. A neurosurgeon for a husband who’s good at sneaking into your bed late at night for some good-loving at a bad timing––when you just want to doze off. You wish you could spend more time with your kids. You wished your eldest daughter wouldn’t be watching you with eyes that say, you have no clue whatsoever. You wished the oldest of your boys wouldn’t stare at you with so much distaste. They want their independence, you keep consoling yourself. They would appreciate you more when they get older and attempt to strike the perfect work-family balance like you have.

Your life isn’t perfect. But you are working on it.

Until your daughter gets missing, adopted, raped, murdered, does anyone have the answers? She’s just nowhere to be found, and amidst the fear and the worry and dealing with the police who keep looking in all the wrong places, you keep asking yourself whether you’ve got the whole motherhood thing wrong from the start.

Everyone seems to be lying. Everyone you thought you could trust. If anyone knows what happened on the night your daughter, their daughter, their sister disappeared, they are not saying.

And as if that isn’t enough all the blame is being shifted to you for being the bad guy when all you want to do is help the police find your daughter and keep your family from gradually falling apart as a result of this crisis.

What’s more, the police’s findings keep coming up. And you should be relieved because they are always one-step-closer to finding your daughter. But the closer they get with these findings, the more you are sure this couldn’t be the daughter you raised.

Jenny Malcolm’s dilemma summed for your delight.

MY REVIEW

Another great storyline for a psychological thriller to keep you on your toes (seat, whatever position you prefer when reading). What’s so different about this title from just every other title with a character disappearing is how differently Jane Shemilt penned this. The presentation of flashbacks at appropriate moments whilst telling life a year after the character’s disappearance is what makes this title special. Throughout the opening pages you’d be on your toes (again, whatever position you prefer) to know if the main character found her daughter in the present day’s account. Another feature that makes this title different from others is how confused the main character gets as the police discovers details about her daughter, details she’s just so sure the police might be mixing up someone else’s missing daughter with hers. Fab storyline. ── ★

Jenny Malcolm is a character every mother out there would relate to. Jane Shemilt portrayed her main with the exactness another mother going through the same predicament would react. The kind of character who could win an actress an Oscar. The paranoia, the fear, the dreams, the visions, the moments when you want to keep it together but just don’t find the courage to when your daughter is out there being battered to death, raped, buried alive, all the worst case scenarios you see on Medical Detectives. You would adore Jen’s strength, her perseverance, her will to cast aside various shocking lapses of other characters to focus on finding her daughter. Throughout the novel, you’d be the hand reaching out to pat her on the back, sympathizing with her.  A star to her. ── ★★

Other characters you would revere are Naomi, the missing daughter whose smug smiles keep flashing everywhere you cannot help but wonder if she planned this whole ordeal; Michael, the cop heading the investigation; Theo, the only son who sees his mum as a super-hero, Mary; the old woman next-door filled with self-deprecating wisecracks to make her audience chuckle. A star to these characters. ── ★★★

The suspense in this novel is unsettling, way too many plot complications, too many useless leads going nowhere, enough to keep you glued to your seat. The ending was also… different and mind-boggling (not in the confusing way, the thought-provoking way) ── ★★★★

My rating: Four-stars. (4/5 stars).

Jane Shemilt’s psychological thriller with all the features akin to huge Hollywood motion-pictures is available on amazon.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves their psychological thrillers thrilling enough, anyone who wants a book with a main character and an issue they could absolutely relate to, and anyone who wants a title that keeps them intrigued as (or even when) the plot keeps unravelling.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Book Review: Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill

Back Cover Description: In a world in which baby girls are no longer born naturally, women are bred in schools, trained in the arts of pleasing men until they are ready for the outside world. At graduation, the most highly rated girls become “companions”, permitted to live with their husbands and breed sons until they are no longer useful.

For the girls left behind, the future – as a concubine or a teacher – is grim.

Best friends Freida and Isabel are sure they’ll be chosen as companions – they are among the most highly rated girls in their year.

But as the intensity of final year takes hold, Isabel does the unthinkable and starts to put on weight. ..
And then, into this sealed female environment, the boys arrive, eager to choose a bride.

Freida must fight for her future – even if it means betraying the only friend, the only love, she has ever known. . .

MY REVIEW

For every title I review I do write my synopsis before I go on to the review. But I tried my hands on this and I realized writing my own synopsis would give out so many spoilers I wish to keep to myself. The book’s back cover description is just enough to keep you starved for more.

I liked this title.

Fresh, new, quirky storyline that would keep your brow lifted throughout (might want to get that eye firming cream you’ve been putting off for long). It’s chick-lit in a world where feminists are banned from existing, where the ability to survive is thanks to several flicks of mascara, where the fattest you could get is less than a Kim Kardashian (––Meghan Trainor can go suck her bass), where the only asset is your beauty and anyone with less fortunate looks is cast aside. Beautiful storyline! ── ★

Freida is a well-developed character. Imagine yourself in high-school, less-confident, always wondering if you are fat enough, trying to stay out of way of the mean girls and looking for ways to step up into the spotlight even if you are considered by most too boring. Much like we adults, always that niggling doubt you are not perfect enough, thin enough, hot enough when others outside your body see you and wonder what you’ve got to be worried about if you are not contending with a quadruple chin. I could see lots of teenage girls relating to her so. A star to her. ── ★★

I found this book suspenseful. Especially the countdown to when the ‘boys’ come and you find yourself asking ‘so what now?’ after their appearance halfway through the book, then you realize the fun doesn’t stop there. Lots of surprise moments. ── ★★★

I did love the hi-tech fictional environment O’Neill created. A world that leaves the reader thinking lots of what-ifs. A very thought-provoking read touching on lessons of feminism, sexism, body image issues, and other issues I could bring up but serve as huge spoilers. ── ★★★★

I’m really not sure how I should categorize this book. But the string of what ifs I kept asking myself made it fantastical (without being over-the-top absurd), and besides sheer entertainment I kept wondering if the writer meant it satirical (Calling on all book clubs!).

I do see a movie to this title receiving much popularity amongst teens hitting the high ranks of the Twilights and Hunger games-es

My rating: Four-stars (4/5 stars).

Louise O’Neill’s great debut (and should there be a sequel?) is available on amazon.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants something different, anyone who wants to immense themselves in a world that keeps them squinting into the distance in thought, anyone who wants the next controversial title to be centrepiece in their book club discussions.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Festive Book Review: Christmas In The Snow by Karen Swan

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine This: You are in your thirties––and as one rival puts it, single, lonely, bitter. You are the only female president in a male-dominated environment. You are a workaholic. The only home you know is your office. It’s always jetting to have a meeting in Zurich, having lunch with some potential investors in Paris, and reading the Financial Times on a flight to Vienna. All in one day.

At the peak of your fast-paced career as a hedgie, you are about to make it to the board––the peak that blunts all other peaks, and standing in your way is just this one account you’d have to secure. Except these clients are Chinese and traditional, so although they see, your brilliant pitches and you nursing the strains in your neck every time you curtsy, they are not moved the slightest.

So when on a flight to meet with these clients at Zurich, you encounter a devastatingly handsome guy who you would love to ram against a wall and do all sorts of dirty to. Yet all you can think of is, I can’t afford to be distracted.

Zurich was good. Fun. The meeting with the clients went well. You’re back in London, thinking what happens in Switzerland, stays in Switzerland.

Until a work crisis leaves you haunted by your immediate past. And suddenly all you have worked so hard to achieve is about to fall into the hands of this immediate past. But there’s no way you are going to allow Immediate Past to shatter all you have worked for, you are never going down without a fight. Only the universe can’t think of a right timing for you to receive a call from Swiss police…

And suddenly, you have more skeletons (meant literally) to deal with this Christmas than a one-night-stand turned messy.

Allegra Fisher’s dilemma summed up for your enthralment.  

MY REVIEW

I have never really been a fan of festive holiday reads. I am terrified to open them because if I do end up not liking them so much it would put a damper on my festive mood.  But… but who am I kidding? You sensed a ‘but’ even before I started this review…

I loved, loved, loved, loved, loved this book so, so, so much! So you know in my review I’d be yelling at you to go tell the nearest Barnes and Nobles shop that if they do not have it they should contact their insurance company since they rarely do(because you would be slamming your head against the glass windows)!

(I actually snorted when I read the blurb, then flipped the book to see Karen Swan’s name big and red on it, then I knew I was going to fucking like the way Karen presented an old storyline) I mean, who hasn’t read a book blurb about dark, family secrets and voiced teasingly, “Ooh, spooky.”? But the way Karen wrote this was off the hook! Dark, family secrets my arse! This book was way more than something old. It was something old made refreshingly new and leaving the reader to free-fall into uneasiness and wonder, ‘Oh, when do I break my spine yet?”. Amazing old storyline with so many twists and turns (most reviewers use these two words lightly but I do not) you are marvelled all the way through. And isn’t it amazing a book about dark, family secrets isn’t all about (not-so) dark family secrets? A star! ── ★

(I watched the second instalment to that Spartan movie and I have always fantasized about rough sex––I am human I have needs too!––with cold-blooded ice-princess women) I loved, loved Allegra Fisher. Never have I wanted a character to pick me so badly since watching Angelina Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. There’s something so sexy about women who have it all under control and are fiercely independent and won’t settle for less (or even settle at all!)… but sometimes I find that majority of my audience are women and do not understand a thing I am saying at all(?) You would love her! Love how she’s a die-hard feminist and wouldn’t stand for the slightest discrimination at her workplace or anywhere (much like you!). Love her whiplash attitude and how brutally blunt she is. Even if you do not, you would understand her reasons for being who she is and show some show sympathy towards her (as I show some sympathy towards you). It’s just so fun that you realize everything she does is what someone who is totally like her would do and no action of hers is really out-of-place. You would realize Karen Swan really did her What Would Allegra Fisher Do? Homework well. A star to the characterization. ── ★★

I love that this book is out of the norm of festive reads. You know, I pictured Karen Swan sitting in that Festive Reads conventional train with her laptop and jumping out when that train was always going there (––no stress on the word, you would have noted the difference if I meant, ‘there’). And I was thrilled she jumped out of that train to produce something totally different! A star to being a nonconformist and succeeding at that! ── ★★★

Oh, the other characters in this book? You might give up thinking there can be no perfect book! (But if you already think there is a perfect book why don’t you pick this title and rate it again when Karen releases another?) All the characters played roles in synchrony to help this title achieve a solid, unifying plot! You would love Isobel, the sister who criticizes Allegra for not owning a toaster and not being homely. You would love Cinzy, the personal stylist who always silently tells Allegra to dress like a woman (with ruffles and feathers––Allegra’s worst fears) with her (Cinzy’s) choices for her. You would love Maasi, the billionaire Italian who went to Harvard yet makes millions out of a shocking trade and gives salient advice from the words spilling out of his mouth at rate of a thousand per minute. There’s also Pasha who’s as thick-headed as the bottle blonde wife of a millionaire would be. Pierre, who reminds you of the boss you admire so much. Lots and lots of characters I really wished I could go on and on about. (But if you corner me too much I would… thanks for your persistence) Julia, Allegra’s Alzheimer’s mum. Barry, Julia’s nurse. And other characters you would love to hate like Sam*. A star to all the characters. ── ★★★★

Humor––sometimes laugh-out-loud, most times find-what-you-should-laugh-out-loud-about. This book isn’t what I’d tag a downright laugh-out-loud read (and you know how particular I am about humour in a title). But I can tell you it’s a downright suspenseful book. I really did take a slight hatred to Karen for this feature. I mean, what’s a book that could give you coronary thrombosis when such disorder isn’t genetic in your family? I don’t quite understand why an author would put so much effort in making your heart stop beating when she needs you to revere the ending of her novel to pieces. It’s not how Karen drops an OMG Moment in this title. It’s how she presents the OMG Moment that makes the OMG Moment actually say an OMG to its OMG Moment. A star! ── ★★★★★

Yet if I do give this book a four/five star-rating you would be so shocked. Because it’s a six/five star-read (and please I have had enough education to assure you this grading oversight is an emphasis of how phenomenal this book is!)

Karen Swan’s latest, Christmas in the Snow is available on amazon. (And you know I am only providing the link just in case B&N in your area runs out of copies AND YOU DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH FUEL TO DRIVE TO ANOTHER STATE TO GET IT).

I recommend this book to anyone who loves not only a good book (because that would be the biggest understatement of the year for this title) but a goooood, goooood book. Anyone who wants something adrenalin-pumping should grab this title too. And just anyone, anyone who wants to read a book about dark family secrets that actually have dark family secrets alongside a sub-plot that brutally competes with a main plot to thrill the reader. Plus if you are ski demon this is your perfect book.

Hurrah (I find this more bourgeois-irritating than ‘hurray’)! I am so glad this book ended 2014 for me. My work not done here. Off to post my review on goodreads.