You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke

You Let Me In – Lucy Clarke

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Read May 19

Elle is a young writer whose debut has become a bestseller netting her enough money to renovate her dream cliff-top house in Cornwall. She has a few problems though: 1. Money is running out fast and she’s suffering from horrendous writer’s block for her second book. 2. After letting her house on Air B&B while on holiday to bring in a little extra money it no longer feels “right”. 3. She’s having trouble with her ex. 4. A difficult relationship with stay-at-home mum, sister Fiona. And 5. Her neighbour’s son who may or may not be a stalker.

The story was gripping, claustrophobic and delightfully twisty. It kept me guessing all the way through.

4/5 stars

Stef Out x

Born Scared by Kevin Brooks

Born Scared – Kevin Brooks

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Read May 19

Elliot is 13 and afraid of everything. He copes through isolation, a controlled environment, and a carefully regimented medication scheme. Due to some unfortunate timing his medication is about to run out and as tomorrow is Christmas his prescription has been pushed through as an emergency, the snag? His mum must go out in a snowstorm in a trip that should only take 10 minutes. She doesn’t return and Elliot makes the agonising decision to try and find her at a friend’s house, her most likely final destination. It’s not far in distance but the journey is epic and arduous!

This book was intense! So much happened in such a short space of time. It makes for quite a narrow perspective and not a lot of other characters or time spent developing them.

4/5 stars

Stef Out x

Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich

Dear Evan Hansen – Val Emmich

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Read May 19

Just to clarify I had never heard of the musical before reading this and I haven’t listened to any of the music since. A boy – Connor Murphy – takes his own life and is found with a note in his pocket addressed “Dear Evan Hansen”. Evan is a loner who has issues with anxiety. One of his therapy tasks is to write letters to himself. Connor steals his letter and this is found with his body. Along with Connor having signed the cast on Evan’s broken arm this leads Connor’s parents, and later everyone else, to believe that Connor and Evan were best friends when in reality they barely knew each other. I like the way the story unfolded from the dishonest way that Evan creates fake emails between himself and Connor with a friend’s help to the fact that he uses his new popularity to create the ‘Connor Project’, a website to raise money and help those with mental health issues. Evan’s growth throughout was brilliant, but I think – especially due to a stage show’s nature of focusing only on a few people – that character development in the side characters suffered a little bit, I’d have liked more on them.

4/5 stars

Stef Out x

All the Hidden Truths - Claire Askew

All the Hidden Truths – Claire Askew

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Read May 19

An intense story of a school shooting told from the perspective of three women: Helen Birch, the DI investigating the incident; the mother of a girl who died; and the mother of the shooter. The DI, Helen, is recently promoted and given the task of establishing why Ryan – the shooter – did what he did. A task that never appears to be completed, just shunned in favour of a fight with a journalist. The characters are not especially likeable but that may be the circumstances under which we meet them. I did like the formatting of the book with the inclusion of newspaper articles and Wikipedia pages.

3/5 stars

Stef Out x

The Liar's Room by Simon Lelic

The Liar’s Room – Simon Lelic

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

Read April 19

To me a good thriller is signified by whether you remember it or not – especially as I have a bad memory – but while I can remember bits of the classics (Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, Behind Her Eyes) I couldn’t remember this without GoodReads at all. The single room set-up was dull, I’m not sure if there was sufficient detail and the characters… Not memorable, lacking in depth. Villain was a caricature. It followed the basic thriller formula but without true feeling and belief.

2/5 stars

Stef Out x

One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus

One of Us Is Lying – Karen McManus

Read Jan 19 - Library

I liked the characters in this, they were diverse and had interesting personalities although the stereotypes were cliché: nerd, jock, princess and criminal. I really liked the development of Addy, the princess character, she really grew and matured throughout the story. Bronwyn, the nerd, didn’t grow as much as a character regarding general maturity but she did become more open and honest as a person. Nate was the criminal, he was an interesting character, the obvious suspect in the murder of Simon, too obvious in a way. Finally, there was Cooper, the jock, the most disappointingly handled character. He had less of a personality than the others beyond sport and his ‘secret’. His feelings were normal, but it was a plot twist that shouldn’t exist.

The conclusion as well was disappointing. I didn’t guess it but then even with thrillers it’s rare that I try, however the eventual motivations behind the murder were not good. They weren’t handled well and reinforce some poor stereotypes. Overall 3 stars because I enjoyed the book, - 2 because it has strong negative issues.

3/5 stars

Stef Out x

Wing Jones by Katherine Webber

Wing Jones – Katherine Webber

Read Jan 19 - Library

Wing is a unique character in YA fiction. I haven’t read/seen many mixed race main characters and those that exist are usually white and ‘other’. Not Wing, she has a grandmother from China and another from Ghana, both of whom live with her, her mother and her sports star brother, Marcus.

Life is mostly fine until Marcus gets into an accident that leaves him in a coma and then Wing is left questioning her entire life and sense of self. The book covered a lot of aspects well, Wing’s growth, the family dynamics, the impact of poor finances and racism. However the romance was predictable and the writing style lacking overall, possibly due to the fact that it was a white woman writing about race - something she won't have personally experienced.

3/5 stars

Stef Out x