*copies from netgalley/direct from the publisher Here's my August reads:
The Honeymoon by Rona Halsall* - Chloe falls head over heels for Dan after a chance meeting at her work (when his mum is one of her patients) and it seems he feels exactly the same... They rush into marriage without really knowing each other... nothing can go wrong - or can it?
Things start to go wrong on honeymoon and Chloe wonders if she'd rushed into the marriage too quickly. Dan isn't who he seemed to be and seems to have lots of secrets...even though she's got one of her own. He's very moody and controlling and it's not the honeymoon she's always dreamed of.. There are lots of twists and turns and the storylines kept me interested. Would recommend.
Things start to go wrong on honeymoon and Chloe wonders if she'd rushed into the marriage too quickly. Dan isn't who he seemed to be and seems to have lots of secrets...even though she's got one of her own. He's very moody and controlling and it's not the honeymoon she's always dreamed of.. There are lots of twists and turns and the storylines kept me interested. Would recommend.
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead* - The Nickel Boys is based on a true story and set in 1960s Florida. Elwood Curtis, is a good boy who is raised by his strict grandmother. He's in the wrong place at the wrong time when he's wrongly convicted of car theft and is sent straight to the Nickel Academy.
Nickel is a brutal place to be and his new friend, streetwise Turner helps him settle in. The reform school is run by a sadistic and racist bully called Spencer and all the boys fear being taken to "The White House" where they are brutally beaten and tortured and sometimes boys don't make it out alive.. Whites and blacks are segregated, some who have committed crimes and some boys have nowhere else to go...
Elwood takes a stand which could cost him his life but Turner is there to try and help him and in doing so their lives become woven together forever. There are chapters "after Nickel" where we see 'Elwood' having a decent sort of life.
It's a powerful novel with a twist I didn't see coming and a story which stayed with me long after I finished reading.
Nickel is a brutal place to be and his new friend, streetwise Turner helps him settle in. The reform school is run by a sadistic and racist bully called Spencer and all the boys fear being taken to "The White House" where they are brutally beaten and tortured and sometimes boys don't make it out alive.. Whites and blacks are segregated, some who have committed crimes and some boys have nowhere else to go...
Elwood takes a stand which could cost him his life but Turner is there to try and help him and in doing so their lives become woven together forever. There are chapters "after Nickel" where we see 'Elwood' having a decent sort of life.
It's a powerful novel with a twist I didn't see coming and a story which stayed with me long after I finished reading.
The Secret Letter by Debbie Rix* - I absolutely devoured this in a couple of days. The story follows two girls - one 13 year old Magda, in Germany and the other 15 year old Imogen in England. Magda lives on a farm in the German countryside while Imogen lives in Newcastle. The story is mainly set in the war years from 1939 but touches on the 1950s and the present day too.
Magda has to keep quiet that she is sympathetic to the other side while having to endure the German Girls League, part of the Hitler Youth and the unwanted attention of it's local rising star. She lives at home helping out at the family farm. Imogen and her friend Joy were shipped off to the sleepy lakes to continue with school and she's training to be an architect when war breaks out and takes leave of her course to become a Wren.
The stories of both girls kept me interested throughout and their stories are very cleverly interwoven. I found it fascinating to read about their experiences during the war and all the people they met and the circumstances they found themselves in. Highly recommend.
Stop at Nothing by Tammy Cohen* - Emma, Tess's younger daughter is attacked on her way home from a party. Luckily, a passerby called Frances intervenes and scares him off. Emma's unable to pick him out from the police line up for sure and Tess is convinced a specific guy is getting off free and she makes it her mission to call him out. Frances, infiltrates their lives, initially to be a buddy to Emma and laterally to be a friend to Tess.
Tess's mother suffers from Dementia and is cared for by her dad, who's now feeling the strain. Tess watches them via CCTV from her home just to make sure they're ok. Something happens which turns her world upside down and makes her fearful when she realises the person behind it could be closer to home...
I wasn't keen on the prickly character of Tess, but she's been through a lot of stuff - her husband left her for someone else, she's estranged from her older daughter and has been made redundant from the job she loved at the magazine. It's a fast paced read with a twist I didn't see coming. Would recommend.
Magda has to keep quiet that she is sympathetic to the other side while having to endure the German Girls League, part of the Hitler Youth and the unwanted attention of it's local rising star. She lives at home helping out at the family farm. Imogen and her friend Joy were shipped off to the sleepy lakes to continue with school and she's training to be an architect when war breaks out and takes leave of her course to become a Wren.
The stories of both girls kept me interested throughout and their stories are very cleverly interwoven. I found it fascinating to read about their experiences during the war and all the people they met and the circumstances they found themselves in. Highly recommend.
Stop at Nothing by Tammy Cohen* - Emma, Tess's younger daughter is attacked on her way home from a party. Luckily, a passerby called Frances intervenes and scares him off. Emma's unable to pick him out from the police line up for sure and Tess is convinced a specific guy is getting off free and she makes it her mission to call him out. Frances, infiltrates their lives, initially to be a buddy to Emma and laterally to be a friend to Tess.
Tess's mother suffers from Dementia and is cared for by her dad, who's now feeling the strain. Tess watches them via CCTV from her home just to make sure they're ok. Something happens which turns her world upside down and makes her fearful when she realises the person behind it could be closer to home...
I wasn't keen on the prickly character of Tess, but she's been through a lot of stuff - her husband left her for someone else, she's estranged from her older daughter and has been made redundant from the job she loved at the magazine. It's a fast paced read with a twist I didn't see coming. Would recommend.
The Photographer of the Lost by Caroline Scott* - this beautiful and evocative book isn't published until the end of October so I'll share my review in my October round-up. Well worth adding it to your TBR pile!
The Old You by Louise Voss - I read this on holiday and it was always one more chapter! Lynn Naismith gave up her job when she married older man Ed. They've always had a fun life until Ed is diagnosed with early dementia. At first it's the odd mistaken word and being slightly weird, until he's physically hurting her..
Lynn has secrets from her previous life... it seems Ed may have too, or is it something more recent that he's hiding? It's a fast paced, twisty and sometimes uncomfortable read which I just couldn't put down. I sort of felt I was there with Lynn when she discovers things are definitely not all they seem... So recommend.
Lynn has secrets from her previous life... it seems Ed may have too, or is it something more recent that he's hiding? It's a fast paced, twisty and sometimes uncomfortable read which I just couldn't put down. I sort of felt I was there with Lynn when she discovers things are definitely not all they seem... So recommend.
The Controller by Matt Brolly (Lynch & Rose #1) - oh I just loved the characters of Lynch and Rose and the fast-paced storylines and can't wait for book #2.
It's been six years since Special Agent Samuel Lynch worked for the FBI but in all that time he's not stopped looking for his son who he believes was snatched by "The Controller" of The Railroad, an underground organisation. Its members have a significant tattoo on their bodies.
Special Agent, Sandra Rose needs his help after a horrific incident. What follows is an edge-of-the-seat, fast paced read which is brilliantly drawn and great to read. I absolutely love it. Roll on book #2 (and of course it makes my top reads of '19).
It's been six years since Special Agent Samuel Lynch worked for the FBI but in all that time he's not stopped looking for his son who he believes was snatched by "The Controller" of The Railroad, an underground organisation. Its members have a significant tattoo on their bodies.
Special Agent, Sandra Rose needs his help after a horrific incident. What follows is an edge-of-the-seat, fast paced read which is brilliantly drawn and great to read. I absolutely love it. Roll on book #2 (and of course it makes my top reads of '19).
What have you been reading this month?
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