Anthony collects lost things, catalogues them in the hope of finding his lost object. In his will he leaves the task to his assistant Laura. The story did not quite take the route I expected it too, but this did not spoil my enjoyment. Lots of offbeat characters (including a ghost) that worked well together. A gentle, quirky read.
If you enjoy paranormal, horror, youth romance in stand alone novels and series then seek this author out. I have read and enjoyed several of Amanda Hocking’s books as they were published (Trylle trillogy, Kanin Chronicles). They are not steamy but there is some gore so be warned. The themes tend to feature the less glamorous characters like trolls and people with necromancy. In Freeks we follow Mara and other extraordinary people in Gideon Davorin’s Traveling Carnival until they reach the small town of Caudry where she meets Gabe. In Caudry, a dark force is feeding on the powers the travellers are trying to conceal from the public and Mara must decide whether Gabe has lured them or whether he truly wants to save her. To be totally honest, I am not a romance reader, but as a reader of paranormal I find Amanda Hocking’s books catch my interest and I will be starting the Valkyrie series next. Readers 14yrs+ will enjoy Amanda Hocking’s books.
This book is a sequel, yet I managed to love it without having read the first book. Set after WWI, and into WWII,in Ceylon, England, and Germany, it follows a cast of eccentric, and flawed characters trying to make their way in peace time after the Great War, and find themselves heading towards war again. It’s a novel of relationships, about romantic love, betrayal, parenthood, loyalty, and life. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and look forward to getting the back story once I get hold of the first book.
This was a fun read, just like a silent movie. The titles to each chapter that are set up as silent movie stills enhance the feeling of early Hollywood perfectly. A body has been found on a Santa Monica beach and private detective Ted Oliver is hired to investigate. How is the movie star Bianca LaBelle involved? To find out we are taken back through Bianca’s life.
Queenie is a young, London woman of Jamaican heritage, who has just broken up with her long-term boyfriend, and struggles to find her place. The beginning is hard to read, as Queenie makes some really poor choices, but by the end I was racing to the finish. It covers some dark ground – abuse, mental illness, racism, but it is also warm, funny, and hopeful.
The Last Reality trilogy by Jason Segel (How I met your mother and Freaks and Geeks) and Kirsten Miller, was a little complicated for me until I got into it but gamers will be in their element. Imagine putting on a headset and your body goes into a VR game. Now, imagine putting on another device which engages all your senses, you feel everything, and if your avatar dies in the game, you die in real life! Technology is crossing so many moral boundaries in this book it is not a read for the faint hearted. If technology like this is released telling fantasy from reality will be impossible. I’m writing this before I have read the last few chapters so the ending is unknown to me. Simon Eaton has made discoveries in both the game and in the real world and is determined to shut down the governing body, The Company, for good. I hope he does! If you like books about gaming I enjoyed these too: Ready player one by Ernest Cline and the Warcross series by Marie Lu.
All types of love are explored in this book – family love, friendship, lost love, first love, affairs. It shows that love is messy, in fact life can be messy. Throw in the mystery of an apparent suicide death and a great location of the south coast of NSW and you have a story that will keep you reading. I did not totally like Phoebe as the main character, her emotions were a bit repetitive, so I was not enjoying the story for a while, but I am glad I kept reading as I enjoyed the end of the story so much more.
Three longtime friends, now in their seventies, come together to clean out their friend’s beach house, after she has died. It’s an unflinching, wry, uncomfortable, and moving look at women’s ageing, purpose in life, relationships, and the depth and fragility of friendship.
Ocean Vuong is a poet, this is his first novel, and the language is beautiful. It’s a letter from a son, called Little Dog, to his mother, about her life in Vietnam, and then in America. It deals with abuse, addiction, coming of age, love, loyalty, and loss. The themes are dark, but the book is not so dark as a whole, but lyrically hopeful.
I was emotional during this read and gained a new perspective of the story when I learned the author has a daughter with Rhett Syndrome. The story is about an 11 year old girl with Rhett Syndrome and nobody has found a way to help her communicate, her family haing fallen into a routine of treating her like a toddler and as if she cannot understand anything going on around her. Ava’s greatest desire is to speak with her older sister, Nic, to tell her she loves her and wants to be a part of her life, that she can’t help how her body betrays her and is so sorry that she embarrasses her in front of her friends. It is a book of perseverance, hope and the love of family. This book is suitable for readers 10 years+ and I also recommend it to adults. If you would like to read more books like this for the same reading age suggest Wonder by RJ Palacio and My life is an alphabet by Barry Jonsberg.
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