Monday 14 March 2016

Book Review: A Night in With Audrey Hepburn by Lucy Holliday (Libby Lomax #1)

A Night in with Audrey Hepburn (Libby Lomax, #1)A Night in with Audrey Hepburn by Lucy Holliday
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was in need of a light, girly read and A Night in with Audrey Hepburn was recommended to me by a friend. I'm not overly familiar with Audrey Hepburn's works, but I'm a big fan of that era, and I liked the concept of her turning up in Libby Lomax's living room.
I loved and hated this book almost simultaneously. Libby is funny, seems sweet and charming but regularly ends up in wildly ridiculous situations that always seem to be more and more extreme and unlikely. Although you will Libby to succeed, she never seems to really think much of herself and after a while this gets old and tiresome. The supporting characters in this novel aren't particularly friendly either. Libby's mum, sister and dad are frankly horrendous, and her best friend Olly is a bit of a drip. They're all a bit wishy-washy and you don't really want to support or root for any of them. The only exception to this is Bogdan, a gay hairdresser forced to work for his builder father. He provides much of the comic relief.
Lucy Holliday handles the scenes with Audrey Hepburn well. I could hear the actress' voice in my head and believed that Libby could see her. Audrey being obsessed with the coffee machine was also a nice touch.
A Night in with Audrey Hepburn is a page turner, and there are sections of this book that engross you. The reader cannot wait to find out what happens to Libby, but the ending is rather anti-climactic. Luckily I have the next in the series ready to go!

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Thursday 10 March 2016

Book Review: The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway #7)

The Ghost Fields (Ruth Galloway, #7)The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Elly Griffiths is my saviour! My heroine! I absolutely adore her characters, especially Ruth Galloway, Cathbad and Harry Nelson. Opening The Ghost Fields is like visiting a favourite family member: warm; comforting and you know exactly what to expect.
In this chapter of Ruth's life, a WWII plane is discovered buried under the local green, with the pilot still in the cockpit. What follows is an unravelling of family secrets, the invasion of a production crew and assaults left, right and centre.
As always, what makes the Ruth Galloway series are the characters and the trials and tribulations they go through. They are such an eclectic mix and with several love triangles developing it grows more and more interesting. The continuing development of Ruth and Nelson is the one thing that draws me back every time.
My only, small criticism, without giving too much away, is that like every other Ruth Galloway novel, she ends up having to be saved by somebody. It would be really nice for her to do the saving for a change!

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Tuesday 8 March 2016

Book Review: Disclaimer by Renée Knight

DisclaimerDisclaimer by Renée Knight
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What originally drew me to Disclaimer by Renée Knight was the original concept. Catherine opens a book to discover that she is the main character and the author knows secrets that only she and one other person has knowledge of. Secrets that she has kept her whole life.
This was a real page turner. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Catherine and her family and how the story would unfold. However my main criticism with this novel is the characters. They are well thought out and thoroughly developed but maybe that's the problem. I didn't like any of them and when there isn't one sympathetic character I tend to lose interest a bit. I cannot invest my emotions in people I don't like! Despite this, the twist at the end was well worth waiting for and after passing it on to a friend, they really liked it and didn't have the same issues that I did.

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