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Book News. Reviews & Recommendations

Review: I Confess by Alex Barclay @alexbarcs @fictionpubteam

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I Confess

Author: Alex Barclay

Publication Date: April 2nd 2020

Publisher: Harper Collins UK

Genre: Psychological Thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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synopsis coycaterpillar - Review: I Confess by Alex Barclay @alexbarcs @fictionpubteam

Seven friends. One killer. No escape…

A group of childhood friends are reunited at a luxury inn on a remote west coast peninsula in Ireland. But as a storm builds outside, the dark events that marred their childhoods threaten to resurface.

And when a body is discovered, the group faces a shocking realisation: a killer is among them, and not everyone will escape with their lives

review coy caterpillar - Review: I Confess by Alex Barclay @alexbarcs @fictionpubteam

Thank you to the publisher for a e-copy of the book.  All thoughts are my own and unbiased.

When I started I confess, it felt like reading someone’s diary.  It felt sneaky, it felt private and most of all it gave me a first-class ticket on someone’s personal ride to hell.  There was a deep undercurrent of evil fizzling through the story, threatening to snap up to the surface, making its presence known, jolting everyone back to the past.   You just knew that something sinister was going to invade everyone’s space.  The cover sent a chill down my spine. 

A reunion, seven friends…what could go wrong?

Seven friends reunite, and recount stories of days gone by.  They are marred by past events, what happened?  For many of the seven characters childhood was a battleground.  They drink, become merry, have a laugh, a jibe and reminisce.  It was all supposed to be fun, the lines weren’t supposed to become blurred.  Just how wrong do things need to become for the group to leave and never be the same again?  We all develop and become products of our childhood and adolescence but not allowing it to determine the rest of your life is what is important

Edie and Johnny.  They have renovated a site of remarkable childhood importance and have transformed it into a luxury Inn.  It’s impressive.  Situated in Beara in West Cork they both decided to invest, but not before getting a good friend to give it the once over for them, Patrick.  Great financial strain and paperwork don’t stand in their way and they develop it fantastically.  Where else would be the perfect backdrop for their reunion for her best friend, Helen’s birthday.  Edie is such a kind and caring soul who in my estimation puts incredible amounts of pressure on herself to be the perfect hostess to their friends.  She wants them to love the place, but she also wants her friends to be happy.  Johnny, Edie’s husband is a strange one for me.  He constantly seems on edge and nervy, keeps disappearing into the basement.  He also seems to have a bit of a problem with Patrick.  Just what has gone on between them?  What will transpire as the night goes on?  I went into the novel with an open mind, I let it lead me blind even though I could feel the spirits of days gone past all around me.

The friends, Helen, Laura, Claire, Murphy and Patrick arrive, and you get a sense of pride in their friend.  Each character has complex layers and as the night develops we get to see them stripped bare.  Motives and behaviours being unleashed under stress and panic.  Murphy was by far my favourite character and his uncanny sense of humour which could be devilishly dark and self-deprecating kept the group alive.  Even during the scenes when everyone else was lashing out and becoming more and more defensive, Murphy just couldn’t stop making hilarious comments, probably due to his nerves.  As the night continues on, we get POV’s of all the characters when they were young.  It’s a foreshadowing, its intricate and it just leaves the reader with more questions than it answers.  Things get complicated when the power goes out, the tension is fraught and sizzling with electricity and then they discover a body…

The body is the catalyst for the group to basically implode.  Home truths are thrown around, doubts start creeping into their minds and the fear is palpating around them.  This discovery feels like a ten-tonne weight that seven individuals are trying carry.  It’s heavy, it’s a burden and it threatens to destroy them all.  The past has come back to haunt them.  You can’t outrun your past.  The luxury Inn is where the past becomes the present.  The novel had me guessing until the very end, no-one was safe, everyone was potentially a threat.  Alex Barclay writes with a honed skill that leaves devastation in her path.  She writes every-day normal people with such an authentic sense of foreboding.  I had my suspicions, but I was entirely proven wrong, I liked that the author dropped the mic on me.  I felt the fear, how vivid scenes became, dancing in my vision. 

I Confess, is dripping in eerie rawness.  You can feel the clock ticking and your heart racing and the dread creeping up your spine.  A book that will give you papercuts with the speed of the page turning. 

The Abominable Book Club Unboxing: December 2019 @abominablebook

This was my first month subscribing to The Abominable Book Club subscription service. It’s a fun monthly book box entirely based around horror. You get one new release (within the last 12 months) and one from their very cool Accursed Library (a second hand acquired book with freaking awesome covers). They also throw in some amazingly local sourced Welsh treats. I could totally get used to that! If you are intrigued this is the box’s contents.

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The New Release Book

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This month’s book is All My Colors by David Quantick. It’s likely not a book I would have picked up and that’s exactly what I love about book box subscription, it pushes the boundaries of your reading tastes.

From Emmy-award winning author David Quantick, All My Colors is a darkly comic novel about a man who remembers a book that may not exist, with dire consequences. A bizarre, mind-bending story at the intersection of Richard Bachman, Charlie Kaufman and Franz Kafka.

It is March 1979 in DeKalb Illinois. Todd Milstead is a wannabe writer, a serial adulterer, and a jerk, only tolerated by his friends because he throws the best parties with the best booze. During one particular party, Todd is showing off his perfect recall, quoting poetry and literature word for word plucked from his eidetic memory. When he begins quoting from a book no one else seems to know, a novel called All My Colors, Todd is incredulous. He can quote it from cover to cover and yet it doesn’t seem to exist.

With a looming divorce and mounting financial worries, Todd finally tries to write a novel, with the vague idea of making money from his talent. The only problem is he can’t write. But the book – All My Colors – is there in his head. Todd makes a decision: he will “write” this book that nobody but him can remember. After all, if nobody’s heard of it, how can he get into trouble?

As the dire consequences of his actions come home to both Todd and his long-suffering friends, it becomes clear that there is a high – and painful – price to pay for his crime. 

The Accused Library Book

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This Looks amazing and I can’t wait to read it. A perfect xmas day read, Ha.

For Nick Ryan, private detective, life is all work and no play; his family has left him, and he’s been given six months to live. When his daughter is kidnapped by a gang responsible for a series of murders, he begins an obsessive hunt fof her and will not stop. Time is running out for both of them.

Bonus Gift

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Mad Hallelujah and Other Oddities by Owen Morgan (one of the founders of the Abominable Book Club).

“BEHOLD THESE MAD HALLELUJAHS, WE SCREAM INTO THE DARK…”

An already cracked marriage is obliterated with a single, destructive word…

A hiker is compelled to join a strange child, digging in the woods for truffles…

A clump of hair stuck in a drain turns out to be much more than it appears…

An experiment in rubberisation rebounds in violent fashion at a secret research facility…

A cruel mother’s obession with roses leads to a disturbing and bloody transformation…

All this and more is held within these pages, waiting to be fed. Mad Hallelujah and other oddities is the debut poetry and short fiction collection from Owen Morgan, featuring 14 short stories and poems to make your skin crawl, your brain fizz, and your bones dance. Be warned, these stories will take you to bizarre, gory, and gloriously absurd places…

…but at least you’ll have some fun along the way.

—————————————————

Owen Morgan is a writer from South Wales, UK. His work has, despite his best efforts, been published in places such as Aphotic Realm, Stinkwaves Magazine and Dimension Bucket.

Includes story notes from the author.

Welsh Chocolate Cake

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The smallest child already eyed this cake up so we had a slice together. The cake was beautifully chocolatey and moist (always very important in cake). I don’t think this will last too long!

The Ghostling Magazine

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This is freaking awesome. I had a flick through already and I’m looking forward to having a good read of it tonight.

Treats…

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Always welcome in this house. We are massive tea drinkers in this house and I love me a great hot chocolate.

Buy one here

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Review: Moroda (World of Linaria #1) by L.L. McNeil @_LLMcNeil

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Moroda

Author: L.L. McNeil

Publication Date: Feburary 13th 2017

Publisher: Indie

Genre: Fantasy

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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synopsis coycaterpillar - Review: Moroda (World of Linaria #1) by L.L. McNeil @_LLMcNeil

Linaria is a world where dragons are revered as gods, where airships rule the skies, and where war is stirring.

For Moroda, a former Goldstone, her life of luxury ends following her father’s sudden death. When her city is destroyed by a dragon, she and her sister ally with a sky pirate and narrowly escape the carnage—only to find a vigilante from an exiled race has left a trail of destruction everywhere his growing army has travelled. With compulsion at his fingertips, he strengthens his hold over Linaria’s people by stealing the power of dragons. It’s only a matter of time before Moroda, too, is forced to submit.

With war nipping at her heels and danger lurking in her companions and adversaries, Moroda must quickly learn about herself, her world, and the dragons so intent on reducing it all to ash.

2018 SPFBO Semi-Finalist
Shortlisted for the Best Indie Book Awards 2017 – Fantasy.

Moroda is the first novel in an epic six-book saga, following a group of characters as war rages across their world. With pirates and soldiers, smiths and princes, Linaria is a vibrant land with a deeply unsettled past and an equally ominous future.

review coy caterpillar - Review: Moroda (World of Linaria #1) by L.L. McNeil @_LLMcNeil

Moroda, the first book in L.L. McNeil’s epic fantasy series (World of Linoria sees the author knock out a finely-wrought, infatuated tale.  I’ve been looking to get back into the Fantasy genre and this book just rebirthed my love for it.  Step to the edge of the water, hold your breath and dive in.  immediately you’ll feel the rush of adrenaline, the water rushing past your ears, the depths pulling you deeper and deeper.  This book is that damn good.  The writing, the worldbuilding, the dragons, I loved it all.  I could completely see this becoming a series on Netflix…think somewhere between the Witcher and game of thrones. 

I was particularly grateful for the in-depth and the sheer magnitude of escapism this book provides.  The descriptions, the character development and the implication of human emotion indebted me towards a richer reading experience.  Modora is essentially a story of a girl called Modora, finds herself in the somewhat strange situation of forming alliances with a sky pirate, Amarah.  If you like your dragons, fierce, all-consuming and dangerously beautiful then this is the book for you.  A dragon attack, a dragon slayer and unlikely band of hero’s try to find out why the dragons are suddenly attacking unprovoked.  Their world smells of stirring war…what can they do to fight it? Moroda and her sister, the dragon slayer, a guard of the imperial guard, Itallan traders and my personal favourite, Sapora the Vakrain.  Can they change their worlds fate or is it already too late? 

The world building is off the scale.  It’s a magnificent epic fantasy.  One thing that truly stood out to me was how vivid I could conjure up images of their world, the battle sequences and their plight.  The story came to life in high dimension…think cinematic sequences.  It was rich in authenticity, an undiscovered gem.  I sat at the edge of my seat, I gripped my kindle with such force, I felt loss, I felt joy and anger throughout the book.  This story certainly extracts a spectrum of emotions from you.  The author knows how much her reader can take and then pushes them over the edge, pushing boundaries, pushing limits.  There is no such thing as a comfort zone in fantasy. 

The characters in Moroda all affect you to some degree, whether that’s love, hate or everything in between.  They grow as individuals and that really brings the relatable human aspect to them.  They go through life experiencing things that we do.  Trials and tribulations, joy, grief, challenges.  The authors deft use of the English language left me feeling out of my depth…and I absolutely loved it!  The characters have an audacious complexity to them.  They aren’t superhero’s, they struggle, they trip up, mistakes will happen but above all they get up again, brush themselves off and try again.  They hold each other up, they are the scaffolding for each other, they are a team, and nothing will stop them.  The friendships, relationships and bonds created from adversity is quite simply extraordinary.  The emotional impact it had upon me was like a tidal wave threatening to sweep me away…I felt lost at sea at times. 

If anyone knows me, they know I love dragons.  All I want to say is can we have more dragons please?  In my view it isn’t an epic fantasy if there isn’t a dragon or two!  I care for them, I get traumatised when they are hurt.  I cared about them.  They were important to the story…immaculately written. 

Moroda is the book that you don’t want to end.  Opening the first page and closing the last was a rollercoaster ride, an experience.  Innovative and thrilling, a must read for all high fantasy fans.  A truly authentic opening to a remarkable series.

Blog Tour: Silent Winter by Maggie James @BOTBSPublicity @mjamesfiction

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Silent Winter

Author: Maggie James

Publication Date: December 5th 2019

Publisher: Orelia Publishing

Genre: Psychological Thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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synopsis coycaterpillar - Blog Tour: Silent Winter by Maggie James @BOTBSPublicity @mjamesfiction

On an icy November night, Drew Blackmore is beaten unconscious, then abducted. He awakes to find himself in total darkness, naked and chained to the floor. Fed just enough to keep him alive, Drew is unable to identify his captor, or the reason for his incarceration. As reality fades, hallucinations take over. Can Drew escape his prison before madness claims him?

Meanwhile Drew’s wife, Holly, despairing of ever seeing him again, turns to his brother for comfort. As the worst winter in decades sweeps the UK, she learns of Drew’s tragic past. Could his disappearance be connected with that of a prostitute years before?

A story of how the mind responds to solitary confinement, ‘Silent Winter’ examines one man’s desperate attempt to survive the unthinkable.

review coy caterpillar - Blog Tour: Silent Winter by Maggie James @BOTBSPublicity @mjamesfiction

Thank you to Sarah @ Book On The Brightside book tours for my spot on the blog tour.

Usually reviewers find it extremely hard to review a book that they truly love…This is especially true for Silent Winter.  This book in essence is summed up by the phrase the sins of the father.  Silence is dangerous, silence is deadly, and silence can be a weapon. 

The first chapter ensured that I kept reading.  As far as a bookworm is concerned it was crack.  I was addicted, I was focussed, and I knew I was in for the long haul.  Maggie James kept me searching for that next hit.  I was weak, and I wanted more.  My head was buzzing with all the possibilities.  The storyline was threatening, dangerous with more than a subtle hint evil running at its epicentre.  The author had weaved a compulsive tale of survival in a bleak world…who can we trust?  The images that Maggie James left her poor reader to conjure in their head was hell.  My imagination was red hot, overused and turned to scrambled eggs.  This is the type of novel that has you looking over your shoulder twice, three times in the dark to ensure you aren’t in danger.  I loved the POV of the perpetrator.  Seeing the ruined and disturbed mind of a psychopath was a threatening shadow just in the corner of your mind.  Maggie James blindfolded you and threw you into the boot of her car…don’t expect to escape unscathed! 

The strongest protagonist in this story was for sure Drew’s wife, Holly.  What a woman she is!  She initially fears her husband has been unfaithful.  Soon that anger turns to panic when her husband fails to turn up for work the next day.  Is he lying in a ditch somewhere inebriated?  Has he had a car accident?  The worst thought of all doesn’t fail to creep into her mind…he couldn’t be dead, could he?  I warmed to her immediately.  Regret at their last words thrown in anger.  His reluctance to start a family and her deep-seated need to become a mother.  She seeks reassurance in Todd, Drew’s older brother.  Both agree to go to police and report him missing and pray in the mean time he might just turn up with a good story to tell.  They swim troubled waters together, taking comfort in each other’s misery.  Maggie James has the correct balance in her narrative.  Holly becomes lost in her fear not quite knowing which way to move forward,  money troubles without Drew , blasts from the past and the fear and loathing emitting from Drew’s captivity.  Holly kept it all relatively together whilst also harbouring a secret of her own. 

I read this book in two sittings (it would have been one but parenting and life prevented me from inhaling it) from the first page to the last I could feel myself being sucked into the story, like a fly on the wall watching it in real time.  It was fast paced, a real page turner.  I would love to see this as a film – listen up Netflix! Can you imagine being kept in pure darkness for an unsurmountable amount of time?  Can you only imagine being dehumanised for someone’s amusement?  Can you imagine the mental toll that would have on the brain?  Maggie James examines one man’s struggle to survive, walking on the tight rope of sanity and she does it with such raw intensity.  It was compulsive. 

Silent Winter just drips with superior prose.  This is a heartbreakingly perfect thriller.  Addictively compulsive.  Add this to your TBR immediately. 

about the author coycaterpillar - Blog Tour: Silent Winter by Maggie James @BOTBSPublicity @mjamesfiction
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Maggie James is a British author who lives near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She writes psychological suspense novels.

Before turning her hand to writing, Maggie worked mainly as an accountant, with a diversion into practising as a nutritional therapist. Diet and health remain high on her list of interests, along with travel. Accountancy does not, but then it never did. The urge to pack a bag and go off travelling is always lurking in the background! When not writing, going to the gym, practising yoga or travelling, Maggie can be found seeking new four-legged friends to pet; animals are a lifelong love!

Review: The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

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The Handmaid’s Tale

Author: Margaret Atwood

Publication Date: August 1985

Publisher: Houghton Miffin Harcourt

Genre: Dystopia

⭐⭐

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synopsis coycaterpillar - Review: The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population.

The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment’s calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid’s Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.

review coy caterpillar - Review: The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

Well I totally feel behind the trend on this one, but I decided to give it a go.  It’s been on my TBR for such a long time but I’m really not a hyped book kind of person, so I don’t know exactly what I was expecting.  It was an eye opener in a lot of ways.  I can see a huge amount of significance and realism in the elements of the book.  In such a technologically advanced world I shouldn’t even believe that things could manifest itself into the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, but there you have it.  Women have no rights.  No sexual rights to do with their body what they see fit.  Sex has now become the exact opposite of what it should be.  No affection, no love and no right to refuse.  They are treated less than human, men are their superior, their god, their reason for being.  The Handmaid’s tale examines the life of one such woman.  Unfortunately, I just closed the book and had feelings of meh!  Other readers have seemed to hold this book in high regard, but I just felt that I had read something else entirely. 

This was a completely new author for me.  Atwood is regarded as a national treasure.  The matriarch of Dystopian fiction, why wasn’t I getting what she was selling?  I wistfully opened the first page and started hoping I could add myself to the ranks of becoming a fan just like so many others…In good conscious, I just cannot.  There were just so many issues I had with the book.  Firstly, though I want to talk about the positives because there were some and I have to give credit where credit is due.

The idea behind the plot is a classic, unfailing one.  It did feel like an extension on from Orwell’s 1984.  It examines a world that will inevitably become our reality if we constantly ignore political groups/individuals that threaten our very social and democratic freedoms that we do indeed take for granted.  It’s living in fear and changing our very way of life after right wing groups threatening it.  Atwood certainly captured the fear and shock of how a life such as that could affect us all.  It was bleak and uncaring, and I think I would rather die than live my life like that day in and day out.  The wistfulness of the girls reminiscing of their past lives.  Imaging what their husbands are doing now?  Children still alive or enduring a fate like theirs?  It was real and dark and not a happy picture in one’s mind. 

Okay…deep breath.  The Negatives (I actually hate writing negative reviews, but I want to be honest to my readers).  This is the second book I have read this year that doesn’t use punctuation marks to distinguish different passages of speech.  Why the heck not?  I thought this was just basic 101 in the rules of writing.  I’m a bit slow in the morning, I need it to be obvious to me.  This just wasn’t a good start.  Secondly, why on earth does the author feel the need to have exuberantly long sentences.  Even the tortoise would have beaten it in a race.  This wasn’t just a one off, it occurred several times throughout the novel.  The story felt disjoined and unmatched and I felt the flow could have been so much smoother.  There was an undercurrent of staccato highlighted throughout the book.  It was an immediate turn off. 

I wanted to enjoy this book I really did.  I just didn’t think it worked.  I know I am in the minority there and I’m swimming in an ocean of frenzied fans that threaten to pull me under, but I need to be honest.  It is an important topic and one that needs to constantly have a strong voice, but The Handmaid’s Tale is not it.  1984 shouts louder in my opinion. 

Blog Tour: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara @annecater @LesleyKara

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Who Did You Tell?

Author: Lesley Kara

Publication Date: January 9th 2020

Publisher: Transworld

Genre: Thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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synopsis coycaterpillar - Blog Tour: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara @annecater @LesleyKara

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rumour

It’s been 192 days, seven hours and fifteen minutes since her last drink. Now Astrid is trying to turn her life around.

Having reluctantly moved back in with her mother, in a quiet seaside town away from the temptations and painful memories of her life before, Astrid is focusing on her recovery. She’s going to meetings. Confessing her misdeeds. Making amends to those she’s wronged.

But someone knows exactly what Astrid is running from. And they won’t stop until she learns that some mistakes can’t be corrected.

Some mistakes, you have to pay for…

review coy caterpillar - Blog Tour: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara @annecater @LesleyKara

Thanks to Anne Cater@ Random Things Book Tours and the publisher for my spot on the blog tour. All thoughts are my own.

What would you do if being an alcoholic was the only thing you knew?  It provided sanctuary from a cruel and uncaring world.  It was your safe place.  You could crawl into yourself when it all became too much.  It gave you confidence, and it brushed away your tears.  How on earth could you navigate the unchartered waters of becoming sober, recalling lost memories and engaging with your problems in a healthy and conducive manner?  How easy would it be to slip back into old habits?  You can’t just have one drink because that would be a slippery slope, if you do it, you need to do it all the way. 

Astrid hasn’t had it easy.  She’s plagued by tragedy.  Her old alcoholic self is like a ghost that roams the passageways of her brain.  She’ll remember past experience whilst under the influence.  She’s had a messy breakup with her ex.  He has treated her appallingly and she was too trashed to tell that it was wrong.  She has lost years of her life and the regret of that continues to eat away at her.  Will this be enough for her to keep strong and move forward or will it have a negative effect and allow her easy pickings into relapse.  The story is basically Astrid’s heart wrenching journey to sobriety.  The writing was so cathartic from Astrid’s point of view.  She was a strong character that was doing everything to get her life back on the right tracks, but it often felt like she was trying to run through a swamp.  You would move forward but the weight of the swamp would make you weary.  How long could you keep on fighting to move forward before the swamp consumed you so completely.  The writing was captivating.  I was enthralled from the first page. 

Astrid moves back home to stay with her mum.  At this point it is her only option.  Her mum demands it, she needs to make sure that this time she does it.  If not, she probably would have cut all ties.  A sleepy seaside town, surely this is the perfect place to move to to heal?  To recuperate.  To just rediscover who she is.  It has been so long since she knew who she was and what she enjoyed…other than drinking.  Is the events that seem to be happening since she arrived there nothing or is someone watching her?  Is it her imagination gone crazy? 

Whilst being back home Astrid forms a relationship with Josh.  If I’m completely honest I think Astrid really needed to be focussing on herself.  She’s been through and ordeal and she has abused herself for much too long.  She needed to show herself a bit more love and affection than she had been doing.  Was she trying to find it in someone else to retract from what was going on in her head?  Maybe.  He introduces her to his dad, he employs her to paint a window scene on a wall in a room in his grand house.  It’s magnificent to see Astrid rediscover her love of painting once more.  You can see it brings her peace and she just loses herself in her art.  I’m glad the drink hadn’t taken that away from her. 

I love a thriller that explores the fragility of the human existence.  Life isn’t easy and too often people turn to substances that just make situations more difficult.  Alcohol is the big one for me.  It really has more of a depressive countenance for me and for the reason I mostly stay well clear of it.  It made me think a lot about how bad things must be to lose yourself and your problems in the bottom of a bottle.  How bleak the existence must be? 

We soon realise that everything isn’t as it seems.  Events occur that make Astrid think someone’s out to get her.  Is it revenge?  Does someone blame her for something?  She feels like its connected to her ex, Simon.  Is her recovery just turning into a horror story?  Why does she feel like someone is watching her?  She swears she can smell his aftershave, she spots a rare, limited edition t-shirt in a charity shop.  Is this just paranoia or does she have someone or something to fear?  Is Astrid an unreliable narrator or are things about to go spectacularly sideways?  I was rooting for Astrid though, I wanted her to have a settled and calm life after the turbulent alcoholic lifestyle she has subjected herself to.  Who did you tell was atmospheric and suffocating pleasing? 

Lesley Kara has created a multi-faceted thriller with the cold complexity of being watched.  The twists spun my head like a spinning top.  She took us down a path that was dark and depraved but there was no looking back.  She led us to the edge of the cliff and pushed us off when we were least expecting it. 

Who Did You Tell? Was a punch to the jugular.  This was a quick read, I had to find out what was going to happen next.  The author pulled the rug out on more than one occasion.  She grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go until the very last word.  A must read!

about the author coycaterpillar - Blog Tour: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara @annecater @LesleyKara
lesley kara author pic - Blog Tour: Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara @annecater @LesleyKara

Lesley Kara is an alumna of the Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel’ course. She completed an English degree and PGCE at Greenwich University, having previously worked as a nurse and a secretary, and then became a lecturer and manager in Further Education. She lives on the North Essex coast.

Her debut novel The Rumour is a Sunday Times hardback and paperback bestseller and 2019’s bestselling print crime and thriller debut.

Her second novel, Who Did you Tell? is coming soon.

Illumicrate Unboxing- In Search Of Doors – November 2019 @illumicrate

Illumicrate’s subscription box was the theme of In Search Of Doors. It pays homage to gaining access to fictional worlds. The book is just so stunning! I already had a copy of this book but will be keeping both because this edition of it deserves to be on show! This is my second box and I love the effort Illumicrate go to to bring us outstanding items. Check out the box contents below. You can buy a subscription from Illumicrate

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THE BOOK

This month’s book was The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. Everyone I have spoke to so far seem to love it and the timeless writing. It’s a signed edition with beautiful pale blue sprayed edges. Did I already mention that I love it?

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SYNOPSIS

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world–a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues–a bee, a key, and a sword–that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library, hidden far below the surface of the earth.

What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians–it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also those who are intent on its destruction.

Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly-soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose–in both the mysterious book and in his own life. 

HOGWARTS BOOKSLEEVE

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This is my second favourite item in the box. It’s so magical and so padded. My heart is happy. ARTWORK BY PAUHAMI

NIGHT CIRCUS TICKET KEYRING

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The quality of this keyring is outstanding. It is so heavy and the artwork is out of this world. I immediately put this with my car keys. DESIGNED BY DUST & PAGES

THE ARCHIVED KEY NECKLACE

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I very rarely wear a necklace (mainly because they aren’t geeky enough) the only other one I wear is a weirwood tree that my husband bought me as a wedding anniversary gift. This is perfect. It’s the right length and totally geeky. DESIGNED BY FABLE & BLACK

WARDROBE WOODEN PIN

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Just how fab is this little pin? I plan on putting it on my rucksack. Both me and my children are massive fans of Narnia and they immediately recognised the pin and wanted it. LOVE it. DESIGNED BY HANNAH HITCHMAN

MYTHS AND TALES CERAMIC BOOK POT

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AH I do love an item that I can put to good use. I have used this as the pen pot next to the phone. I adore it! It’s weighty and looks awesome. DESIGNED BY CHATTY NORA

THE STARLESS SEA BOOKMARK

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DESIGNED BY RICHARD MERRITT

COLLECTIBLE COIN

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LAZLO STRANGE

DESIGNED BY MONOLIME

NEXT MONTH – SECRETS AND SCHEMES

Our featured book for December is a YA fantasy from a debut author. When the princess of the kingdom is framed for the king’s murder, she must work with an unreliable ally to clear her name, whilst also keeping her terrifying secret hidden. Everyone in this story has their own agenda (and their own secrets & schemes) and we loved seeing it all pan out! Our stunning Illumicrate edition is the UK hardback with exclusively designed stencilled edges, exclusive endpapers and is signed by the author!

Items this month are inspired by A Court of Mist and Fury, Caraval, The Devouring Gray, Star Wars and more! As this is our December box, we’re going to be extra nice and give you TWO reveals already about what this box will contain. We’re excited to let you know that our last @rosiethorns88 mug of the year will be in this box! We’ll also be including a 2020 calendar containing artwork from Merwild and designed quotes from Chatty Nora! This will be a multi-fandom piece and guys, it’s looking super awesome and will be *perfect* for planning all your schemes next year.

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: November 2019

November arrived in a hurry and now it has left equally as fast. How on earth can we only be mere weeks away from the big day…Christmas. I’ve had another successful reading month…actually it’s been my busiest yet in terms of blog tours…think I participated in about 20 of them. I feel completely wiped from it but it was enjoyable. It’s that time of the month where i look back at the months reading and forward to the month ahead…I need to add some festive reads at some point!

Here’s What I’ve Read This Month:

Slash by Hunter Shea

A Proclivity To Prurience by Cheryl Butler

The Damned by Tarn Richardson

Bad Seed by Jessica Eames

The Secrets He Kept by Jackie Walsh

Hearthstone Cottage by Frazer Lee

Ghoster by Jason Arnopp

Violet by S.J.I. Holliday

17 Church Row by James Carol

The Crown Agent by Stephen O’Rourke

Into The Dark by Karen Rose

Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver

White Rose by Kip Wilson

Stay Mad, Sweetheart by Heleen Kist

Woman On The Edge by Samantha M. Bailey

The Other Gloria by L.A. Villafane

Fairy Rock by Stephen Watt

BOOK OF THE MONTH

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It was so hard to pick the book of the month for November. I didn’t have a bad read at all so this was hard. However, Nothing Important Happened Today is in a league of its own. You will not read anything quite like it again. Its Dark, its real and it won’t be a comfortable experience reading it, but it is a masterpiece. Read my review here.

What did you read this month? Any DNF’s? Lets chat in the comments.

Blog Tour: Fairy Rock by Stephen Watt @StephenWattSpit @RedSquirrelPres @LoveBooksGroup

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Fairy Rock

Author: Stephen Watt

Publication Date: September 24th 2019

Publisher: Red Squirrel Press

Genre: Crime

⭐⭐⭐⭐

BUY A COPY

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In 2017 Andrew Smith, then Director, now Chair of the Scottish Writers’ Centre, came up with a dynamic idea to run a Twitter campaign inviting poets to pitch an idea and the winner would have a poetry pamphlet published by the SWC’s publisher partner, Red Squirrel Press. Poet, critic, essayist, editor, designer and typesetter Gerry Cambridge, poet Sheila Templeton, writer, musician and Editor of both Postbox Press (the literary fiction imprint of Red Squirrel Press) and Postbox International Short Story Magazine, Colin Will, and myself took part in a panel at the SWC, ‘How to get published’ in October 2017. Andrew received many entries, a shortlist was drawn up, Stephen Watt subsequently won and persuaded me to publish a full-length collection

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I have to be honest I felt like I was taking a giant leap of faith when I signed up for this blog tour.  I really love my crime novels, so this is what drew me to this book, it was the element of it being written in verse that had me undecided.  However,  this only added to its rugged rawness and I ended up enjoying it immensely.  This book has led me onto reading another book in verse and I am becoming attached to different art forms in novels.  This was an awesome crime novel that definitely was a unicorn in disguise. 

The novel was set in Scotland and it was definitely the dark underbelly of society.  The darkness of the book  was unsettling. Fearful.  Manipulating.  Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows…it gives us a taste of realism like a baseball to the face.  It’s painful, and it’s in your face.  The author examines the nature of human existence.  What makes a person commit such heinous crimes?  Murder? Sexual assault?  Brutality? 

The author has an amazing talent for making the reader stop and think.  What makes this happen?  Is its social circumstances?  Or is it Nature Vs Nurture?  The verses flow beautifully with such stabbing brutality to nail home just how complex life can be.  His writing was impeccable, and he managed to settle a constant fear running down my spine.  Its survival of the fittest. 

Fairy Rock will blow your mind.  Its dripping with authentic originality. 

Review: The Other Gloria by L.A Villafane @VillafaneLa

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The Other Gloria

Author: L.A. Villafane

Publication Date: July 15th 2019

Publisher: Empire Publishing

Genre: Psychological Thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Depository| Amazon UK

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The truth lies in what she can’t remember. There is another who harbors her unspeakable secrets. Meeting her is where the danger lies.
On a dark January night in 2019, Gloria finds herself behind the wheel of a car, beaten and covered in blood. She has no idea where she’s coming from, or where she might be headed. After pulling to the side of the road, she begins to fade out of consciousness.
The next thing she experiences is waking in bed next to a man who should be her beloved fiancé, Rick. However, she soon discovers it is her dangerous ex-husband, Charles, whom she thought she had escaped two years earlier, in 2017. She eventually finds that the year she was woken to is 2003, and she is living her life with this abusive man all over again.
Due to the abuse she endured, Gloria suffers from dissociative disorder, which has stolen the memories of her two young daughters growing up. There is another who holds these memories; the Other Gloria. She thinks maybe God has given her a do-over, and she might be able to do better, stay present, and recover the lost memories of their childhood. She knows, to do this, she must escape Charles once again.
Gloria’s plan for escaping this time around includes finding Rick, who doesn’t know she exists in 2003, but she soon comes to the realization that meeting Rick will not be enough. She knows she must do the one thing she never wanted to do – meet the Other Gloria and finally discover the unspeakable secrets she holds.

Villafane has managed to write that type of story that keeps the readers on their toes the whole time and, just when they think they have figured out what’s going on, bam! An amazing twist shocks them out of their comfort zone. Just brilliant!

Brunella Costagliola, Best Selling Ghost Writer

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This is my review of the incredibly beautiful novel, The Other Gloria by L.A. Villafane.  Following on from a very chilling first chapter, being introduced to Gloria was reminiscent of an out of body experience.  She enimates the aura of a ghost trying to find her way into the afterlife.  Its chilling, eerie and claustrophobic.  It set the tone for the entirety of the novel, there was an undercurrent of fear and worry, it was addictive, and it left me with palpitations.  The things Gloria had to endure broke me.  It felt akin to reading about the pain a close friend was going through.  It kept me on my toes and chilled me to the bone. 

The Other Gloria was the haunting realisation that trauma can kick the brain into self-preservation mode.  Its own way of protecting the body and mind from more harm, it’s the only way to keep on surviving and its harrowing.  The book was beautiful and ugly at the same time, I felt like I was looking down onto the situation.  The authors use of language really added a realism element that was natural, not forced.  It hurt to see just how much pain Gloria was in, it felt like a fist to the heart. 

Gloria and Charles their relationship was toxic.  Gloria was walking on literal eggshells trying to keep that man happy.  Trying to diffuse the impending explosion daily.  Trying to protect her daughters from psychological harm.  At the end of the day though, nothing she could do would change him.  They were different people, with different idealisations of what love was and they were on different paths.  Gloria had my full support, but Charles was a character I loathed from the start.  He had no sympathy from me and I was hoping he was going to meet a deserving end. 

The storyline was one that did nothing to keep my eyes dry.  With every turn of the page, my eyes threatened to leak, my heart hammered harder and I gripped my kindle with all my strength.  Why would you treat another human being in such a way?  Your significant other isn’t there just for your amusement.  Treat others the way you wish to be treated.  There is nothing more precious than love, don’t abuse it.  Just how much had Gloria endured to the extent that she had lost good and bad memories?  What on earth happened?  The journey we travelled on to find out was bumpy, but well worth the ride. 

Her journey of self-discovery is full of suspicion, a redo of the bad times and discovering what true love means warmed my heart.  Too many times I wanted to punch Charles myself, I was enraged and frustrated.  He needed a good takedown and I was more than happy to offer myself for the service. 

The author tackled the theme of domestic abuse very tactfully and in a realistic fashion.  People often ask, “why don’t you just leave them?”  Well this book highlights just why, whether it be coupled with financial abuse, using children as a pawn or just pure fear.  This is why people get stuck.  The author has brought necessary awareness to the problem. 

Cancel everything and read The Other Gloria.  This book just pulsates with originality.  Fast paced and intelligent.  A masterful, twisty novel.

THEME BY ECLAIR DESIGNS