-
A Time of Blood by John Gwynne | Review
Please allow me a moment to breathe before getting into the guts of my A Time for Blood review. I absolutely fell in love with A Time for Dread but book two blew my mind. I have the utmost respect for John Gwynne’s writing style and his prowess of delivering a story with such raw intensity. It’s a completely different type of magic. I’ve got so many ARC copies I need to read at the moment but I just couldn’t deny what the heart wants – and it wanted to carry on with this series just like the body needs oxygen to breathe! Better a hard truth than a kind…
-
The Reluctant Mother by Hemmie Martin | Review (Audio)
The Reluctant Mother. How many times is this a glaring foghorn in many women’s lives? This story was a bit of a throwback for me personally. I didn’t suffer with Post-Partum Psychosis but quite severe PND with my first child. I was a brand-new mother at the tender age of nineteen and was now faced with the reality of a disabled son. It was raw and grieving to a point and unfortunately the bonding wasn’t as immediate as I had hoped. The story is raw and slow – paced but it is everything that it needs to be. It’s 369 pages of pain and misguided mistakes. A mother. The image…
-
Leash and Other Horror Stories by Brett Schumacher | Review
When I spotted Leash and Other Horror Stories up for grabs for review, I could have chewed their hand off! I am a subscriber to Brett’s awesome YouTube channel and I just couldn’t wait to get my grubby mitts on this seriously creepy horror anthology. This collection of deviously good stories warrants the shouting that I’m about to do! His narrative style is both mind-blowing and wickedly disturbing in equal measures and it immediately transports you into the depths of his orchestrated shadows – it’s terrifying and bone chilling. I’m a huge fan and I gobbled this up just as fast as I would a cake! Leash had a paradoxical…
-
Keeper by Jessica Moor | Review
Keeper was one of those books that had the premise of being outstanding, but it didn’t work for me for several different reasons. Firstly, the characterisation didn’t work in any aspect. I didn’t feel connected or invested in their back stories or their end game. This was a real shame because good characterisation is pretty much a deal breaker for me. Like other readers, I went through bouts of anger and not the type that invoked such emotion that I was intertwined with the plot, the anger was for reasons that I will discuss below. The main protagonists were so devoid of human kindness and emotion that I seriously wondered…
-
Knightmare Arcanist by Shami Stovall | Blog Tour
Knightmare Arcanist was both an intriguing title and serious book cover love. These two combinations made me sign up for this tour like sonic the hedgehog. I’ve been on a right fantasy fix recently so getting something that is going to surprise me is a hard ask, but this was a real treat and the differentiating elements contained within gave me the warm and fuzzies – like revisiting an old friend, its familiar and endorphin releasing. We follow two quite remarkable characters, Volke and Illia (his adoptive sister) who are gravediggers but have high aspirations of becoming arcanists. My instant attraction to these characters felt like love at first sight. …
-
Fifty-Fifty By Steve Cavanagh|Review
You don’t review books long before you come across the name Steve Cavanagh. The name is synonymous with the Thriller genre and if you haven’t read anything penned by this ingenious man, then why not? Fifty-Fifty is his new offering. Fifty-Fifty is a blast to the genitals. Its swift, precise and you are left reeling on the floor. I am obsessed with courtroom dramas. This began when I was a member of a Jury – the atmosphere, the tension and the responsibility emits a fizzing spark within me. Watching and waiting to see just how it is going to pan out. Sisters. Surely, they are united in shared family experiences? …