Review: The Progeny

The Progeny by Tosca Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I never read books tagged paranormal/fantasy... they're just not my thing. But I thought the descripton of this book was interesting, and Elizabeth Bathory is a very interesting (and sinister) character.

Big surprise! I just couldn't put this book down.
Emily Jacobs has had her memory erased. Something big, or bad or both must have happened for her to take this decision. The only thing she wants is to start a new life. But someone is following her, and in trying to escape she finds out, little by little, who she is and why she has to run.

There's mystery, action, romance, many interesting characters and some very shady ones. I need book 2 of these series published asap, please!


I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

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Review: Beat the Rain

Beat the Rain by Nigel Jay Cooper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tom and Louise are a couple. Tom dies. Louise is devastated. Tom's twin brother, Adam, is devastated too.
And then Adam and Louise fall in love, marry, have children. Sounds complicated? It is...
Not only because of the social pressure (it's almost like incest, marrying your late lover's brother), but because Adam and Louise seem like star crossed lovers.

Adam is a writer who works from home and takes care of the children, Louise has a café and is at work all day long. Her kids barely know her, she is bored, Adam drinks too much.
Enter Jarvis, who just moved to town and is befriended by the couple. And then it all goes downhill...

Nigel Jay Cooper's debut book is excellent!


I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

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Review: The Girls

The Girls by Emma Cline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

California, the 60's.
A time when a 14 year old girl went out of her house in the morning and came back at night and nobody wondered where she was, or if she was alright.

Evie is 14 years old, her parents are divorced, her father has a new girlfriend, her mother has many boyfriends. No wonder she feels left out and lonely. Her best friend decides she'd rather be with other girls and turns into a bully, so Evie is left by herself all day long.

One day she sees 3 amazing girls in the park. They leave in an old black school bus. So when Evie finds them again, and is befriended by them, she follows the everywhere. What she doesn't know is that they belong to a cult, which will have disastrous consequences in Evie's life.

This is an amazing book. The atmosphere and description are perfect, characters are very well described, great plot!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: The Gilded Years

The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a very complex story: Anita Hemmings, although African-American, can pass as white. Her lifelong dream has been to study at Vassar, and she will do all she can to fulfill it.
A bright student, she is accepted, and rooms with Lottie, one of the richest girls not only at school, but of New York.

Her brother, Frederick, almost as light skinned as she is, goes to a college that accepts black students and disagrees with Anita for passing as white.
To complicate events even more, Anita falls in love with a white, rich student.

But, although the story is well written, I felt the characters lacked depth. I don't think we get to know Anita, or sympathize with her. This is one of the first women to attend college, and on top of this she is not white! It would make for so many interesting and tense situations, which were missing.
Lottie, the roommate is just spoilt and nasty, and when she finds out Anita's secret, she just turns against her in a horrible way.

I enjoyed the book, but I felt some of the situations were somewhat superficial.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: All the Missing Girls

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nic Farrell managed to leave her home town of Cooley Ridge, in small-town USA, many years ago.
She left not only because all she had ever wanted was to get away, but also because her best friend disappeared without a trace.

Ten years later, she returns to take care of her sick father and arrange family matters with her brother. But then another girls goes missing, the same girl who alibied Nic and her friends when Corinne disappeared. And suspicion falls again on their little group, for both cases.

What is brilliant about this book is taht it is told backwards, starting with the day the second girl goes missing. Suspense gets higher and higher with each chapter, and I just couldn't put the book down. The ending is a big surprise, but it fits in perfectly!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an hones review

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Review: The Last One

The Last One by Alexandra Oliva
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read quit a few books about epidemics and the end of the world (or at least about the end of half the human race), but this is one of the best.

The setting is a reality show, maybe something like Survivor? And we have a complete cast/set of characters, each one of whom has entered the competition for a different reason. We don't have names for all of them, only nick-names: Tracker, Zoo, Rancher, Waitress, Exorcist

Told from Zoo's point of view and also from a narrator, we follow the group in the TV show, with all the lies and the editing that will make it a hit; but we also have Zoo, who in the days after the group separates, does everything she can to win the competition, without imagining that the outside world has collapsed.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: The Course of Love

The Course of Love by Alain de Botton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A story about falling in love and also about falling out of love. The story of Kirsten and Rabih: how they meet, fall in love, marry, have children, have problems, get bored with each other and try to make something out of their marriage.

Inserted through the book, in between the story of the marriage, are the author's reflections on love, life, marriage. Though we are urged to identify deeply with these characters, and to reflect on his and her own experiences in love (as the book description reads), I found Kirsten and Rabih quite boring, so it was not the easiest of tasks.

I know love has many stages, and boredom can certainly be one of them, but I just couldn't relate to this couple. I did find the authors' reflections on love and marriage very interesting, and this is what makes it a good book, in my opinion. Who hasn't been in a great-good-bad-mediocre relationship?


I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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