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annes's reviews
390 reviews
The Memories We Hide by Jodi Gibson
5.0
The memories we hide was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and my opinions are my own.
I’m not going to lie for the first 25% of the memories we hide I was like meh just a normal contemporary novel that’s an okay read. I put it down for a week and didn’t really think about it again until I looked at my planner and realised that my deadline was coming close. I picked it back up and started reading. Let’s just say my opinions changed one hell of a lot.
This story explores themes such as grief, trauma, friendships, relationships and moving on from the past.
We follow Laura as she heads back home after ten years due to her dying mother and while she’s there she comes face to face with the things and people she purposefully ran away from ten years ago including her best friend Tommy.
The memories we hide jumps perspectives between both Laura and Tommy in both the past and the present. I really liked the way Jodi jumped between perspectives in a clear and concise way by making our characters look back at memories and we follow the memory as if it is happening in the present.
I truly loved this story and loved seeing how all of these characters dealt with their grief and the trauma of the past. It truly does show how different people are affected and deal with their emotions.
After reading this story I have realised that I can’t run away from my past but I need to square my shoulders and face the demons and trauma of my past.
If you are looking for a hard hitting contemporary novel that explores depression, grief and trauma this book is for you.
http://www.foreverthewanderer.ie/the-memories-we-hide-book-review/
I’m not going to lie for the first 25% of the memories we hide I was like meh just a normal contemporary novel that’s an okay read. I put it down for a week and didn’t really think about it again until I looked at my planner and realised that my deadline was coming close. I picked it back up and started reading. Let’s just say my opinions changed one hell of a lot.
This story explores themes such as grief, trauma, friendships, relationships and moving on from the past.
We follow Laura as she heads back home after ten years due to her dying mother and while she’s there she comes face to face with the things and people she purposefully ran away from ten years ago including her best friend Tommy.
The memories we hide jumps perspectives between both Laura and Tommy in both the past and the present. I really liked the way Jodi jumped between perspectives in a clear and concise way by making our characters look back at memories and we follow the memory as if it is happening in the present.
I truly loved this story and loved seeing how all of these characters dealt with their grief and the trauma of the past. It truly does show how different people are affected and deal with their emotions.
After reading this story I have realised that I can’t run away from my past but I need to square my shoulders and face the demons and trauma of my past.
If you are looking for a hard hitting contemporary novel that explores depression, grief and trauma this book is for you.
http://www.foreverthewanderer.ie/the-memories-we-hide-book-review/
In the Wake: A thrilling debut from a writer to watch by Helen Trevorrow
3.0
In the wake was gifted to me in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Heading into the story I was really excited for a great mystery thriller but right from the get go I was very confused as who we were meeting and what significance they held within the story.
We follow our main character who knows the victim and is trying to figure out what happened. We don’t know if they were friends or if there was bad blood between them so I wasn’t really sure how this had any significance.
As the investigation continued I became very bored and just wanted this story to end. The ending was a savior in this story. I had no idea who killed the victim and the reveal was amazing. I didn’t not see it coming at all!
This story was a pretty okay novel with some more work and plotting I believe Helen will become a superb author and I look forward to reading more from her.
http://www.foreverthewanderer.ie/in-the-wake-blog-tour/
Heading into the story I was really excited for a great mystery thriller but right from the get go I was very confused as who we were meeting and what significance they held within the story.
We follow our main character who knows the victim and is trying to figure out what happened. We don’t know if they were friends or if there was bad blood between them so I wasn’t really sure how this had any significance.
As the investigation continued I became very bored and just wanted this story to end. The ending was a savior in this story. I had no idea who killed the victim and the reveal was amazing. I didn’t not see it coming at all!
This story was a pretty okay novel with some more work and plotting I believe Helen will become a superb author and I look forward to reading more from her.
http://www.foreverthewanderer.ie/in-the-wake-blog-tour/
Smoke Screen by Terri Blackstock
5.0
Smoke screen was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I was really excited to read this book when I received it a contemporary novel with some suspense and romance with the trope of a second chance love! Yes please!
Smokescreen was such an easy and quick read. It was so enjoyable and although it dealt with some strong topics such as alcoholism, custody battle, murder and fire trauma I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. These topics were dealt with very carefully!
Throughout smoke screen we meet many characters some so sweet and I fell in love with others I despised and wanted to yell at these characters.
A truly wonderful masterpiece of a novel that I enjoyed so much and gave it a well deserved five stars! I am definitely going to enjoy reading more of Terri Blackstock’s wonderful writing!
I was really excited to read this book when I received it a contemporary novel with some suspense and romance with the trope of a second chance love! Yes please!
Smokescreen was such an easy and quick read. It was so enjoyable and although it dealt with some strong topics such as alcoholism, custody battle, murder and fire trauma I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. These topics were dealt with very carefully!
Throughout smoke screen we meet many characters some so sweet and I fell in love with others I despised and wanted to yell at these characters.
A truly wonderful masterpiece of a novel that I enjoyed so much and gave it a well deserved five stars! I am definitely going to enjoy reading more of Terri Blackstock’s wonderful writing!
VanOps: The Lost Power by Avanti Centrae
3.0
The lost power was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Can Maddy learn to wield the power of the dangerous weapon in time to stop the Russian scheme? Failure means the fragile world peace will be forever shattered…
Going into this book I wasn’t sure what I was in for but I knew that this was one long book! I was nervous starting the lost power and very intimidating so when I started it I honestly put it down for a week.
This was a really fun, adventurous, enjoyable read but unfortunately this story wasn’t amazing. It didn’t blow me away and that’s why I gave it three stars.
Although I am looking forward to picking up the second book I feel like the tension and stakes could be built more to put me on the edge of my seat.
Following multiple perspectives within the lost power I enjoyed seeing the different sides of the coin, seeing the different thought processes and emotions. We follow two characters trying to deal with grief while fighting for their lives and we also follow a character with a secret he is trying to hide from the other two main characters.
This was such a good adventure story but it didn’t hit the mark for me. BUT I’m still looking forward to book two.
http://www.foreverthewanderer.ie/the-lost-power-book-review/
Can Maddy learn to wield the power of the dangerous weapon in time to stop the Russian scheme? Failure means the fragile world peace will be forever shattered…
Going into this book I wasn’t sure what I was in for but I knew that this was one long book! I was nervous starting the lost power and very intimidating so when I started it I honestly put it down for a week.
This was a really fun, adventurous, enjoyable read but unfortunately this story wasn’t amazing. It didn’t blow me away and that’s why I gave it three stars.
Although I am looking forward to picking up the second book I feel like the tension and stakes could be built more to put me on the edge of my seat.
Following multiple perspectives within the lost power I enjoyed seeing the different sides of the coin, seeing the different thought processes and emotions. We follow two characters trying to deal with grief while fighting for their lives and we also follow a character with a secret he is trying to hide from the other two main characters.
This was such a good adventure story but it didn’t hit the mark for me. BUT I’m still looking forward to book two.
http://www.foreverthewanderer.ie/the-lost-power-book-review/
The How & the Why by Cynthia Hand
3.0
The how and the why was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Contains: racism, adoption, mentions of suicide, mental illness, drug use, addiction, alcoholism and abortion.
Representation: People of colour, adoption and homosexuality
Quote: “ It’s completely possible to be surrounded by people and still totally alone”
I enjoyed reading this book but it didn’t move me in the way that I expected. I connected with the character Cassandra a lot but not in the way you think. No I wasn’t adopted but my mum was also very ill and in hospital a lot so I knew how she felt and the fear she had.
Throughout this story we follow Cassandra’s point of view and we also get to read the letters that Cassandra’s biological mother wrote to her unborn child. I found this part of the book really compelling and funny because she is so funny and very sarcastic. The letters were definitely my favourite part of the story.
Within the How and The Why there was a lot of crying and strong emotions which makes sense but this didn’t move me in the way that I thought it would.
Throughout this story we follow a lot of relationships which were really strong and I enjoyed watching these relationships grow and blossom. Cassandra and her parents relationship made me kind of jealous because they had such an awesome cute, caring relationship. I could see how much love they had for each other. It was so cute.
We also get to see a really close friendship with Cassandra and her best friend and follow their ups and downs just like friendships have and we watch a new friendship grow with a new person starting in their year.
The ending of this story seemed a bit convienent to me and left it open ended which I hate in some books.
All in all this was an okay book, I enjoyed reading it but I didn’t connect a hell of a lot with the main plot because obviosly this story was really targeted for me.
http://www.foreverthewanderer.ie/the-how-and-the-why-book-review/
Contains: racism, adoption, mentions of suicide, mental illness, drug use, addiction, alcoholism and abortion.
Representation: People of colour, adoption and homosexuality
Quote: “ It’s completely possible to be surrounded by people and still totally alone”
I enjoyed reading this book but it didn’t move me in the way that I expected. I connected with the character Cassandra a lot but not in the way you think. No I wasn’t adopted but my mum was also very ill and in hospital a lot so I knew how she felt and the fear she had.
Throughout this story we follow Cassandra’s point of view and we also get to read the letters that Cassandra’s biological mother wrote to her unborn child. I found this part of the book really compelling and funny because she is so funny and very sarcastic. The letters were definitely my favourite part of the story.
Within the How and The Why there was a lot of crying and strong emotions which makes sense but this didn’t move me in the way that I thought it would.
Throughout this story we follow a lot of relationships which were really strong and I enjoyed watching these relationships grow and blossom. Cassandra and her parents relationship made me kind of jealous because they had such an awesome cute, caring relationship. I could see how much love they had for each other. It was so cute.
We also get to see a really close friendship with Cassandra and her best friend and follow their ups and downs just like friendships have and we watch a new friendship grow with a new person starting in their year.
The ending of this story seemed a bit convienent to me and left it open ended which I hate in some books.
All in all this was an okay book, I enjoyed reading it but I didn’t connect a hell of a lot with the main plot because obviosly this story was really targeted for me.
http://www.foreverthewanderer.ie/the-how-and-the-why-book-review/
Dorothy in the Land of Monsters by Garten Gevedon
5.0
Dorothy in the land of monsters was gifted to me in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I signed up for this review as soon as I seen that it was available and I was so excited! But I was so scared because I hadn’t received my pdf file until a week ago and I read it so quick!
Vampires, werewolves and zombies in the wizarding world of oz? Yes please! Going into this book I knew the main premise, a young girl gets whisked away in a cyclone with her dog to a magical colourful world. BUT of course there are many twists and turns within this book that I simply adored.
This story was so clever and came together amazingly I did not want to put it down and I simply cannot wait for the sequel to come around! *hint hint Garten*
The land of Oz was just the way we saw it in the movies and the history and background that gets shown to us has been researched and planned out thoroughly with no flaws.
We meet many characters within this story and I loved each and every one of them.
- a zombie looking for a cure so he doesn’t crave brains
- A axeman with full metal armor looking for a heart
- And a werelion looking for courage.
Remind you of anyone? I think it does! Dorothy and her travel companions grow such an amazing friendship that is one worthy of jealousy. I know I’m jealous! Ardie the zombie becomes a big brother to Dorothy, the axeman well I’ll let you see how their relationship forms and a werelion who will do almost anything to protect Dorothy and loves her unconditionally.
This was an outstanding novel that I enjoyed every single second reading this long, exciting and amazing book that you need to read!
http://www.foreverthewanderer.ie/dorothy-in-the-land-of-monsters-book-review/
I signed up for this review as soon as I seen that it was available and I was so excited! But I was so scared because I hadn’t received my pdf file until a week ago and I read it so quick!
Vampires, werewolves and zombies in the wizarding world of oz? Yes please! Going into this book I knew the main premise, a young girl gets whisked away in a cyclone with her dog to a magical colourful world. BUT of course there are many twists and turns within this book that I simply adored.
This story was so clever and came together amazingly I did not want to put it down and I simply cannot wait for the sequel to come around! *hint hint Garten*
The land of Oz was just the way we saw it in the movies and the history and background that gets shown to us has been researched and planned out thoroughly with no flaws.
We meet many characters within this story and I loved each and every one of them.
- a zombie looking for a cure so he doesn’t crave brains
- A axeman with full metal armor looking for a heart
- And a werelion looking for courage.
Remind you of anyone? I think it does! Dorothy and her travel companions grow such an amazing friendship that is one worthy of jealousy. I know I’m jealous! Ardie the zombie becomes a big brother to Dorothy, the axeman well I’ll let you see how their relationship forms and a werelion who will do almost anything to protect Dorothy and loves her unconditionally.
This was an outstanding novel that I enjoyed every single second reading this long, exciting and amazing book that you need to read!
http://www.foreverthewanderer.ie/dorothy-in-the-land-of-monsters-book-review/