bobinsbooknook's reviews
120 reviews

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am obsessed with this psychedelic YA-Cult style horror! 

The atmospheric writing, the twisted plot and fantastic characters had me gripped throughout - I did not want to put it down. Luckily for me I had both the audio and physical copy of this book which meant i didn't have to go long without reading. 

This book created such a fantastic sense of unease and doubt throughout without becoming confusing to follow and was perfectly paced! I appreciate how the author has built in topics of gender fluidity and grief in a way which didn't feel like an afterthought or a 'check-box exercise', but instead created such a interesting character navigating these topics amongst the other dark mysteries of the plot. 

A special note that if you can get your hands on the audio book too, I highly recommend as the background noises, the buzz ... and screams, really builds on the already very atmospheric read! 

I can not fault a single part of this book - the plot kept me guessing, the horror kept me gripped and the character interactions made a very surreal plot come to life.  I will absolutely be looking to read other work by Ryan and cannot  recommend highly enough! 🫰

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not like my usual books I found myself quite moved by the sad story of Eleanor as she tries to navigate life after trauma. 

The contrast between “the good days” and “bad days” created a really interesting narrative. The character development was really interesting and well thought out along with the inter-character dynamics. 

The only reason I couldn’t rate it higher is I did predict the plot throughout. Arguably the plot is not the main takeaway of the book (which I would normally prefer) as this focuses  more on emotional journey of Eleanor which was very well executed. 

An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Clearly I’m a sucker for a Cinderella inspired romance! This book has so many wholesome and epic romance moments that I just fell in love whilst reading. 

I instantly loved Sophie who both sweet and  endearing  but still a strong character. The charming and humorous wit of Benedict is also captured so wonderfully throughout. Also a special shout out to Violet who is also so fun to read about in this book. 

There are enough moments which extend beyond the continents of the classic Cinderella romance which allow each character to shine in their own right which I really appreciated. 

Julia simply knows how to capture a beautiful romance. Though the plot may not be ground breaking, I absolutely loved reading every second of it! 

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I had hoped to be able to rate this book higher. Though the first half held a nice intrigue with a plot twist early on and darker themes, the second half just became boring, predictable. 

My biggest struggle with this book that the female characters were depicted as nothing more than sexualised objects, with all the male characters seeming to be obsessed with picturing naked - even the lead detective who was writing dirty limericks about the MFC! The fact that every character to seem only be motivated by sexual attraction in some form or another made all the characters feel too similar and boring and worse still, for the majority of the book provided  no real purpose to drive the story forward. 

I may have enjoyed this book more had it stuck with the stronger plot theme of killing people who the MFC thought deserved to die to make the world better, rather than then flattening out to a dull cheater-revenge story - sideline with this undeveloped underlying storyline of the MFCs dad being prison which really didn't do anything to the plot either. 

Whilst a rushed ending can be accepted, the depiction of the female characters really left me with a poor taste in my mouth and personally won't be rushing to read any more works by this author.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Car accident

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Overall I did enjoy this read a lot with some of the foreshadowing being really well done. I liked the dual timeline plot to see the impact of the secrets and lies.

C.J Tudor does really well in writing out an intriguing horror scene and each chapter left on some form of a cliff hanger which made it quite compelling to read. There were a lot of twists to keep track of by the half point way - some stronger than others.

The fact that 2 different characters had inappropriate age related relationships felt a bit lazy.

I wanted to rate this book higher but the wrapping up of mysteries feel a bit short for me and I did feel a little lost at times. Though the final 4 pages - Wow! 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Car accident, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Dementia, and Abortion

Minor: Death of parent, Suicide, and Rape

Ghosts by Dolly Alderton

funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This ended up being a one-day audio book read for me as it was quite an easy book to listen to as the story was light-hearted and quite funny at times. 

I enjoyed how Dolly has portrayed Nina trying to navigating being at a different point in her life to her friends in a way which didn't make her seem bitter or resentful. Nina's friendship with Lola was my favourite and really enjoyed these character interactions. I liked the writing style throughout the audio book but feel that the plot itself is where it fell a bit short for me. 

For a story which is heavily character focused, we don't really see any long-lasting or significant development in Nina (MFC) making similar mistakes (particularly in the romance department) in parts 1 and part 2 of the book. 

I mean being ghosted twice by the same person is mad - especially with the super lame excuses he came up with ghosting her the first time. Just made me feel like she didn’t develop at all as a character.

The plot line around her neighbour whilst funny, didn't really go anywhere which was a shame and the deterioration of her dad's mental state felt like it could have had more depth to be more impactful. 

Whilst this storyline isn't one I'd likely re-read, I am curious to check out Dolly's other work based on how much i enjoyed the writing style.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I wanted to enjoy this book more but overall found myself really struggling to get through this audio book. 

The majority of the characters felt very 1 dimensional. I found Queenie to be incredibly difficult to enjoy as a character for a vast portion of the book and it was only watching her develop towards the end that actually sold it for me.

The fact that pretty much every guy in this book has some form of black fetish or is racist just made the characters feel so impactful in places. Also that Queenie is a so self centred until she has therapy and even then it’s still such a minor change in terms of her actually giving a shit about the people around her.

I can understand the comparisons so similar coming-of-age style books like Bridget jones but the decisions made by Queenie really took me out of a lot of the story and made it very difficult to sympathise with at times when you realise she is meant to be 25/26 and for a huge part acts really immature. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence

Moderate: Racism and Miscarriage

Minor: Racial slurs

The Institution by Helen Sarah Fields

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Perfect for fans of criminal minds. My first read my Helen fields and I absolutely loved the fast pace nature and intriguing plot of this book.

The writing style felt very immersive and love how we start to see the psychological toll it takes on are main protagonist and how she interacts with the different characters! With so many possible suspects in the case it did keep me guessing throughout which made for a very the intriguing read.

Though I did predict part of the ending very early on (33%) - there was still lots that caught me off guard but still thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend. 

Will absolutely be looking to get my hands on more work by Helen fields! 

The Girl Before by JP Delaney

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

An interesting premise for a thriller but overall didn’t love it as much as I hoped. The writing style between the past and present created an interesting narrative in comparing the previous tenant with the current day tenant which I did enjoy and it was a quick easy read.

Whilst it has started of quite gripping and quick in setting up plot, I had hoped the house itself would play a huge part in the outcome of the story or influencing the plot but really it became secondary to the characters themselves and felt just a setting which didn’t really do anything special. 

I didn’t really care about any of the characters fully and did feel like that whilst the attempt was made lead the read astray for a ‘who dunnit’ and felt a bit predictable in the end.

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book can be simply described as a beautiful homage to a loving adult father-daughter relationship and time.

The characters were each loveable in their own way and the relationships they have with one another. Though there is a small nodd to romance - it is the familial and friendship love which carries the most weight. I hold a particular fondness for Alice who is shown to have a strong sense of self without coming across as cold and doesn’t comprise on her desires throughout the plot. 

It would have been easy for the author to push with a plot that waking up one day and finding herself married and with children would change her thoughts of it completely. Instead she is portrayed as appreciating that future but not feeling like it’s hers - which I loved!

The writing style was very clever - particularly with a plot on time travel it didn’t feel repetitive and just full of such heart warming moments.  

What I loved most about this book is how the plots centres on the idea that some things are inevitable and out of our control. That only by living in the present can we move on and appreciate the time we have with loved ones whilst we can. For me personally who has lost loved ones recently - this message truly hit home and both warmed and broke my heart all at once. 

I can definitely see myself re-reading and will be a go to recommendation to friends and family.