bookswithlydscl's reviews
591 reviews

Spring: An Anthology for the Changing Seasons by Melissa Harrison

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

2.5*

Better written than the original but why was it so long? Honestly, unnecessary. Did enjoy getting the Vampire POV but Edward needs to get a grip!

The Stand by Stephen King

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

So long but worth the effort to go on that journey.

The Baker Street Murders by Emily Organ

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

Took a little while to click but as always turned into a smart mystery. Loved learning more about Augusta as well, finally!

The Ghost Fields by Elly Griffiths

adventurous dark funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I just really enjoy this series, some books are stronger than others (this is a stronger one) but they all line up with a great cast of characters and a solid mystery.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

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? It's complicated

3.0

Maybe I need to retry this when I'm in a better reading mood. Right now, found it fine.

Fair Play by Louise Hegarty

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

2.5*

This is a really fun concept that didn't quite work out in execution unfortunately.

Following in the footsteps of Benjamin Stevenson's 'Ernest Cunningham' series, this is a meta murder mystery that plays with the reader as it builds layers of intrigue through its structural quirkiness. 

At its heart lies a solid locked room mystery that is upended with style changes that turns it into a golden age story within a detective story. As readers we're invited to decipher the clues along the way by breaking the fourth wall to tease us about the possibilities for the solution.

I will admit I ended up a little confused and felt dissatisfied by the ending. The beauty of this style of murder mystery is that you generally get a denouement that provides closure, not the case here.

I also struggled with the characters. We only get a glimpse of them in the first part of the book and their characterisation is never built out enough to become fully invested in the victim, murderer or the rest of the suspects.

Overall this is enjoyable enough, its a pretty unique story structure with classic tropes but just misses the mark as a whole.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for a digital review copy of "Fair Play" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

dark emotional informative reflective 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

1.0

When I initially finished this my first feeling was on a surface level I enjoyed it this book. But a little distance and I've got thoughts...  

It is an interesting read on the surface as I love looking at society and class but it felt lacking in judgement of the appalling viewpoints of Diana and Unity and glamorised it in many respects. I felt this tried telling the story of awful flawed people whilst trying to make them seem that they aren't that awful or flawed.

Maybe I missed the point but it felt a bit like an apologia for what we dubbed 'Hitler's Bitches' and there were multiple elements of romantasicing of Hitler as it came from the Nazi sisters perspectives with no real counterpoint shown at all.

I just felt like they were all pathetic for the most part and it glossed over the problematic attitudes of the family as a whole to not make them all seem completely appalling.

Awful people with awful attitudes written in a sympathetic and glamorous way.

Sweet Fury by Sash Bischoff

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

Describing Sweet Fury as a feminist retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'Tender Is the Night' with the blurb 'The Silent Patient meets The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in this elegant and twisty debut thriller', meant that I was instantly drawn to this book.

The reading experience though didn't live up to my anticipation and I found this to be a slow burn that never quite captured my imagination or my heart. I generally struggle to connect to stories that are stuffed with unlikeable characters, and really struggle with r*pe and domestic abuse as predominant themes. It also didn't help that I personally found the ending to be really unsatisfying as well.

This truly is a stylist literary domestic thriller but it's overwritten at times and unfortunately the high hopes I had for it fell flat. This is one that will likely split readers and unfortunately on this occasion I fall on the side of readers that it didn't work for.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Bantam for a digital review copy of "Sweet Fury" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review. 

Death at the White Hart by Chris Chibnall

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

4.25*

From the internationally award-winning creator of Broadchurch comes a new detective story following one man’s death and the secrets that unravel in a coastal English village and what a fantastic read this was! A gruesome crime and small town life with secrets and past misdeeds being brought to light is usually a winner for me and this was no different. 

Immediately bringing to mind Broadchurch, Unforgotten and Vera, this is a great example of a British crime mystery tv show put to paper and it felt modern and classic at the same time with rich characters and settings, a truly solid mystery that I didn't guess the solution to (though it did stretch credibility a little) and most importantly it left me wanting more stories in the future featuring DS Nicola Bridge and her team. 

It's no surprise that 'Death At The white Hart' has already been slated to be adapted for TV and I will certainly be watching. If you love British crime dramas I'm sure you'll love this too!

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for a digital review copy of "Death At The White Hart" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.