bookswithlydscl's reviews
540 reviews

The Angel Tree by Lucinda Riley

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

3.25

Probably 3.25-3.5*

As always I read the heck out of this but just didn't love it. I didn't really buy into the power of Greta and Cheska was more comic book villain that truly believable. But I loved that it was set in Wales and it was highly readable as always.

Hunted by Abir Mukherjee

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

A very solid and timely politicalesque thriller. I saw mention of twists and sadly figured it out quite early on and the ending was very abrupt which I wasn't expecting at all and I kind of feel like I don't have proper closure in a way. But this was overall incredibly immersive, and action packed and felt like a movie in book form. 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

I loved this little sad, hopeful, funny, kind of dark story about the pressures of society to conform to expected norms and how it impacts those who dance around the edges.
I've seen versions of this story play out in everyday life but especially during my time in Japan.
It also made me desperate to get to a Lawsons or 7/11 konbini!

The Least of My Scars by Stephen Graham Jones

challenging dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

3.5*

I've decided that stream of consciousness narratives aren't my favourite writing style.
That said, it's absolutely vital for this story so was worth persevering with. As with a lot of SGJ there's unsaid things at the end that you have to infer, but when you realise - well, it's a great twist.

This is violent, gory, gross and messy in so many ways. As with a lot of SGJ's books it won't work for all and this one definitely took me up to the limits of what I'm OK reading especially from a body horror perspective.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism

A Picture of Murder by T.E. Kinsey

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Took me a while to get into this one but overall it was fun and was definitely a pretty ingenious solution.

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Definitely preferred this to The Dangers of Smoking in Bed.
Think this is one that I would like even more if I read it in book form rather than listening.

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

Didn't need to be as long as it was - usual complaint for Morton's books. There were middle sections that just felt like padding and the ending, after such long build up felt like it all wrapped up too quickly. But, I was generally caught up in the saga, loved Eliza's story and as always the world is rich and vivid. This one feels like Downton Abbey meets Jane Eyre with clear references to The Secret Garden.

Certain Dark Things by M. J. Pack

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A solid collection of stories but bot sure how long it will stay in the memory

Murder on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

4.5

4.5*

Welcome back Judith, Suzie and Becks and this time our intrepid amateur sleuths (that make up The Marlow Murder Club) are called to help Verity Beresford find her husband Oliver who didn't return home after an evening soiree sailing up and down the Thames.

Unfortunately they quickly find Oliver - dead with 2 bullet holes in him on the banks of the river and as always they can't help but get involved. Reluctantly willing police ally, DI Malik, is under pressure at work and can't been seen to be willingly allowing the team to do what they do best but the team continue to be able to out detect the police and help bring a killer to justice.

As always with this series what we get is a fun and twisting mystery with humour, an inventive solution, plenty of red herrings (that I fell for multiple times) and a engaging cast of characters who are well characterised and just large enough to give us plenty of suspects but not so large that you get confused as to who is who. 

I see a lot of comparisons made to the Thursday Murder Club and I can see them but I also feel that this series stands on its own feet and is one that I have loved from book one. It just gets better and better with solid cases and I love how our core characters are developing from book to book. Suzie takes a little bit of a back seat in this one and I think her storyline was the weakest but I love seeing Judith developing and and the cliffhanger at the end has me chomping at the bit for book 5!

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ  for a digital review copy of "Murder on the Marlow Belle" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

The Village by Caroline Mitchell

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

2.5

2 5* This was fine overall, one for the summer's holiday poolside reading. A couple of twists that were relatively easy to see coming and overall the mystery was interesting enough. The audiobook kept me going as Elizabeth Knowleden is fantastic as always.