ladyk23's reviews
470 reviews

Clanlands in New Zealand: Kilts, Kiwis, and an Adventure Down Under by Graham McTavish, Sam Heughan

adventurous funny informative lighthearted slow-paced

3.0

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad 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

Babes in the Wood by Graham Bartlett

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

4.0

Really fascinating read for me, as I’ve lived and worked in or near Brighton for the last 19 years. I was told about the murders by a friend who lives in Moulsecoomb as she knew I was interested in true crime. She also recommended this book and I can see why. In looking for this I stumbled across another book called The Babes In The Woods Murders by Paul Cheston, Weirdly I felt like the cover of that book made it seem like it was going to be more like this book ended up being, whereas the cover of this book - showing an image of the killer - is more in line with how the other book read. Definitely prefer this one even if I think the cover bears having a re-brand. Really well told, quick, short chapters means you get through it in no time, and it doesn’t get bogged down like the other book did on who said what. If you’re from Brighton or familiar with it, with an interest in true crime, this is an interesting if somewhat devastating read. I’m glad the killer of the two girls was finally brought to justice.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

adventurous dark hopeful lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

The Haunting of Borley Rectory: The Story of a Ghost Story by Sean O'Connor

adventurous dark informative lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

4.0

The Conception of Terror: Tales Inspired by M.R. James, Volume 1 by M.R. James

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is a great updating of M.R. James’ stories, and while I’ve enjoyed reading a lot of his tales, I’ve found a couple of them a bit flat on the page. Obviously they were written to be read aloud, and so I feel like audiobooks of M.R. James’ stories are always going to be superior to reading them in a book, but this is a nice collection of stories that have been updated to modern times, making the stories even more accessible. Really enjoyed the collection, and the readings were all brilliantly performed. Highly recommended. 

Over the Line by Elise Faber

adventurous hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

My book club friends have been reading and loving lots of sports romance novels lately, and as this one came up for free on Bookbub I figured it was worth giving a chance to. Simultaneously I have also been reading Things We Never Got Over, and I have to say that despite TWNGO not being a hockey romance, a lot of the story is pretty similar, woman turns up in small town and needs a place to stay, meets grumpy guy who she falls for, there is a cute dog, a character called Knox, lots of baggage on behalf of both lead characters, etc etc, I could go on. So it’s been interesting reading them side by side. This is the second hockey romance I’ve read and this one definitely contained a lot less hockey, which for me is fine, but if that’s why you like these kinds of books you may be disappointed. The only part I didn’t really like was how quickly someone who had been as hurt as Nova would be calling Lake honey, and fawning over him, I felt that was a bit unrealistic, but other than that I enjoyed the slow burn of their relationship, and I liked the HEA. I will definitely read the next book in the series. 

Mr. Darcy's Enchantment: A Pride & Prejudice Variation by Abigail Reynolds

lighthearted slow-paced

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

2.0