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laurenemma's reviews
232 reviews
A Christmas Cracker by Trisha Ashley
3.0
A really easy read which I thoroughly enjoyed. This book was perfect to read over the festive period and really had a lovely magical element to it.
The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
5.0
This book was so well written, which made it a really easy and enjoyable read. The link between art and finding yourself was well captured. It was nice to read about a subject I didn't really know anything about, and although the majority of this is fictional Ebershoff did a brilliant job of portraying a difficult transition. My only criticism is that the storyline does become slightly idealistic after Lilli's first operations, and I feel she's a bit inconsiderate to Greta's feelings. Overall though I would really recommend this book and I really want to see the film now.
Not Always Happenstance by Rachael Anderson
4.0
The second novel of the Power of the Matchmaker series, Not Always Happenstance is a romantic tale of love, travel and beauty of Maui people. Lani has lived in Maui for five years now, helping her frail grandmother run her B&B, when a persistent travel writer named Easton comes along and sweeps her off her feet. It takes a unique woman named Pearl and her mysterious ways of working to bring the two together and for Lani to realise that her current fiancé, Derek, isn’t the love of her life.
Rachel Anderson creates a powerful telling of love and the struggle of placing your trust in another human being that you hardly know. What is so appealing about this novel is that strong female lead. Lani is generally so sure of herself and she goes after what she wants. Her loyalty to being real and honest is refreshing and one of the qualities that attracts Easton to her so much.
I became truly invested in this novel due to the easy flow of Anderson’s writing and the strong character development of Easton. The beautiful setting of Maui unleashed a strong desire to explore and have adventures, and I promise after reading this you’ll want to drop everything and soak up everything inch of culture the world has to offer.
After enjoying Not Always Happenstance so much, I’ll definitely be continuing in the Power of the Matchmaker series, and I look forward to reading more of Pearl and her unique abilities to draw two people together.
Rachel Anderson creates a powerful telling of love and the struggle of placing your trust in another human being that you hardly know. What is so appealing about this novel is that strong female lead. Lani is generally so sure of herself and she goes after what she wants. Her loyalty to being real and honest is refreshing and one of the qualities that attracts Easton to her so much.
I became truly invested in this novel due to the easy flow of Anderson’s writing and the strong character development of Easton. The beautiful setting of Maui unleashed a strong desire to explore and have adventures, and I promise after reading this you’ll want to drop everything and soak up everything inch of culture the world has to offer.
After enjoying Not Always Happenstance so much, I’ll definitely be continuing in the Power of the Matchmaker series, and I look forward to reading more of Pearl and her unique abilities to draw two people together.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
2.0
I found this book incredibly difficult to get into. It was a slow build to any real drama, and I found there was little hints as to finding out who the real murderer was.
Flynn does tend to enjoy writing about complex and troubled characters, but in this novel I found myself completely detached from every character. I felt no empathy, or even sympathy for them.
What further put me off this novel was her writing style. While I found myself completely hooked when reading Gone Girl, where as I found Dark Places a bitter let down. I feel like Flynn blurred the line between young adult and adult thriller fiction. Her writing is sometimes childlike and more suited to young adult, although badly for that matter, and doesn't fully fit with the adult thrillers of her peers.
The story itself had a relatively exciting twist but the build up to this was exhausting. Definitely a poor comparison to her other works. I was sadly disappointed.
Flynn does tend to enjoy writing about complex and troubled characters, but in this novel I found myself completely detached from every character. I felt no empathy, or even sympathy for them.
What further put me off this novel was her writing style. While I found myself completely hooked when reading Gone Girl, where as I found Dark Places a bitter let down. I feel like Flynn blurred the line between young adult and adult thriller fiction. Her writing is sometimes childlike and more suited to young adult, although badly for that matter, and doesn't fully fit with the adult thrillers of her peers.
The story itself had a relatively exciting twist but the build up to this was exhausting. Definitely a poor comparison to her other works. I was sadly disappointed.