melissa_keen's reviews
81 reviews

The Shawshank Redemption: Different Seasons by Stephen King

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

One of my favourite authors for a reason. I had no idea Shawshank was a short story - this book is actually 4 novellas written by King. Each is brilliant. My favourite has to be Shawshank - what a brilliant, brilliant story with a terrific ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell

dark fast-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. Lots of unexpected twists and turns, it's nicely written and easy to consume. Particularly liked the little twist at the end. All in all I'd definitely recommend

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Rape

Find Them Dead by Peter James

adventurous informative fast-paced

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

3.0

Slow start, picked up in the middle but then ended really suddenly with lots of loose ends... Quite disappointing. I've read quite a few other Peter James books and they were really good, but this one fell a bit flat. It's a courtroom drama and has a lot of potential, but the main protagonist is hardly in the book, there's a weird sub-plot about his dog which doesn't go anywhere, and the ending is really open and strange... 

Dead If You Don't by Peter James

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.5

A quick, easy and fairly enjoyable read. Sort of predictable in places but it's fast paced with a decent, well-wrapped ending.

Absolute Proof by Peter James

adventurous informative mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

I've found this book unputdownable for 3 solid days, but the ending was SUCH a letdown! 

There were several issues throughout the book; the protagonist, Ross, is weirdly trusting with random people despite being an investigative journ list - I mean, there are people literally trying to kill him and he's out telling any Tom, Dick and Harry what he's up to in great detail, then acting baffled about it? 

His relationship with his wife is also downright weird and quite frankly adds nothing to the plot as both characters become unlikeable towards the end (she cheats on him, he forgives her, he then knocks her up despite claiming not to love her, then he starts a weird flirty inappopriate relationship with an annoying radio presenter he has the hots for - oh, who also decided off her own back to stalk him to LA??? After meeting him a handful of times? Like, what?!), then his wife loses their baby (which she tells him BY TEXT) and he is less than bothered about it... all so strange! He flip flops from loyal loving husband to borderline cheating, couldnt-care-less, it's like the writer couldn't make up his mind what kind of guy he wanted Ross to be...  and the ending felt like such a cop out. Such a shame as it had such potential! 

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor

informative fast-paced

5.0

Amazing book. So much to take from it; will definitely be reading it again!

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

dark hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

An enjoyable read, all in all! However, the writer clearly has some complicated feelings towards both men and women - I can't figure out if she loves them or hates them. Some of the characters feel like feminist charactatures. A lot of focus is spent on the male gaze, which you expect as this book is about male serial killers, but then there is a female character who is also mega judgemental about other women. Even the male protagonist couldn't escape this male gaze narrative, despite literally being coined as a saint. I felt like this took away from the main plot for no good reason and I found it quite frustrating. But the story itself was very enjoyable.

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
Did not finish book. Stopped at 0%.

DNF

Really dislike how this is written, the sentences jump around with no capitals, it gave me a headache... not my cup of tea at all

The Stranger Inside by Lisa Unger

dark mysterious fast-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 had high hopes for this book but for me unfortunately they fell short. The protagonist is really irritating; a bad wife, and so judgementental about everyone, constantly making sarky remarks about people using their phones or social media. She's very up herself and this makes her extremely difficult to like. The "twist" wasn't really that much of a twist. I also felt the lack of description regarding what happened to her and her friends was a mistake; it didn't build enough shock or devastation for what happened to them. All in all I was quite disappointed 

Hannibal by Thomas Harris

dark informative mysterious fast-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

4.0

Very different from the film, a very unexpected ending!