Friday Face Off : holding an object – just as it seems

FFO

Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy .  This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers.  The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book (this doesn’t have to be a book that you’ve read), compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite.   Future week’s themes are listed below – if you have a cover in mind that you’re really wanting to share then feel free to leave a comment about a future suggested theme.  I’ve also listed events that take place during the year, that I’m aware of, so you can link up your covers – if you’re aware of any events that you think I should include then give me a shout.  This week’s theme:

Holding an object – just as it seems

Firstly, a quick note in case you’ve spotted I’ve been absent this week.  I’m on holiday – not physically, but I have family staying (we are being careful of course but it is good to be together) and given the length of time since we’ve all seen each other I’ve not been reading and blogging. I’ll be back on board again in a few days.  Hope everyone out there is staying safe and well.

This week’s theme is hopefully a lot easier than last week’s I found the final book in a series that I loved, Holy Sister (Book of the Ancestor #3) by Mark Lawrence.  Only a few covers but check them out:

HS1HS4HS3HS2

Difficult to choose this week.  I quite like the cover with the green accents but at the same time it feels like it is aimed at a young audience – although that’s probably just me!  I like the first cover because even though the character looks young (which is appropriate I think) at the same time the cover feels adult and has a dark vibe.  The other two covers are very similar and whilst the character depicted feels a little older than I would like I think my favourite is:

HS2

Do you have a favourite?

I’ll be updating the list in order to include forthcoming events that I’m aware of so that you can perhaps link your themes up where possible (if you know of an event you’d like to share then let me know in the comments).  As always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment – or if you’d like to host a week then simply let me know.

Next week – Framed – more meanings than one.  A cover with a frame, a picture within a cover or a murder mystery set up??

Future themes: (if you’re struggling with any of these themes then use a ‘freebie’ or one of your favourite covers) (I’ve added some new themes – some of these are slightly different, in order to avoid too much repetition I’m trying to make the themes more of a suggestion that everyone can interpret how they like.  

2019

24th July – Framed – more meanings than one.  A cover with a frame, a picture within a cover or a murder mystery set up??

31st July – White – a cover that is predominantly white

7th August – Action – a cover that depicts action of some sort

14th August – Glasses or spectacles – “One could mention many lovable traits in Smee. For instance, after killing, it was his spectacles he wiped instead of his weapon.”

21st August – Potions –  hubble bubble

28th August – Dark road – ‘the road goes ever on and on’

4th September – Cold and crisp – any cover that gives you winter vibes

11th September – A cover with a pattern

18th September – Minimalistic and lacking clutter

25th September – A very busy cover full to bursting with detail

2nd October – A standout font

9th October – Mist/fog – “A thin grey fog hung over the city, and the streets were very cold; for summer was in England.”

16th October – Spider web – “Farewell, Aragog, king of the arachnids, whose long and faithful friendship those who knew you would never forget!

23th October – Ripped/torn – interpret it as you wish

30th October – Forest/jungle – ‘None of the Jungle People like being disturbed.’

6th November – Planets – “You’re on Earth. There’s no cure for that.”

13th November – Bright – ‘The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades’.

20th November – Words only – “Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.”

27th November – Modern sci fi

4th December –  Fae – or fairy??

11th December – Lake – the mysterious lake

18th December – Highly Stylised

25th December- Freebie – or day off.

Friday Face Off : ‘At the end of every light, is a tunnel of darkness.’

FFO

Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy .  This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers.  The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book (this doesn’t have to be a book that you’ve read), compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite.   Future week’s themes are listed below – if you have a cover in mind that you’re really wanting to share then feel free to leave a comment about a future suggested theme.  I’ve also listed events that take place during the year, that I’m aware of, so you can link up your covers – if you’re aware of any events that you think I should include then give me a shout.  This week’s theme:

Tunnel – ‘At the end of every light, is a tunnel of darkness.’

So, what on earth was I thinking with this theme.  I struggled to find that elusive ‘tunnel’ I’m sure I could have found something from the classics but I wanted to go with something more recent.  Now, this may come across as a little bit of a cheat – but I say it looks like a tunnel.  My book this week is In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey and here are the covers – only three for this one:

Obviously two of these covers are very similar but I think the difference in sepia/black and white does make a difference.

My favourite:

Wood1

It has to be this one.  It’s like something out of a fairytale.  Not really a tunnel in the conventional sense, but then that character does look like she’s walking into something doesn’t she – probably trouble.

Do you have a favourite?

I’ll be updating the list in order to include forthcoming events that I’m aware of so that you can perhaps link your themes up where possible (if you know of an event you’d like to share then let me know in the comments).  As always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment – or if you’d like to host a week then simply let me know.

Next week – olding an object – just as it seems

Future themes: (if you’re struggling with any of these themes then use a ‘freebie’ or one of your favourite covers) (I’ve added some new themes – some of these are slightly different, in order to avoid too much repetition I’m trying to make the themes more of a suggestion that everyone can interpret how they like.  

2019

17th July – holding an object – just as it seems

24th July – Framed – more meanings than one.  A cover with a frame, a picture within a cover or a murder mystery set up??

31st July – White – a cover that is predominantly white

7th August – Action – a cover that depicts action of some sort

14th August – Glasses or spectacles – “One could mention many lovable traits in Smee. For instance, after killing, it was his spectacles he wiped instead of his weapon.”

21st August – Potions –  hubble bubble

28th August – Dark road – ‘the road goes ever on and on’

4th September – Cold and crisp – any cover that gives you winter vibes

11th September – A cover with a pattern

18th September – Minimalistic and lacking clutter

25th September – A very busy cover full to bursting with detail

2nd October – A standout font

9th October – Mist/fog – “A thin grey fog hung over the city, and the streets were very cold; for summer was in England.”

16th October – Spider web – “Farewell, Aragog, king of the arachnids, whose long and faithful friendship those who knew you would never forget!

23th October – Ripped/torn – interpret it as you wish

30th October – Forest/jungle – ‘None of the Jungle People like being disturbed.’

6th November – Planets – “You’re on Earth. There’s no cure for that.”

13th November – Bright – ‘The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades’.

20th November – Words only – “Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.”

27th November – Modern sci fi

4th December –  Fae – or fairy??

11th December – Lake – the mysterious lake

18th December – Highly Stylised

25th December- Freebie – or day off.

Can’t Wait Wednesday : The Ikessar Falcon (Chronicles of the Bitch Queen #2) by K.S. Villoso

Can't Wait Wednesday

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine.  Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for.  If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to.  This week my book is : The Ikessar Falcon (Chronicles of the Bitch Queen #2) by K.S. Villoso.  I really enjoyed the Wolf of Oren-Yaro, my review is here.  And here’s the description for the second instalment:

TheKFAbandoned by her people, Queen Talyien’s quest takes a turn for the worse as she stumbles upon a plot deeper and more sinister than she could have ever imagined, one that will displace her king and see her son dead. The road home beckons, strewn with a tangled web of deceit and unimaginable horrors – creatures from the dark, mad dragons and men with hearts hungry for power.

To save her land, Talyien must confront the myth others have built around her: Warlord Yeshin’s daughter, symbol of peace, warrior and queen and everything she could never be.

The price for failure is steep. Her friends are few. And a nation carved by a murderer can only be destined for war.

Expected publication : September 2020

Top Ten Tuesday : Favourite Authors : Recent Reads

ttt

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic.  Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by  The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here.  This week’s topic :

Authors I’ve read the most books by

I’ve amended this slightly – all of these are authors that I’ve read a number of books by, they’re all favourite, auto buy/want/have a major case of grabby hands for anything their write and I’ve read all of them fairly recently to boot so I’m going for my most recent reads by favourite authors (whose books I also happen to have read a lot of):

Silvia Moreno-Garcia = Mexican Gothic

MexicanGothic

Mark Lawrence = The Girl and the Stars (Book of the Ice #1)

girlandthestars

Joanne Harris = The Strawberry Thief (Chocolat #4)

TheStrawberryThief

Sarah Pinborough = Dead to Her

Deadtoher

Robert Jackson Bennett = Shorefall (Founders #2)

Shorefal

MR Carey = The Book of Koli  (Rampart #1)

bookofkoli

John Gwynne = A Time of Courage (Of Blood and Bone #3)

A time of courage

Patricia Briggs = Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson #12)

SMokebitten

Sebastien de Castell = Crownbreaker (Spellslinger #6)

Crownbreaker

Angus Watson = Where Gods Fear to Go (West of West #3)

WhereGods

 

 

 

 

The List by Carys Jones

Posted On 6 July 2020

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: ,

Comments Dropped 12 responses

TheListMy TL:DR Five Word Review : Psychological thriller.  Revenge or redemption.

The List is a book with a great premise.  A psychological thriller with a young woman who finds a list with her name on it, and upon closer examination she uncovers that the first two people named on the list are dead.  Is she next?

I have to say that this is a clever and well written novel. Part of the story certainly tackles a very dark issue that without doubt will have an impact on how some readers engage with the main character but certainly the revelations were intriguing and unexpected.

What I’m very conscious of whilst writing this review is the ease with which spoilers could ruin the read for others so I’m going to avoid anything related to the plot which may make this somewhat vague and perhaps raise more questions and than it answers.

I would say that this is a good read.  It’s a story with three different narrators.  Beth, Ruby and a.n.other mystery pov.  However, even though this is a good read, well written and definitely intriguing I wouldn’t say that I loved it which is an issue I’ve been giving some consideration to.

Beth has secrets in her past.  She has difficulty interacting with others, few friends and no family around her.  Her boyfriend Josh knows little about her in that respect but he’s a happy go lucky type of chap and doesn’t press the issue.  There is the list of course, and the strange way that Beth hides her actions from Josh.  Apparently, this relates to an incident with one of their neighbours where things escalated due to Beth being over-anxious and Josh is worried that she might go down a similar route over the list – leading her in fact to simply keep things even closer to her chest.

Basically, this tale is a twisted thing. It’s a story that gets into your head and more than that it gets into Beth’s head – and that’s the point really.  I think one of the things that I really took away from this is that the mind is a powerful thing and events and actions can appear to be one thing whilst really being something quite different

So, why didn’t this bowl me over quite as much as I expected.  Well, I feel bad that this didn’t wow me, and I did like it, certainly I had no hesitation in picking it up.  I think some of it boils down to me and the expectations I had when I started reading and this took a route that I hadn’t expected, strictly speaking the twists are really good but at the same time they made me rethink the way I felt about Beth, I also wasn’t totally won over by one of the character’s motivations.

In conclusion I enjoyed this even if it wasn’t quite what I expected.  It’s a book that gets into your headspace and it does make you think – I confess that I’m still thinking of certain elements of this now after sitting on the review for a few days and I wish I could be a little bit less secretive about what I give away.  Can you ever really escape your past?  Can you change?

So, there were slight pacing issues in the first half and then obviously the tempo picks up but if you want a good psychological read then this might work well for you.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 3.5 of 5 stars

 

 

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