Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
24 October 2024
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Review
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Loved It, especially the reveal
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is a book that I’ve wanted to read for some time. I bought, a few years ago, a copy of a paperback version and I think I also might have had a kindle version but when I saw this on Netgalley, well, firstly, I knew that it would give me the push I needed to pick it up and secondly, I was fascinated about this collector’s edition and the way the ending is revealed.
So, if you’re not familiar with And Then There Were None its a closed room mystery that takes place on an island where a number of guests have been invited for a mystery weekend. One by one the guests begin to die and it soon becomes apparent that a murderer is amongst the party.
I had such a good time with this.
Having read Christie before I had an idea of what to expect with the style. The writing is very easy to get along with. The style is, I suppose, dated, I think the original was probably written in the 1940s and the characters, the dialogue and the set up is reflective of that but I loved it.
As mentioned, we have a number of characters that arrive at Soldier Island to be met by the housekeeper and butler. Only ten people in total. The island is completely cut off from the mainland and stormy weather makes it impossible for the inhabitants to leave once the murders begin.
In each room is an old nursery rhyme and on the dining room table are ten pottery soldier statues – which slowly but surely disappear in line with the murders.
None of the characters know each other (apart from the butler and housekeeper who are man and wife).
Quite early in the story an ominous and intimidating record is played to the guests in which they are all accused of murder. This of course causes immediate outrage and much stomping about followed by loud declarations of innocence. Within fairly short order we have our first victim. To begin with the guests think this may have been a suicide and although they all still feel uncomfortable and wish to leave the island they don’t at this point have any other fears – until the next body appears – two dead bodies in such a short period, even though they don’t immediately stand out as murder, it’s a bit of a coincidence. And then the third body turns up and it becomes clear to all that their lives are in danger.
So, much searching of the island and the house ensues. Some of the party have taken to solitary confinement and reflection, almost with a resigned feeling of the inevitable. Of course, the island is small and practically barren with no hidey holes. Likewise the house is a modern structure, clean lines and also very little room for evasion.
What I really liked about this.
The pacing is great. There’s always something going on.
The mystery. I’m pretty certain I’ve seen an adaptation of this but if I have I still didn’t guess the ending correctly. To be fair my impatience got the better of me. I started trying to work things out methodically and, not blowing my own trumpet, I thought I’d made quite a good job of coming up with the answer – but – well, firstly I was wrong, secondly there is a rather large clue which I’d completely overlooked and thirdly, there’s an element to the solution that I was totally closed off to. Plus, as I mentioned, my impatience got the better of me and I was so excited to read the ending I just went for the first person that I thought sounded feasible. Perhaps if I’d have taken long and reasoned things through – well, I don’t know.
The characters, I don’t think any of them are particularly easy to like – which isn’t to say I strongly disliked any of them. But, they’re all keeping secrets and some of them are definitely guilty and guilt ridden. I don’t think you’re supposed to love them to be honest which is just as well because the body count rises very quickly.
I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this. If you like a fast paced murder mystery, short, snappy and full of intrigue then you need to give it a shot. The clues are all there, my only advice, don’t be like me and rush into your conclusion.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 4.5 of 5 very entertaining stars
Review: Magic by Sarah Pinborough
23 October 2024
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Beauty, Blood, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Magic, Poison, Rapunzel, Review, Sarah Pinborough
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Pinborough, such a great storyteller
I love a good fairytale, but sometimes better still a good fairytale reimagined. If this is something you enjoy then I can’t recommend Pinborough enough. She has a wicked sense of humour, she turns everything on it’s head and I love the way she writes. Magic has been recently released as the first in the Tales from the Kingdom series. I’ve already read Poison, Charm and Beauty and loved them. I nearly had a conniption when I saw on Netgalley two new titles Magic and Blood. Magic is, as I understand it (although, ahem, I have been known to be wrong) being marketed as the first in the series, followed by the aforementioned three and then another new book, Blood, being the fifth instalment.
So, Magic is a retelling that predominantly focuses on Rapunzel but also captures so many other elements of stories that I’ve loved over the years. Aladdin plays a role, and believe me when I say he’s the furthest thing from the Disney imagined version than you’ll believe. Pinborough captures so many different elements and gives them all her own unique twist, I was filled with a lovely sense of nostalgia whilst reading at the same time as being dumbfounded at the creativity on display that takes all my ideas of tropes and characters and stamps them into the earth, followed by a quick dusting off of the hands and a hearty harrumph – take that you fairytale stereotypes. I mean literally, I loved this. I confess that I am a fan of the author and maybe I’m predisposed to like her work, I don’t know, but this book picked me up just when I needed it.
In fact the other three books are also available and as I no longer have copies (having given by beautiful hard copies to some scoundrel to read (and we all know how that goes) I’m tempted to request the others so I have the full set again, that way I could enjoy myself quite spectacularly reading all five in almost back to back fashion – is that greedy though?
As I said, this is Rapunzel’s tale. Rapunzel is a beautiful, sheltered, young woman who lives in a tower with her Aunt Gretel (we all know the tale of Hansel and Gretel and the gingerbread house – well, be patient). Anyway, Gretel is a witch, she makes charms or curses that are usually woven into spindles and she has many spinning wheels already imbued with such magic. Gretel has hidden herself away from the world, she’s raised Rapunzel to mistrust other folk, especially men. There’s no such thing as true love and men simply can’t be trusted (feels like a little play on Miss Havisham and Estella). Except, Gretel is becoming curious about the outside world and when she is given a book, by a friend, about love and romance, she finds herself longing to meet her very own Prince Charming.
Meanwhile, we have a King, he’s exploring the kingdoms (mainly sowing his wild oats) before he takes up his position of authority. He bumps into a young man who tells him of a beautiful maiden trapped in a tower by a cruel witch and he immediately imagines himself as the dashing hero rushing to rescue her. The young man who told him the story has his own motives, a room full of magic spindles seems too good to resist.
I think I’ve already told you too much of the plot so I’ll stop there. Pick these up and enjoy them for yourselves.
What I loved.
The writing. It’s clever and well plotted. The stories are written with Pinborough’s wicked sense of humour and it comes across so well. There’s a determined tongue in cheek poking of fun at everything you may have come to expect from such tales and it ultimately comes together in a perfect package.
I really enjoy the way the author turns the characters around. We have Aladdin, we even have a genie and a lamp, but they’re so unexpectedly different. I won’t say more.
All of the books are set within the Kingdoms and this is another reason why I’m tempted to read all of them in order, why deny myself such fun after all. They’re all connected in small ways so I highly recommend picking up all five and reading them all in order.
I can’t add too much more, well, other than the fact that these books are so easy to read and are good stories packed with humour and a little bit of sizzling sexiness. And, the cherry on top – this is ultimately a story of true love.
This book was the pick-me-up that I didn’t know I needed.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the author, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating
5 of 5 intoxicatingly delicious stars
Review: The Wilding by Ian McDonald
18 October 2024
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, Books, Fantasy, Horror, Ian McDonald, Review, The Wilding
My Five Word TL:DR Review: A Little Slow to Start
I enjoyed The Wilding. The writing is really good, very evocative and the author sets the scene very well. Yes, it was a little slow to start as we get to know the characters. To be honest, on the one hand, I’m not totally sure that all the character building was totally necessary as some of these characters are about to meet a grisly end, but, on the other hand, if the author just skimmed over these characters and gave them no depth it would be immediately obvious that their roles were going to be short lived, so, for me, it’s worth taking the time to get to know these people as it definitely makes their sudden demise much more shocking.
The premise of the story is a group of rangers and young adults, going into the wild to spend a night, at one with nature. It’s an unlikely group of characters in some respects. Lisa, the MC, is longing for a new start in life at University and in fact this little wilderness trek is probably going to be her last mission. The other young adults don’t particularly come across as enthusiastic (at least not all of them) about this little jaunt into the wild and have an almost bored, are we really doing this, attitude, but they’re going to get a sudden jolt of nasty reality in fairly short order.
The author sets the scene early. There have been unexplained attacks on farm animals and other unexplained incidences. The setting feeds into the atmosphere perfectly. This is a rewilding project based deep in rural island where the locals, the project itself and nature are struggling to come to a balance and, well, ultimately failing it would seem. There’s a lovely build up of tension, I would say that at one point I was on the brink of wondering when the action would kick in but then suddenly I was in the middle of chaos. When the proverbial hits the fan things go batpoop crazy. The wilderness seems to take on a mind of its own causing confusion and driving the party deeper into the bog. There’s bad weather, marshy boglands, bugs and that awful feeling of being watched coupled with the hysteria and panic created when people are desperately trying to survive. And there are some really unusual settings where our little group find shelter.
I don’t really want to say too much more for fear of spoiling the read for others. I enjoyed this, it had a slightly slow start but I think that initial build up makes the story more dramatic. There is definite horror and blood and guts. I don’t know whether I’d call this a folk story. It’s more like nature as a whole – showing us it’s power coupled with the journey of one character in particular – Lisa – who starts the story longing to move on before going on something of a self discovery jaunt herself, becoming very protective of the young people in her charge and throwing caution to the wind as she tries to keep them alive.
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 rounded to 4 for the strange and dark appeal
Review: The Ravening by Daniel Church
26 September 2024
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Book Reviews, Daniel Churdh, Review, The Ravening
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Didn’t Really Work For Me
I enjoyed The Hollows by this author so was really looking forward to this one but ultimately it just didn’t work it’s magic. But, first things first.
This gets off to a very intriguing start. Jenna and her mother are travelling when their car breaks down. Stranded in the forest things escalate quickly and Jenna’s mother disappears. Fast forward and Jenna is 30 (ish), the mystery of her mother was never solved and has left her with severe trauma and trust issues She struggles to hold down a relationship for more than a couple of months until recently meeting Holly. The two, on the face of it, feel like opposites, but they click somehow. They’ve just returned from a camping holiday, not something Jenna would usually undertake as she remains afraid of the forest since that terrible night when her mother went missing.
From here the story takes a completely different tack and not one that I was particularly expecting. The horror wasn’t what I was hoping for, don’t get me wrong, the situation that Jenna finds herself in is definitely horrific, claustrophobic and anger inducing – and I don’t want to go into detail here as it’s probably best discovered during the read – but it simply wasn’t what I was hoping for.
So, what did and didn’t work for me.
I liked the ancient evil that is at play. It’s a terrifying beast and there were some very creepy moments whenever it put in an appearance.
There are a couple of occasions where Jenna is, let’s say, making a break out – I found these gripping and tense.
In terms of criticisms. I found it very difficult to like any of the characters and this is really a problem for me. I wanted to like Jenna, she’s been through a lot and in fact continues to experience some terrible situations, but I didn’t find myself really caring. The same with the relationship with Jenna and Holly, it just felt very flat, they didn’t really come across as though they even liked each other to be honest, it was all super prickly. And, this is a small niggle, but the constant use of the word ‘babe’, it really irritated me, to the point I was actually becoming really grumpy and skipping over the dialogue in order to avoid it. On top of that, I’m not really a lover of dream sequences in stories and they play quite an integral part here. They rarely work for me.
I think some of my issues literally fall into the ‘its me not you’ category. There were some exciting moments, some tense scenes and the final chapters rolled out more of the horror that I was expecting. It just felt like a lot to get through in order to get to that point.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 2.5 of 5 stars (rounded to 3)
#SPFBO X: Review: Smile and Be a Villain by Yves Donlon
16 September 2024
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO X, blogging, Books, hamlet, literature, ophelia, Review, reviews, shakespeare, Smile and Be a Villain, Yves Donlon
For those who don’t know about SPFBO (the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off) – this is a competition created and run by Mark Lawrence. The competition is now in its tenth year and you can find out more about all the other entrants and judges over on Mark Lawrence’s blog.
I separated my books into three batches which you can find here, here and here. Having read the first 25% (at least) I’ve chosen five books that I intend to read further before choosing potential semi finalists to pass to the Critiquing Chemist to read. Today I am posting my fifth and final SPFBO review for Smile and Be a Villain by Yves Donlon.
SABAV is a reimagining of Hamlet with magic. This is very well written and so lovely to read, I really enjoyed it. I would say that no former knowledge of Hamlet is necessary, I only have the bare basics of the story personally and I didn’t feel that this suffered as a result. I would also mention that this is only the opening gambit that provides a thoughtful backstory and concludes more or less where the play begins. It’s well done and cleverly thought out.
As the story starts Hamlet is being sent to Wittenberg, in shame after being discovered in a compromising situation. Here he is expected to study and before long he’s made friends with two characters who he spends most of his time with, Rosencrantz and Guildendtern. His new friends beguile Hamlet with their knowledge of magic and begin to show him the basics although you can sense that they were rather careful with exactly how much they shared. Meanwhile, back at Helsingør, Ophelia is also suffering, the Queen has cast her off in shame and on top of that she’s really struggling to cope with the Corruption that seems to be overcoming the castle, constantly renewing wards in a bid to overcome the dark tendrils that are encroaching and nipping at everyone’s heels. Added to this there is tension and war is brewing.
What I really enjoyed about this.
I thought the writing, the dialogue and the set up were excellent. I found myself simply enjoying the read just for the joy of reading. I wouldn’t say that there’s an over abundance of description but I had no struggle imagining the set up. Ophelia and Hamlet are the narrators, I enjoyed this aspect of jumping between the two and also it gave us eyes and ears in both locations.
The characters come across well. They have so much more depth here with the time given to explore their inner thoughts and insecurities. Hamlet, for example, comes across as an indecisive teenager whilst Ophelia comes across as strong willed and determined. The two share a close friendship and argue almost like brother and sister.
I really liked the magic. The Corruption in the castle is a byproduct of too much magic use. Mirrors can be used as portals to other magical places and this is an element that I really enjoyed. On top of this there are little asides, such as one of the characters who has a hidden object with an interesting backstory. Hamlet in particular is absorbed by the need to know more about the magic and his heedless rush to find out whatever he can puts him in a predicament that almost sends him crazy.
In terms of criticisms. I think I would have liked to know more about the magic and the Corruption. Helsingør seems to be almost overrun with dark tendrils which makes me wonder just who is using enough magic to create so much byproduct. I would also mention that this is not a short and snappy read. It comes in around 500 pages, but, again, I didn’t have an issue with that personally. I liked the style of writing and was quite immersed.
In conclusion, this was a really good read and I look forward to seeing what the author comes up with next.
I received a copy from the author, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My review for Fortitude’s Prize by Ceril N Domace, The First Assignment by Billy Kramer, River of Crows by NP Thompson and Touched by Magic by Celine Jeanjean can be found here, here, here. and here.
Books and travelling with Lynn 