thereadingmum's reviews
737 reviews

This Christie was a bit more convoluted than normal and so listening to the audio I really had to pay attention at the beginning to get all the facts and characters straight, but was transfixed thereafter. 

I followed all the twists and turns only to be slightly disturbed by the ending. I really don't want to give anything away, but I really feel uncomfortable with how one of the female protagonists ends up with her supposed true love and Poirot's condoning it. 

I would have given this four stars if not for that part.

 "He lay there, muscles fluttering, like a fish on a deck, feeling the dry weight of gravity, the hard surprise of everything he already knew."

I usually avoid reading reviews until after I've finished a book. However, for some reason, I decided to check them out for The Riders.

Despite the dire warnings of many reviewers, I decided to press on as I was genuinely enjoying the beginning of the book.

I think what needs to be understood is that this is not a book about real life. Just like a gothic novel, you cannot see these characters as normal people with normal motivations and instincts. In a way, it is a portrait of two people, a man and his daughter, during a very short, very turbulent period of their lives. With any portrait, it captures a single moment, a single look and that intensifies it, sometimes to a painful degree.

Winton has painted a devastating picture of obsession and redemption. It draws inspiration from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which I did not enjoy and is the single most depressing book I have ever read and I have read The Bell Jar, Prozac Nation and The Virgin Suicides. 

Scully's single-mindedness to find his wife, who has clearly abandoned them is heartbreaking because she is his Esmerelda and his Notre Dame rolled into one illusive person.

Billie comes across as far older than her seven years. In fact, I would say she reads like a forty-year-old. This isn't weird if you think of her as Scully's sanity, trying desperately to pull him back from the brink. For this reason, and because I don't read this as a general fiction novel, even as a mother myself, I don't feel as outraged at his treatment of Billie as I have of other fictional bad parents. 

When I finished it, I thought this is a book I would totally read again and believe I will gain more from it a second time.

This is my new favourite Winton. I've only read The Turning, a brilliant collection of shorts. I cannot wait to keep working through his oevre. 

My main issue with this was the multiple shipwrecks before the main event. I suppose it's meant to show the pull of the sea on Crusoe so that it's almost like an addiction, but the female in me is just thinking how can he so idiotic? 

I sort of enjoyed the large middle bit where he finds a way of life stranded on a seemingly desserted island. It also doesn't make sense to me that it takes him YEARS to find out that it isn't actually desserted. However, I also think I was too distracted while reading this to give it its full due. Thus I have padded my rating slightly. Am I going to give it another go though? Unlikely.

On the surface, this is not a book I thought would be on my 5⭐  list. It's not a typical novel for one thing. The short chapters are like short stories with the same characters. They don't even all follow a short story format, with a few being almost like anecdotes. Yet they are cohesive in the most amazing way. 

I simply fell in love with the narrator, her lover and partner in life, Antman and their scruffy little dog Fleabag. I learned about how interconnected Australian Aboriginal culture is and their strong values of family and respect. There was some sadness and anger but it wasn't overpowering or the main themes. It was ultimately a story of hope and love and acceptance of others and ourselves. This is what made it perfect for me and a gem that I will pick up again at some point. 

Short review: Yeah....nah.

So this is touted as an Agatha Christie tribute mixed in with Crazy Rich Asians and White Lotus (which I ahd to look up). I do see lashings of each. However, the end result is not as palatable as it should be. Firstly, it took way to long to set up the scene and get to the first murder. Secondly, I didn't enjoy that emphasis on wealth. Christie does a much better job of it so that it is there but not obtrusive or obnoxious, which is was both here. Also she always gives fair play to the characters who are not wealthy. Thirdly, the spiritual and supernatural aspect was just plain weird. A sentient pendulum dubbed "Pendy" really doesn't do it for me. 

Lastly, this is the second book in a few months where the killing of despicable people is moralised as acceptable. I don't agree and this doesn't sit well with me nor do I condone promoting it. 

Favel Parrett seems to have the perfect little novel format down pat. 

Her prose is not bombastic, or overly lyrical, it is poignant in its simplicity and packs such an emotional punch without any flourishes or technical detail. Each chapter is like a perfectly formed, golden bun filled with a burst of flavour that leaves a wonderful aftertaste. 

This is a story about twin girls, separated by a hate and reunited by love. It's also about two young cousins observing and loving their grandparents. It is about family and finding a place in a foreign land and in a home that has become foreign. 

 Hokay so I put on my fun-loving hat and dived into this one fully expecting lots of drama, cheesy romance and hair-blowing-in-the-wind type scenes.

And there was a lot of that so it definitely fit those boots. The first few chapters were great and I actually found the writing good and the atmosphere creepily tingly in a good way with the howling, sweaty wood-chopping and ghostly washed up ships with mascerated corpses. There was a fair amount of eye rolling, but that was it for the repetitive phrases. 

My main issues were the characters, the big battle scene and tame 🌶️ level. I'm very glad the female characters weren't drop dead gorgeous and tiny but somehow super powerful/skillful. Street's women are strong and obviously so with broad shoulders and bulging muscles, but also flawed. However, I just didn't feel the proper build of chemistry between Mersey and Golde🤷🏻‍♀️and I just couldn't connect with them or any of the other characters. The big battle scene felt truncated and a bit of an anticlimax for me. 

I think I am comparing this to Fathomfolk, same genre, that I read just before this and which I enjoyed a lot more. So I don't think it's just my grumpy👵🏼persona peeking out. I was also a bit confused and perhaps could have done with reading A Curse of Salt, which would have helped set up the world more.

However, it was still a fun and easy read and I am always grateful for the opportunity to read outside of my comfort zone. 

I rated this based on what it is meant to be - a fun, romantasy, and not on what I personally enjoy most.

You know what Dame Murdoch did really well? The tortured male. I find it fascinating that all the main characters of the books I've read so far are male. Her style is very much internal dialogue from 2nd person POV so her books are not easy reads. They are not going to get you out of a reading slump and unless you are trapped in a prison cell with nothing else to do, it is highly unlikely you are going to finish any of her books in one day or even two. 

However, you can't say nothing happens. There is always a fairly dramatic plot with some twisting and turning. That said, I found that I needed to listen to this on audio at 1.5x the speed because with my current life situation, I don't have the patience or luxury to brood over this book leisurely for a few weeks, which is what it deserves. I did enjoy it, but not as much as some of her other work. 

Wow. Just wow. Reading this was like a master class in what a psychological thriller should be. None of the theatrics or flash of modern thrillers. Just pure mind-f*#king fear dripped in increasing volume as the novel progresses. 

It deviates from Christie's usual oevre, which I would class as decidedly cosy murder mystery. There is still the big, isolated house and the closed group of suspects, but right from the start, every single person apart from the first victim, are suspects right up to the very end. 

I guessed the rough solution about three quarters in as it was the only viable solution. However, I didn't know who the culprit was until the second last chapter, before the reveal. As such, I was kept at the edge of my seat to the end of my one-day reading of this perfect novel. 

I just hope I forget enough of it in a few years so I can read it all over again and be amazed again.

I was totally sucked in by the cover and the mermaid angle. A few chapters in I was questioning my choice. But then I decidedly shrugged off my cynical old lady mentality and made myself open to the drama of young adult fantasy. 

Nami is your typical impetuous, unthinking young water dragon who gets "banished" to the capital city for trying to steal her unborn siblings manifest as a dragon pearl, the symbol of the fathomfolk's subjugation to the humans. In Tiankawi, she gets drawn into the wrong crowd by a man, of course, and finds out the hard way, that thinking first is the better option. 

Nami is balanced by the straight-edged Mira who happens to be her older brother's girlfriend. The world building isn't super detailed, but detailed enough for me and easy to understand right away, important in this sort of book where you want to get stuck into the action and drama straight away without having to wonder who's fighting who and why. 

It's not the most sophisticated writing, but it is good and not annoying with those repeated phrases that YA writers love to employ. There isn't a lot of spice, but that's ok for me. I also liked how the end was complete enough to give satisfaction with just a few hints of what is to come.