Tag: elly griffiths

Bookmas 2021

Merry Bookmas Day 21 – 21st December – Christmas Cuisine Book Tag

theblindscribe

Happy Tuesday bookish people! merry Bookmas day 21! This month is speeding by. I’m bringing you another book tag. Today’s is the Christmas Cuisine Book Tag which I thought was a very interesting idea to turn into a book tag. I found this tag on narrativeparadise.com

Yule Log – A beautiful edition of a book

For this one I chose the Shadow and Bone Collectors edition because I already had two copies of this book but it was so beautiful that I had to buy this one as well.

Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo - COLLECTOR'S EDITION - FairyLoot

Gingerbread House – A struggle to read but worth it

For this one I chose A Curse so Dark and Lonely because the first 50 pages I had no interest in it at all, I was bored to be honest but once I got into the story i was much more engaged and I gave the book five stars.

Roasted Chestnuts – read fondly at Christmas

I chose A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett because it has that hopefulness that I always associate with Christmas so it’s a book I like to read around this time of year.

Turkey – A character everyone else loved but you only pretended to

Tella in caraval. I did not like her character and even in Legendary where she was more bearable I still didn’t like her.

Pavlova – A book you’re most looking forward to reading next

I have to say House of Sky and Breath the next book in the Crescent City series because I loved the first book and I am very intrigued as to where the author is going to take the series next.

Ham – A book that makes the ordinary extraordinary

I can only think of one book for this and that is Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.

Christmas cake – A book that had everything in it

And here I will put Crescent City by Sarah J Maas because it really does have everything, magic, intriguing plots, werewolves, angels, brilliant characters, romance. there’s so much in this book.

I think the most popular book I’ve read this year is A Court of Thorns and Roses – so many people are always talking about this book and I am glad that I finally got around to reading it.

Sachertorte – An intimidating book

I have to choose City of Brass for this one because I was so intimidated by it that I read 200 pages and stopped reading, I definitely intend on going back to it sometime soon though.

Vitel Tone – Sceptical but surprised

Get a Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert was the book that surprised me the most this year.

Stollen – Same old plot line but did it better

I think the Postscript murders works for this one because it has the same premise as a lot of mystery books that came out at the same time but it was still such a good book that made itself stand out against the others.

Parkanalaatiko – A book you need right now

Play of Shadows by Sebastien De Castell, I want everything he has ever and will ever write right now.

Ciorba De Perisoare – A book you bought without needing to read the blurb

Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber, she is an instant buy author for me. Plus the book is beautiful.

Risalamande – A book with a surprising plot twist

The Appeal. I won’t say any more than that.

Mince Pies – A book you would never sell even if you don’t re-read it

Literally all of my books!

Book Tags

Three Bookish Things Book Tag

theblindscribe

Happy Wednesday bookish people! I am very excited to be doing this tag today, I was tagged by JenJenReviews and it really made me think, I thought it was going to be easy but I needed to have a long look at my books to answer some of them (not that I mind staring at my beautiful books).

Let’s get to the questions!

Three read once and loved authors

  • Kester Grant – I read her novel Court of Miracles and absolutely loved it, I can’t wait for the next book to be released.
  • Elly Griffiths – I picked up The Postscript Murders on a whim because it sounded interesting and I ended up reading it in one evening so I’m definitely looking to get the rest of her books at some point soon.
  • Deanna Raybourn – I read A Curious Beginning last week and now I need to know what happens in the rest of the series.

Three titles I’ve watched but haven’t read

  • The Vampire Diaries – I didn’t technically watch this one… my sister loved it and would always have it on the TV so I pretty much watched it all without intending to.
  • Shadowhunters – I have seen and loved the TV series on Netflix but I haven’t finished the book series, I did read the first one and I own them all but I haven’t continued them yet.
  • Game of Thrones – again I have watched all the seasons but I haven’t picked up the book series yet.

Three Characters you love

  • Audrey Rose Wadsworth from the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco – she’s a very strong female lead and I just absolutely love her (and Thomas Cresswell, in my mind they come as a pair so they only count as one here)
  • Scarlet Dragna from Caraval by Stephanie Garber – one of my favourite books ever I had to pick the main protagonist from this series.
  • Wrath from Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco – can you tell I love this author? She writes amazing books, and well her fictional men are pretty great too. I am excited to see wrath again in Kingdom of the Cursed which comes out in October.

Three series binged

  • The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black – what can I say, the second one ended on a cliffhanger so I had to pick up the third book straightaway.
  • Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
  • Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead – I read these while in secondary school and loved them and the spin off series.

Three favourite book covers

  • Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angelles
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
  • The Betrayals by Bridget Collins

Three Goals for this year

  • To get more followers and friends – I only started a few months ago and the bookish community is so welcoming and friendly, I’d love to get more bookish friends in the next year.
  • Hopefully start a PhD – I’ve sent in my applications it’s just the waiting
  • To be less stressed – this is the most unlikely one, I’m always busy and I’m always stressed. I’d love to learn to relax a bit more.

Thank you for reading that’s the end of this tag!

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths

theblindscribe

Happy Monday Bookish people! This is book review 2 of 5 today. The first was The Windsor Knot by S J Bennett if you’d like to check that out. This review is for The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths. I was given a copy of this book for Christmas 2020 and I ended up reading it in January of this year.

In this book review I will give star ratings for four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy me book review.

plot of The Postscript Murders:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I found the plot of this novel to be exciting and fast paced. The opening was full of tension and set the scene beautifully. I felt that the ages of the characters was a unique addition to the plot of a murder mystery novel and this was what caught my interest to begin with. Throughout the novel I felt that the changes of location and the events that happened in each place continued to create tension filled scenes. I knew I was getting caught up in the story because I could feel my heart racing for most of the book. The plot was clever and intricate.

The Postscript Murders Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The characters of this novel were quirky and interesting. I found them easy to connect to and this was one of the reasons I ended up enjoying the novel. There was a good balance between character and narrative which I enjoyed even though I usually enjoy character central novels the best.

Writing and Dialogue

Rating: 3 out of 5.

The writing style was smooth and clear, it helped me to keep track of the story as it went between different days and locations. The dialogue was authentic and engaging, I felt that I knew the characters personally because of the great dialogue. In my opinion I think there were some points where I would have liked more dialogue and more explanation about what was happening in a scene.

The Postscript Murders Overall Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this novel four stars because the mystery was intricate, well plotted and well written and I found the characters engaging and humorous. At the time of reading it I gave it four stars because I had just read my first five star read of the year and I didn’t feel this book was quite up there with it however if I had read this book after a three star or another four star read my rating might have been different.

Blurb/ Synopsis:

“This droll romp is a latter-day Miss Marple.”— Washington Post

Murder leaps off the page when crime novelists begin to turn up dead in this intricate new novel by internationally best-selling author Elly Griffiths, a literary mystery perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz and Agatha Christie.

The death of a ninety-year-old woman with a heart condition should not be suspicious. Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur certainly sees nothing out of the ordinary when Peggy’s caretaker, Natalka, begins to recount Peggy Smith’s passing.

But Natalka had a reason to be at the police station: while clearing out Peggy’s flat, she noticed an unusual number of crime novels, all dedicated to Peggy. And each psychological thriller included a mysterious postscript: PS: for PS. When a gunman breaks into the flat to steal a book and its author is found dead shortly thereafter—Detective Kaur begins to think that perhaps there is no such thing as an unsuspicious death after all.

And then things escalate: from an Aberdeen literary festival to the streets of Edinburgh, writers are being targeted. DS Kaur embarks on a road trip across Europe and reckons with how exactly authors can think up such realistic crimes . . .

That’s it for this book review, I hope you enjoyed it!