four star review – Page 8 – Home

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. So today is Monday which means I’ll be posting book reviews, three of them actually. But I also would like your opinion, I haven’t shared any of my art on here but I do paint and use pens and things like that. I’m thinking of creating some things and maybe opening a shop like on Etsy or something – I just wanted to get some opinions on that. So let me know what you think in the comments and if you have any suggestions for things you might like to see.

In this book review I will give star ratings to 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 my book review.

The Way of All Flesh Plot:

This novel throws you into the plot as soon as it begins, the first chapter is an intriguing hook that propelled me through the reading of this book. There were so many tiny details that were thread throughout the text which tied together and made sense when the mystery, and the killer, was finally revealed. I did end up guessing who the killer was before the end but with this book it didn’t matter too much because the story was so engaging anyway.

The Way of All Flesh Characters:

With this book I had the feeling that I wasn’t going to like the two main characters, and at the start I really didn’t. I thought the male character was obnoxious and very unlikeable and the main female character was the same. She did not like that the male character was judging her because she was a servant and a woman, yet she automatically judged him just because he was richer than her and a man. It took a while to get past my feelings on this but by the end of the book I liked the characters more.

The Way of All Flesh Writing and Dialogue:

This book is set in the Victorian Era and thankfully the writing reflects this very well. It was clear and matched both the setting and the characters in the way that it should.

The Way of All Flesh Overall:

I gave this book four stars overall because I enjoyed reading it and I am looking forward to reading the next two in the series.

Blurb/Synopsis:

A vivid and gripping historical crime novel set in 19th century Edinburgh, from husband-and-wife writing team Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman.

Edinburgh, 1847. City of Medicine, Money, Murder.

Young women are being discovered dead across the Old Town, all having suffered similarly gruesome ends. In the New Town, medical student Will Raven is about to start his apprenticeship with the brilliant and renowned Dr Simpson.

Simpson’s patients range from the richest to the poorest of this divided city. His house is like no other, full of visiting luminaries and daring experiments in the new medical frontier of anaesthesia. It is here that Raven meets housemaid Sarah Fisher, who recognises trouble when she sees it and takes an immediate dislike to him. She has all of his intelligence but none of his privileges, in particular his medical education.

With each having their own motive to look deeper into these deaths, Raven and Sarah find themselves propelled headlong into the darkest shadows of Edinburgh’s underworld, where they will have to overcome their differences if they are to make it out alive.

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

Book Reviews

Book Review: Get A Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

August 30, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! Today I am bringing you a book review for Get A Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert. This is a very popular romance book that I read as part of the Thousand Doors readathon which was hosted by TeaBooksandTamzyn, Drinkingbymyshelf and MegwithBooks on YouTube.

In this book review I will give star ratings to 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 my book review.

Get A Life Chloe Brown Plot:

As anyone who looks on my blog often will know, I am not the biggest fan of romance books. However, I did enjoy reading Get A Life Chloe Brown. The whole make a list of things to help me get a life that Chloe Brown made was something that gave the plot the substance I was looking for. It created a great situation for Chloe and the love interest to engage with each other, it wasn’t forced like I expected it to be. The thing that I loved the most about this book was the humour, there’s a lot of witty conversations in this book and that is the main thing that kept my interest. Also, I think this book counts as enemies to lovers and that’s one of my favourite tropes.

Get A Life Chloe Brown Characters:

The main character, Chloe, is a very interesting character to follow, she’s stubborn and fiery and is a great example of disabled representation. Red is a good love interest, he didn’t quite keep my interest – not as much as chloe, and I did feel that some moments he acts out of character or he overreacts to create the tension in the book when he doesn’t need to and that did stop me loving the book. I also love that we see a few scenes with Chloe’s sisters and that gives the book something extra because it’s not all focused on the romance.

Get A Life Chloe Brown Writing and Dialogue:

As I said, there’s a lot of humour in this book and I will say that if the writing style had been different and less humour I would not have finished this book.

Get A Life Chloe Brown Overall:

I gave this book four stars because it was a romance book that I actually slightly enjoyed reading.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?

• Enjoy a drunken night out.
• Ride a motorcycle.
• Go camping.
• Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
• Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
• And… do something bad.

But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.

Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.

But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…

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

Book Reviews, Uncategorized

Book Review: The Appeal by Janice Hallett

August 23, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! It’s Monday again which means it’s time for more book reviews. This weekend I was taking part in the 1000 doors readathon where I intended to read nine books, I did not manage this I actually only managed five before I got too tired.

The first of these books was The Appeal by Janice Hallett.

In this book review I will give star ratings to 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 my book review.

The Appeal Plot:

I loved how unique this plot was, you as the reader get to see the case exactly how the detectives are seeing it as they try to solve the murder. I was shocked by the end of this book because although part of it was exactly what I thought it would be but I didn’t predict it all which I loved. Discovering the story through the ‘evidence’ found after the murder made this a very unique mystery and I enjoyed trying to figure it out.

The Appeal Characters:

Because of how this book was laid out each of the characters felt like they had their own personal voice and I liked that because it felt more intimate than some mystery books do, I felt like I got a lot more background into the characters for me to base my opinion on.

The Appeal Writing and Dialogue:

I loved the uniqueness of the writing in this book. It was laid out in emails and text messages and not only did this make it easier for me to understand the characters and their motivations but also splitting it up into chunks made the complex plot manageable.

The Appeal Overall:

I gave this book four stars overall. I liked the uniqueness of the writing and the complex details of the plot but I do think some of the aspects could have been slightly less predictable.

Blurb/SYnopsis:

IN A TOWN FULL OF SECRETS
SOMEONE WAS MURDERED.
SOMEONE WENT TO PRISON.
AND EVERYONE’S A SUSPECT.
CAN YOU UNCOVER THE TRUTH?

Dear Reader,

Enclosed are documents relating to the events surrounding the Fairway Players’ staging of All My Sons, and the tragic death of one of its members. Another member is currently in prison for the crime. We have reason to suspect that they are innocent, and that there were far darker secrets that have yet to be revealed.

We believe that the killer has given themselves away. It’s there in writing, hidden in the emails, texts, and letters. In the events surrounding the charity appeal for little Poppy Reswick, and the question of whether that money was truly being used to fund her life-saving cancer treatment. Will you accept the challenge? Can you uncover the truth? Do you dare?

The standout debut thriller of 2021 that delivers multiple brilliant twists, and will change the way you think about the modern crime novel.

blog tours, Book Reviews

Book Review: Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke

August 12, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Thursday bookish people! I am very excited that today is my spot on the book tour for Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke. Thank you to Pushkin Vertigo for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

In this book review I will give star ratings to 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 my book review.

Girl, 11 Plot:

This novel is full of tension and mystery. The further into it I got the deeper into the world I fell. I was feeling the anticipation, the terror, I felt the moment that the mystery was taking a turn. I couldn’t read this book at night because – one, I was completely gripped by the story and two, because it would have scared me too much for me to be able to sleep – that’s how good the mystery is. I also love the use of podcasts that are in crime fiction novels at the moment.

Girl, 11 Characters:

The main character in this book is Elle, I loved her as a character. She has the determination to keep going with the podcast to get justice and the strength her character needed throughout was something that made this book feel incredibly real. Also, there’s a big twist about her character that I did not see coming but I loved it.

Girl, 11 Writing and Dialogue:

I loved the writing of this novel, the way that the chapters were interspersed with the transcripts for the podcasts was a very clever way of explaining what happened with the murders in the past without putting in too much exposition.

Girl, 11 Overall:

I gave this book four stars overall because it hooked me completely and the ending was very satisfactory for me.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Once a social worker specializing in kids who were the victims of violent crime, Elle Castillo is now the host of a popular true crime podcast that tackles cold cases of missing children in her hometown of the Twin Cities. After two seasons of successfully solving cases, Elle decides to tackle her white whale—The Countdown Killer. Twenty years ago, TCK abruptly stopped after establishing a pattern of taking and ritualistically murdering three girls over seven days, each a year younger than the last. No one’s ever known why—why he stopped with his eleventh victim, a girl of eleven years old, or why he followed the ritual at all.

When a listener phones in with a tip, Elle sets out to interview him, only to discover his dead body. And within days, a child is abducted following the original TCK MO. Unlike the experts in the media and law enforcement who have always spun theories of a guilty suicide, Elle never believed TCK had died, and her investigation was meant to lay that suspicion to rest. But instead, her podcast seems to be kicking up new victims.

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

blog tours, Book Reviews

Book Review: The Gauntlet and the Fist Beneath by Ian Green

August 10, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Tuesday bookish people! I’m very excited that today is my spot on the blog tour for The Gauntlet and the Fist Beneath by Ian Green. Thank you to Head of Zeus for sending me a copy of this book to read and review.

In this book review I will give star ratings to 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 my book review.

The Gauntlet and the Fist Beneath Plot:

I loved the uniqueness of this book’s plot. I had never read a book like this before. One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was it’s fantastic world-building. I felt completely engrossed in the world that Ian Green created and I read through this book so quickly because I had to know what was going to happen next. I loved that this book opened with an action scene, it hooked me in without me even realizing it.

The Gauntlet and the Fist Beneath Characters:

There are many characters within this book and they all have a role to play, their personalities are very well created and balance against each other well. The main character that I was drawn to was Flore, there are so many layers to her character and I felt all of her emotions along with her.

The Gauntlet and the Fist Beneath Writing and Dialogue:

The writing is one of the best I have read, it is clear and smooth and despite complex characters and plot lines I didn’t get confused at all, which with some fantasy books I do sometimes.

The Gauntlet and the Fist Beneath Overall:

I gave this book four stars overall because I enjoyed my reading experience and I thought the world-building was masterful.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Fight the Storm.
Protect your people.
The endless rotstorm rages over the ruins of the Ferron Empire. Floré would never let the slavers of
the Empire rise again. As a warrior of the Stormguard Commandos, she wrought horrors in the
rotstorm to protect her people. She did her duty and left the bloodshed behind.
Fight for your family.
Floré’s peace is shattered when blazing orbs of light cut through the night sky and descend on her
village. Her daughter is abducted and Floré is forced into a chase across a land of twisted monsters
and ancient gods. She must pursue the mysterious orbs, whose presence could herald the return of the
Empire she spent her entire life fighting.
Destroy your enemies.
Now, Floré must take up the role she had sworn to put aside and become the weapon the Stormguard
trained her to be, to save not only her daughter, but her people…

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

blog tours, Book Reviews

Book Review: The Turnout by Megan Abbott

August 6, 2021August 5, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! Today is my spot on the book tour for The Turnout by Megan Abbott. Thank you to Grace Vincent and Virago books for sending me a copy to read and review.

In this book review I will give star ratings to 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 my book review.

The Turnout Plot:

I was so excited to get to read this book, I have always liked ballet and this continues with literary ballet plots as well. I loved how this book takes you through the story, the things that you think are important aren’t always and the things you think aren’t important may turn out to be much more important than you think. One of the parts I enjoyed the most was the exploration of the relationship between the sisters, there was a beautiful balance between the ballet, the changing mystery and the character relationships. It all paired together brilliantly.
I especially liked how the psychological mystery escalated with the timeline heading towards the end performance of The Nutcracker, I could feel the tension building with every page.

The Turnout Characters:

There’s four main characters in this book, Dara, Marie, Charlie and Derek – each one has their own personal experiences that they are struggling with and this is threaded through the story intricately. I must admit I didn’t like Dara for most of the book but by the end I understood her and why she was the way she was.

The Turnout Writing and Dialogue:

I didn’t think I was going to get along that well with the style of this writing however, I found myself being completely absorbed in it, and so the story. The writing style was the perfect compliment to the mystery that was unfolding.

The Turnout Overall:

I gave this book four stars overall because, although some parts were predictable, I enjoyed the journey that this book took me on.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Bestselling and award-winning author Megan Abbott’s revelatory, mesmerizing, and game-changing new novel set against the hothouse of a family-run ballet studio, and an interloper who arrives to bring down the carefully crafted Eden-like facade.

Ballet flows through their veins. Dara and Marie Durant were dancers since birth, with their long necks and matching buns and pink tights, homeschooled and trained by their mother. Decades later the Durant School of Dance is theirs. The two sisters, together with Charlie, Dara’s husband and once their mother’s prize student, inherited the school after their parents died in a tragic accident nearly a dozen years ago. Marie, warm and soft, teaches the younger students; Dara, with her precision, trains the older ones; and Charlie, back broken after years of injuries, rules over the back office. Circling around each other, the three have perfected a dance, six days a week, that keeps the studio thriving. But when a suspicious accident occurs, just at the onset of the school’s annual performance of The Nutcracker, a season of competition, anxiety, and exhilaration, an interloper arrives and threatens the delicate balance of everything they’ve worked for.

Taut and unnerving, The Turnout is Megan Abbott at the height of her game. With uncanny insight and hypnotic writing, it is a sharp and strange dissection of family ties and sexuality, femininity and power, and a tale that is both alarming and irresistible.

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

Book Reviews

Book Review: Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

August 2, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! This is my book review for Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco.

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 my book review.

Kingdom of the Wicked Plot:

There are two halves to the plot of this story, the princes of hell and the witches and the other half is the murders of girls in the town but both of these halves intertwine throughout the novel. Each action has a knock on effect. I loved how this story played out, the uniqueness of the princes of hell being based on the seven deadly sins. I was desperate to keep reading this book and to stay in the world, discovering new things in every chapter. The only thing I did not like was the ending to the murder, the identity of the killer, I personally thought it could have been better if it had been someone else.

Kingdom of the Wicked Characters:

Emilia is the main protagonist in this story and she is strong-willed and family oriented. I loved being able to see her develop within this book, she got stronger and learnt to find her own way. The main prince of hell within this book was Wrath and my goodness, I knew Kerri Maniscalco creates brilliant male leads (hello, Thomas Cresswell) but Wrath is in a level of his own.

Kingdom of the Wicked Writing and Dialogue:

I really enjoy Kerri Maniscalco’s writing, it just works for me. There is nothing about it that I do not like.

Kingdom of the Wicked Overall:

I gave this book four stars overall because, I love it but I think I will love Kingdom of the Cursed even more.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Two sisters.

One brutal murder.

A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself…

And an intoxicating romance.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe—witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin… desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost—even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked Princes of Hell that she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems…

That is it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman

August 2, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! This is my book review for The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman, it is the second book in The Invisible Library series.

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 my book review.

The Masked City Plot:

The series is about a librarian spy called Irene and her librarian partner Kai, in this book Kai gets kidnapped and Irene must get him back. The plot of this book is full of action and very fast paced, it is intricately created and kept me guessing the whole way through.

The Masked City Characters:

I love Irene’s character, she’s feisty and prepared to defend herself physically and intellectually if needs be. Kai is more charming and their conversations are very witty. I love the way they interact with each other in the first book and in this one. The characters are one of the most important features of this series and Irene is one of my favourite female leads.

The Masked City Writing and Dialogue:

There’s not much I can say here, the writing is okay for me. Some of the language that is used can stumble me for a minute but mostly its clear and well paced.

The Masked City Overall:

I gave this book four stars because I am loving this series and I can’t wait to read the third one.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Librarian-spy Irene is working undercover in an alternative London when her assistant Kai goes missing. She discovers he’s been kidnapped by the fae faction and the repercussions could be fatal. Not just for Kai, but for whole worlds.

Kai’s dragon heritage means he has powerful allies, but also powerful enemies in the form of the fae. With this act of aggression, the fae are determined to trigger a war between their people – and the forces of order and chaos themselves.

Irene’s mission to save Kai and avert Armageddon will take her to a dark, alternate Venice where it’s always Carnival. Here Irene will be forced to blackmail, fast talk, and fight. Or face death.

That is it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it.

Book Reviews

Book Review: A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

August 2, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! This book review is for A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn. I read this book while I was in the hotel room in Hampshire, it was a lovely evening read for me.

In this book review I will give star ratings to 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 my book review.

A Curious Beginning Plot:

This was a very unique murder mystery. It had the feeling of an old Agatha Christie, a cosy mystery with a strong female lead and a brooding male lead. There are plenty of secrets to discover within this mystery, I couldn’t be sure who I could trust throughout this novel.

A Curious Beginning Characters:

This was only the first book in a series and this showed in the characters. They were being set up to have a relationship, although which type I don’t know yet, they have their own secrets and there is sometimes tension between them but this makes them realistic. Veronica is quick witted and stubborn and Stoker is just as stubborn and passionate, he is also much more distant from people than Veronica. I am looking forward to seeing how these characters can develop.

A Curious Beginning Writing and Dialogue:

The writing of this novel was difficult for me to get into at the beginning because it was written to fit the Victorian time period that it is set during but once I got used to it the writing became smooth and fit the story beautifully.

A Curious Beginning Overall:

I gave this four stars overall because I enjoyed the mystery element and the characters of this novel and I am interested in seeing how this series continues.

Blurb/Synopsis:

London, 1887.

After burying her spinster aunt, orphaned Veronica Speedwell is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as with fending off admirers, Veronica intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But fate has other plans when Veronica thwarts her own attempted abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron, who offers her sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive and bad-tempered natural historian. But before the baron can reveal what he knows of the plot against her, he is found murdered—leaving Veronica and Stoker on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth.

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

Book Reviews

Book Review: Charmcaster by Sebastien De Castell

August 2, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! This is book review four of seven for today. This one is for Charmcaster by Sebastien De Castell, it is the third book in the Spellslinger series.

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 my book review.

Charmcaster Plot:

This is the third book in the series so I have already been immersed in the world Castell has built and this book continued the beautiful imagery that the first two presented. I loved the uniqueness of this plot and how it tied in details from Shadowblack and Spellslinger, it felt so comfortable for me to be back in this world.

Charmcaster Characters:

As I said above, I was already immersed in this world so I knew the main characters Kellen, Ferius and Reichus very well by this point but there were some characters brought back from the first book that I felt added to the enjoyment of this book.

Charmcaster Writing and Dialogue:

I love Sebastien De Castell’s writing style, he is effortlessly witty, charming and creates complex plots and characters. He also created a very flawed protagonist who really should not still be alive at this point but of course I’m glad he is.

Charmcaster Overall:

This book, the same as the other books in the series, is a four star for me because I enjoyed every moment of it and I can’t wait to begin the fourth book in the series which is on my August TBR.

Blurb/Synopsis:

The third book in the page-turning Spellslinger fantasy series.

‘I was getting almost as good at running away from enemies as I was at making them in the first place. Turns out, I wasn’t running nearly fast enough.’

Kellen has begun to master his spellslinging and the Argosi tricks for staying alive, and he and Reichis have found a career that suits them both: taking down mercenary mages who make people’s lives miserable. But Ferius is concerned that Kellen is courting disaster . . .

Perfect for fans of The Dark Tower, Firefly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.

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