The Breakdown - B.A Paris

Synopsis:

THE NEW CHILLING, PROPULSIVE NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

Review:

The Breakdown had an immediate grip on me, I had been reading small portions of the book just so I could read another book on the side but soon find it extremely hard to stop reading this book so instead I focused on finishing this book which I managed eventually. There were so many times throughout the whole story that I was on edge, there were time when I sat alone reading and didn't feel alone, at points I begun to jump at small noises that were explainable but the tension and suspense in the book just tipped me over the edge into a small puddle of paranoia.

At times characters really got to me a little, like Cass because I just wanted her to tell someone but as the story progresses I'm kind of glad she didn't because it may have altered the rest of the story and taken it down a different route that may not have been better than this one. Matthew got me mad at times because he simply wouldn't listen, would force a subject or something of that nature but much like what I said about Cass, if he hadn't have been that way the story may have been drastically different. Every character felt so real, they were convincing and felt like people that were really in my life.

Not only is this book a thriller but it faces the issue of possibly having early on set dementia having watched the deterioration of dementia in one of your parents, and how the thought of beginning to decline that same way alone effects a person.

This book really gets you thinking, you can never really tell who's being 100% true and who are the friends amongst foe, it's really one of those and I loved every second of it. There were parts that seemed too far fetched but in the end they stitched together and made perfect sense which made this an even better read because it wasn't just your ordinary run of the mill Thriller.

The book itself felt like an new take on Thriller, it just felt like it gripped me more, fully absorbed me compared to other thrillers that I've adored in the past. I really didn't want it to end but of course it has to or else I'd have been on edge and paranoid for the rest of my life. Its a clear 5/5 winner for me, a recommendation to anyone who's a fan of the genre and loved stories that are fast paced and gripping. Part of me really wants to read her first novel, 'Behind Closed Doors' now that I've experience how much of a great author she is.

Many thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for providing a copy of this novel on which I have written an honest review.

Top Ten Tuesday - Books I Loved More Than I Thought I Would

Each of the following books, I loved to start with, I knew I would adore them but somehow I managed to love them even more than I thought I would.

Around The World In 80 Tales - Dave Tomlinson

City of Good Death - Chris Lloyd

The Dry - Jane Harper

The Food Of Love - Amanda Prowse

The Art Of Being Normal - Lisa Williamson

Grave Digger - Michael Israel Jarvis

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

Itch - Simon Mayo

 The Perks Of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

 Looking For Alaska - John Green

The Broke and The Bookish host Top Ten Tuesday each week.

The Academy Introductions (The Ghost Bird #1) - C.L.Stone

Synopsis:

With an agoraphobic mother and a barely-there father, Sang abhors the isolation keeping her in the shadows. The only thing Sang craves is a fresh start and to be accepted as ordinary by her peers, because for her being different meant being cast out alone.

When her family moves to a new school district, Sang infiltrates a group of boys nearly perfect in every way. Grateful for an influence outside of her parents’ negativity, she quickly bonds with the boys, hoping to blend in and learn from them what it means to have a natural relationship with friends.

Only the boys have secrets of their own and they’ll do anything to keep her safe from the knowledge of the mysterious Academy that they've sworn allegiance to. Bit by bit, Sang discovers that her friends are far from the normalcy she expected. Will her loyalty change when she's forced to remain in the dark, or will she accept that she's traded one house of secrets for another?

Meet Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North in a story about differences and loyalty, truth and mystery, friendships and heart-throbbing intimacy.

The Academy, ever vigilant.

Review:

So I actually read this book as the first book for the All We Know Book Club that I  created late last year.

Automatically I was drawn into Sang' world, I really fell for all of the characters, like I really felt like they were all genuine and kind and everything we all need in someone nowadays. (I'm jealous don't judge.) For some reason I automatically connected with Sang, she's been taught all of her life that strangers are out to harm you but as she soon discovers, that is wrong for the most part. She first meets Kota who I automatically fell in love with, he seemed like a real gentlemen, much like the rest of friends that Sang later meets.

I know quite a few people had a lot of bad things to say about this book. really it was just them saying the same thing over and over. C.L Stone wrote 'I usually write about cute boys and uncomfortable situations' EVERYONE IN THE MAJORITY OF THE BOOK WERE CUTE! people hated the amount of mushy love sort of things going on but for some really odd reason, I loved it nearly too much, it made me smile and laugh and internally cry. (is my jealousy still showing?)

Throughout the story, there are obvious signs of secrets between the boys that Sang cant know about and it really intrigued me because of how they were acting about it all. In the end we do get a little of information about it, just enough and in time to make you want, or more like need to read the next instalment. Stone definitely created an awing bunch of characters and atmosphere and everything else like as you can probably tell, I'm finding it extremely hard to explain everything. I loved how the story unravelled and how the boys basically cared for Sang, the way her parents should, showing how friendships should go.

I must declare that the book is called introductions and it really is just that! each character is bought in and explored, then just as the end of the book comes, they're all shovelled into the beginning of what I hope to be an good plot that is yet for me to read about? In all honestly I'm not even sure what to expect from any of the next books but I really need them in my life. Trust me this review makes zero sense and I'm sorry for that, but I cant explain the book without ruining the book and I don't want to do that and secondly I'm so addicted that I could actually bounce off every wall right now and third of all I'm in need of a very large chill pill to calm down the tingling of jealousy.

Its a 5 out of 5 for what it was but I crave more, like really, I do. I loved the integrations between characters and see I'm babbling again. but yes 5/5 from me and I cant wait to read more and

Top Ten Tuesday - 10 Most Iconic Movie Couples

This is a list of all of the couples from movies that I believe are iconic. it was such an easy list to pile together that I'm actually surprised. There are more and more couples I could add to this list but I just went with the ones I thought of first.

Vivian & Edward – Pretty Woman

Elizabeth & Will – Pirates of the Caribbean

Rose & Jack – Titanic

Baby & Johnny – Dirty Dancing

Kim & Edward – Edward Scissorhands

Han Solo and Princess Leia – Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back

Jane & John – Mr & Mrs Smith

Sandy & Danny – Grease

Molly & Sam – Ghost

Juliet and Mark – Love Actually

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted weekly by The Broke and The Bookish

The Good Dictator I: The Birth of an Empire - Gonçalo JN Dias

Ready for a totally new point of view?

What could the opinion about USA of one of the oldest countries in Europe be? There’s an object parked on the moon, but curiously, the unfolding of the story does not take place in New York, but rather, in Lisbon suburbs and in a small village between Portugal and Spain.

The main character, Gustavo, does not get along well with his parents-in-law, and his wife does not like Gustavo’s friends.

A genre-busting book that includes adventure, thriller, dystopia, utopia and an exciting love story.

Next weekend (18 and 19 of February) you can download the book for free directly from amazon.

It became the most downloaded book in Portuguese, last April, and it has now a good English translation (I would say, better than the original).
See some reviews on Amazon page or on the author’s official blog.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N0FTZ4O
https://twitter.com/GoncaloJNDias

City of Good Death (Elisenda Domènech series) - Chris Lloyd

Synopsis:

An intense and brilliantly realised crime thriller set in the myth-soaked streets of Girona

A killer is targeting hate figures in the Catalan city of Girona – a loan shark, a corrupt priest, four thugs who have blighted the streets of the old quarter – leaving clues about his next victim through mysterious effigies left hung on a statue. Each corpse is posed in a way whose meaning no one can fathom. Which is precisely the point the murderer is trying to make.

Elisenda Domènech, the solitary and haunted head of the city’s newly-formed Serious Crime Unit, is determined to do all she can to stop the attacks. She believes the attacker is drawing on the city’s legends to choose his targets, but her colleagues aren’t convinced and her investigation is blocked at every turn.

Battling against the increasing sympathy towards the killer displayed by the press, the public and even some of the police, she finds herself forced to question her own values. But when the attacks start to include less deserving victims, the pressure is suddenly on Elisenda to stop him. The question is: how?

Review:

City of Good Death( Elisenda Domènech series) is the first in the series. We are introduced to Elisenda Domènech herself and those who work by her side at the city’s newly-formed Serious Crime Unit composed of Alex and Elisenda' small team. We get introduced to many more characters who we do see a few more times in the book and we're all set for the whole book once all of the characters have been introduced and there's no one else hiding anywhere.

We get to see Elisenda in action and we also get to know her sad personal experiences just as the time is right. Elisenda herself is a very strong woman, she stands up for her team and always sticks to what she knows is right and pushes what she believes is right, right to the edge to see if it really is right.

Girona is a beautiful place,located in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region. In this book though, Girona becomes plagued with acts of violence and murder and it is up to Elisenda and her crime unit to catch whoever is plaguing the city.

I don't really want to give too much detail on the story because this story is one of those that can lose its touch if one thing is spoilt. This novel is so heavy. I mean heavy in the sense of when you're absorbed into this world, where acts of murders and violence are suddenlv spiking and morals are being turned on their heads you seem to feel the weight of it all on your shoulders because although immersed in the book, your real life morals are fighting head to head with the morals of the city characters and it becomes difficult to not end up on the same wavelength of Elisenda.

It is a great read from start to end, it took me a while to get into it properly just because I was finding it hard to stay immersed when it came to the short language changes that come up. That was really the only downside to me and even then it really is just a small one. There's enough detail to make you believe you're there and the characters seem to feel like you live next door to them. Deffinetly a 4.8 out of 5. I can't wait to see what's next in City of Buried Ghosts and City of Drowned Souls

Blog Tour: City of Drowned Souls by Chris Lloyd

Today I’m so happy to play a part in the blog tour for Chris Lloyd’s latest novel, City of Drowned Souls, the eBook version was published just yesterday!

City of Drowned Souls is the third instalment of Lloyd’s Elisenda Domènech Investigations series, and follows on from City of Buried Ghosts which follows on from City of Good Death. 

Title: City of Drowned Sould (Elisenda Domènech Investigations #3)

Author: Chris Lloyd

Release Date: 6^th February 2017

Genre: Crime Thriller

Publisher: Canelo

Format: EBOOK

Summary:

When a child disappears, the clock starts ticking

Detective Elisenda Domènech has had a tough few years. The loss of her daughter and a team member; the constant battles against colleagues and judges; the harrowing murder investigations… But it’s about to get much worse.

When the son of a controversial local politician goes missing at election time, Elisenda is put on the case. They simply must solve it. Only the team also have to deal with a spate of horrifically violent break-ins. People are being brutalised in their own homes and the public demands answers.

Could there be a connection? Why is nobody giving a straight answer? And where is Elisenda’s key informant, apparently vanished off the face of the earth? With the body count threatening to increase and her place in the force on the line, the waters are rising…

Be careful not to drown.The stunning new instalment of the gripping Elisenda Domènech crime thrillers for readers of Ian Rankin, Henning Mankell and Andrea Camilleri.

Read more about this book here

Purchase a copy of this book here

The Series So Far (Books 1&2):

Information about the Book

Title: City of Good Death (Elisenda Domènech Investigations #1)

Release Date: 13^th July 2015

Genre: Crime Thriller

Publisher: Canelo

Format: EBOOK

Summary:

An intense and brilliantly realised crime thriller set in the myth-soaked streets of Girona

A killer is targeting hate figures in the Catalan city of Girona – a loan shark, a corrupt priest, four thugs who have blighted the streets of the old quarter – leaving clues about his next victim through mysterious effigies left hung on a statue. Each corpse is posed in a way whose meaning no one can fathom. Which is precisely the point the murderer is trying to make.

Elisenda Domènech, the solitary and haunted head of the city’s newly-formed Serious Crime Unit, is determined to do all she can to stop the attacks. She believes the attacker is drawing on the city’s legends to choose his targets, but her colleagues aren’t convinced and her investigation is blocked at every turn.

Battling against the increasing sympathy towards the killer displayed by the press, the public and even some of the police, she finds herself forced to question her own values. But when the attacks start to include less deserving victims, the pressure is suddenly on Elisenda to stop him. The question is: how?

Read More about this book here

Purchase a copy of this book here

Information about the Book

Title: City of Buried Ghosts (Elisenda Domènech Investigations #2)

Author: Chris Lloyd

Release Date: 30^th May 2016

Genre: Crime Thriller

Publisher: Canelo

Format: EBOOK

Summary:

Be careful what you dig up… 

Still recovering from the tragedy that hit her team, Elisenda takes on a new case. Except it’s not new. On an archaeological dig by the coast a body is uncovered, seemingly executed with a spike thrust through the base of the skull – an ancient tribal ritual. It soon becomes clear that this body is neither ancient nor modern, but a mysterious corpse from the 1980s.

Assigned to the case along with her team, Elisenda soon uncovers a complex world of star archaeologists, jealousy and missing persons. They find a dark trade in illicit antiquities, riddled with vicious professional rivalries. And even though she’s staying close to the crime scene, Elisenda is also never far from enemies of her own within the police force.

Just as the case seems to become clear it is blown wide-open by another horrific murder. Elisenda must fight her personal demons and office politics, whilst continuing to uncover plots and hatreds that were long buried. How far will she go to solve the crime? Is her place in the force secure? And can she rebuild her life?The atmospheric second crime thriller featuring Catalan detective Elisenda Domènech, for readers of Val McDermid and Ann Cleeves

Read more about this book here

Purchase a copy of this book here

My review of City of Good Death #1


City of Good Death( Elisenda Domènech series) is the first in the series. We are introduced to Elisenda Domènech herself and those who work by her side at the city’s newly-formed Serious Crime Unit composed of Alex and Elisenda' small team. We get introduced to many more characters who we do see a few more times in the book and we're all set for the whole book once all of the characters have been introduced and there's no one else hiding anywhere.

We get to see Elisenda in action and we also get to know her sad personal experiences just as the time is right. Elisenda herself is a very strong woman, she stands up for her team and always sticks to what she knows is right and pushes what she believes is right, right to the edge to see if it really is right.

Girona is a beautiful place,located in Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region. In this book though, Girona becomes plagued with acts of violence and murder and it is up to Elisenda and her crime unit to catch whoever is plaguing the city.


I don't really want to give too much detail on the story because this story is one of those that can lose its touch if one thing is spoilt. This novel is so heavy. I mean heavy in the sense of when you're absorbed into this world, where acts of murders and violence are suddenlv spiking and morals are being turned on their heads you seem to feel the weight of it all on your shoulders because although immersed in the book, your real life morals are fighting head to head with the morals of the city characters and it becomes difficult to not end up on the same wavelength of Elisenda.

It is a great read from start to end, it took me a while to get into it properly just because I was finding it hard to stay immersed when it came to the short language changes that come up. That was really the only downside to me and even then it really is just a small one. There's enough detail to make you believe you're there and the characters seem to feel like you live next door to them. Deffinetly a 4.8 out of 5. I can't wait to see what's next in City of Buried Ghosts and City of Drowned Souls

About The Author:

Chris was born in an ambulance racing through a town he’s only returned to once and that’s probably what did it. Soon after that, when he was about two months old, he moved with his family to West Africa, which pretty much sealed his expectation that life was one big exotic setting. He later studied Spanish and French at university, and straight after graduating, he hopped on a bus from Cardiff to Catalonia where he stayed for the next twenty-four years, falling in love with the people, the country, the language and Barcelona Football Club, probably in that order. Besides Catalonia, he’s also lived in Grenoble, the Basque Country and Madrid, teaching English, travel writing for Rough Guides and translating. He now lives in South Wales, where he works as a writer and a Catalan and Spanish translator, returning to Catalonia as often as he can.

He writes the Elisenda Domènech series, featuring a police officer with the newly-devolved Catalan police force in the beautiful city of Girona. The third book in the series, City of Drowned Souls, is published on 6 February 2017.

Website: http://www.cityofgooddeath.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrislloydbcn

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare ~ Review

Hi! I'm Sophie, a friend of Charlie's. She has had a few difficulties with finishing her current read in time for this weeks review and has accidentally read a book which she can't actually review until a little later on in the year. I have offered to help her out by providing this weeks review so that you guys have something to read. Go easy on me, i'm new to the whole review business. Also; this is going to be a quick review because i did write a pretty in depth one but then it didn't save and i'm pretty much screaming at my computer screen as i type.

Book Summary: 
In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, while her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will - the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers to who she is and what she was born to do? As their search for the truth leads the three friends into peril, Tessa's heart is increasingly torn, especially when one of their own betrays them.

Review:

Firstly, i would like to say that anybody who enjoys Fantasy and historical fiction will definitely enjoy this book. It's set in Victorian London and involves; Angels, Demons, Warlocks, Vampires, Faeries and Werewolves. It is a very suspenseful book which sent my emotions running high. I was angry because of a certain traitor, happy because of Charlotte and Henry's news at the end and also for Will because of finally finding out the truth behind his curse with the help of Magnus Bane. About two pages after this happened however, i was sobbing into my pillow for reasons that i won't go into because i don't exactly want to spoil anything. 

The whole thing is full of relatable problems, whether that being love or wondering whether you're putting your trust into the right people. it also hits up on a topic that has been very big lately; that being women's rights and equality. Charlotte Branwell is the head of the London Institute but her authority is being put into question by another Shadowhunter; Benedict Lightwood. She fights to keep her place as the head and does everything she can to prove that women can be just as strong and prove themselves as just a good a leader as any man. Unlike the first book 'Clockwork Angel' we actually head out of London and visit Yorkshire with Tessa, Will and Jem in Charlotte's favour. They're trying to figure out where Mortmain is and to do that, they all have to do immense research. Will finds something in Yorkshire that sets his nerves on edge and it definitely reflects on the reader too. I found myself worried that Will was going to do something stupid and then happy for him in a way.

There were also times where i was internally screaming at the book because of Tessa. In a way, i found her kind of annoying in this book, where i hadn't in the first. I'm not sure whether that is because Will is my favourite character in the whole series and she was being kind of rude to him (I know he deserved it), but whatever the reason is, i can't put my finger on it. I have just started reading Clockwork Princess and she isn't annoying me as much in this so maybe it was just a phase. However. i still would recommend this book to anyone a fan of all things Shadowhunters.

I think what i'm trying to say in this review is that there are lot of problems that hit really close to home which is why  believe it is a really successful book. I'm going to give Clockwork Prince a 5/5 stars, just for the simple fact that i could not put the book down, no matter how tired i became or how early in the morning it got. I highly recommend this book to anybody who is already a fan of the Shadowhunter world or even if you simply like fantasy books. It's definitely one of my favourite reads. Again, i'm sorry this was such a short review but my last one didn't save.