City of Drowned Souls (Elisenda Domènech Investigations #3) - Chris Lloyd

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

It felt so good to be back with Elisenda and the team again, since the last book its been a few months and people have clicked on that Elisender is still struggling with the lost of her daughter years before. The book begins with a small few pages that you need to keep in your head because they are so relevant when you get near the end of the book. When we do get to Elisenda, she has been put on leave and forced into bereavement counselling every morning, However, just days into being on leave the disappearance of a controversial politicians son leads her back into the filed at the same time she and her team are trying to solve and stop to violent burglaries of houses.

The team is split in 2, one set are working the missing child case whilst the other works the violent burglaries case. Elisender is also looking for her informant who gave her bad intel before disappearing off of the face of the earth. There are a lot of strands in this book, your pretty much have to follow each lead with the strands as far as you can before it snaps. There are avenues of investigation that have to be covered or are covered just to make sure and it really is a book that you actually don't get lost in because it all makes perfect sense.

As for the characters there are a few new characters here, we see the controversial politician Susanna Miravent and her husband Marc Comas, also her campaign leader  Francesc Bofarull. Jauame is the missing child and what makes this case even more important and yet confusing is their eldest son Albert had gone missing 5 years previous. With so many threads to pull at I'm surprised to have seen the team stay sane.

We have the regular POV's of the team members and also a mystery POV that you pretty much assume is a certain someone once you read it.

What's great about this book is the path of it because you automatically believe what you have been lead to believe, you don't question it at all, you just go with it. In the end I must warn you not everything is as it seems. The paths of 2 cases could be linked or the people involved with either case might be linked to the other you just don't know until you read the whole book. Its beyond gripping and I fell in love. Even though I struggled with the first book City Of Good Deaths I'm far beyond in love with the series now since I've read the following two books.

After all the mystery and tension I definitely didn't see the end coming and I know I say that about a lot of book but this one really was that good. I didn't at all expect it to unfold the way it did. Its an easy 5/5 for this book and I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants an immersive thrilling mysterious read and has the time to read it. As this is, for now the end of my journey with Elisender and the team I feel it has been a great journey so far, I'm thankful for it and I cant wait to see them again in the near future hopefully.

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Things I'd Love To See More Of

More PoC characters

More representation of the LOGBTQ+ community including those after the +

More gender neutral activities

More depictions of religions and history

More education on politics to inform readers of any age in an engaging and easy to understand way.

More showings of day to day struggles

Inclusion of the worlds problems

More acceptance between characters; no fat shaming, slut shaming, height shaming? Less discrimination.

More characters with all of their quirks no matter how unusual or uncommon they may be.

Even more love  💕 and friendship

The Broke and The Bookish hosts Top Ten Tuesday Weekly

The Puppet Master - Abigail Osborne

Synopsis:
Manipulated by fear and love...could you cut the strings and take back control?

Billie’s hiding from the world, believing it to be the only way to take control of her life as she lives in fear of the man who nearly destroyed her. But what she doesn’t realise is that she’s exactly where he wants her; isolated and afraid. A chance meeting with budding journalist Adam sparks a relationship that could free her from the terror that controls her. But will Adam be able to see the real Billie buried under her terror and pain?

Adam knows exactly who Billie is and is determined to expose her and get justice for the lives she ruined. But first, he needs to convince her to open up to him but as unwanted attraction and feelings blossom between them, Adam is forced to realise that all is not as it seems.

Most of their lives have been unknowingly governed by the desires and needs of someone who considers himself their master. He has influenced and shaped them for years, meticulously weaving a web of lies and control around them. Can Billie and Adam survive the betrayals in store and cut the strings that bind them?

One thing is for sure. The master wants his puppets back – and he’ll do anything to keep them.


Review:

So this book is actually told through 3 points of view, our main character Billie, our supporting character as I like the call them, Adam and then a point of view you don't know who's it is until near the end I suppose.

Automatically we are thrown into the world of Billie and you can tell straight away she has had a terrible past in the way she lives and interacts with everyone around her, its soon in the story that you meet Adam in her perspective and It seem like they both get along quite nicely until the POV changes and you can suddenly tell that Adam has ulterior motives for striking up conversation with her.
 Billie has a past she wants to escape, she's learnt to lock it away and she is just getting by living but as soon as Adam appears everything begins to change.

What's great about these characters is that Adam is persistent and funny, handsome and intelligent and very much protective but also he is easily angered but also gets what he wants. Billie is very excluded from the world, she's not exactly happy and she haunted but around Adam she comes out of her shell and they're literally opposites of each other and you know what they say, Opposites attract. Throughout the story Adam tries to get Billie to open up to him about her pat because he knows there's something in there he needs to know but all the way she refuses to open up even when he opens up first hoping to lure her out. eventually sparks begin to fly between the pair and they both have conflicting feelings about it because Adam doesn't want to love her but he can not and Billie loves him but knows she is in danger if she does.

There's a lot of build up to the end that I feel is 100% worth it. When Billie finally feels comfortable enough to open up and the suspense is at what you think is the most it can be we finally get to see what has traumatised Billie for so long and what has really given Adam motivation in his actions. I physically felt my heart drop and my anger bubble in my blood, it hit me so hard and made me angry because of the other characters that were portrayed in Billies past, if you ever read this book you'll know why, I just hate characters that are so oblivious, rude and horrific.

The book begins in the present day then visits early years and then back to the present day once we have all the information we need, even though the transitions are quite large its very easy to keep track and build up both characters and see them for who and what they really are. The story does have some twists and turns surprise wise for the reader, the author really holds your attention and immerses you into the story where you feel like you're in the scenes, not in physical form but you can see it unfolding like you're invisible right next to them if that makes sense.

I have to give this book a 4.7 out of 5, it's definitely a great read however I just found that it didn't particularly blow me away hard enough to get a 5/5 yet it wasn't a waste of my time to read to get anything lower than a 4,but I enjoyed it none the less. As this is Abigail's debut novel I cant wait to see what else she comes up with because I'll definitely be looking out for her.

If you do want to read this book I don't want to spoil it for you but it doesn't contain the grooming and mild description of child molestation so that is just a warning. I do recommend it to anyone who really loves trying to figure out things just because I was totally unable to do so until the book literally spelt it out for me. Thank you to Faye Rogers who supplied me with a free copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

Top Ten Tuesday - Cover Freebie

So I really could not think of a cover freebie topic that really gave me 10 books to list or any past 2 really that I just really didn't want to waste your time.

Please feel free to tell me what topics you chose and the books you matched to it.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted weekly by The Broke And The Bookish.

Top Ten Tuesday- 10 Things That Instantly Make Me Not Want To Read A Book.

Any book that glorifies abusive/overly aggressive males. I'm just not into that.

It revolves around abuse of any sort. The only time I'll read any book like this are those that are true stories but even then I will struggle reading it.

Books that basically tell you love conquers all and solves everything. Here's a little pointer, it doesn't.

Anything that shames anyone: Like slut shaming and virgin shaming, like why? It's not necessary.

I actually can't think of any more if I'm honest with you.

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

Esper Files: The Sky Cult - Egan Brass

Synopsis:

After the events of the first book, Freya has joined the Institute - an organization created to help Espers control their powers, and she thought she’d finally found peace.

That is, until Anti-Esper weapons find their way into the hands of The Coalition, a radical group who is determined to kill anyone with powers.
At the same time, the Sky Cult has arisen, claiming that Espers have the right to rule over lowly humans.
The timing couldn’t be worse, as all of this happens three days before Esper Day, the first holiday designed to show that humans and Espers can coexist.

Now Nathan, Freya and the team have to fight both organizations in a race against time before one of the radical groups tips the scales, and plunges the entire world into their own version of Armageddon.

Review:

So this is indeed the second book of a series. Back in the first book which I got as a paperback, we discover the world of Espers based in London who are in fact humans who after an experiment that had gone wrong in the late part of the 19th century, gain extraordinary powers. A thing called The Institute is set up to help those who have the powers to control them and stop corrupt Espers from abusing them. We meet up with the characters from the last book, Nathan, James and Freya who joined The Institute in the last book alongside her brother who still in this book is effected by the happenings in book 1.

Meeting back up with these characters felt so lovely, once I was asked to give an honest review for this book in return for a getting a free copy I just couldn't say no because I fell in love with the characters, the unique plot and the writing itself.

Sky Cult picked up shortly after the first book, the book automatically pushes you into the action without faffing around. 2 new what ill call baddies are introduced. One called Juniper who can control thunder and lightning (this makes me think of Thor) and secondly Lichtmann (you don't need too much help to translate that name) who can burn others with his touch and emits golden light whilst he believes himself to be an angel. Juniper is the leader of 'The Sky Cult' and Lichhtmann is just there to protect Jupiter under the orders of a mysterious character called Hades.

What I love is how real the characters are portrayed, Freya is still just a typical teenager, she probably believes herself to be indestructible, a hero. You know all of the things teenagers believe themselves to be? Except she can wield ice and is learning to control it which allows her to use it for good.

Nathan is still as attractive as he was the first time around, not in the sense of looks but in the way of his sarcasm, his personality and strength and determination and how protective he is and willing to risk all. I love his overall character just as much as I love the others.

What is great about this book is that it's actually diverse, we have people of colour and different ethnicities. Its beautiful to see that they aren't getting excluded from becoming beautiful powerful extraordinary characters. I also love the fact you do hear about slavery for a small part in the book which I felt had to be covered to help fill out James' character.

The book has so much action and what is called steam punk parts, both of these made the book awesome once again. All the characters that kind of played second to the main characters are characters I cant wait to see again if they every do make another appearance, like the Phantom Thief and Red Cap (who has the most amazing and hilarious one liners ever who reminds me a little of Deadpool) which also brings me to the point that I love more Espers from the institute were also featured which helped you understand the true reach and power of Espers.

I definitely didn't see the end of the book coming for sure, I loved that all  the questions you first want to ask get answered but then when you look back, you end up having more questions than actual answers and somehow that just makes me love it even more. What I am super looking forward to finding out all about the mysterious Hades, he has so much power through this book even though he isn't actually a huge part of it (if that makes sense, like he is present in the books but he isn't an actual fully fledges character we see every chapter or paragraph) I cant wait to find out about everything that was left unanswered at the end. I'm just so in love with this series that I think I'm never going to want to let go.

Its definitely a 5/5 from me for the second instalment of Esper Files, I'm looking forward to the next instalment. I'm probably going to have to heavily occupy myself up until it is available to read. I can recommend this to family, friends, strangers on the street, everybody and anybody.

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Things That Will Make Me Instantly Want To Read A Book

1. A quirky or foiled cover/jacket; this is mostly just because they attract my eye and really just hypnotise me and just make me buy them. Half the time I have to talk to myself and ask myself if I really do need another foiled cover or quirky cover on my bookshelf. (THE ANSWER IS ALWASY YES)
2. If I haven't heard of it and its been published recently: This is basically just because I'm not really fond of books that suddenly get really huge amounts of hype, if I do buy a book that suddenly gets loads of hype I either have read it beforehand or wait until the hype dies down a lot because it really puts me off and authors and books I haven't heard of deserve to be acknowledged.
3. The synopsis sounds amazing or mysterious: Now this seems obvious right? but for me the synopsis has to really grip me because even if it sounds mildly good ill have to question myself if I think the way the book goes is worth me spending my money on it. I know, I'm a bad person for that but I guess I just want great books for my money I spend?
4. If its highly recommended but has a small amount of hype: This is basically one of those where if you come to me and tell me about an author and their book and it grips me I'm going to want to read it and I'm going to ask if its well known and if you say no I'm going to be like "hell yeah I'm going to go buy a copy and give this author and book some recognition." sue me guys.
5. I've had an ARC and loved it so much: This has happened with a few books but let me just say Caraval, first of all I got an E-book ARC and I automatically fell in love, it then got published after I had finished and review it and then the hype just blew up and then I ordered a copy online because I loved it so much and my ARC had timed out because it was a timed copy so I only had it for like 40 or so day and after that the file wouldn't open.
6. The author is one of my favourites: An easy example or 4 of this point is Carrie Hope Fletcher, Giovanna Fletcher (okay there is a bigger reason to both of those but there are more examples)  I love Patrick Ness and John Green so I buy any book I can that have their names on.
7. I've read the first book in a series and need the rest: I mean this is pretty self explanatory really? Like if I like what I experienced in the first round I'm gong to want to see what's next right?
8. Its got like 150 pages: I mean I love thick books that have like 300 pages but sometimes short reads are really all I need at times.
9. If the plot of the book includes something I would like to be educated or further educated on: I guess this is pretty much one of those where I think the plot contains something I don't know much about or want to know about I'm going to read it and learn from it, I like to learn about new things or further my knowledge on certain things.
10. Bargain!: Like my 2 recent buys, I didn't buy them because I needed books, oh no I bought them because they were reduced, they looked good and hell I didn't want to miss out on a bargain.

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