Fayezie's Books

[fayezie]

Review:

 

Title: Her Fearful Symmetry

Author: Audrey Niffenegger

 

Sypnosis (from back of book):

Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers - normal, at least, for identical 'mirror' twins who no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cosy suburban home. But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn't know existed has died and left them her flat in an apartment block overlooking Highgate Cemetery in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin... but have no idea they've been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt's mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them, abd even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twins' other - and who can't even seem to quite leave her flat...

 

My Comments:

I don't really know where to start. It was an amazing book. I loved it but its so different to anything I have ever read (similar I suppose to The Time Traveller's Wife).

 

Aunt Elspeth is a ghost and Valentina (one of the twins) can see her and they all (Robert - Elspeth's lover, Valentina and Julia) all communicate with her. But its not your usual ghost sci-fi story.

 

There are many twists in the story (one of which I did guess) but this didn't spoil the book at all.

 

The characters are easy to like and you can sympathise with each one of them.

 

I would definitely recommend this book highly.

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Next book: Linwood Barclay - Too Close to Home

[SaraPepparkaka]

Interesting to see the opinion of someone who loves "Her Fearful Symmetry". I'm almost afraid to read this one, I enjoyed "The Time traveller's Wife" so much.

[fayezie]

I know what you mean. I wasn't sure what to think of this and if I'm honest I think I preferred Her Fearful Symmetry.

[fayezie]

Review:

 

Title: Too Close To Home

Author: Linwood Barclay

 

Sypnosis (from back of book):

What's more frightening than you next-door neighbours being murdered? Finding out the killers went to the wrong house... For the Cutter family, the idea that they may have been the intended target seems crazy - but each of them has a secret they'd rather keep buried. What was on that old computer teenager Derek had salvaged? And where is it now? What hold does a local professor and bestselling author have on Ellen Cutter? And what does Jim Cutter know about his neighbour that even her husband didn't?

 

But the final secret - the secret that could save or destory them - is in the one place no one would ever think of looking...

 

My Comments:

I really enjoyed this book. I got through this really quickly. The chapters were exciting and felt that I couldn't put this down wanting to know what the secrets were and what was going to happen next.

 

I really felt for the father, Jim Cutter, and his son Derek. However I couldn't warm to Ellen

as for reasons not known til later she still protected and spoke up for her boss who she had an affair with years ago

.

 

I prefered this book to No Time For Goodbye as I didn't feel let down by the ending. A very gripping book.

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Next book: Lynda La Plante - Silent Scream

[fayezie]

Review:

 

Title: Silent Scream

Author: Lynda La Plante

 

Sypnosis (from back of book):

British film star Amanda Delany has the world at her feet. Never one for the quiet life, she has had a string of affairs with the hottest actors around. The tabloids can't get enough of the talented and outrageous your actress and she, in turn, can't get enough of the spotlight.

 

Then, late home one evening from a night shoot, Amanda puts the key in her front door for the last time. The next morning, the press gather once again in the pretty Belgravia mews where she lives, this time to report on a brutal murder. Amanda's body has been found inside, stabbed many times, only her beautiful face left unharmed.

 

DI Anna Travis is desperate for a break after a long hard-fought case. But a call comes through, summoning her to the scene of the Delany murder. Anna is shocked by what she finds, and even more so when she discovers the truth behind the public image of this glamorous and successful acress. Amanda's parents are remarkably cold in the wake of their daughter's death, her film agent evasive, and her former lovers are quick to distance themselves. For all her fame and fortune, Anna realizes, Amanda Delany was lonely, damaged and afraid.

 

But who would want to take her life? Who would have felt threatened enough by her to exact this kind of appalling revenge? Anna and the team grapple to track down Amanda's killer, headed by the ever demanding DCI James Langton. But Anna has a challenge of her own to overcome too. Promotion to Chief Inspector is within her grasp. But when the time comes for her to stand before the board, she faces an adversary from the least likely quarter...

 

My Comments:

This is fifth book in the series starring Anna Travis and James Langton, and I have read and enjoyed all of them.

 

This book was no exception. It had me gripped from the word go and surprised at what Anna and the team discovered whilst trying to find out who the killer was.

 

Whilst I enjoy this series and the characters, sometimes I find Anna annoying as she doesn't listen to advice she is given by her superiors, not to work alone, and learn to work as a team. She is sometimes very childish

and it is obvious that she still has feeling for James Langton, even though she won't admit it. I wish the author would let these two be together.

 

 

There were a lot of twists in this book, some of which I didn't guess and some I did.

 

I would recommend this book, but think (to get to know the characters especially because there are references to the previous books) to read the first book in the series first.

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Next book: Brooke Morgan - Tainted