Star's Reviews / lists

[Star]

Review:

 

TitleInto the Darkest Corner

AuthorElizabeth Haynes

 

Sypnosis (from back of book):

 

Catherine has been enjoying single life for long enough to know a good catch when she sees one. Gorgeous, charismatic and spontaneous, Lee seems almost too perfect to be true. But there is a dark side to him and his erratic, controlling and sometimes frightening behaviour means that Catherine is increasingly isolated. Driven into the darkest corner of her world, she plans a meticulous escape. Four years later, struggling to overcome her demons, Catherine dares to believe she might be safe from harm. Until one phone call changes everything...

 

My Review

 

Catherine meets Lee when his working the doors of a local club and they soon become an item.

Things are good between them to start with until Lee starts becoming controlling and letting himself into Catherine's house and moving things around and telling her what to wear. Next thing you know Catherine has no friends left and is trapped.

 

She manages to start a new life when his sent to prision for 3 years. She runs to London. Hoping he'll never find her.

 

She suffers from OCD and panic attacks until she meets Stuart who lives in the flat upstairs and he helps her get over her fears and anxieties.

 

We see Catherine grow stronger and her OCD and anxieties become under control.

 

The book is set out in diary form and begins and ends with a court hearing.

 

I really enjoyed the book but found it took a while for it to get juicy. 200 pages in though and I was hooked.

 

I found the OCD annoying at the beginning when Cathy kept checking everything and counting. This was very repetitive and was a little tiring at first but it sets the story off well as we know something bad must of happened to her to make her react this way. She obviously doesn't feel safe and has to check the doors are locked and that the curtains are in exactly the same position as she left them.

 

Throughout the book we learn bits of what happened in the past and as it unfolds we eventually catch up to the present and know exactly what happened to Catherine and what she went through.

 

It's a really good insight to an abusive relationship and why it's not that easy for people to just leave their other half.

Also what it can do to someone on the receiving end mentally as well as the obvious physical damage.

 

A very good debut novel. Quite dark and disturbing in places.

 

My Rating4*

Edited December 16, 2011 by Star

[Weave]

Great review Star, 'Into the Darkest Corner' sounds interesting, I like the idea of it being in diary form, then you get to see the changes that Catherine goes through, do you think you will read more books by Elizabeth Haynes?

[Star]

Great review Star, 'Into the Darkest Corner' sounds interesting, I like the idea of it being in diary form, then you get to see the changes that Catherine goes through, do you think you will read more books by Elizabeth Haynes?

 

I think you'll enjoy it Weave. If you do end up reading it let me know what you think.

 

It does give a good insight into what it must be like to be in that kind of relationship & having someone play mind games with you & making you feel unsafe in your own home & the stress.

 

yeah I'd read more of her stuff.

 

X

[Star]

Review:

 

Title Tell Me No Secrets

Author Julie Corbin

 

Sypnosis (from back of book):

 

They say that everybody has a secret . Mine lies underground. Her name was Rose and she was nine years old when she died . . .

 

Grace lives in a quiet, Scottish fishing village - the perfect place for bringing up her twin girls with her loving husband Paul. Life is good.

 

Until a phone call from her old best-friend, a woman Grace hasn't seen since her teens - and for good reason - threatens to destroy everything. Caught up in a manipulative and spiteful game that turns into an obsession, Grace is about to realise that some secrets can't stay buried forever.

 

For if Orla reveals what happened on that camping trip twenty-four years ago, she will take away all that Grace holds dear . . .

 

 

My Review

 

Grace was 16 when Rose Died. She struggles to come to terms with her death and throughout her life it haunts her. She moves on with life and gets married and has 2 children. Even though she is happy with her life Rose is never far away from her thoughts. If the truth came out about how Rose really died then it would ruin her life and her marriage. It would turn her world upside down.

 

So when her ex best friend Orla rings wanting to meet and won't leave her alone until she agrees its bad news. Orla knows what happened that night and is determined to tell the one person who can't find out, Rose's dad. She doesn't care who's life she destroys in the process.

 

Orla is a manipulative, selfish women who holds a grudge and doesn't want Grace to be happy.

 

I enjoyed this debut novel.

 

There is a twist at the end which I did kind of guess although I didn't predict the ending.

 

I enjoyed the authors writting style. It was an easy read and didn't make you think too much (my kind of book) I had my eye on her second novel, thought the storyline sounded much better but wanted to try out her first novel before hand to see if she was my cup of tea. I will be adding her second novel 'Where the Truth Lies' to my wish list now (which doesn't follow on by the way). She also has a third book coming out March which I shall also be adding to my wish list. It sounds even better than her second novel and is called 'Do Me No Harm'.

 

I think Julie Corbin could be added to my list of favourtie thriller authors if the other 2 books live up to how good they sound. Looking forward to reading them and this one set me up nicely for what she has to come.

 

Very promising!!

 

My Rating4*

Edited January 3, 2012 by Star

[Star]

Review:

 

Title Pictures of Lily

Author Paige Toon

 

Sypnosis (from back of book):

 

'Will you marry me?' I think of you, then. I think of you every day. But usually in the quietest part of the morning, or the darkest part of the night. Not when my boyfriend of two years has just proposed. I look up at Richard with his hopeful eyes. 'Lily?' he prompts. It's been ten years, but it feels like only yesterday that you left. How can I say yes to Richard with all my heart when most of it has always belonged to you? I take a deep breath and will myself to speak...Ten years ago when Lily was just sixteen, she fell in love with someone she really shouldn't have fallen in love with. Now, living in Sydney and engaged to another man, she can't forget the one that got away. Then her past comes back to haunt her, and she has to make a decision that will break her heart - and the heart of at least one of the men who love her.

 

My Review

 

Lily is very reluctantly made to move to Australia at the age of 15 because her mom has met a new guy on the internet.

 

She gets on well with Michael her moms new boyfriend and when he offers to take her with him to work at the local conservation park she doesn’t hesitate as she’s always loved animals. It’s here she meets Ben. He takes her under his wing at the park and they start spending a lot of time together in and outside work.

 

Lily’s feelings for Ben deepen and she soon realises she is in love with him but she later discovers that Ben is getting married and is leaving for the UK to be with his fiancé. He loves Lily though doesn’t he? She hasn’t imagined it has she? Even though his 12 years older than her they can make it work can’t they? He could wait until she’s 18 couldn’t he?

 

10 years later and Lily is engaged to her boyfriend Richard yet she still thinks of Ben every day and the way he broke her heart. Then one day their paths cross again. But who will she pick?

 

This is the first Paige Toon book I’ve read and I absolutely loved it. She is MY kind of author. I love all that mushy lovey romantic stuff.

 

Toon knows how to write romance. I was tingling all over (I got this with Nicholas Sparks and Twilight) I felt like I knew the characters inside out and was longing for Lily to pick Ben. He was so nice and they should have been together from the start. You forget about the age difference.

 

The first half of the book is 10 years ago and it’s nice reading about the kangaroos and koalas etc. and then it jumps to the present. It takes a while to get into again at this point as you adjust to Lily and her new friends and boyfriend etc. but then Ben appears again :-)

 

You don’t find out who she picks right until the last 5 pages or so. I was sat on my seat screaming with frustration.

 

I cannot wait to read more of her novels. I just wish life was like all these mushy love stories. It really made me want to pack it all in and escape to Australia to the sunshine and have my very own love story. (I can dream can’t I)

 

 

 

My Rating 5*

Edited February 16, 2012 by Star

[Star]

Review:

 

Title Lovers and Liars

Author Nina Bell

 

Sypnosis (from back of book):

 

A passionate love affair. A happy young family. And a successful 30-year marriage. But which one will be destroyed by the truth? Sophie and her sister, Jess, grow up knowing that a few little lies are necessary: You look great. It was only a joke. He's just stressed. It doesn't matter. Everything's fine. Everybody does it, don't they? But what about the big lies - about love, power and money? When Sophie discovers her father's secret, and Jess falls in love with the charismatic Jake, Sophie has to look at her own life again. Should she keep quiet or tear her family apart with the truth? And if she tells, who will pay the ultimate price?

 

My Review

 

 

This is a story about domestic abuse. When I hear of domestic abuse I automatically think of physical abuse but that isn’t always the case as this novel clearly points out.

 

Bill and Paige have been married for 30 years and have 2 grown up daughters, Sophie and Jess.

 

Bill is a builder and an extremely good businessman. They live a very wealthy lifestyle thanks to his hard work (which he doesn’t let them forget). He is money orientated and is always watching the pennies and controlling what Paige can and can’t spend the money on. He doesn’t like her socialising, working, having hobbies and doesn’t treat her nicely. He treats Jess his youngest daughter badly and makes nasty comments to her. He is a very manipulative man who likes a lot to drink and doesn’t have any respect for women at all.

 

Each chapter is a different character which can be hard to follow. I found it a little slow to get into at first but it soon got juicy and it was easy to see that Bill was a bully and Paige should leave him or stand up for herself.

 

I was screaming out loud whilst reading this because Bell has done a wonderful job of creating the characters. Bill was awful to read about. He would play mind games with his family and treat Paige awfully. He would be nice as pie to other people and everyone in the community loved him and didn’t believe Paige. They thought she was out to get his money because he made people believe that and twisted things around. Even Sophie his eldest daughter didn’t believe Paige. It was only Jess who believed her because she had been on the receiving end all her life.

 

It is obvious that Bell has done her research with this. It really does make you think about domestic abuse in a different way.

 

I enjoyed Bells previous novel ‘Sisters in Law’ but I think the plot in this one is far better. Bell writes about family situations and relationships. Her style of writing is easy to read.

 

Don’t let the cover put you off. What lies inside is far better than you may think.

 

Give it a go!!

 

 

My Rating 4*

Edited March 1, 2012 by Star