The Grownup - Gillian Flynn

When purchasing this book, I hadn't realised that this is short story. I was still very keen to give this a go as I had really enjoyed my previous Flynn reads. This was really easy to get through in one sitting!

Our protagonist is a 'phsycic' con-artist and it is during an appointment with a client, that our lead spots an opportunity to extort some more cash from them. The gullible client tells that she feels her new house is haunted by malevolent spirits and that her stepson is being possessed. The psychic offers to cleanse the house. A sort of exorcism. But the more time spent there, the more convinced she becomes that something supernatural actually is lingering in the building, and sets about solving the mystery of the haunting. 

Given that it is a short story, it is hard to get a sense of who the characters really are, though a good job has been done by Flynn despite this. You're definitely not meant to like the lead character anyway! I know that much!

The story keeps a good pace and flows nicely. It did all seem to be all over very quickly though and we went from the depth of the action to the abrupt ending in bit of a whirlwind! In my view, this could easily have been a great full-length novel with some more exploration of the background and more character development. A really enjoyable light read.

Attachments - Rainbow Rowell

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Where were you in 1999? With the new millennium looming, and the Millennium Bug threatening our very existence, this cute office love story shows that the 2000s are nothing to be afraid of!

With the relatively new introduction of emails and the web on office computers, the local paper hires Lincoln to monitor activity and make sure that staff aren't abusing the privilege and wasting company time on the internet. With such a boring job, it is easy to see why Lincoln gets drawn in to one of the conversations that is flagged for his attention. Though his morals try to guide him away from reading rather than reporting the emails, he finds himself growing fond of these two women and their friendship.

Beth and Jennifer chat about exactly what you'd expect two best friends to talk about on email. Family, relationships, colleagues and health issues. As Lincoln learns more and more about the women, he finds it harder to stop the deeply intrusive monitoring of their messages. What good can possibly come from this?

This is my first Rainbow Rowell novel and I have to say, I really like her writing. There is a great flow to the novel and it was very easy to consume whole chunks of the book in one sitting. Part of the book is written in email format and I really like this. I always enjoy reading this format as it feels much more direct. Like a letter from the character themselves.

The characters I found to be entirely likeable. They were easy to relate to and I even saw bits of myself in one character (I won't say which!). It is very rare that I really do just root for the protagonist, but here I was totally Team Lincoln!

The plot is where I struggled. Lincoln and Beth's unlikely migration towards each other and near-misses I found to be a little bit of a stretch, but it's really not such a big deal. The book is an easy read that doesn't get too deep and stays light-hearted.

I'll definitely be adding a few more Rainbow Rowell's to my TBR list!

The Fault in our Stars - John Green

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Chances are you're familiar with this one! The book itself  has received rave reviews, and the award-winning film was also very well received.

The Fault in our Stars tells the story of sixteen-year-old cancer patient, Hazel. Hazel is forced by her parents to attend a support group for cancer sufferers and this is where she meets Augustus, who is there to support a mutual friend. Augustus is seventeen. He plays basketball. He is gorgeous. They fall in love.

Hazel's parents are finding it difficult to cope with her condition, not knowing quite how to act around her and how to react to what is happening to their family. Hazel pushes away  as she struggles to let herself be loved, not waiting to become a 'grenade' in someone's life, who will just hurt them when she dies. But Augustus pushes through, making a place for himself in her heart, and place for her in his.

The whole novel is geared towards showing just how temporary we all are. About how we are, in the main, very insignificant except to those who love us. To those people we will have great significance and we do matter. It is important to show these people that they matter to us too because once we go, they are still there, just without us.

The inevitability of this story lead me to read everything in a slightly more melancholy frame of mind. We know where the plot is taking us. There is only one possibly outcome. Regardless, there is a kind of hope throughout, an optimism and lightness in all that Hazel & co do.

Through a great use of dark humour John Green manages to ensure that this book isn't overly sentimental or sickly. The characters were really likeable, if not a little too Dawson's Creek-ish for my liking. A little too wise beyond their years, with poignant speeches ready prepared for the right moment. This didn't take away from the fact that the novel was very moving and really tugged on the heart-strings.

Us - David Nicholls

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When Douglas' wife tells him that their marriage has run it's course, it comes totally out of the blue. He is devastated and desperate. He adores his wife, Connie, even if they are polar opposites. Douglas is a scientist with a clinical mind and a need for organisation. Connie an artist and free spirit who will go where the mood takes her.

With their son about to leave for uni they propose going ahead with the planned family holiday to Europe before parting ways. Douglas has never quite forged the father-son bond he had hoped for, with Albie taking after his mother and resenting the rigidity of his father. Yet another element in the wedge between Douglas and his wife.

This novel tells how the relationship between these three is stretched and pulled as Douglas tried to hold them all together in a desperate bid to keep his wife from leaving. The literal and emotional journey that this family takes seems to have only one final destination.

My overiding feeling when reading this was that I really struggled to identify with any of the characters on a level that allowed me to get emotionally involved with the story. Douglas seemed to be lacking in understanding and Connie was frustratingly impatient with his quirks, despite having lived with them for 20 years. Albie, well he's a typical teenage boy, embarrassed by Dad and very stroppy!

Having really enjoyed works by Nicholls before, I was left a little disappointed with this book. Maybe it's because it was all a little too stereotypical. Maybe the characters didn't go deep enough. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just didn't hit the spot. 

A positive to take away from this though, it really made me want to see more of mainland Europe! Holiday anyone?

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

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This 'coming-of-age' novel tells the story of Charlie, a naive and slightly unusual teenage boy, through his first year in high school. Having had a turbulent few years, losing his best friend to suicide and losing his Aunt to whom he was very close, Charlie has grown old before his time. This really comes across in his general approach to life.

Charlie is a very loveable character who is befriended by a couple of seniors from his school. He soon integrates into their social group and starts to have exciting and enlightening experiences. Adult themes are not shied away from, with this story tackling suicide, alcohol addiction, sex, drugs and homosexuality to mention a few.

Charlie puts his thoughts and experiences into open and frank letters which he sends to an anonymous recipient. These letters form the story that we read giving the novel a diary-like feel. The language used and experiences had really help us to get to know the protagonist and as a result I found myself rooting for him! Go Charlie!

In short, this book has all the themes you expect of a high school story with proms and house parties, but it shows the darker side of these events. It isn't a feel-good romance novel. There isn't the typical moral at the end and Chbosky didn't feel the need to tidy up all those loose ends and put a pretty bow on it. And that's why I like it!

I haven't seen this film yet, so would love to hear what you thought of it and how the book and film compare. Let me know!

The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins

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The Hunger Games: A brutal Reality TV show taking place in a dark, dystopian world in the near future. Pitting 24 of the nation's poorer people against each other in an arena. They fight to the death for the entertainment of the rich who live in the Capitol. Only one can succeed, but can anyone really come out of this a winner?

The Hunger Games tells the tale of Katniss Everdeen, a young girl who enters the Games to spare her younger sister. She struggles to conform with what is expected of her by the powers that be and this results in some dire consequences for her and those she loves. The second and third books follow on from this, examining the aftermath of Katniss' controversial actions. You may well have seen the film or the trailers and I don't want to give too much else away!

I read the trilogy after watching and enjoying the first film. Even knowing the outcome of the opening book, I was still unable to put it down and the writing absorbed me. Collins paints a picture of a truly awful time and place to live so vividly. We learn how the corruption originally came about and, and how those who don't want to accept this way of life rise up to fight against it. 

Being filed in the YA category. I feel, may put some people off this title. I tend not to let that scare me! The subject matter addressed here is every bit as adult as Orwell's 1984, just that the protagonists here are teenagers.

I have recommended this trilogy many, many times and will continue to do so. A really gripping read. Give it a bit of your time!

Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn

Given my rave review of Gone Girl, I approached Sharp Objects with caution. It's always risky to delve into the back-catalogue of an author you've just discovered. Will the previous novels be as good?

Camille Parker, journalist, for an overall unremarkable newspaper, has been assigned to a story in her childhood town of Wind Gap. She is to cover the abduction of two young girls, which could be the breakthrough piece she's after for her career. The problem is Camille has already escaped Wind Gap once, and she isn't in a hurry to return. 

She has already escaped her highly-strung mother once too. A mother that drove her to self-harm. Camille's half-sister has changed a lot since she last saw her. Once a little mummy's girl, she is now a spoilt, precocious teenager and ringleader in her group of girlfriends, with some dark secrets of her own.

Camille's investigation unearths some long-buried information that threatens to upend all she knows about the people she grew up around. She needs to finish her story, before being in Wind Gap destroys her for good.

What we have here is another example of a Flynn novel that I just could not put down! The claustrophobic, small-town atmosphere is perfectly captured in Flynn's descriptions. While I didn't particularly 'bond' with the lead character (she's not entirely likeable) the narration is easy to get absorbed in and there is a realism about her. 

The story itself was really engaging and I kept wondering, over and again, if I had figured out the twist. Hint: I hadn't! A good mix of a twisted family dynamic and a crime thriller. Overall, another fantastic novel from Flynn. I'm definitely a fan and will be reading more from her in the near future.

1984 - George Orwell

1984 is a must-read classic that I'd been putting off reading for too long! I must admit, this book sat on my shelf many years before I decided to give it a go and I'm not really sure why.I think sometimes I find 'classics' a bit of a struggle to read and think I may have been intimidated by it!

1984 tells the story of Winston Smith. An ordinary member of the community, born in a post nuclear world where all freedoms have been removed by the privileged elite of the Inner Party and individuality is a thing of the past. Unfortunately for Winston, he seeks more from his life and begins to think for himself. A behaviour that is not well received in Oceania. Winston must keep this a secret, else risk the Party having to take action to prevent it.

So it seems that my initial intimidation was unfounded and this was an easy-to-read and enjoyable novel. I also realised how many of the phrases from the book are used in day-to-day life now.

The subject matter is alarmingly relevant, even in this day an age when one might think we have all the freedom in the world. I recently watched a documentary on North Korea and the similarities were staggering. Orwell really makes you think. How would I react if I lived in this dystopian world? 

Would I accept it and conform? 

Or would I feel the need for more? 

For books? 

For love? 

For art? 

For freedom?
And my own thoughts!

House of Silk - Anthony Horowitz

It seems that Anthony Horowitz is the Flavour of the Month, after taking on not only Sherlock Holmes, but now James Bond too. Two much-loved British characters have been entrusted to him and while I have not read his Bond novel (Trigger Mortis) yet, his two Sherlock novels have met very much with my approval!

When Holmes and John Watson hunt out an Irish gangster for a case, they find themselves in ultimately more danger, stumbling upon another criminal organisation. Treading on the toes of the House of Silk proves to be much more perilous, with the members of this group willing to do anything to keep it a secret. Predictably Holmes rubs them the wrong way and finds himself in a whole world of trouble. Luckily, as always, Watson is there to assist  Holmes, when his own intellect and wit can't help him

While the Sherlock that we meet in House of Silk doesn't have the arrogant air that Conan Doyle gave him, the character we are presented with does carry many of the traits we expect from out favourite sleuth! The story itself is a fast-paced mystery, full of plot twists (as one would expect!), typical Holmes wit, and written with an easy to read narrative, in a suitably Conan Doyle tone.

Overall another great job by Horowitz at revisiting one of the greatest detectives in literary history!

Feeling this right now....

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