Samantha Hayes' "Until You're Mine" is the ultimate journey of a thriller. Claudia is a pregnant housewife to a military man, always travelling. Her newly hired nanny, Zoe, seems strange when a series of murders involving pregnant women begin to surface. We follow the rise of incriminating evidence against Zoe throughout and end the novel at a very twisty turn. I will not reveal this twist ending but boy! The 300 page journey is worth the 20 page resolution to the mystery. I enjoyed the build-up while at points I wondered where the plot would take me. However, by the end I felt resolved. Shocked, but resolved. I recommend this novel to any thriller fans, however I will warn about the semi-graphic nature of the murders of pregnant women in the book. Great read, 8 out of 10 I received a copy of this novel for free in return for an honest review. My opinion has in no way been biased.
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In this sequel to "Shovel Ready," Spademan embarks on yet another hit gone wrong. Getting too invested in the situation again, Spademan uncovers secret after secret, leaving him unable to decide who to trust. To read this novel, you should definitely have already read "Shovel Ready." This sequel has recurring characters that you need to know about already. There is no catching up like some other novels have in the writing. Yay for the return of Persephone and the parental feelings from Spademan! Sternbergh's writing style is by far my favorite of all time. It even rises above McCarthy. That's just how good it is. No matter my preferences towards the writing style, the plot of this sequel was kind of blurry, if you will. While the first novel was easily followed and clear, this sequel was confusing at times. So is this happening or is this person the bad guy? After finishing the book, I had to stop and piece everything together even though a character tells us the whole story. I just believe that the storyline needed to be more clearly explained. While I was entertained by this sequel, it definitely did not measure up to "Shovel Ready." If Sternbergh is writing a third Spademan novel (which this novel too easily sets up at the end), it needs to be handfuls better than this one. With its faults, I still give it an 8 out of 10 for entertainment value and writing style. A complimentary copy of this novel was provided to me by Blogging for Books in an exchange for an honest review. My opinions have not been influenced in any way. Mark Watney: stranded on Mars after getting impaled by a rod. What a stroke of bad luck. Watney, however, with his botany and engineering skills overcomes just about any problem you could of. Read this real-science thriller to find out what happens in the end to Watney. As compelling as real-science science fiction thriller sounds, it let down quite a bit. The real science seemed to overload the story. Yes, I understand that having the story be scientifically accurate was very important for Weir, as he is an engineer. Sometimes I was just bored with the page after page of science-y blah blah that I was reading. At points, I was begging Weir to move forward and give me some action! That being said, this book is worth reading. The plot is interesting and you will be rooting for Watney every second of the journey. The second half of the novel was much better than the first. Without spoilers, I did feel like the ending was sort of a crap-out. Sure, it was a resolution, but it wasn't really a resolution. 7 out of 10, just for the anticipatory storytelling. Endnote: This book is being made into a film starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, and Kate Mara among others. I am actually excited about this development. I believe the events that take place in the book will be much clearer and interesting in a visual manner rather than reading the occurances. Film comes to theaters in November of this year! I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Blogging for Books in return for an honest, unbiased review. Receiving this novel for free had no effect on my opinions of the book or my review. |
AuthorJust a twenty something trying to read my way through life. Archives
November 2016
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