Review (Kinda) - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Goodreads Summary: First published in 1959 Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a ‘haunting’; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers – and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

I’m going to keep this short. This book was chosen by a member of my book club, keeping in line with Halloween. It is the first horror I have ever read and I was disappointed. I always thought I didn’t like scary books but upon starting this I had a huge feeling of excitement. I was expecting something that would make me sleep with the lights on but alas, this was very much NOT scary. At all. And I spook easy. 

Shirley Jackson is excellent, there is no denying that. Her story is wonderfully written, and while I didn’t personally like the characters, they too were excellent. I enjoyed the group dynamics and psychological aspects of the story but it wasn’t what we were looking for, for the book club. Funnily enough, we thought the badly made movie which is only rated 12s was a lot more terrifying than the book!  

Review: Becoming Edward by Faye Meredith

Goodreads Summary: Rachel’s hooked on Twilight and is in love with Edward Cullen. Clive is obsessed with Rachel but he’s no Edward. Lewis is in love with himself until he meets Rachel. Both boys fail to win her until one of them has the bright idea of becoming Edward. Becoming Edward is a light hearted teen fiction novel for young adults who love paranormal romance, especially Twilight and Breaking Dawn.  There are no vampires in it but there is a boy who thinks he is Edward Cullen. The author is a huge Twilight fan and explores what it is like to be a Twi-hard when others just ‘don’t get it’.

**This book was kindly sent to me by the author for an honest review**

What I wanted from this book was a laugh and a laugh is what I got. The story opens well with Rachel, a Twi-hard, desperately wrestling a limited edition, signed copy of Twilight from her dog’s drooling bite. I really enjoyed Rachel’s character. She is sweet and funny and is struggling to find a real-life guy who is good enough to be her Edward. I think we all went through that when we finished Twilight! It was also so refreshing to have a protagonist who is beautiful and has guys falling at her feet. It is a break away from the not pretty, not ugly, nothing special girls that feature in so many young adult novels.

The thing I didn’t like about this book was the connection or really, the lack of connection, between Rachel and Lewis. It didn’t seem like there was a reason of them to be in to each other. Lewis saw Rachel one day in a book shop and immediately became obsessed with her. His personality did a complete 180 turn around for a girl he knew NOTHING about. It just didn’t seem real.

However, there were some funny situations towards the end of the story when Lewis stepped it up a gear and bought amber coloured contact lenses. The creepier he got, the more I enjoyed the story. I would recommend this book to any Twi-Hards out there or to someone looking for a nice fun read. 3/5 Stars

Review: Douchebag Roulette by Marie Simas

Goodreads Info: Douchebag Roulette is the second release by bestselling author Marie Simas. Prepare yourself—this collection will have you laughing out loud! As one commenter said, “This is a small glimpse into some horrible universe, and I love it!” 

*Advisory: Mature humor, some adult content


*This book was kindly sent to me for a fair review by Defiant Press.


Douchebag Roulette is a short book (58 pages in all) that only takes about an hour to read.  Each story is a few pages long and Simas writes in such a blunt manner that it is sometimes shocking. This is very apparent in Gym Bush, which also happens to be one on my favourites. It was hilariously horrible, but being Irish, I have slightly crude sense of humour so it worked for me!


I particularly enjoyed The Smartest Douchebag and Scratch and Sniff Neil. Walmart Bingo was the perfect story to end with. It was amusing, involving a game that had me reading it out loud to my boyfriend, but was also a story about a random act of kindness that was lovely to read. 


While there were some funny moments in this book, there was also a darker, sadder side to some of the stories.  So I would remind you that there is an adult content and mature humour advisory. There were also a few spelling mistakes throughout the book which bugged me a little. 


Overall I enjoyed most of the stories. I think it would be hilarious to leave this book in your bathroom for guests to have a read of ;) I am interested in looking up Simas's first release "Do Tampons Take Your Virginity?"  3 out of 5 stars.

Review: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

**WARNING** This is the fourth book in the Mortal Instruments series so there will be spoilers in the goodreads summary and my review!

Blurb and Goodreads summary: Clary is back in New York and life is good: she's training to be a Shadowhunter and is finally able to call Jace her boyfriend. But nothing comes without a price. When Jace inexplicably begins to pull away from her, Clary is forced to acknowledge that she herself has set in motion a chain of events that could lead to the loss of everything she loves. Even Jace.


Meanwhile, internecine warfare among vampires is tearing the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels

I am a HUGE fan of this series and adored City of Glass. While I do think that City of Glass ended the series perfectly, I was still excited about the release of City of Fallen Angels. Unfortunately it took me a while to get into the story and it didn't live up to my high expectations. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed this book, just not as much as the others. 

In my opinion Simon is the main focus of this book. I was always a fan of Simon but not enough to want to read a book about him. I was looking forward to seeing how Jace and Clary were getting on. And while I am on that topic, I really felt their relationship was lacking at times. I think it is because I missed all the crazy, slightly sick, chemistry between them when they thought their feelings for each other were so wrong. Now that they can finally be together, some of that excitement and tension is gone. I missed it :( On the other hand, there were some hot kissing scenes between the two ;) Jace also didn't seem like himself. Everything that has happened in his life seems to have caught up on him and he has lost some of that arrogant sarcasm I had grown to love.

The supporting characters were better than ever. I really enjoyed seeing a more vulnerable said to Isabelle as she gets involved with Simon. I would love to have seen more of Alec and Magnus; but when they finally arrived, they did it with a bang. Magnus is my favourite supporting character; he is funny but sweet and he cares so much about Alec. Alec shows his jealous streak in this one, which gave me a few laughs! 

"Or there are plenty of pretty girls here, since apparently your taste goes both ways. Is there anything you aren't into?" "Mermaids," said Magnus into his fingers. "The always smell like seaweed."

Overall I found some parts of the story lacking and unnecessary but I did still enjoy it, particularly the second half. The HUGE cliffhanger at the end has left me worrying about whether what has happened can ever be reversed! I certainly hope so! I'm not looking forward to waiting for a whole year to find out! 

Over in Ireland we don't have the version of this book that includes Jace's letter to Clary from City of Glass; but the letter can be found at http://cassie-claire.com/cms/jaces-letter. I just want to write a few words about how much I loved it! I remember when I was reading City of Glass I was so upset that Clare didn't include the full thing! So obviously I was delighted the other day when I discovered this gem! Some quotes from the letter:

"I belong to you, you could do anything you wanted with me and I would let you. You could ask anything of me and I'd break myself trying to make you happy."

"As long as I can still dream, I'll dream of you."

Some swoon worthy stuff right there!

Initially I felt giving this book 3 stars was a bit unfair but then when I thought about it, I remembered all the times I put it down at the end of a chapter because I was a little bored. (mainly with Simon, I'm sorry to say!) And I would have liked to read Clary's viewpoint a bit more. So ya, 3 out of 5 Stars for this one. I am still looking forward to the next book in series!

Rescue by Anita Shreve

The car crash should have killed her.

But rookie paramedic Peter Webster takes the emergency call, and helps the young woman, Sheila Arsenault, to survive. After the accident, she haunts his thoughts, despite his misgivings about getting involved with a patient. Soon he is embroiled in an intense love affair and in Sheila’s troubled life.

Eighteen years later, Sheila is long gone and Peter is raising their daughter, Rowan, alone. But Rowan is veering dangerously off course, and for the first time in their quiet life together, Peter fears for her future. He seeks out the only person who may be able to help her, although Sheila’s return is sure to unleash all the questions he has been carefully keeping at bay: why would a mother leave her family? How did the marriage of two people deeply in love unravel?

The story is set in a small town called Hartstone, a town where everyone knows each other. Webster works as an EMT and one night on duty he meets Shelia, a drunk driver who has totaled her car on the side on the 42.

I instantly loved Webster; he’s straight as an arrow, lived in Hartsone all his life, and has no dreams to move away to a bigger city. He falls blindly in love with Shelia, who isn’t a particularly likeable character.  I found it hard to stay interested in the characters lives as they weren’t well developed or explored. Shelia drinks too much but we never really find out why.  I would like to have found out more about Shelia, about why she drinks, more about her past, and the reasons why their love affair blossomed in the first place. Why did Webster fall for this stranger?

I enjoyed reading about Webster’s life before and after Shelia left. He is an extremely likeable guy. He is a hard worker, he loves Shelia, and he adores his daughter.  The relationship between him and Rowan seems real but again, it’s not well developed. We never really get to understand why Rowan is acting out.

Overall it was a nice read, it has romance, it certainly has some exciting, fast paced scenes and I would recommend reading this book purely for Webster :) Rating: 3/5

Two Words: Interesting but Weak

 

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

It took me a while to get through this one. I’ve been super busy in University but I’m glad I kept on reading. I’m sure most people had to read this book at some stage in school. But having gone to an all girls' school we stuck to Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice.

Synopsis: The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when The New York Times noted “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.

The story is told from Nick Caraway’s point of view. Nick lives on the tip of West Egg and knows only what he sees or is told about Gatsby. It doesn’t take long for him to finally meet the mysterious Gatsby and the story unfolds beautifully from there. Fitzgerald presents us with the American Dream and how it does not become reality for all. His excellently crafted characters put their faith and their trust in unstable things such as wealth, social superiority, commercialism, the power of culture and their typical American idealism.  Essentially The Great Gatsby is a tale of a man endeavoring to win back a lost love.  Nick, unlike the other characters, is the only person to show human compassion and to grieve the tragedies that befall others.  Each character is believable and distinct and the writing is beautiful. 3/5

Describe it in two words: Tragic and Beautiful

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

Annie’s put fifteen years into safe, slightly obsessive Duncan and now she’d like her money back, please. It’s time to move on. But she lives in Gooleness, the north’s answer to a question nobody asked. Is she really going to find real, proper, feel-it-deep-down-in-your-boots love on a damp and windy seafront? Or perhaps she should follow her heart and pursue Tucker, the reclusive American rock star, who keeps emailing her his smart advice.

But between Annie and her second chance lie a few obstacles. There’s Malcom, the world’s most judgmental therapist, and Barnesy, the north’s most extrovert dancer. There’s what men and women will do and won’t do for love. And, of course there’s Tucker…

Well the synopsis pretty much explains everything so I’ll keep this short and sweet. Annie is a fan of the reclusive musician Tucker Crowe while Duncan is a little more than obsessed about him. The story begins with Annie and Duncan going on a tour of places associated with Tucker Crowe including the public bathroom where he allegedly decided to pack in his career as a rock star. The story focuses on relationships, ageing and kids.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book and there were moments when I laughed out loud. The characters are well developed and a little wacky. The story touches on regrets and what a person should do when they find that they have wasted the last 20 odd years of their life. This may sound depressing but it is told is the humorous fashion that is Nick Hornby. It’s a light but meaningful book. An easy and enjoyable read. 3 ½ out of 5

Describe it in two words: Funny and Honest

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

I bought this book because the movie trailer looked pretty good, although I never got around to seeing the movie. Ishiguro has also written Remains of the Day, a book and film I'm sure you have heard of. 

It is difficult to describe this book without giving the plot away so I'm going to share the synopsis from the book to start with!

 Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy who grow up together at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic school deep in the English countryside with a dreadful secret at its heart. Now thirty-one, Kathy attempts to come to terms with her childhood at Hailsham and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, which is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.

The story is narrated by Katy as she remembers her life at Hailsham where she was raised with her friends. Ishiguro manages to capture beautifully both the fragility and loyalty of childhood relationships along with the petty jealousies. From the start the atmosphere surrounding Hailsham has a sinister air about it.  It was this that drew me in as I needed to find out more. As the story progresses you learn more about the characters and their relationships with each other. There is always a sense of foreboding; an evil fate awaits them and its implications slowly become clear as the story progresses. This fate that awaits them is incredibly shocking and moving.

There were times when I felt the narration rambled on a bit too much. The author frequently uses the line “But what I wanted to talk about was”, after having gone off topic for a few pages. I found this quite irritating. But perhaps I’m just not used to that particular style of writing?

Overall it is a story about density and fate. It evokes the chilling sense of our lives never having been what they could have been. It is an extraordinary novel which I highly recommend.

Describe it with two words? Haunting and memorable

Here's the movie trailer if you are interested. But BE WARNED it may spoil the book a bit!

Click here