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A Winter Flame

12:00 pm 2 August 2016

This book is part of "world" written by Milly Johnson that covers each season. She has done a wonderful job with Winter. Picking all the brightest and shiniest winter ideas is a great contrast to the loss and hurt that is also covered in this book.

The characters are a combination of simple and more complex individuals who all seem to have similar tendencies to hide certain parts of themselves. I enjoyed the developing story and got through it almost too quickly. I guess its a good sign that you want there to be more at the end.

I would recommend this as a lovely summer read to remind you about all the good bits of christmas and winter out of season.

For Rent

12:00 pm 25 July 2016

I thought this would be a more descriptive book as it is part of a series so I expected very complex characters but in reality for me It was ok but nothing unique. I was a bit disappointed that in parts it read more like a screenplay than a novel but it was an easy read and the story flowed successfully from chaos to the end. The ending however was a bit weak for me and i would have liked a bit more complexity. If you are looking for a light holiday read it is probably good.

Polly!

12:00 pm 8 July 2016

I found this short novella well written and engaging. I thought the characters were simple but appropriate for the length of the story. I liked the ideas explored and the vagueness I initially felt was quickly sorted by realising that was intentional. There is nothing too complex going on and don't look to make this a deeply complicated read as you will be disappointed. However if you are commuting or waiting in a room it is perfect.

I would recommend this if you are "between books"

White Wedding

12:00 pm 6 July 2016

This was a light and airy book. Nothing really horrible was going on (even the horrible bits didn't seem horrible). I found it easy to read and not very gripping (which is why it took so long to read). I think I am getting overly familiar with the writers style so I may give her books a long wait. I think this would suit reading when you are feeling unwell or need light reading due to other stresses in your life. I couldn't fault the content or writing but it didn't blow me away and make me want to keep reading each day.

Fool Me Thrice: A Novella

12:00 pm 28 June 2016

Short sweet and well paced. This novella moves quickly and it well crafted with fairly simple characters. I enjoyed the feel of it being "an episode" and couldn't fault its construction.

I think it was a good call not to make this narrative into a full novel as I just don't think there was the material but for an easy read on a holiday (or during a busy week) it was ideal

I Let You Go

12:00 pm 24 June 2016

I enjoyed parts of this book. The police material is very well written and feels very authentic. I didn't enjoy the red herrings as much. I understand what they were about but it was a bit difficult at later points in the book to understand whose point of view you were reading from.

It was an interesting story and raised a number of very valid questions. For that reason alone I can recommend the read. It definitely felt like time well spent and I will read more from the authior.

The writing style was easy to read and quite visually descriptive which helped. I liked the fact there was not a lot of "navel gazing" in the style but it moved quickly onto the next point. This kept the story moving forward and given it was not a "big story" it did need this pace.

Alexandra, Gone

12:00 pm 16 June 2016

I enjoyed a number of the characters in this book. I found it slow moving however and struggled to get back to it on a couple of occasions. I found the writing style clear and consistent and I did like the music references scattered throughout.

The simplicity of both the characters and the plot was nice and there were no dramatic inconsistencies but this also made it feel a bit slow in places as there was a "well thats no surprise" feeling about some of the revelations.

Overall I would recommend this book and I will try more by this author in future as I had not read anything from her before.

Me Before You

12:00 pm 30 May 2016

i guess if you stay up until 2.30am to finish it you really like a book. I felt this was well written, explored interesting ideas but for me was actually a little short (otherwise it would have been a 5 star review). I couldn't fault the language/description/story/characters on the whole.

I admit I was a little confused at the seemingly random change of first person but usually noticed we had switched pretty quickly but something that was used towards the end a lot more than in the early chapters.

I would totally recommend this book - it is interesting, lively and easy to read on a fairly tough subject. I felt the lack of maudlin and deep inward reflection was appropriate and made the story chug along a lot quicker and left you feeling the emotion as it was not spoon fed to you.

I admit the only reason I actually chose to read this was I saw a short trailer for the film and have slightly lower expectations of that so I wanted in with what I guessed would be the higher quality novel which will probably not be as detailed an exploration as the book but I hope it does it justice.

The Third Wife

12:00 pm 10 May 2016

I found this book long. I did not sympathise or identify with many of the characters. The main person who was on his third wife did not seem a very complex or interesting guy. I found the children better but still quite two dimensional. I didn't like any of the wives which added to the struggle to read this book. I would not recommend this if you are not a parent or had exposure to mulitdimensional families as it's a bit slow and I didn't connect with the story.

Never Tell

12:00 pm 10 May 2016

This book seemed long! I don't know if it was the writing style slowing it down, the characters not being developed early in the book, the timeframe switches or what...

I found the early "university" settings and storyline quite weak and very disjointed as well as unrealistic - there was just a bit too much assumed knowledge I think. As I didn't grow up in the UK or attend a UK university the scenarios seemed a bit far-fetched but that might just be my point of view.

The main character Rose was a bit weak for me - she seemed to spend a lot of her time paranoid and blaming others. I guess overall I didn't gel with the story.

Here Come the Girls

12:00 pm 15 April 2016

The characters in this Milly Johnson are a bit older than the one I read before and it was closer to the previous stories which have interesting back stories and some unusual situations. The old friends meet up and go on holiday aspect is pretty cliched but they don't focus on their lost youth/regrets etc etc which is refreshing. i was a bit disappointed by the ending which was a bit tidy and cliched for me but I guess that works for a lot of readers. Overall i think the writing was clear and the characters fairly likeable

The House We Grew Up In

12:00 pm 1 April 2016

I was surprised at how engrossing this story was. I didn't actually like many of the characters but they were in a very engaging story.

I liked the additional characters that were introduced to explain the family. The issues that were addressed were handled very realistically in my view. I would recommend this story

An Autumn Crush

12:00 pm 1 April 2016

Liked this but it took me longer to finish than I would have expected. I think the story moved particularly slowly

The Last Anniversary

12:00 pm 31 March 2016

Very very impressed by the style of this book. Crosses quite a lot of characters and most of them manage to have some depth. This story handles an extended family and how they interact based around a single event/matirach. I really enjoyed the slow pace and the simple writing style. It was an easy read but not a pointless one. I would recommend this book.

A Summer Fling

12:00 pm 20 March 2016

Enjoyed this book a lot. The minor characters were all very well written

SPOILER ALERT!

The Casual Vacancy

12:00 pm 9 March 2016

I found it interesting the "hero" of this story is a dead man. The majority of the characters being developed are not very likeable. The teenagers are much more well developed than the older characters in my opinion. The story is really quite gripping initially and I powered through this book. However I felt a bit let down by the election and the ending once I got there.

I particularly liked the differences between the households and interactions portrayed and I felt the social worker was suddenly dumped at points but was a very engaging character for me. I didn't like the focus on so much of the characters appearances over their behaviors but this was tempered by the portrayals of the different key teenagers to the story

It was interesting but I struggled at the finish. I think there could have been a few more chapters as it petered out a bit with a feeling of "and then she woke up" feelings...

I have not read anything previously by this author and I would read something else but still feel a little disappointed by the tailing off of the conclusion.

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