The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Psychological Thriller/ Crime

Pub Date: April 2014

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

The first few pages of The Telling Error described a grisly murder. A man has been killed, with a knife taped to him, except there he wasn’t killed by the knife. Bang in some mysterious writing on the wall, a few bizarre photographs on the computer, and the victim being a celebrity, and we’ve got ourselves an unusual case. What makes it more unusual is the murder has been described as an ad on a dating website seeking the murderer. So a puzzle within a puzzle for the reader.

This is a proper psychological “who-dunnit” thriller. Lots of twisted characters, blurred lines, and suspense. The plot was great; each character was properly fleshed out with interesting motives and lots of twists. Just when I thought I knew who did it, I was immediately proved wrong.

Before we go any further, I would like to point out I had no idea that this was the 9th book in the series. I had never read or heard of the series before, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have requested this from NetGalley. Only now discovering the series, I’m pleased to find that I followed the book pretty well, and it does account for my slight gripes with it.

I found it hard to follow the detectives, but on reflection, this is because I didn’t know their previous stories, and the author probably took it for granted that I did. To be fair, if I was on my ninth book, I probably would have expected a reader to have read a couple of the others. I found their relationships confusing, and some points lost track of which one was which, but that didn’t detract from the overall brilliance of the book.

This book was primarily about Nikki though, a woman who has been having a string of emotional online affairs for kicks. Nikki was a brilliant and complex character, a woman who has been betrayed by her family, and is overly protective of hers, despite betraying them with her affair. She gets entangled in the murder investigation, due to one of her online dalliances implicating her. Nikki was easy to like and dislike at the same time, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for her, yet be annoyed at her actions. Her family and past was another thread to unravel, making Nikki become more and more complex as the story continued.

The Telling Error was surprisingly easy to read as a stand-alone, but I found myself being more interested in the side characters than the main detective, Simon. If you like a good psychological thriller, I definitely recommend this; however you may want to start with something earlier in the series, unlike me!

Rating: 8/10

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Top Books of 2013

OK, yes this post is really late. 2013 was like, so last week. But better late than never, right? So in no particular order, I bring you Rachael’s top books of 2013.

Middle Grade

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Cathrynne Valente

When I was a kid, one of the books I would constantly read over and over again was Alice in Wonderland, and honestly, I thought nothing could come close to the wonder I felt reading a land like that. I was wrong. TGWCFiaSoHOM, on top of being a mouthful, captures the wonder of being a child, wrapped in layers of a fantastical, detailed world with a cuckoo-crazy plot.

Full review

Wonder by RJ Palacio

For a book so slim, it’s crazy the amount of emotions I went through reading it. Auggie’s story of him coping with his disfigurement  is a sad one, yet ultimately uplifting, and laced with a slick sense of humour.

Full review

YA

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Do I really need to say anything about this book? If you haven’t read this book, go pick it up now! It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will still resonate with you a year after you read it.

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

I’ve never thought of myself as a romance fan, so it just shows how much I loved Eleanor and Park. The characters were so alive, and their story real and painful, that I couldn’t help but falling in love with this book.

Full review

Adult

A Song of Fire and Ice by George RR Martin

Okay, technically this isn’t a book, but a series. Even if you haven’t seen the TV show, this book is worth a read. With a plot that teeters the line of a war drama and a soap opera, set in one of the most detailed lands I’ve ever read, these books keep you sucked in through their lengthy volumes.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I always bang on about how much I hate predictability in books, and Gone Girl is anything but. The twists and turns in the insane story about Nick and his missing wife, not to mention the crazy, and yet terrifyingly believable, characters kept me turning the pages.

Agree? Disagree? Have links to your own top books? Tell me down below!

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

Age Group: Adult (but it could be a YA read too)

Genre: Historical

Pub Date: July 2013

Publisher: Gallery Books

                                                                          

I’ve previously said how I’m not too keen on historical fiction. And every time I say that, I find a book that makes me change my mind. Whistling Past the Graveyard is a thought-provoking, emotional, witty novel set in the American Deep South in 1963.

Yes this book is about racism in 1960’s America. But it is also a coming-of-age story, about family and friendship. It also contains one of the most interesting POV’s in the genre, Starla, a nine-year-old, white girl. Being written from a child’s point of view, you may think that the writing would be too simplistic to enjoy, but Starla was full of personality. Her innocent view on the world was fascinating to see, and the comparisons to how she lived and the way the African-American’s did really highlighted the truth of the situation.  

The story follows Starla, who lives in Mississippi with her grandmother. Starla is fed up with her grandmother and wants to run away to Nashville to live with her mother. So she does exactly that. On her way she has a run in with Eula, a black lady who stole a white baby. And so they continue on their road trip together.

The characters were wonderful. Each had very strong, evocative voices. Starla was fiery and sassy, always questioning and never afraid. Eula perfectly contrasted with Starla, calm and stable, and was able to care for her in a way Starla never had before. Also, her background story was heart-breaking. But most important was the relationship that developed between them. Eula and Starla needed each other. Each had their lessons to teach to the other, and the transformation that happened was due to each other. At the heart of it, Whistling Past the Graveyard was about how friendship transcends the colour of skin and age.

Whistling Past the Graveyard had me on the edge of my seat. At some points it was so intense that I had to put the book down and think about what I had just read. There were so many strong messages in the book, but it was never in a preachy way. But I wouldn’t call it a dark novel. At some points it was funny, witty, and plain entertaining. It was the balance between grittiness and fun which made it so hard-hitting and memorable.

Overall: Even if you don’t like historical novels, I would recommend this to you. Whistling Past the Graveyard will make you think about life and race, and more incredibly it’ll come from the believable perspective of a nine-year old.

I received this book from Gallery Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 10/10                                                    

Buy on Book Depository!

One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis

Age Group: Adult
Genre: Contemporary/ Mystery
Pub Date: April 2013
Publisher: Kirk Parolles
                                                                                          
If you asked me what the theme of this book was, I would have no idea. All I could say is “drama”. And that is because One Step Too Far has every type of drama possible, with a whole array of different characters.

We begin our story with Emily, a woman who is running away from her life in Chester to London, not for fame or fortune, but as a means of escape, using her handy birth name Catherine. Why? Well we have no idea. Then we meet Emily’s parents, Francis and Andrew, and we hear their problems, and then Emily’s “evil twin”, Caroline (no seriously, they’re identical twins). On top of that we have Ben, Emily’s abandoned husband, and Angel, Cat’s (Catherine wasn’t snazzy enough for her), troubled new best friend. And I haven’t yet begun on the different problems: anorexia, depression, psychosis, and that’s just Caroline. You add in everyone else’s issues and you have enough problems to fill several episodes of Jerry Springer.

All in all, One Step Too Far reads like a soap opera. Jam packed with lots of different issues, addictive to read, but at the heart of it, completely hollow. There was so much down in this book that I started to resent nearly all the characters and their miserable lives. As much as I was interested in their lives, I lacked any sort of empathy or connection to any of them. In fact, the only emotion I felt towards most of them was pity. It seems that Seskis was so focused on getting shade and depth into her characters that she forgot about the light.

Emily was our first person viewpoint, and when it jumped to another time or character the novel was in third person. This made it fairly easy to tell apart the different time periods with her, but made it quite confusing with telling apart the different points in time with the other characters. I also disliked the ridiculously long paragraphs and endless detail that Emily often provided, it was verging on stream of consciousness, and went past “setting the scene” to “irrelevant”.

I found the writing of the third person characters to be the best parts. Seskis seamlessly made very detailed, interesting (despite depressing) characters, and you could quickly spot the differences in their thoughts and voices. I found Caroline to be the most interesting, if not unlikable, and I was impressed with how Seskis really went back with Caroline’s history and how all her problems started.

It was only near the end of the book that I started to really enjoy myself. That was the point when the plot really kicked in and all the reveal came out, including one amazing omg-I-did-not-see-that-coming twist. And it was that which made it all worth it.

Overall: If you like soap operas you’ll love this book. Packed to the brim with enough drama to give EastEnders a run for its money, One Step Too Far may be a step too far, but its clever characters and interesting reveals make up for it.

Rating: 7/10

*I received this copy from Kirk Parolles via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Humour

Pub Date: July 2012

Publisher: Hesperus Press

                                                                              

I think the best way to describe this book is a Swedish, black-comedy version of Forest Gump. The title sums up the beginning of the book pretty well, when Allan Karlsson leaves his nursing home and gets entangled in an adventure involving a suitcase of money, murder, thieves, a hot-dog retailer, and an elephant. The story is interspersed with tales from Allan’s past, involving some of the biggest events in history.

This is a very cleverly thought up book. I found Allan’s present day adventures fun, and his past was bizarre and strangely educational. I think the main issue with the plot was some of the jokes skimmed over the top of my head as I didn’t know enough of the 20^th century history that was covered. I found the chapters I enjoyed the most were the ones that I had background knowledge too. However, there were lots of instances where anyone would find the situations hilarious, and as every good black comedy does, it made murder funny.

The main source of entertainment was Allan himself. He wasn’t a conventional comic character; it was his naivety and lack of interest (and fondness for vodka) that made him so funny. There was something unbelievable about him, the way he didn’t care for politics or religion or money, but it was that which made him a brilliant character. As for the supporting characters, well there was something a bit mad about all of them: whether it being a student in everything, or being a lack-wit that managed to take over a country. And it was the way that Jonasson made all these insane events seem realistic that made the book so engaging.

The only complaint I have is in the writing. I found myself loving the story, but at the same time I found the writing to lag or to have too much superfluous information. I ended up skipping over large paragraphs of text because I wasn’t that interested. If anything, this book did make me want to brush up on my history and politics, and I found it to be a good, unreliable source of events that I want to know about. The good thing about it being written by a Swedish author was that there was no British or American bias to the story, meaning that unlike Forest Gump, it was easier to get a fun and slightly more truthful story.

Sum It Up: A fun and witty story, perfect for those with an interest in history and politics, but for those who don’t, it can drag a bit.

Rating: 8/10

Zoobiquity by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers

Age Group: Adult
Genre: Popular Science
Pub Date: June 2012
Publisher: Virgin Books


A time ago I wanted to be a vet. So when I came across this book it sparked a curiosity in me. There are very few medical popular science books around, and even fewer veterinary related ones. And I have to say it was a truly illuminating book, and one anyone interested in medicine (be it animal or human) or science should read.

Although written by two authors, Zoobiquity is written from the perspective of Dr Natterson, a doctor, and her journey discovering comparative medicine. The book is very easy to follow, and you don't need a insane amount of scientific knowledge to read it (which in my experience, a lot of "mainstream" popular science requires). I'm only 19, but I could have easily read this book at 16.

Zoobiquity takes us on a journey comparing important issues in the medical community (obesity, cancer, STD's, mental health) with how they play out in the animal kingdom. And the facts you learn from it! Did you know dinosaurs got cancer? 

The way the book is written in an accessible way. The work doesn't feel "dumbed down", yet it doesn't make you feel stupid reading it. It's written in a friendly tone, with a few popular culture references, but sounds intelligent enough to be taken seriously.

More importantly, it feels like you're reading a revolutionary book. Right at the beginning, the book states that doctors and vets barely talk to each other, and I have the sneaking suspicion that she's right. This book is written to draw attention to the overlap between animal and human medicine, to encourage more discussion, and to look for ideas and cures outside the realms of the human hospital and into the natural world.

It is by no means an easy read, it requires you to think. But isn't that what you want from a good science book?

Rating: 9/10

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Age Group: Adult/ YA

Genre: Classic, romance

This was really the best classic romantic novel I have ever read. It is witty, is is romantic, and it has excellent characters, and I thoroughly understand why it has survived for 200 years, and has inspired romantic literature as a whole. 

I only had a vague idea of what the plot is about, having managed to avoid most adaptations of it. I have to say, for a book which I thought I knew what was going to happen, it remained surprisingly unpredictable. The book starts off when Mr Bingley moves nearby to the Bennet household, and he immediately hits it off with Elizabeth's sister. Soon the infamous Mr Darcy arrives, and Elizabeth immediately hates him. You can see where that was going to go. However, what I wasn't prepared for was all the side plots and twists which kept the book entertaining and moving along.

The characters really makes the book. Elizabeth Bennet is everything I would want from a modern day female heroine, let alone a 21st century one. She is sharp, funny, and headstrong. She would not bow down to pressure, and was easy to sympathise with. I found her family to be full of character, and even liked the annoying ones, such as Collins, as they were so well written. Each character had their own quirks and motives, from Bingley's sisters to Lady Catherine. 

Pride and Prejudice may be a love story, but I found it to be an examination of class and character, one which is relevant even today. Austen's themes are clear, don't judge people on their first impression, and there are more to them than you think. That can be seen from Elizabeth's impressions on Darcy, and his on Jane. It is also a fascinating historical account on the importance of marriage, and the rigorous rules imposed around it.

All in all, I really loved Pride and Prejudice. It didn't matter to me how it was written, or the time it was set in, all I really cared about was the story. And if that isn't the mark of a good story, I don't know what is.

Sum It Up: By far, one of the best classic books I've read. It was funny, relatable, and had a brilliant story. It's easy to see why it's a classic book.

Rating: 10/10

Life Ascending by Nick Lane

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Popular Science

Pub date: June 2009

Publisher: Profile Books

Life Ascending is an excellent scientific book on evolution. I was a bit weary picking it up, as evolution has never been one of my favourite topics to read about, but I was pleasantly surprised by this. However, I would only recommend this if you are prepared to spend a lot of reading time mulling over the past bits you have read.

Lane presents a fascinating account of the most important contributors to modern life and how they evolved. It's exceptionally in-depth, and is very well reasoned and logical. It takes you on a voyage of discovery, from the beginning of life itself right through to death. The specific chapters I enjoyed were on consciousness and eyes. The other point about the content, is that unlike many other evolution books, this one really gets down to the grit of things, and looks at it from a bio-chemistry perspective. It really delves into cells, and if you like bio-chem, check out respiration and photosynthesis chapters.

There is no picking and choosing with this book, as Lane always refers back to previous chapters, whether its a good or bad thing is your choice, however I disliked that when I returned to it to reference it, I found it impossible to understand what was going on. 

The other downside to this book is that I found the writing style very dry. It did the job of educating me, but not entertaining me. However, it has really good content, so if you like biology, or just want to know how the world works, I'd give it a go!

Sum It Up: An interesting take on evolution packed with good content, however the writing is slightly dry, and a large amount of background knowledge is needed

Rating: 7/10