Books I Read In February 2021

 FEBRUARY 2021

Book I read in January 2021

 JANUARY 2021 READS

Review of The Four Winds by Kirsten Hannah

 

Texas, 1934. Millions of people are out of work and with a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their lands and livelihoods as all of the crops are failing, herds are dying, water is drying up and the dust is threatening to bury them all. One of the darkest periods in American History of the Great Depression, during the dust bowl era and it has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli, like all of her neighbor's, must make the agonizing choice: to fight for the land that she loves or to go west to California in search of a better life. This novel is a indelible portrait of America and the quintessential American Dream as seen through the eyes of the powerful women whose courage and sacrifice which will come to define the generation.

I didn't know what to expect going into this novel but I did know that was going to enjoy it as I love Kristin Hannah and her writing style. I love the way that she builds the characters and their environments in a dynamic fashion which helps and enhances the story being told.  There were times in this were i found myself laughing out loud and others i could not read the pages due to the tears which were streaming from my eyes. This was one of those stories which is endearing and crushing at the same time and Kirsten Hannah is one of the few authors who is able to make me feel every possible emotion from angers to love. 

I love the way that Elsa and her families story is told which shows the determination and sacrifice which people during this time period had to endure. Kirsten Hannah makes this sound at times like a fairy tale and in others an epic journey which are both at opposite sides of the scale when writing. How does she do it? This is not an easy story to read and at times i thought that i would have to put it down, however i would highly recommend this to any one who loves historical fiction.

Review of To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

 

Princess Lira is a Siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in the her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a cruel twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter,  the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one things that they loathe the most - a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian's heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even through he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby and he calls it his calling and something he was born to do in live. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she is more than what she appears to be at first. She promises him that she will be able to find a key to destroy all of sirenkind for goods - however can he really trust her? Just how many deals will the prince have to barter to be able to eliminate mankind's greatest enemy?

I have found that this was a very Dark fantasy for the young adult genre and it has the way to tell its compelling and vicious story without using the standard troupes linked to the genre. We find that the leading characters are the most unlikely companions who are linked with a hatred of the Sea Queen. However by the end of the story their stories as entwined in each other however as you can guess there is always going to be a twist when fate comes between them. This is the romance story that i love which is very slow burning and I love the way that this builds to the point that Lira is willing to give up everything that she believes in to be wut the man that she loves. I also love that this is a very imaginable retelling f the Little Mermaid and lets us see the reason the Sea Queen became as twisted as she has done. I would recommend this to any reader who loves a retelling of the classic Disney tales.

Review of When I Was Ten by Fiona Cummins

 

She had lived a lie for the last thirteen years, and this has been the outcome for the perfect life as she has known is about to change forever.

Everyone remembered Sara and Shannon Carter, the little blond haired sisters. Their Dad was the local GP and they lived in a very beautiful house on the hill, and their best friend Brinley Booth lived next door. They would do anything for each other but everything shifted on that fateful day when Dr Richard Carter and his wife Pamela were both stabbed 14 times with a pair of scissors in what the most talked about double murder of the modern age. 

The girls were aged ten and twelve at the time that this murder happened. One of them quickly becomes known as the Angel of Death and spends 8 years in the children's secure unit accused of the brutal murders. The other one lived in foster care out of the limelight and all of the prying questions. Now the anniversary of the trial, a team of investigators have made a documentary and has tracked down one of the sisters and persuaded her to speak of the events that happened on the fateful night for the first time in 13 years. The explosive interview sparks a light in the national headlines and Brinley Booth, now a journalist herself, is tasked with covering the story which starts to bring fresh evidence and triggers a course of events which will have devastating consequences for all of the people involved.

Well, unless you know Fiona Cummins writing then you do not know what you are in for and boy did i not know what i was in for. I found myself drawn in and my heart thumped for the full length of the book and not knowing where the story was going to go. I read this book in 36 hours and i am glad that i read this in 2 sittings helping me to maintain the pace of the writing style. I did not think that Fiona Cummins held back and used hard hitting language to bring the story home. I also felt that I was a fly on the wall and was in the room when the events were happening. I definitely could not see the twist and turns that this novel was going to go however when reading she gave little snippets and clues on the outcome of this story. This is definitely a book for the lovers of thrillers.

Review of Everything is Beautiful by Eleanor Ray

 

Sometimes it's impossible to part with the things which remind us of the loves that we have felt the most...

When Amy Ashton's world came crashing down eleven years ago, she started collecting. To start with it was just a little collecting of the keepsakes of happier times - sometimes some honeysuckle to remind herself of the boy she loved, a chipped china bird, old terracotta pots. However things that others might consider throwing away, Amy feels the need to keep them as they to her represent a life that she would have had. 

Now the house is overflowing from all of the collecting that she has done and it is getting to the point that her obsession could mean that the house runs out of space ... even for herself. When a new family moves in next door, a chance discovery unearths something which has been long buried and Amy's carefully constructed life starts to fall apart. If she is able to find the courage to face the painful things from her past, might the future she though she had lost all of those years ago be for her to grasp in both hands ?

I absolutely loved this story and all of the descriptive chapters helped to bring the story to live for me. On several occasions i found myself shutting my eyes and i could see Amy in her cluttered house and feel the items start to push in on you making you feel claustrophobic. I loved that i didn't really know until the last couple of chapters that Amy was going to find love, but i was hoping in all my heart that she would find a loving man. I can not wait to see what comes from this author in her next book.

Review of Cats Don't Chase Dogs by Kara Kings

 

In today's world of online dating, social media, texting and ghosting - navigating through the treacherous world of dating and relationships has become more confusing that it has ever been. Kara King's controversial dating advice book discusses how women can use the wisdom of the feline to live an amazing life as a women, while also simultaneously being the type of women who captivates men. And all of the while maneuvering through dating and relationships with ease. In this book you will discover some of the following:

• How to stop being a doormat
  
• How to start thinking like a goddess
  
• How to present yourself in a way men beg for commitment
  
• How feminine influence helps change the world for better
  

Learning all of these lessons and more by embracing the wisdom of the feline and applying this wisdom to your life as a women. Kara King's dating advice will empower women around the world by dramatically empowering their lives and relationships by changing the way they think.

I love the way that Kara King puts this subject matter into a realistic way that everyone can visualise however it did take me a bit to get my head around the terminology that she used. I tell you if i had had this book 20+ years ago when i started dating then i think i would have had a different relationship with my ex-husband - however it is because of the mens behaviours in this that i am no longer with him. I think this is something that all women .... and some men ... need to read at some point in their lifes as the advise is sound. I would recommend this to everyone as this is a self-help book for all.