EENY MEENY by M J Arlidge

OH MY DAYS!!!!! Read it! Read it! Read it! Read it!

And to think that I very, very nearly returned this book to the library without even starting it!!! I would be kicking myself now if I had done.

This is the story of DI Helen Grace as she tries to capture the serial killer who is taking pairs of people and locking them away with only one instruction. One person must shoot the other. One dies, the other goes free...

This book is so, incredibly gripping and twisting in so many brilliant ways. It keeps you hanging on right until the very last page, the very last word even. You think your just getting the hang of the story when it takes another brilliant turn in a completely unthinkable direction! I've read crime novels with a similar final target to this before, but never have I read one so unique and different!

Each and every single one of these characters is so deep and well written that they become almost real to the reader. My personal favourite (Other than Helen) being Charlie. But even the other, more minor characters such as Bridges and Sanderson, had enough material written into them that they had real emotion and story, that you can't help but remember them in the way that you remember an old friend from school. Not always at the front of your memory and mind, but still always, definitely there somewhere.

Mark was an incredible piece of work in my opinion. So very often, the cops are always the people who have over come everything and become what they are today, but I think Arlidge's take was very interesting. It's really rare to read about a cop who is still going through his life changing events while at what appears to be the top of his game.

Wow this is an easy book to write about!

This does does contain adult, mature and graphic content and is very likely to leave you thinking what you would do in that situation, who you would be with etc... This is a very gripping book, that moves at such a pace it is unbelievable.

I would definitely recommend this book at all maturer readers, but make sure you keep arms and legs inside the car at all times as you're in for a bumpy ride!

THE SUICIDE CLUB By Rhys Thomas

When I picked this book up at the library, I had really high hopes for it. The blurb and front cover pulled me in like a child to a sweet shop and I couldn't wait to get started. However, I'm sad to say that I have been quite disappointed. This book just didn't deliver what it had promised to me on the shelf.

I found that while I had the book in my hands, it was easy enough to read. But it was far to easy to put down for my liking, and once I had put it down, I found very little in the way of anything pulling me back to read any more. I'd happily read this if there was a lack of other texts, but with so many other great books out there waiting to be read, I feel bad concentrating on a book I'm not totally enjoying.

Of course, try it for yourself. As I've said many a time, what I write here is purely my opinion and it should never be a list of things you should or shouldn't read. For all I know, this may be the best book you have ever read and in that case, I am glad you enjoyed it. We all have the odd book that we struggle to love now and then, and unfortunately this was one for me.

THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO By Patrick Ness

For a good couple of years now, people have been telling me that I have to read some Patrick Ness novels and everyone seemed completely put out that I hadn't come across this brilliant author sooner.

If you haven't already twigged, this is the first Patrick Ness novel I have read, recommended specifically by a colleague at work who is slightly in love with said books. I must say that reading this book certainly has been a bit of a journey, I've laughed like a hyena and cried like a baby and consequently felt everything in between. One thing did shock me though, and that was the horrific violence and graphic-ness of the book. Now don't get me wrong, it's not all blood, guts and gore to the extent of putting you off a meal and making you never want to fall asleep again, far from it. However, you just don't really expect the awful secrets that Todd finally reveals in the end. You just never imagine its going to be something that horrific. Its one of those, where if you do imagine what it might be, you pray that it wont be the case even though you know it's probably true.

My favourite character by far is Manchee the dog, I mean how can you not instantly fall in love with him? In fact, I fell in love with him so much  that I considered stopping reading the books altogether if anything should happen to him, he's just that lovable and charismatic.

Living in a world without silence isn't as unusual as you would think it is and many people do live with it everyday, myself being one of them. As a result I found this book even more interesting than normal. 

Despite this being an excellent teen AND adult book, it is still quite hard in places because of the great relationships you build up with the characters. 

I have really, really enjoyed reading this, though I'm not sure when I'll get round to reading the following books due to my ever growing reading list, but I would certainly recommend this to anyone looking for a action packed yet unusual read.

TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES By Thomas Hardy - PHASE THE THIRD

Well, that's another phase of this interesting book read. in someways I found this phases to be much simpler and also much easier to read and to concentrate on. Not sure what made this so much easier going, but I think it might be down to the addition of a larger; not large, but larger amount of dialogue than the previous phase which I found got quite monotonous in places.

In this phases I felt that Tess began to blend in with the other characters a little more than she has done in previous phases and chapters. She becomes closer to people than we have seen her done before and yet Tess is trying to distance herself from the other people in the story even more than we saw her don previously. Where as before she generally just avoided spending time with people, in this phase, Tess actively tells people that she is no good woman and that there a far better woman to love and befriend than herself.

This really shows the effect that society has had on Tess's mental health as they down just have a downward opinion of her, but now they have finally managed to convince Tess to have a bad opinion of herself. If she can't even love herself how can she ever expect other people to love, appreciate and want her. Her actions and speaking patterns with other people become almost child-like and yet her thoughts and reactions are more adult and complex than you would expect a young woman like Tess to have to feel. The three women also have quite childish emotions concerning Mr Clare, this could represent how women were expected to be seen in society. No real intellectual thought and opinion, only basic, black and white feelings, with little depth and exploration.

Anaphora and cataphora are used quite a lot in this section of the book, in particular referring back to what has happened. As if Hardy is forcing us to remember what has happened to Tess, just as society is forcing her to remember her horrific past. Throughout there are hints and reminders of what has been, and equally clues as to what this will lead to.

I must say that Phase the Third has been a definite surprise to me and I wasn't expecting this from the book at all. I feel now that this book is a little less predictable than I originally thought it was and I am excited to see what else Hardy has hidden in his work for you.

SKY RUN By Alex Shearer

After reading The Cloud Hunters by the same author, I assumed that this was the sequel. However I was wrong. Sky Run is a completely separate novel which is merely based in the same world as the other. When I found this out, I was a little dubious about reading it and I was afraid that I wasn't going to enjoy it was much as the first book I had read, set in this wonderful world. I was worried that I was going to miss the characters I had come to know and love in The Cloud Hunters and still have to battle through the same world without them.

However I have really enjoyed this book. I cannot say that I enjoyed it more or less than the last one as they were totally different story lines and ideas. However I did really like the homage to the other book, when Alain talks about meeting the other Cloud Hunter boat which was carrying the boy without the scars and he talks briefly about his feelings concerning the event.

Although the two books can be read totally independent of each other, I would recommend reading the two together as they really do enlighten you about the world and the situations that the characters are living in. Each book gives you extra background information about the other book which, although you wouldn't miss it as such, you certainly would benefit from reading.

I must say that for some reason I found this story less repetitive than Shearer's other sky themed novel. I found it easier to read without becoming confused or lost in the same words over and over again.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has read The Cloud Hunters and equally I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't. I have reviewed The Cloud Hunters  previously. Click here to see what I had to say about it.

THE CLOUD HUNTERS By Alex Shearer

I picked this book up for no other reason than I was browsing through the library looking for something to read, and this particular caught my eye and looked interesting. Once again, I have not been disappointed.

I think that the ideas and the storyline behind this book is really original and new. I, myself , haven't come across anything like this before. I like the idea of taking something really well known, Like sailing on a ship to find out who you are and what your destiny is, and putting it into a completely different scenario. Personally I find the idea of living on a small island as part of a bigger community quite appealing. Being able to have independence and isolation when you need it while at the same time, not being too far away from the life and business of everyday life.

There is only one criticism I have for the book and this is I found some of the names a little repetitive. I feel that there may have been possible alternatives to 'sky-fish', 'sky-whale', 'sky-seal', 'sky-walrus' etc... It just felt a little too repetitive for my liking and I sometimes lost my train of thought and definition between the items talked about.

Other than that though, I though that The Cloud Hunters was a thoroughly enjoyable book.

TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES By Thomas Hardy - PHASE THE SECOND

Despite Phase the Second being the shortest of the seven sections of this book an awful lot happens to our protagonist. She returns home, we find out she's pregnant, she has the child, the child dies, she tries to find work, and she makes an attempt to try and fit back into society.

I think the reason that Hardy squishes all of this into four, relatively short chapters, is because he wants us to understand the way Tess is feeling. Tess doesn't want to dwell on this section of her life, and Hardy doesn't want us to either. He wants us to move on with Tess and realise that such a small section of her life, should not have such a massive impact on her future. This would have been particularly important to the audience Hardy was writing for, as he would have been writing for people who would have hated and loathed Tess for the situation she had supposedly gotten herself into. He wants them to move on as well and follow his and Tess's lead. I feel that Hardy is trying to convince us that purity (he describes Tess as: a pure woman) goes beyond the physical and is more importantly about the heart and the mind.

I found this section of the text rather difficult to plough through if I'm honest, but I feel this is because of the lack of speech and the greatness of all the details Hardy writes into the text. Both of these things, although making it a little hardy for the reader, play an important role in helping us to understand the character.

The lack of verbal communications with other characters helps us to begin to understand how lonely and isolated Tess is feeling. There is no one she feels she can talk to and no one seemingly willing to comfort her and treat her normally. This leads onto the effect of the masses of description. Because Tess is so lonely and isolated, she has more time to ponder on things and to pick at the fine detail in her life that she may not have noticed otherwise. We get to see deeper into Tess's perspective, while at the same time, getting a clear sense of setting and context.

I've found this phase and interesting one to read, if slightly slow. Nevertheless, I shall be looking forward to seeing what Phase the Third has to offer.