This month was a strange one reading wise, I just didn't enjoy reading for most of the month
Books that I was so excited for where let downs and I got into a bit of a slump
I found it hard to get into books and therefor didn't enjoy reading but there was thankfully a few gems that I really enjoyed. Maybe I am putting too much pressure on myself to read so much so October I am just going with the flow and see how many books I fancy reading!
On The Other Side~Carrie Hope Fletcher
I really want to love this one, and while I love Carrie I just couldn't get into or love this book
The plot itself is magical and sweet but it reads one dimensional and quite childish. It tells the story of Evie Snow who has died and to get to the other side she must go back and relive her secrets.
While I enjoyed the whole premise of the plot, the characters are quite flat and I hated the childish names of the characters Evie Snow, Vincent Winters, Colin Autumn, Grayson Pear and Sonny Shine!! I mean really?! That is like something I would of written in primary school! Both lead characters come across as very immature for 27, Evie espically is very childish and comes across physically as a mirror image of the author large eyes, curly blonde hair, with a green coat who likes to drink tea and eat sweets!
The plot itself is magical and sweet but it reads one dimensional and quite childish. It tells the story of Evie Snow who has died and to get to the other side she must go back and relive her secrets.
While I enjoyed the whole premise of the plot, the characters are quite flat and I hated the childish names of the characters Evie Snow, Vincent Winters, Colin Autumn, Grayson Pear and Sonny Shine!! I mean really?! That is like something I would of written in primary school! Both lead characters come across as very immature for 27, Evie espically is very childish and comes across physically as a mirror image of the author large eyes, curly blonde hair, with a green coat who likes to drink tea and eat sweets!
Something that really bothered me when reading this, was there was no time period setting. Evie's family situation was like something from 1900's, Evie's work setting felt like it was the 1950's but then people had mobile phones, and wore the latest trends from today! I think the story would of had much more dept if the author picked a time period and stuck to it, because to be honest the plot didn't make much sense out of context of a time line.
There was a few nice moments but over all this read like bad fan fiction and I think I will stick to listening to Carrie sing and watch her vlogs rather than read her books!
The Second Love Of My Life~Victoria Walters
I am not sure what is going on with me but I have been reading alot of books that are leaving me disappointed lately! This was another that left me feeling meh! While every else is raving on about it, I just thought it was okay! The cover is stunning and really stood out to me it was the main reason I picked it up. Rose is a widow at the tender age of 24, after losing Lucas her childhood sweetheart her whole life has changed. All the plans they had together are gone and she is getting to grips with being alone and starting again. Rose is a painter and in the four years since Lucas has died she hasn't took up a brush and is selling off the last of her paintings. Robert comes to the small town of Talting to buy the paintings but ends up finding much more!
This is typical chick lit but I found the characters slightly annoying! I didn't feel any sadness or pity for Rose she came across as selfish and a bit of a crap friend. Robert seemed moody and a bit weird!
Some of the minor characters where funnier and I would of liked to know more about them. Talting itself sounds stunning and more like an extra character than a setting.
It's an okay read but I wouldn't read it again in a hurry!
The Lilac Girls~Martha Hall Kelly
This my first five star read in a while. Once every few years or so I read a book that I know will stay with my for life this was definitely one of these books.
This book is inspired by real events which makes it all the more heart breaking. This book tells the stories of three very different strong women and how there lives intertwine. Caroline in New York seems a world away from the war in Europe, but she is a kind hearted strong woman with a keen interest in humanity. Her care packages make the New York elite feel like they are helping the orphans of Europe, but as the war drags on Caroline gets more and more involved. She falls for a French actor and must travel to Nazi occupied France
Herta is a German with a great admiration for her Fuhrer she believes everything that he stands for and agrees with all the Nazi propaganda. She is eager to become a doctor and surgeon after passing her medical exams with great results. She applies for one of the only jobs she has seen looking for a female doctor at Ravensbruck. When she gets there it is nothing like she imagined and she is horrified, yet she stays and becomes one of the most horrific things at Ravensbruck The Rabbit Surgeon.
Kasia is a young women from Lublin Poland after her town is bombed and took over by Nazis she gets involved in Underground/Resistance activities. She is caught and along with her Mother, sisters and friends is sent to Ravensbruck to be taught in the ways of The Fuhrer. She suffers such hardship at the hands of some of the most evil female Nazis and then became one of the infamous Rabbits who was experimented on at the hands of Herta.
This book is beautifully written I liked how each chapter is written in the different women's perspective so after a very harrowing chapter we might get some light relief when moved on to a different point of view. Most of the story is set around the time of the first view years of the war when Hitler was invading countries and Germany was winning the war. The setting of Ravensbruck the only women camp of WW11 is a haunting and forgotten place. I had never heard of it before reading this book. This isn't an easy read the horrors of the camp, the evil that one human can enjoy watching another suffer is what makes WW11 a evil dark time in history.
I also applaud the author for writing a character from the other point of view, the character of Herta wasn't easy to read and being honest sometimes I had to put the book down after reading her chapters. I read her chapters wondering how she could be so hard and cruel she really did see these women as numbers with no feelings. I got annoyed at how she could be so blind to the Nazi propaganda. Yet I know this was how most Nazi felt the never questioning of there leader, his believes and values.
There was a few nice moments but over all this read like bad fan fiction and I think I will stick to listening to Carrie sing and watch her vlogs rather than read her books!
I am not sure what is going on with me but I have been reading alot of books that are leaving me disappointed lately! This was another that left me feeling meh! While every else is raving on about it, I just thought it was okay! The cover is stunning and really stood out to me it was the main reason I picked it up. Rose is a widow at the tender age of 24, after losing Lucas her childhood sweetheart her whole life has changed. All the plans they had together are gone and she is getting to grips with being alone and starting again. Rose is a painter and in the four years since Lucas has died she hasn't took up a brush and is selling off the last of her paintings. Robert comes to the small town of Talting to buy the paintings but ends up finding much more!
This is typical chick lit but I found the characters slightly annoying! I didn't feel any sadness or pity for Rose she came across as selfish and a bit of a crap friend. Robert seemed moody and a bit weird!
Some of the minor characters where funnier and I would of liked to know more about them. Talting itself sounds stunning and more like an extra character than a setting.
It's an okay read but I wouldn't read it again in a hurry!
This my first five star read in a while. Once every few years or so I read a book that I know will stay with my for life this was definitely one of these books.
This book is inspired by real events which makes it all the more heart breaking. This book tells the stories of three very different strong women and how there lives intertwine. Caroline in New York seems a world away from the war in Europe, but she is a kind hearted strong woman with a keen interest in humanity. Her care packages make the New York elite feel like they are helping the orphans of Europe, but as the war drags on Caroline gets more and more involved. She falls for a French actor and must travel to Nazi occupied France
Herta is a German with a great admiration for her Fuhrer she believes everything that he stands for and agrees with all the Nazi propaganda. She is eager to become a doctor and surgeon after passing her medical exams with great results. She applies for one of the only jobs she has seen looking for a female doctor at Ravensbruck. When she gets there it is nothing like she imagined and she is horrified, yet she stays and becomes one of the most horrific things at Ravensbruck The Rabbit Surgeon.
Kasia is a young women from Lublin Poland after her town is bombed and took over by Nazis she gets involved in Underground/Resistance activities. She is caught and along with her Mother, sisters and friends is sent to Ravensbruck to be taught in the ways of The Fuhrer. She suffers such hardship at the hands of some of the most evil female Nazis and then became one of the infamous Rabbits who was experimented on at the hands of Herta.
This book is beautifully written I liked how each chapter is written in the different women's perspective so after a very harrowing chapter we might get some light relief when moved on to a different point of view. Most of the story is set around the time of the first view years of the war when Hitler was invading countries and Germany was winning the war. The setting of Ravensbruck the only women camp of WW11 is a haunting and forgotten place. I had never heard of it before reading this book. This isn't an easy read the horrors of the camp, the evil that one human can enjoy watching another suffer is what makes WW11 a evil dark time in history.
I also applaud the author for writing a character from the other point of view, the character of Herta wasn't easy to read and being honest sometimes I had to put the book down after reading her chapters. I read her chapters wondering how she could be so hard and cruel she really did see these women as numbers with no feelings. I got annoyed at how she could be so blind to the Nazi propaganda. Yet I know this was how most Nazi felt the never questioning of there leader, his believes and values.
I liked how the book didn't end at the end of the war as these women's stories were not over yet. In Poland after Nazi rule the Poles still felt imprisoned as Stalin's communist rule took over and banned most things. There lives would never be as care free as before the war.
The Nazi's are forced to take responsibility for there horrific actions in the war as stories about concentration camps and gas chambers come to light.
In New York life has moved on but Caroline has heard about these so called "Rabbits" and she will not stop until she gets these women the help and justice they deserve.
It's hard to believe that these crimes happened and The Rabbits were real. I think that this is a book that should be read in history classes. I learned so much from this book not just the crimes of war, but how much people will help each other in times of need.
The Nazi's are forced to take responsibility for there horrific actions in the war as stories about concentration camps and gas chambers come to light.
In New York life has moved on but Caroline has heard about these so called "Rabbits" and she will not stop until she gets these women the help and justice they deserve.
It's hard to believe that these crimes happened and The Rabbits were real. I think that this is a book that should be read in history classes. I learned so much from this book not just the crimes of war, but how much people will help each other in times of need.
After The Lilac Girls I wanted a lighter read and went for this bio of Lindsey Buckingham's ex girlfriend Carol Ann. Now Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nick's are my favourite artists of all time so I will read ANYTHING about them! Carol Ann states this is her story but to be honest it isn't the reader doesn't get to know her very much. I know she was only 22 when she met Lindsey the amazing singer and guitarist in Fleetwood Mac, but by that time she had already had an abusive failed marriage behind her, put her daughter up for adoption and traveled all around Europe so to say she might be a bit of a character is an understatement but she doesn't tell us much of that. In fact there is only about one page about her daughter and two of her marriage and we never find out how, why or when she has been to all these wonderful countries before Fleetwood Mac!
She focuses on the first few years with Lindsey from 1976-1979 and to be honest I think by the time it got to 1982 and recording Fleetwood Mac's Mirage she and Lindsey where pretty much over. She didn't go to the recording of that album or on the tour.
She paints her time with the band as drug/drink crazy time which all Mac fans know is the truth but Carol Ann forgets that she had a well known drug problem herself! The little things she remembers she really couldn't because she was wasted for most of the time too!
I do think she adored Lindsey and for a part I think he loved her too, but she was much more into him than he was to her. She admitted for another book that he was still in love with Stevie for most of the time they where together. Yet in this book she says that he didn't care about breaking up with Stevie well sorry Carol but 'Go Your Own Way' 'Never Going Back Again' 'Not That Funny' 'The Ledge' and 'Can't Go Back' state other wise!
She does tread dangerous waters when she stated that Lindsey was physically abusive to her! While she states it is her story there aren't very many pictures of her in the book and the cover is a Fleetwood Mac picture! Why not a picture of herself and Lindsey on the cover?! Also all the titles of the chapters are either lyrics from Stevie Nick songs or Fleetwood Mac songs and the actual title of the book is a Stevie Nick's song from Tusk!
She paints Lindsey as hard to live with, a loner with abusive tendencies, Mick Fleetwood as womaniser, money loving, coke fiend (maybe she got him right) John McVie was her only true friend who thanked her for changing Lindsey's image (really I think John of all people wouldn't give a toss about what Lindsey wore) Christine is a hard drinking tom boy who blamed Carol Ann for sleeping with her man and Stevie Nicks is a jealous, air head, hippy dippy, who hates the ground Carol walks on! While Carol herself is the sweet girl next door, who doesn't drink or do drugs. Yet she doesn't tell the reader that some how after eight years in the inner circle of Fleetwood Mac, that she wrecked her car while driving on drugs, ended up on heroin (making a point here that none of the band members ever had a problem with heroin, coke was there drug of choice) and in the end Lindsey evicted her from his LA house due to her drug problem.
There is nothing new in this book none of the pictures are new or even a good quality!
All that being said I enjoyed reading this trashy tell all but read it all with large grain of salt!
What Oisìn has been reading this month
Oisìn has been enjoying this funny book about a Supertato who has to save the day
when a frozen pea gets out of the freezer to cause trouble!
What have you been reading this month
