#WordlessWednesday – Rose Chafer & friends #Nature #Photo
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Monthly Archives: June 2016
#Tuesdaybookblog #Audio #Bookreview The House on Cold Hill – Peter James #Suspense
The House on Cold Hill by Peter James
Audiobook Length 9 hours
Genre Suspense
Narrated by Nicholas Boulton
Blurb
Moving from the heart of Brighton and Hove to the Sussex countryside is a big undertaking for Ollie and Caro Harcourt and their twelve-year-old daughter Jade. But when they view Cold Hill House – a huge, dilapidated Georgian mansion – Ollie is filled with excitement. Despite the financial strain of the move, he has dreamed of living in the country since he was a child, and he sees Cold Hill House as a paradise for his animal-loving daughter, the perfect base for his web-design business and a terrific long-term investment. Caro is less certain, and Jade is grumpy about being separated from her friends.
Within days of moving in, it becomes apparent that the Harcourt family aren’t the only residents of the house. A friend of Jade’s is the first to see the spectral woman, standing behind her as the girls talk on FaceTime. Then there are more sightings, as well as increasingly disturbing occurrences in the house. As the haunting becomes more malevolent and the house itself begins to turn on the Harcourts, the terrified family discover Cold Hill House’s dark history, and the horrible truth of what it could mean for them . . .
My review
I loved Peter James’ suspense thrillers as a teenager and was delighted to see this book featured on a recent blog post by Shani Struthers along with an interview with the great man himself, Peter James. I’d been looking for a book to listen to on audio and thought, why not. My only concern was that I might be more of a wimp now than my teenage self was.
Apart from the rather gruesome start, the book wasn’t too terrifying. It had the right amount of tension and confusion to keep me hooked.
I listened to this book over the course of 2 days. I couldn’t stop myself, and I think I would have been the same if I had been reading the book. The short chapters make for a suspenseful read/listen.
My only faults with the book were that I didn’t feel particularly close to any of the characters and I guessed the end too soon. But that didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the book.
I recommend The House on Cold Hill to any ghost / horror / suspense readers out there, even if you are a bit of a coward like me!
I rate it 4 stars.
1 week until Visions of Zarua Blog Tour #fantasy #TuesdayBookBlog
I can’t believe there is only a week to go before my first ever blog tour. A big thanks to all the bloggers who have agreed to host me. Please check in and join us along the way, and don’t forget to share. Thank you!
Visions of Zarua Blog Tour 2016 Schedule (website links)
Mon 27th June betweenthelinesbookblog Promo Post
Tues 28th June rosieamber Review
Wed 29th June bookwraiths Indie Wednesday feature, Guest Post & Giveaway
Thurs 30th June aliasfaithrivens Review & Interview
Fri 1st July TheTattoedBookGeek Novel extract & Promo Post
Sat 2nd July teripolen Promo Post
Sun 3rd July alinefromabook Review & Promo Post
Mon 4th July barbedwords Review & Post about Varina and her favourite recipe
Tues 5th July baubtaub Review, Interview and Giveaway
Wed 6th July shelleywilson Promo post
Thurs 7th July jenanita01 Review
Fri 8th July spookymrsgreen Promo Post
Sat 9th July thehappymeerkatreviews Review & Promo Post
Sun 10th July color me in Cyanide and Cherry Review
Sun 10th July Lucciagray Q&A
#WordlessWednesday – Does this make your skin crawl? #photo
#Tuesdaybookblog #Bookreview Thief’s Magic – Trudi Canavan #Fantasy
Title – Thief’s Magic Book One of Millennium’s Rule
Author – Trudi Canavan
Genre – Fantasy
Length – 553
I featured this as my Fridaybookshare a couple of weeks ago.
Blurb
Sometimes magic lies within…
When the young student Tyen unearths an ancient book, it opens the door to a realm of mystery and danger. For it holds a clue to a disaster facing the world.
Elsewhere, in a land ruled by priests, Rielle has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she has a talent for it, and desperate times may force her to risk the Angels’s wrath.
But not everything is as Tyen and Rielle have been raised to believe. Not the nature of magic – and not even the people they trust.
First Thoughts
I loved the start of this book, a young wizard archaeologist discovering an ancient book that was forged from a living person. I couldn’t wait to read on.
Characters
Tyen – young wizard trying to do the right thing but caught up in events and used as a scapegoat. He is forced to flee everything he knows. Because of this, I felt he was too trusting of others he met along his journey.
Riselle – she is fated to be married off with little say. When she takes matters into her own hands, well more stumbles along into situations, she makes her plight worse. There was a lot of self reflection on her part, but in all I preferred reading her story and wanted things to turn out better for her.
Style
At first I was annoyed that we had followed one character for so long and then switched to a new VP. But I was instantly drawn into Riselle’s world and had the same annoyance when the story switched from her back to Tyen.
Summary
I really enjoyed the first half of the book, but the rest didn’t live up to the start. It was not the book I was hoping it would be. It’s hard to say why without spoilers.
Final thoughts
I can’t help feeling disappointed by this book. At the start I had such high hopes for a fast, actioned packed read, which is was in the beginning. Somewhere around 300 pages, I can’t pinpoint a particular place, my attention fizzled out and it was a struggle to finish the rest of the book. I think part of that rests with the problem that I came to dislike reading Tyen’s scenes – I couldn’t picture the magic flying carts, nor the magic battles he was involved in. The magic of his world is well thought out, but for me lacking something… I’m not sure that I want to carry on with the rest of this series.
Recommend to
I believe fans of Trudi Canavan will like this book.
Rate 3 out of 5 stars.
Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT THE SAPPHIRE LEGEND by @ELTenenbaum #Fantasy
My review last month for Rosie Amber’s book review team. #RBRT
Visions of Zarua Blog Tour starts 27th June #fantasy
The count down is on…
The Schedule is confirmed…
Please join us if you can.
Here’s the links for the bloggers involved. Check out their brilliant sites…
Visions of Zarua Blog Tour 2016 Schedule
Mon 27th June betweenthelinesbookblog Promo Post
Tues 28th June rosieamber Review
Wed 29th June bookwraiths Indie Wednesday feature, Guest Post & Giveaway
Thurs 30th June aliasfaithrivens Review & Interview
Fri 1st July TheTattoedBookGeek Novel extract & Promo Post
Sat 2nd July teripolen Promo Post
Sun 3rd July alinefromabook Review & Promo Post
Mon 4th July barbedwords Review & Post about Varina and her favourite recipe
Tues 5th July baubtaub Review, Interview and Giveaway
Wed 6th July shelleywilson Promo post
Thurs 7th July jenanita01 Review
Fri 8th July spookymrsgreen Promo Post
Sat 9th July thehappymeerkatreviews Review & Promo Post
Sun 10th July color me in Cyanide and Cherry Review
Sun 10th July Lucciagray Q&A
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If you fancy checking out Visions of Zarua before the blog tour begins, please see the reviews already on Amazon UK and Amazon US and Goodreads.
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#Weekendwanderings Whitecliff Bay – Isle of Wight
We spent a wonderful summer break last year at Whitecliff Bay. It was late August and the weather was lovely. The sea was even warm enough for the kids to swim in. As I’m preparing to send my son off to the Isle of Wight for his PGL school trip, I thought I’d go for a little weekend wander around the beautiful island.
White Cliff Bay
One of my favourite places on the Isle of Wight is Shanklin Chine. This gorgeous ravine has been open to the public since 1817. It has a drop to sea level of 105ft. It’s an inspiring place to visit and I plan to use the location in at least one of my future books.
The Chine leads you down to a beautiful beach.
I was able to capture a couple of good shots of a local buzzard.
Finally, some beach art and a gull.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this weekend wander.
#Wordlesswednesday – A few #macro #photos with my new phone
#Audio #Bookreview The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins #thriller
This is my second attempt at audio books and I’m happy to say that I did enjoy this experience a lot more. Now the book is finished I find myself missing the times I would put it on whilst cooking the dinner, loading the dishwasher etc.
Title – The Girl on the Train
Author – Paula Hawkins
Book Type – Audio
Genre – Psychological thriller
Length – 11 hours
Narrated by Clare Corbett, India Fisher, Louise Brealey.
Blurb
Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.
Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.
Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…
First Thoughts
At first it felt to me as if the story was told in diary form and I wasn’t sure I would get into it. However, I soon found the first person narrative compelled me to keep listening.
Characters
The three narrators voices were well suited to the characters and brought them to life. I soon began to understand that each of the characters were unreliable. They’ve all done things that make they hard to like, yet I still found myself enjoying the story and wanting to unravel the mess these women had gotten into.
Style
It is told in first person from the three different characters points of view. It also switches back in time to a year before this book starts – but the timeline and character VP are always explained at the start of each new section so you don’t feel lost at any point. Switching VP’s made for a compelling read / listen.
Final Thoughts
I had not listened to the hype around this book, nor did I know what it was about when I started listening to it. I did guess the outcome quite early on, but there were plenty of red herrings to keep me wondering if I had made the right guess. I was glad to be proved right and I didn’t feel cheated by the conclusion.
I really miss listening to the story – I think I have the audio book bug!
Recommend to those who enjoy psychological thrillers.
My rating – 4 stars
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What do you think of the book and all the hype?
Are you looking forward to the film coming out later this year? I am. I think Emily Blunt will make the perfect Rachel Watson. I don’t know why it had to be relocated to America though.
Suzanne Rogerson Fantasy Author 