The Queen of Wishful Thinking

Book Review:  The Queen of Wishful Thinking by Milly Johnson

I loved the first Johnson book I read, Afternoon Tea at the Sunflower Cafe, and I was keen when I saw this book offered on Net Galley.

Our female lead character is Bonnie. Bonnie has had a hard few years and personal dramas have taken their toll, meaning she tolerates her husband’s, Stephen, deplorable behaviour. Stephen is an OCD tight-fisted manipulative character who has no redeeming qualities.

Bonnie’s boss doesn’t help matters. She works in an antique store which was once owned by her father and his partner. The two old men have both passed away, and Bonnie’s circumstances have meant her father’s partner’s son has taken over the business. He treats Bonnie like a low class citizen and shows her zero respect.

I don’t think it’s any big spoiler to say that Bonnie soon leaves and takes up a job with a rival antiques store, one owned by Lew.

Lew has had a couple of his own tragedies of late. Lew’s marriage is shadowed by the tragedy of his wife’s, Charlotte, miscarriage. He is also lucky to be alive after suffering a heart attack. The heart attack became a wake up call for him. He resigned from his well paid banking job in the city and bought a village antique shop.

Johnson has a gift for making even the most mundane occupations seem exciting. In Afternoon Tea… it was cleaning, this time we get a glimpse into the antique business. I suppose it might be that Australia has far less antiques to peddle and therefore, I’m quite clueless, but I was surprised and quite fascinated by the way these shops work and enjoyed all the scenes set there. There is a huge cast of supporting characters at the shop and they add a bit of colour and fun to the book (The Leo the lion story is so mad, I assume it’s true.)

There is less fun with the main storylines of Lew and Bonnie.

Stephen was so creepy that at times I thought I was reading a psychological thriller. And not only is Lew’s wife horrid, I would run a mile from his entire friend group!

There are a few topical issues the book touches on such as domestic violence, depression and mental health. There is also a focus on assisted suicide which is an understandably touchy subject. Johnson manages to weave them all into the story seamlessly and quite respectfully.

Lew is a lovely character. I adored him. Bonnie was also nice enough but I must say that the title of the book didn’t suit her at all. I got rather frustrated by her intense pessimism in fact. Perhaps a better title would be Negative Nelly.

This book has a lot of traits I adored in Afternoon Tea… Despite being around 500 pages long, it was a fast easy read; for the most the characters were ordinary people who you could imagine live down the road; the setting was cute and typically English; the characters too were very English; and I appreciate the fact they were older.

The book lost me a little by concentrating perhaps too much on the breakdown of Bonnie and Lew’s respective marriages. Yes, it needed to be explained and we needed to believe they were both doing the right thing by leaving their spouses, but I would have liked a bit less of Stephen and Charlotte and more of Lew and Bonnie.

4 out of 5

Ruth’s First Christmas Tree

Book Review:  Ruth’s First Christmas Tree by Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway #4.5)

I have a love/hate relationship with novellas, especially ones with Christmas settings. I love the thought of them and I love the fact I can finish them in one sitting but contrarily I hate their brevity.

Usually I find I can’t connect with the characters but this time the characters are ones who are already established and ones I already adore after reading the first four books in the Ruth Galloway series. However, if you don’t know the characters, or love them as I do, I’m not sure this novella would be worth your while.

There is a tiny mystery, but wouldn’t class it as entertaining (sorry Elly) and due to the ambiguous ending the plot involving the two lead characters did not move forward in any way.

There is the typical humour of the other books, and that was probably my favourite part of this novella. If you enjoy this humour, it will be a good indication you will enjoy the other books in the series. There is also a couple of sweet moments near the end but I am still cranky about the abrupt ending.

All in all, I’d recommend you include it if you read the series (it’s free after all, so no biggie).

4 out of 5 (on my novella scale)

A Room Full of Bones

Book Review:  A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway #4)

Griffiths is killing me.

This is the fourth in the Ruth Galloway series, a series which I have come to love.

A Room Full of Bones is probably the strongest in the series thus far when it comes to the mystery plot.  It introduces quite a lot of interesting crime/mystery aspects, all seemingly unrelated until Griffiths quite cleverly weaves them together.

Ruth is asked to attend the opening of a recently discovered Bishop’s coffin. When she gets to the museum holding the event, however, she finds the curator dead by the coffin. Although on the face of it his death is by natural causes, Nelson and Ruth have their suspicions.

The curator was a drug dealer and a group demanding the return of the remains of Indigenous Australians, taken be force to England in Victorian times, for proper burials could also be involved.

As an Australian, I found some of this plot great but was a little perplexed about the ignorance of the modern day English characters. Do they really not know it’s Uluru instead of Ayers Rock? Or what a clapping stick or Didgeridoo is? I did laugh about Ruth’s knowledge coming from Neighbours though.

As I said, I liked the way the mystery plot came together and thought it was very well done (I especially thought the reveal of the Bishop and the way the drugs were being smuggled into the country were very clever) but I just found the lack of Nelson and Ruth investigating sad.

Yes, instead of Nelson and Ruth being on the job, the book had a lot of focus of the owners of the museum, the Smith family. Many many scenes were written from their point of view. I’m not saying they were boring, I’m just saying I would have rathered reading these things from Nelson or Ruth’s point of view.

DS Judy Johnston and Cathbad again play a major part in the book. In fact, when we weren’t reading about the crime/mystery from one of the Smiths, it was Judy who was investigating. Nelson played a much smaller role when it came to carrying out actual police work. *sniff*

I will admit I’m reading these books for the soap opera like relationship of the main characters above all else. And although I will stress that the focus is much more on the mystery in this book than the other three, Griffiths still blessed us with some romantic moments.

Max, a fellow archaeologist who featured in book two, The Janus Stone, turns back up in Ruth’s life in A Room Full of Bones. Ruth makes the decision that she will pursue a relationship with Max and vows to cease thinking about Nelson. I loved the way Griffiths wrote this. It was hilarious.

As she has done in the other three books, Griffiths also left us on a cliffhanger at the end of the book regarding the Ruth/Nelson relationship. And of course I need to rush out and start the next book because of this. As I said, Griffiths is killing me.

5 out of 5

PS I’ve mentioned that Griffiths’ writing is not always perfect.  This time the ‘poisonous snake’ references grated.  It’s venomous, Elly, venomous.  Grrrr.

The Sunday Girl

Book Review:  The Sunday Girl by Pip Drysdale

I think Aussie author Pip Drysdale will have a long and successful career if her subsequent novels are as good as this debut.

Sunday Girl is an addictive psychological thriller along the lines of Girl on the Train. Written in the first person point of view of our female lead, Taylor, it starts off with the usual woman scorned seeking revenge plot.

Taylor has just left her boyfriend, Angus, after learning he has gone on a skiing holiday with his ex-girlfriend. It’s soon revealed that Taylor knows not only Angus’s email password but how to break into his flat without being detected on the building’s security cameras and his work credit card details.

Taylor’s plan to wreak havoc is foiled when Angus returns from his holiday and begs forgiveness. It’s here that the tension starts to build as Angus gains the upper hand when it comes to playing confidence tricks and mind games.

I flew through the second half of the book, eager to find out how Taylor was going to sort herself out of the mess of an abusive relationship she soon finds herself in with Angus.

Instead of the big shock twist, Drysdale just keeps the tension on one blood pumping level. She has a knack of making even the most mundane moments feel frightening. From a parrot squawking to a yellow ribbon, you just know, as you read, that these small things will be dangerous.

I took a half a star off for the ending though. After such a thrill of a ride up to this point, I think I was expecting more.

The book’s short chapters along with Drysdale’s writing style make it an easy read. It also had a very modern feel to it. The technology felt contemporary and fresh without being forced. The characters too acted their age and their dialogue seemed spot on.

The other half star came off as there seemed to be some characters and situations introduced into the book for no reason. I’m unsure if this was an editing issue, but I just felt that some things were initially an integral part of the plot until they were not fully explained or used by the last page.

Maybe Drysdale is thinking of a sequel? I must note, however, that I doubt most people would notice or care.

Anyway, the book is still a strong 4 out of 5 and I’d recommend grabbing a copy.

 

The House at Sea’s End

Book Review:  The House at Sea’s End by Elly Griffiths (Ruth Galloway #3)

Number three in the series and I’m still in love with the Ruth Galloway books.

In this installment (which, I guess, could be read as a stand alone), Ruth continues to be a strong independent character. 

Her baby is around the four month mark, and she is tying not to let the fact she is now a mother rule her every waking moment.  But, like all women, she’ll need to work out how to juggle a baby and a career, and do so without being bitten by the guilt bug. Griffiths writes these scenes so well I’m going to assume she has had some experience in this department!

Six bodies are found near a cliff in Norfolk.  DCI Nelson once again consults archaeologist Ruth and her expert opinion soon claims the bodies were killed during WW2.  

The murder storyline was much better than the last book (Janus Stone), I thought.  Its plot was completely different from the other two books and it was a nice change up.  I enjoy anything written about England during WW2, so this was right up my alley.

But let’s face it, the murder/mystery part of the plot is really only a secondary concern.  I’m absolutely addicted to the soap opera of Ruth and Harry’s relationship.   My ethical and principled self says it’s all kinds of wrong; my frivolous romantic side says they need to just get together.

The series’ usual supporting characters again make an appearance.  Two of my favourites, Cathbard and DC Judy Johnston, make some very questionable personal decisions this time around which adds to the soap opera drama.  I loved it! I can’t wait to see where Griffiths takes them next.

Talking of not being able to wait, Griffiths drops yet another bombshell at the end of the book. My jaw literally fell to the floor again, meaning I’ve already snapped up book number four. Damn this girl knows how to do cliffhangers.

Griffiths also describes scenery well and makes the setting an additional atmospheric character. In the last books, it was the salt marsh where Ruth lives that took centre stage. This time, much of the action happens on or around the Norfolk coastline and cliffs.

However, as I’ve mentioned in my reviews for book one and two, Griffiths’ writing is anything but perfect. She continues to repeat herself (will we *ever* stop hearing about Erik?), quite often the characters’ inner thoughts are just plain ridiculous, and I can probably play a card of trope bingo whilst reading. And I don’t care.

As I said, I’m in love with this series and now thoroughly addicted.

5 out of 5

 

The Perfect Rake

Book Review:  The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie (Merridew Sisters #1)

One advantage of being a member of a Goodreads group is that you’re encouraged to pick up books you would never have bothered with otherwise. I read The Perfect Rake as part of an October challenge.  I’d never heard of the book or the author. (The second part of this is surprising as Gracie is apparently Australian and usually I am at least aware of most published Australian writers.) Nor do I find the cover inspiring, so the odds of me reading it if flying solo were low.  Hence I have my Goodreads group to thank for any enjoyment I achieved!

It fell into the ‘fake engagement/fiance/husband’ category for the challenge. It’s a trope that just never gets old.

The book started slowly. Gracie showed some details of the life Prudence and her four sisters were leading under their grandfather’s roof. I suppose these scenes were necessary to display his abusive nature and Prudence’s later desperation but, at times, I found them a little strange. Thankfully the tone changed considerably once the hero, Gideon, was introduced.

Prudence had managed to come up with a plan to flee their grandfather but it fell apart a little until she invented a fake finance. In a very funny meet cute, Gideon decides to play the role — and he does so admirably.

His and Prudence’s banter is golden, and their instant attraction and chemistry is quite believable. (I liked the running joke of Gideon not noticing the beauty of the other sisters.) If the book continued like this throughout, I would have rated it 5 out of 5.

The tone changed again, however, around the halfway mark. Gracie brought in a lot more darkness to the book and I obviously preferred the earlier lighthearted tone/banter scenes. She also introduced a couple more conflicts into the plot.  I thought there was already enough conflict and it really didn’t work for me.

Another gripe was the corny 70s territory Gracie crossed into now and then with Gideon’s past lovelife/reputation as a rake. (It was the usual, he only bedded women who knew the score and wanted a frivolous bit of sex without the seriousness of a relationship and no one ever got hurt and blah blah blah. Ack.)

I also think she fell into some sort of trap when she included the sex scene. Yes, I usually crave a sex scene, especially ones which are written well (this one was) but I didn’t think it fit into the timeline of the book quite right. (Yes, perhaps that’s the problem. I didn’t mind the idea of a sex scene but it was to me ill timed and therefore, superfluous.)

There were a few bright moments in the second half of the book. Most of the jokes surrounding the character of Phillip, for example, were a hoot.

Overall too, I really enjoyed Gracie’s writing. I often notice inconsistencies when it comes to the historical aspect of these types of books, but I couldn’t find fault with Gracie’s word choices. She seems to have done quite a bit of research, in fact.

And I think I will probably give the other books in the series a go.

I’m teetering between a 3 ½ and a 4 out of 5 for this, the first of the series. Actually 3 and 3/4 sounds ridiculous but somehow almost perfect in my mind! LOL

 

 

Greatest Hits

Book Review:  Greatest Hits by Laura Barnett

Mmm… Not for the first time, I’m torn about how to review a book. This one was beautifully written. Barnett’s style is gorgeous and she’s obviously really talented when it comes to descriptive prose. However, when it comes to the plot…

I know this sounds harsh, but I just didn’t get the point of the plot: a fictional singer coping with fictional situations and life crises. Why? There’s a plethora of books written by or about real life singers coping with their real life situations and crises. Why not read them?

To pull off a plot like this, I think there needed to be more than what Barnett gave us. Cass, our singing heroine, has the typical personal relationships: a horrible mother, an ill father, an alcohol and drug dependent husband. We get to read about her tours and stage appearances, where she suffers from nerves, and how she writes deeply personal songs from her heart. There’s also the obligatory mental breakdown.

This might all work on the screen when you have the likes of Bette Midler belting out a song about a rose but in this case I felt there was nothing new or exciting about the plot. I didn’t cry. I didn’t cheer on any of the characters. I didn’t desperately want anyone to hook up romantically. I pretty much skimmed through the last 30% of the book.

Along with Cass’s family members, there’s a lot of supporting characters who flit in and out of the book. I mean, a lot. And I have to admit I didn’t even try to remember who was who and what part they played in Cass’s life after a while.

The lyrics of Cass’s songs feature at the beginning of each chapter. I remember a writing friend telling me once that songs never work in novels. I think she was right.

In a move to make the book stand out, Barnett (and her publishers I assume) enlisted the help of Kathryn Williams to produce a ‘Greatest Hits Soundtrack’ bringing to life the songs featured throughout the book. I did find this ‘soundtrack’ and listened but it still didn’t increase my enjoyment of the book. In fact, I think the opposite happened. Part of the pleasure of a book is using your imagination and Barnett and Williams even stole that away. The fictional songs become real songs sung by a real person who didn’t sound like I wanted the fictional person to sound like. I just… This felt like some sort of trendy meta thing that, on the whole, annoyed me.

Barnett obviously based Cass on a mixture of singers likes Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks and Joni Mitchell. I would recommend finding one of their biographies and/or their published song lyrics.

2 1/2 out of 5