Redirecting you

Ok so, yeah, I've been playing around with this idea for a while, but the email for this blog has been acting up for a long time, so I'm redirecting you to my new book blog which will be me doing the same with a different format a bit easier to understand and all that jazz. If you want to follow me over, then please do, if not, then you don't have to :)

The site is http://ashersreviews.blogspot.com/ and as of yet I have no reviews. But I am starting with a review of Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, so if you would like to follow me over there, I'd be extremely grateful :)

Thanks for reading guys! x

Review 20- Don't Tell

Author: Karen Rose

Blurb: Don't Look

Desperate Mary Grace Winters knew the only way to save herself and her child from her abusive husband was to stage their deaths. Now all that remains of her former life is at the bottom of a lake.

Don't trust

As Caroline Stewart, Mary Grace has almost forgotten the nightmare she left behind nine years ago. Slowly she has learned to believe that her new life, and new identity, is here to stay.

Don't Tell

Then her husband uncovers her hidden trail. Step by step, he's closing in on her and everyone she loves. Now Caroline must decide whether to flee again or whether the time has come to stay and fight...

My review:

First off, this is a book with crazy serious subjects, and it's definitely a shocking book. If you can deal with it, it's an amazing book, if not, you don't want to read it. I read a book of hers which I've reviewed before and when reading it I hadn't realised that it was mid series of novels that linked through characters. So when picking up this one, I slowly came to realise that when Evie spoke about the man who almost killed her, I came to realise that this was explaining that story.

This book, like the other I've read from her, switches point of view to give you a full view of everything going on, you see the criminal & what he does, you see Caroline (the main character & victim) rebuilding her life, and you see all the other bits in between from so many other characters. It surprisingly isn't that hard to follow, you know who's talking, when we've changed setting and all that.

The plot is complex but not confusing, and it's (unfortunately in some parts) believable. You can break it down into three main plots. One, Caroline Stewart having turned her life around & finding love for the first time. Two, the police finding her car that she ran into a lake when she was running away, and investigating what exactly happened. Three, her husband's realisation that she ran away with his son, and his desperation to get his son back & get revenge on his wife. So it chops & changes trying to get the audience to go through each journey & find out what has happened while wondering when the other characters will realise what they already know.

The characters are extremely well developed and you can see the journeys they go through. Because there are so many I'll chose five to talk about. Caroline Stewart/Mary Grace Winters, Rob Winters, Tom Stewart/Robbie Winters, Max Hunter & Steven Thatcher.

Caroline is an amazing character. You see her determination throughout the novel, which (once you read the prologue) you know can't be easy. She will do anything to try and keep herself & her son safe. You can read that in her character and you can see that she's also hiding from who she was. Can't blame her really.

Rob Winters you can't have any sympathy for. He's a hideous character because of what he does, which is job (being part of the police force), you dislike it more. You get snippets from his past to indicate that he was brought up to be like this, so it's sad, but the anger & hate for him makes you forget about that. He isn't given any reason for you to like him as a character so you don't.

Tom Stewart/Robbie Winters is one of the best characters in this book in my opinion. He's fourteen but because of what he's been through, he seems a lot older. And you can see the reasons behind it so it's not something that you think shouldn't fit with his character. It's not like he's just mature for no reason, you know he's gone through a lot and you can see slowly how it's shaped him, made him guarded.

Max Hunter is at one point named as a "pompous, ungrateful, self-pitying sonofabitch" which makes me happy. In no way is he perfect, though he has aspects of perfection, you can also see his flaws, and that's comforting. Though you see him coming in on a white horse, you also see him as a human, with his faults and his pride and all the problems he has. You don't just see his faults, you see why he has the faults and what happened to lead him to where he is now. It's so refreshing to see all the reasons behind it.

And finally Steven Thatcher. He's the guy trying to find out what happened to Mary Grace Winters & her son. You see his family & you see him as a person first before you see him as an officer. You don't see that often so I really liked seeing this officer's backstory when he's not a full time main character.

Overall? If you like crime novels, Karen Rose is a must read author. I never get tired of her characters, her worlds, and the detail she goes into. In truth? Nothing massively exciting and proper happens until about 100 pages from the end, but the tension that she builds as you read the book and see one character realise something, then the next until things are too late is amazing.

Overall Rating- 8 out of 10

Would I read another- Definitely

Anything else- I'm starting to put the names of authors as well as blurbs up so if you like this please tell me and I'll continue to do it, if not tell me again and I'll switch it back.

Thanks for reading guys x.

Review 19- Bluebell Cottage

When I bought this book, I have to admit I kinda bought it out of pity. The author was there and I picked it up to read the back out of interest, and we talked a bit and it seemed like no one had bought one since she'd been there. So I got it signed and bought it. And after reading it, I have a few problems with it.

My main problem is the audience it's aimed at. It's in the 9-12 years old section. The main character is mid 30s, so I think it's hard to connect with her because of the age. Near the start there's a talk about her dead daughter, and near the end there's quite a strong conversation about relationship and such. It's not just a simple fairy war like I thought it would be, and it focused a lot more on the relationship between two characters which brings me onto my second main problem.

The author continuously talks about Twilight, for a few pages. It really annoyed me. Then you continue with it and you notice some similarities between the series and this book. Firstly, the two guys after her (I know that love triangles are common, but there's just this thing where there's the friend and then there's the incredibly hot guy who gives the friend no chance of getting the girl), second she actually leaves to protect him, which is role reversal from Twilight, but you get my drift. Oh, and the main character? Complete klutz. It was things like that which annoyed me, because obviously when she tells you about Twilight once or twice you start to see the similarities because there's this idea 'oh this is a good book that I love so I'm going to talk about it in my book' you know? I wanted to hear the author's voice, but I only got her admiration for that series.

I'm not going to go into anything else because I don't want to remember it because I'll just moan about it. To be honest the characters weren't too bad, they just seemed really similar to obvious characters.

Overall Rating- 3.5 out of 10 (that's being generous)

Would I read anything else by this author- No, definitely not.

Anything else- Usually I don't do this, but if you're thinking about reading this, just don't, I'm sorry it's not great.

Thanks for reading guys! x

Review 18- City of Ashes

So, wow, because this is the second book in the series I'm putting out a bigger warning than usual to say that it may have spoilers for the first one, if you have read the first one then I won't say don't read it. If you haven't picked up the first one i would because it is (so far) an extremely good series, I will try to lay off spoilers, but they may be dotted in there.

So first of all I want to say how well developed the characters are, seriously, you can feel their dynamics, and sometimes you want to scream at the characters because of what they do or say or any of that. They work, and she makes them constant. I'm gonna talk about them separately than as groups what I think of them, and I'll be truthful about them.

Clary, I sometimes find her quite a weak character. Not always. She seems to have bursts of bravery, but, I don't know, sometimes she does seem like a lost little girl in the middle of an unknown theme park. I like the fact that she does yell sometimes, and will stand up for what she believes in, you can see she has the teen spirit. I think because she's confused, about what's going on in her life, who she loves, what's happened to her mother, who her father is, she doesn't know what to do, which I guess makes it obvious as to why she sometimes seems like a lost little girl. I don't know, I definitely think she was stronger as a character in book one, is that because now we've seen the world of the Shadowhunters in more detail and the other characters are so strong, maybe that's why I see her as such a much more weak character.

Then there's Jace. I don't know what to think about Jace either, I like him, but at the same time I find him arrogant and annoying, and yeah, sometimes I want to scream at him or punch him. He's a very dynamic character, you can see why he's the way he is, you can understand why he does the things he does, even if we don't like him. It seems as if he's almost given up on everyone around him, like he doesn't see the point in pretending for people. I like that because he's not perfect. You see him dealing with this conflict inside & in parts of this book, you do see him give up, which is refreshing to see from a strong character.

Simon is a sweetheart, he's one of my favourite characters because he seems like just a nice guy. I felt really sad near the end of the book when something happens that I won't say because of spoilers, one of the only times if I'm being honest. I do think he's a good character, and I think that in this book he has the biggest character development of all the characters through this book, which is nice to see, because you kinda feel like he's just been dragged along. It was nice to see that he got some development.

Luke is the perfect father figure. I think he's brilliant, though he obviously has his own problems, he looks like an amazing leader & like he'll protect people he cares for in any way possible.

A pairing that I love (THIS DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS YOU'VE BEEN WARNED) is Magnus & Alec, I think they're kinda adorable. When they fight when Jace blurts out he knows, it's hilarious how Magnus acts when Alec tries to deny it. Just such a cute little pairing. They're completely amazing. (END OF SPOILER)

There are some seriously hilarious parts in the book. In the court of the fairies, where they are bickering about who's got to kiss who, was my favourite part by far. It was just so funny.

I hated the cliffhanger at the end though. I wanted to scream, especially since I can't get the next one for a while.

Overall Rating- 8.5 out of 10

Would I read anything else by this author- Yes definitely I need the next book!

Anything else- Nope.

Thanks for reading guys! x