June was an incredible reading month for me. I read 7 books. That's more than I've read in a month for a very long time. Here's hoping I catch up soon so that I can smash my Goodreads challenge. As usual, I've split this into 2 parts so that it isn't horrendously long.
Room by Emma Donoghue - 1/5
I had heard so many good things about this book that I was excited to dive in. Unfortunately, for me, it just did not live up to the hype. Room is told entirely from Jacks POV. Reading a whole book in a 5-year-olds voice is hard going. It’s made even harder when half of the time Jack sounds like a 3-year-old and the other half an old man. It just did not work. A lot of the book was so boring to read as well. There are only so many times you can read an inane description of room and the various items in it.
I found a lot of the book boring and the rest of it just unbelievable. Even with the unbelievable parts, there was never any real suspense or excitement. I’ve heard the film was better though so I’m going to give that a go and report back.
14-year-old Ricky is trying to cope with her parent's divorce and her sister leaving for college when she is diagnosed with a life-changing chronic illness. She’s drowning in fear, anger and a hell of a lot of pain. With the threat of having to repeat the ninth grade, she starts to realise that maybe she can do this and maybe she doesn’t have to do it alone.
YA is not my usual kind of book but as someone with a chronic illness, I had to give it a read. I am all about having more Chronic illness/disability representation out there especially more stories that don’t revolve around that person being cured because that isn’t real life.
I actually really enjoyed this book and I thought it portrayed being a teenager with a chronic illness really well. It showed how difficult everyday things such as getting up and dressed can be as well as how hard we have to fight for accommodations and decent health care. I loved that there was more to the story though. Her illness was just part of her life and she was still a "normal teen" with an interesting plot.
I found some parts hard to read having been there myself but it was so great getting to see Ricky grow and adapt. I think this is such a great book for any young people struggling with their diagnosis. It shows that it’s okay to ask for help and that it can get better.
Dead Souls by Angela Marsons - #6 Kim Stone - 5/5
Holy shit this book. It took me a little bit to get into this mainly because I don’t like change. I think I struggled with Kim Stone working with a different team as much as she did. However, I was soon gripped and could not put it down. This is definitely an uncomfortable read at times as it looks at racism and hate crimes but it is written so well.
I love the fact that we get to know the secondary characters as much as the main one and seeing all their personalities and their characters develop is one of my favourite things about this series. As with the rest of this series, Dead Souls is a fast-paced, thrilling read that I could not put down. I felt emotional reading the disturbing crimes, especially knowing that this is something that people face every day for something they have no control over.
Kim Stone is absolutely one of my favourite detectives and this series just gets better with every book. If you haven’t read any of them yet I urge you to pick them up asap.
The Fallen by Michael Wood - #0.5 DCI Matilda Darke - 5/5
An ex soap star is found murdered in his home. At first glance it looks like a break in gone wrong, but nothing was taken. DCI Matilda Darke is ready and excited to prove that her newly formed Murder Investigation Team are up to the challenge.
I’m not normally a short story person but 1) I adore the Matilda Darke series and 2) I needed something quick to read whilst I got my tattoo. Even though this short story is only 85 pages long I didn’t feel like it was lacking anything. It’s got the pace and the detail and it kept me engaged throughout and it even had a great twist.
It was so nice getting to see Matilda happy and content although it was a little bit heartbreaking to read knowing what was coming. I love that so many events and people from the future books were foreshadowed or popped up as well. It was great getting to see how the MIT formed and getting to know a bit more about all of my favourite characters.
If you are looking for a new series then this is another one that I highly recommend. I need more Matilda Darke asap.
What have you been reading?
How are you getting on with your reading challenge?
Beth...x
* This book was gifted via NetGalley by the publisher in exchange for an honest review, however, it does not affect my views and the opinions expressed in this post are independent and my own
** This post contains affiliate links. These do not cost you anything but if you buy something from the link I will get a few pennies.
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