MellowDrama

  The Cousins by Karen Mc Manus is delightful, young, involves a mystery and is a very very readable book. Read on to find why I found it "very very readable". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BLURB The Storys are the envy of their neighbours: owners of the largest property on their East Coast island, they are rich, beautiful, and close. Until it all falls apart. The four children are suddenly dropped by their mother with a single sentence: You know what you did. They never hear from her again. Years later, when 18-year-old cousins Aubrey, Milly and Jonah Story receive a mysterious invitation to spend the summer at their grandmother's resort, they have no choice but to follow their curiosity and meet the woman who's been such an enigma their entire lives. This entire family is built on secrets, right? It's the Story legacy. This summer, the teenagers are determined to discover the truth at the heart of their family. B

First Date by Sue Watson is an extremely interesting and readable psychological thriller. The book releases today and I can't stress enough that if you are a reader with a special place in yo ur  heart for mystery/ thrillers, you must get to it ASAP.  Book Blurb First Date is the story of Hannah who has  done everything to make sure her life is safe and secure. A long way from her unstable childhood growing up in foster care, she’s content with her sweet, little, messy apartment and her satisfying job as a social worker. She quietly worries that, aged 36, she might never fall in love. But otherwise her life is where she wants it to be. Until, encouraged by her best friend to join a dating app, she meets  Alex  who is  irresistibly handsome, loves the same music as her and the same food as well. Both of them would love to own a Labrador one day. It’s like he’s made for her.  It’s like he’s too good to be true. Hannah’s friends aren’t so sure about him. But Hannah thinks he’s perfect

For the first time in my life I was devastated by the feeling of being left out. It happened when the usual suspects from Dave's The Write Reads Blogtours opted to read and review The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and  I did not. Then when the reviews began to pour in and I read them, I wrote back to Dave asking to be let in. And to his credit he sent me the ARC link. As luck would have it, the link didn't work and thinking that maybe me and this book weren't meant to be, I yet again told Dave that I won't be able to participate in the blog tour. And then again one fine day, the link to an ARC landed in my mail box. Going through a pretty nasty phase I wasn't sure if I could finish it off or would now even like to read the book but as soon as I started The Inheritance Games, I fell for it, hook, line and sinker. Ms Barnes please take a bow for  writing the most readable book I have come across so far in 2020. The book is about a girl Avery Kimberley Grea

  It happens very rarely, if ever, that you just hear one praise after the other from the members of your book reviewing community.  It happened with me for the very book that I am going to be reviewing here: (though not given to the use of adjectives much, I break the rules and.....) the hilarious, the fabulous, the must-read, the heart warming, the amazing.....DRUM ROLL.... THE BEAST AND THE BETHANY.  The book targeted for  middle grade readers  has been written by Jack Meggitt-Phillip and illustrated by Isabelle Follath. What a team have they made to bring us this delightful book! I read it with both my kids-the12 year-old and the 5 year-old and we had some hilarious times. Let me start by giving you the blurb from Goodreads.  511 years. How, you may wonder? Ebenezer simply has to feed the beast in the attic of his mansion. In return for meals of performing monkeys, statues of Winston Churchill, and the occasional cactus, Ebenezer gets potions that keep him young and beautiful, as w

After All I've Done by Mina Hardy is the story of three people Sean, Valerie and Diana. Diana and Valerie have known each other all their lives and promised to look after each other all through their lives.  As the story starts we find that Diana has met with an accident and is recovering. She has lost some of her memories and she seems to be losing her mind altogether. Her husband is having an affair with her best friend and we are told that it might be possible that Diana has herself put Valerie to this task. While everything is happening, Diana's mother-in-law Harriet is by her side all the time, even annoyingly so, at times. The twisted story is engrossing where you can not instantly make out what is real and what might just be a figment of Diana's imagination. The writing flows as we get to hear the story from Diana's and Valerie's perspective. The ending did not sit well with me and was totally unexpected though I could after a certain point in the book see wh

I had been hearing the name of this particular author here, there and everywhere- BP Walter and always good things about his books, so when I was given the opportunity to read his latest offering I grabbed it. And I am happy to report that the book didn't disappoint. Hold Your Breath is the story of Katherine Marchland, told from her perspective, as a 10 year old in a recently released book. The incidents relate to. a particularly difficult time that the Marchland family is going through owing to her mother's illness of a peculiar nature. Walter writes a gripping tale of what goes on in the life of the 10 year old whose childhood and life  are taken over by her family's circumstances. She sees and hears things which no little one should and that leaves a permanent scar on her psyche. The narration is solid and alternates between the year of the happenings that is 1987 and the current time where Kitty has been called in by the police regarding a death that took place at the

The Ship of Shadows by Maria Kuzniar is a fantasy book which has recently released. Not only that it is a fantasy inhabited by an all female pirate crew and that is what makes it all the more thrilling and fun, an adventure to be on! Before anything else on the book, here is a big thank you to the author, publishers at Puffin Books and my blog host Dave of The Write Reads for my eARC.  As usual let us begin with the cover. I am in love with these bright colours that and the image of the ship visible from a window as if in a distant dream. And that is almost exactly how we plunge into the Aleja's story. Aleja's heart thirsts for adventure but the only thing that is proving to be a hurdle in her setting off on a journey at high seas is the fact that she is a girl. Aleja is an interesting character who steals away at night to visit the library or just climb and jump across the walls of her city located near the Spanish harbour. But when the fabled vessel called The Ship of Shadows

The Knightmare Arcanist by Shami Stovall is indeed one of its kind. The brief on the first book in this fantasy series sounded so good, that I, who barely ever reads anything other than crime and thrillers was hooked. Before we go any further, here is a big thank you to the author, the publishers and Dave at The Write Reads for giving me spot on the blog train. So, let us start with the cover. Have you seen anything more firebrand, anything more fantastic than the art on this cover?! It is absolutely brilliant and I believe world-class! Knightmare Arcanist is the story of a grave digger Volke Savan who yearns to be more than what the society has chosen for him. He wants to emulate his hero Gregory Ruma whose life it seems is stuff of stories and legends. But before he can go on, on his personal adventures, Savan must become an arcanist- someone who can wield magic-  and for that he needs  to connect with a mythical creature. And he won't let anything stop him even if he has to pair

A smart, funny and insightful book- Rage against the Minivan is this and more. I am a mother of two and was looking for people like me- whose homes are a mess and their lives even messier, filled with immense love and guilt thanks to their kids- when I came across Kristen Howerton's account on Instagram. I began to follow her there and.knew that I wasn't alone in feeling like a pendulum as far as my kids were concerned- loving them in an instant and wishing to wash them off my hands in another.  So of course, I had to get to her book the instant Net Galley and publishers offered it here. I had no doubts that it would be a book that I would love but I was not ready for some of the emotional rides it took me upon. Kristen has four kids ( I don't know if it matters that two of them are adopted black kids)= she does write about them and her experiences bringing them up but also shares some stories about struggles with infertility and miscarriage. Written in a very intimate styl

Wow!! If you love a good murder mystery then this  classic Japanese mystery from Pushkin Vertigo is definitely a must read for you. The story is a little eerie, the crime heinous, the sleuth scruffy-looking and the other elements present in just the right proportions to make it a great read even today years after it was first published in  1946.  The book is a locked room mystery told by a writer of Detective stories who is visiting the scene of crime years after it was committed and solved to, what else, write about it. We meet the host of characters in the wealthy Ichiyanagi family which is getting ready to celebrate the marriage of the eldest son. The setting is the year 1937 and a small Japanese village and Yokomizo gives us a glimpse of the social and cultural norms of the rural life of that era. A rumour is also fast gaining weight while the village gossips about the wedding and family. It seems a dangerous  man has been asking questions about the family, And then it happens! On