Review #12: The Silent Ones by K.L. Slater

This book took me less than a day to read/listen via Immersive Reading on Audible/Kindle. Really easy to follow, and I was really rooting for the characters. I did guess a bit of the story ahead of time, but I'm guessing that's due to my analytical ways rather than the authors fault. Here's what I thought:

Narration - 8/10   Storyline - 8.5/10   Ease of Listening - 9/10

As I said earlier, the story was really easy to follow, despite the fact that there were some chapters that were written by in first person perspective of Juliet and there were others written in third person. There was an aspect within the book that I could guess, but on the same wave there was more than one twist that I didn't see!

I was really rooting for both Juliet, as I saw myself in the character at times, and the children, because even though I'm not a parent, I felt the same pull that I feel with the 4 nephews I had, which really highlights the talent of the author to invoke such a feeling. 

I enjoyed using immersive reading for this book, more-so I think because I was really invested in a good ending. I was not disappointed. I also liked the fact that there was a "one month later" AND a "three month later", it really added a dimension to the whole story. 

I'd really recommend this book as an easy read! I'm not sure everyone would agree, but there's my opinion. 

Stay safe,

Steph 💚

Review #11: Silent Scream by Angela Marsons

A fiction book that deals with Foster Homes and abuse, clearly well researched and has a unpredictable twist. There's a slight spoiler in my review, so if you're reading, or want to read this book, don't read past the scores! Here's what I thought:

Narration - 7/10   Storyline - 7/10   Ease of Listening - 7/10

This book had some similar themes to The Woman in the Window, with a completely different storyline. I found it hard to follow a couple of the characters, but all in all it was good. I'm finding that the books I tend to listen to are tackling some massively current issues that many people, along with journalists have struggled to outline in such a poignant way that really makes people listen. 

The narration and ease of listening was sound, but I don't think it added anything to the story in the way some books have done. Then again, it did mean that the story spoke for itself, which was pretty refreshing.

The main character and her memory is interesting, and is something that isn't predictable until the very moment it happens. That chapter I couldn't follow by audio, so had to switch to Immersive Reading to figure out what happened. I do find quite regularly that it's easier to follow a story if I'm reading the words, and it definitely was the case with this book!

We were also introduced to DI Kim Stone in this book. I find her character intriguing, so I will be reading (most likely actually reading, rather than listening) to other the other books to feature her in the future. 

All in all an intriguing book, with a fairly engaging storyline, and whilst it wasn't as emotion evoking as some I have recently but a lovely easy read.

As always please let me know what you think, and please chuck any recommendations my way!

Stay safe all

Steph 💚

Review #10: The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory

This book covers so many difficult themes, and it won't be for everyone, especially those who have triggers that include Holocaust, Self-Harm and Domestic Violence. There are some interviews at the end of the book with the author which confirms that this book is fiction, but with very true stories explained. She has indeed added "people" into the story. This is Anna Ellory's first book, and this is what I thought:

Narration - 9/10   Storyline - 10/10   Ease of Listening - 9/10

This book had two narrators, and it really works and is helpful to follow the story. It's such a compelling story, and twists and turns and is so unpredictable that you have to listen to every single word to understand, at the same time of wanting to close your ears and drown out the true events that happened in the Holocaust. It is transformational, humbling, emotive, and empathetic. 

The characters are so believable, you can absolutely believe that they happened, should you not know they are fictional, though this may be due to the clear research that the author has undertaken. 

The suffering and pain, as graphic as it is, only humbles. I cried many times during this audiobook in the acknowledgement that I am a lucky female, knowing that this truth could have been mine, both through past themes and present issues within the world.

All in all, I loved the book. The resonation within the book is real and I really think that the feeling from the characters are what the history books lack. Children and adults alike should read this to know it's importance and reality of the Holocaust, how it has, and still does, impact life. 

Stay Safe & Stay Home

Steph💚

Crafty Post - Frontline Hero Bear

When I started this blog a week or so ago, I said that I was hoping to share some crafts I do. Behold, the first one! Pattern from: https://yarnitph.wixsite.com/yarnitdarnit

I think it looks more like a mouse than a bear, but I have so much love and pride for my little make, for what he represents. He's now keeping watch out of my bedroom window, to give everyone a smile.

He does however, need a name!! Please send me your suggestions to my twitter page! (@GiantTortoise7)

Stay Home, Stay Safe

xxx

All Finished and Ready for Action

Almost ready to go!

Dressed!

Review #9: Innocent by Cathy Glass

So I have to admit, I love Cathy Glass. I wanted to be a social worker when I was younger, though I never got round to doing enough work to become one, and now seeing how much work they have to do, I have to admire anyone who goes to into that profession! But the real stories in these books always get into my blood. 

There are loads of non-fiction books by Cathy Glass, and I'd recommend every single one of them, but this one was about a really young brother and sister Kit & Molly, being brought into the care system due to 18 month old Kit having a broken arm, and suspicious circumstances around their constant illness. I won't spoil the story any more, but I really hope people read (or listen, as I did), to this book. 

Narration - 9/10   Storyline - 10/10   Ease of Listening - 9/10

OK, I know I'm biased as I've loved every book, but this was another brilliantly written account of an amazing woman caring for children. I don't know how Cathy puts so much emotion into her words without allowing the reader to judge the parents, or anyone else involved, but she does. 

There was a specific point in the book that genuinely made me cry, and that was when she was describing Christmas. I really cannot pinpoint why I sobbed, but I did. It must have been around the entire setting, as she did have Molly and Kit for Christmas, which would have been sad for their parents. 

The ending was bitter sweet, and I absolutely hope that people will read this and understand why I was so sad, but so happy too. 

I really recommend this book, and every other book written by Cathy Glass. It is the most humbling and inspiring thing to read. I have just started Too Scared to Tell and can absolutely see me listening non-stop until it's finished. 

I hope you all are having a lovely Easter weekend. 

Stay Home & Stay Safe,

Steph 💚

Review #8: Strangeways; A Prison Officer's Story by Neil Samworth

I'm trying my best to listen to a mixture of genres, so behold, a non-fiction autobiography. Here's what I thought:

Narration - 6/10   Storyline - 7/10   Ease of Listening - 7/10

It was OK. It was read well, the accent wasn't too strong from the narrator, and it was interesting, but whilst I am absolutely addicted to prison documentaries on TV, the book didn't have the same pull. It might have just been my tiring week, or the fact that I've become a bit desensitised, but I think the problem was that nothing out of the expected happened. 

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, it's all extraordinary, the fact that this guy did the job was great, but the fact he had a past prior to his job should have been focused on more - I would also have liked to know if he'd done anything after his prison story. He mentioned massages & aromatherapy, and he was doing a course afterwards, but after the course, what next? 

It was also great to see someone speaking frankly about the effects of that career, and how he overcame it.

All in all, it was a good book, just not gripping. If you want an easy listen that you can listen to whilst working, or a hobby, this would be a good option.

As per usual, please let me know of any recommendations!

Stay Safe (and STAY HOME THIS EASTER)

Steph 💚

Review #7 Rest and Be Thankful by Emma Glass

I'm doing this review a little differently today. No scores as they are irrelevant.

This book is about a nurse, written by a nurse, describing what it's like to be a nurse. In the times of Coronavirus I think it would be unfair to give this talented writer (and narrator) scores of how well she has written a book. For the record, it was a great book, a real eye opener and she has such a sweet and humble voice that it soothes you, whatever you are feeling.

However, this book is far more than a book. It's a reality for many many people around the world who are risking their lives to save ours.

I am blessed to live in a country with the NHS, but even more so for the other key workers who are going to work with no complaint or hesitation.

So for every key worker, or anyone staying home for the greater good, Thank you 💕

Review #6: The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

As you can tell, this book isn't my usual crime/thriller/murder genre, but wow, it was worth it. This is what I thought:

Narration - 6/10   Storyline - 9.5/10   Ease of Listening - 7/10

I'm not sure if it was because the format was audio, but it took me a while to understand what on earth was going on. This is why the scores were lower with regards to narration and ease of listening. 

However, I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. 

I would absolutely recommend that every single person reads this book. I would even recommend it gets put into schools and is added to every curriculum. It is not easy listening. It is NOT non-fiction, but it opens your eyes and your heart to the real truth that goes on around the world. The heart-ache and the sheer determination of asylum seekers is so clear. There was one part of the book that is slightly disconnected, but weirdly very connected to the storyline, which includes a specific bee. I'm not going to ruin the moment for everyone, but be prepared for realisation to hit when you figure it out. 

This week has been really hard for me (for reasons you can see on my social media pages), but this book has brought me back down to earth with a bump and has brought the reality of life back into focus. 

If you listen to the book, there is an explanation from the author at the end which made me shed a tear. 

As usual everyone, any recommendations, please pass them my way. 

Stay Safe, Stay Home, and more importantly Stay Kind. 

Steph 

Review #5: "One for Sorrow" & "Two for Joy" by Sarah A. Denzil

These two books I'm popping in the same review, they're very much connected to each other as you can't read Two for Joy without reading One for Sorrow, however, it's also only one review because they would trigger anyone who has even a mild mental health issue. They really were incredible books, and clearly well-researched, but be careful please! Please!

I would also like to say, I listened to these 2 books alongside completing a Mental Health First Aider course. My training was given an interesting spin, I assure you!!

Obviously, by the titles, I know there will be more, and I will read them, but I'll add my reviews together as I have with these. Please don't read any further if you think you may be affected by this review, but please also note that I'm not going to be talking in detail about the storyline and what happens. 

Narration - 9.5/10   Storyline - 10/10   Ease of Listening - 8/10

These 2 books were incredibly well-written. Whilst the author wrote about extreme mental health issues, and you knew it was fiction, it really was believable. Norms for me have been re-defined by this book. It has genuinely helped me increase my empathy, but has also highlighted my vulnerability. I trust people to do the right thing. I tell the truth, no matter to who. If I was Leah, I'd end up in her situation. She was everything I saw in myself.

Isabel Fielding was also believable. Despite her mental health issues, she was able to hide them, along with her true feelings, but you genuinely felt sorry for her, for she showed love and gratitude, it was just she didn't know the real thing. 

There were many many twists and turns in both books. You felt sorry for every single character, and hated them with the next sentence. It was truly, truly amazing!

The narration suited the books well. There were a few times Jasmine Blackborow became the characters; you forgot that the words were being read by a narrator. She absolutely gave across the correct emotion in the story and in the characters.

Overall, these are two of the most hauntingly amazing books I have ever known, and I would recommend them to everyone, but it does come with a health warning. Maybe the story is too good, maybe the fact that I listened rather than read them made them too real. But what would books be without realism??

Stay well, Stay safe

Love always

Steph x 

Review #4: Whiskey from Small Glasses by Denzil Meyrick

Firstly, this book had Whiskey in it's titled, and I'm partial to a nice Whiskey with cranberry juice! So I had high hopes for this book! IT DELIVERED!!

Narration - 10/10   Storyline - 7/10   Ease of Listening - 9.5/10

I have changed the colour of the TEN(!!!) I have given for narration. If I could give higher than that I really, really would. David Monteath, who I have never heard in my life has the most soothing voice ever. He could have read me anything and I'd have listened. He's exactly what you need after a stressful day. 

Another murder mystery (I know, I know, I'm clearly addicted), this one introduces DSI Jim Daley, who is sent to a small village (it wasn't clear, but I pictured a really pretty, picturesque village with a pub and a little stream) to investigate a murder. There are lots of little storylines in this book, which I'll not spoil for you. I gave it 7 for storyline as it wasn't always super clear, but it flowed well and due to the dreamy voice, was so easy to listen to! There was reference to Whiskey in the book (and it was based in Scotland!) so that was a massive bonus, though my drink of choice is alcoholic tea (another story). 

I didn't do ANY crafts whilst I listened, though if you desperately need to keep your hands busy, it's doable, I just didn't want to! Did I mention the narration 😍💖

There are more books in the series, which I'll review at a later date, but I bet you know what the narration score will be!?

As usual, any recommendations please let me know! I do actually read books too, so I'm not exclusively talking about audiobooks (and crafts!)!

Stay safe, take care!

Steph x

Review #3: The Bunburry Series by Helen Marchmont

This series is a group of 3 short stories. It is very quaint and fits it's audible description to a tee:

"A series of cosy mysteries set in the picturesque Cotswolds village of Bunburry"

Narration - 8.5/10   Storyline - 7/10   Ease of Listening - 9.5/10

The Bunburry Series begins by introducing Alfie, the main character, who is travelling down to the Cotswolds from London after his Aunt dies and leaves her eccentric cottage to him in her will. The little town of Bunburry, which is famous for its fudge, endures a series of unfortunate events through 3 episodes of short stories. 

I've marked the storyline down slightly, as it comes across as being a bit of a spoof series, taking the biscuit (or fudge!) out of the more serious murder novels, like the books featuring in my previous reviews. Saying that, Aunt Augusta's friends Liz and Marge are the most adorable and loveable characters I've ever had the pleasure of getting to know. 

Be prepared to be hungry, there's lots of mention of fudge, but also be prepared to giggle to yourself (and others who have no idea what you're laughing at, as this is easily the best book to listen to when you've had a hard day or you just want to take your mind off the serious world outside.

The narration matched the book. Nathaniel Parker puts a great little spin on it, and his tone is relatively easy to listen to, if not a little posh to match Alfie's character. 

If you're looking for excitement and thrill, I have to say that this book is not for you, but if you just want a little, light-hearted giggle, download this series! It worked out more value for money if you bought this book on Audible, rather than using a credit, as it cost less than a fiver at the time I purchased it. 

That's it, I'm off to find fudge!

Stay safe!

Steph x

Review #2: The Murderer's Son by Joy Ellis

I'm spotting a bit of a trend in the books I'm listening to already - They're all psychological thrillers so far! I'll work on listening to different genres in the future, I PROMISE! Again, THIS HAS TRIGGERS OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AND MURDER - PLEASE STOP READING IF THIS EFFECTS YOU.

OK, so The Murderer's Son by Joy Ellis:

Narration - 7.5/10  Storyline - 9/10  Ease of listening - 8/10

This book was very engaging, I literally couldn't put it down. If you mix ancestry.com with a murder documentary like Making A Murderer on Netflix, you're probably on your way to the storyline of this book. The main character Daniel confesses to a brutal murder of a woman, but he can't remember committing it. He is obsessed by the serial killer, Francois Thayer and believes her to be his mother. The book watches DI Rowan Jackman and DS Marie Evans gather evidence to find the culprit.

The narration of The Murderer's Son was so much smoother than Along Came A Spider. The story flowed well from Richard Armitage's depiction, and though you could tell there were different characters, the voices sounded OK, he didn't just use a squeaky voice for women. This book took much less time to get through, it was very easy to listen to, so I barely turned it off. It was a great book to do crafts to, because even if I was counting stitches, I was still able to keep up with the story and I didn't miss vital details!

Overall I would absolutely recommend this book. It's not the first book of the Jackman & Evans series, so I'd recommend listening to Their Lost Daughters first, but it's not essential, you can still follow the storyline without it!

Even before this blog I absolutely love receiving book recommendations, so please give me a shout on twitter @GiantTortoise7 and I'd love to hear from you!

Stay safe!

Steph x

Review #1: Along Came A Spider by James Patterson

Because this is my first blog post, I thought a bit of an introduction was needed!

Over the Christmas break of 2019, I ordered myself an Amazon Fire tablet, and just after New Year I had downloaded Audible and tried an audiobook just in time to go back to work. I quickly became addicted to listening to books. I love to read, but due to having some health issues I find it hard to concentrate on reading an actual book. That, and the fact that I'm always doing some sort of craft (which I also hope to share!), meant that Audible is the perfect match for me!

Since I'm now not able to leave the house for the next 11 weeks due to the Coronavirus pandemic, I thought I'd start to share my opinions on the books I listen to. The format of this blog isn't yet concrete, so if you don't like it, please let me know! I just want to put a smile on your faces during the testing times we're currently in!

My first review is the first book I listened to. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE POSSIBLE TRIGGERS BECAUSE OF THE STORYLINE. IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY KIDNAP OR DISASSOCIATION, PLEASE DO NOT READ!

Please feel free to let me know your opinion if you have read the book, along with any recommendations!

Narration - 5/10       Storyline - 8/10       Ease of listening - 7/10

This is the first book in the Alex Cross series. I know it's been out a while, but I'm always late to the party so please bear with me! The storyline is about 2 young children who are kidnapped by their maths teacher. It transpires that said teacher, Gary Soneji possibly suffers with disassociation and Alex Cross suspects that he blacks out regularly, causing memory loss. The story follows Alex Cross and his mission to save the missing children. 

I'd never read any books by James Patterson, but I know he is a popular author. I have to admit, I felt slightly like I'd been missing out! It was a well written book, but there are some aspects of the book that are not believable, or down-played. It was quick-paced, but not too quick that you missed what was happening, and there weren't any moments where I wondered whether or not I should carry on listening. In fact, I started to find excuses to switch my fire tablet on!

Personally, I wasn't keen on the narrator of this audiobook. He threw his voice a lot higher than it needed to be to play Jezzie, and sometimes he took the emotion out of a scene. Because it was the first book I listened to, I did wonder if all of the audiobooks sounded this way (they don't!).

Because of the storyline, I found Along Came a Spider Easy to listen to. I have a weird brain that doesn't like too much horror, and if I watch films that go past whatever threshold "too much" is, I end up with nightmares. The odd thing is that I can read horrifically scary books (for example Misery and Pet Sematary by Stephen King), but if it gets too scary,  I just end up reading the words instead of putting them in context. It's like my brain filters how I read. This also occurs with audiobooks. So although there was some questionable content, I didn't have to skip any of it. 

To the important question of would I recommend this book... The answer is yes, but I would perhaps recommend reading it, rather than listening.