Book Review - The Troop

Book Review

THe Troop - Nick Cutter

Bookshelves: Adult, Horror

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

Language, Death, Torture, Animal Abuse, Mental Health, Creepy, Gory

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Ok, so I don't do horror books. I don't like them. I have seen enough to give myself nightmares at night, I don't need to read books to create new nightmares. So when I was provided a free copy of this book for my review I didn't think I'd even finish it honestly. But then I started it, and that was it. I could not put it down. It was like looking at a horrific car crash or something you know will give you nightmares, but you still can't look away. I could not stop reading. And then I was already going to have the nightmares so I just had to finish it to see who survived, if anyone and how they did it, and how they got rid of the nightmare! The story was riveting and I would tell myself just one more chapter, but I could never stop there. 
I liked the small excerpts about scientists journals, the interviews, the change of point of view throughout. It really hooked me and at one point, I really thought how it would end because I thought something was given away, but it wasn't. The action is really what drove me through this one. 
The characters were not my favorite. There was something about each one of them that kind of bugged me, but I'm not a teenage boy, so I probably could never identify with any of them. Because of this, I wasn't heart broken as the story progressed, but it was pretty disturbing since you wouldn't want anyone to experience what they did. I thought Shelley was a little over the edge. He was full bent sociopath right there. All the tendencies. Part of me felt that he was too much. That it should just be normal typical teenage boys, but then if Shelley wan't who he was, the story would've ended differently, wouldn't it? There was some really disturbing descriptions about him abusing and murdering animals. There's some experimenting and torturing of animals. If you can't do animals suffering, I would steer clear of this book. I had to skip a scene or two because it was just too detailed. 
Aside from that there is a lot of language and just some very creepy disturbing scenes. I wouldn't recommend this for kids. But if you are a horror lover, I would definitely recommend this. It's incredibly disturbing, but certainly draws you in and holds you tight for the ride.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - Glitter & Glue

Book Review

Gliitter & Glue - Kelly Corrigan

Bookshelves: Adult, Memoir

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

Language, Drinking, Minor Romance

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable memoir focusing on mother-daughter relationships and mothers as a whole. I really enjoyed this book. I liked how her views on motherhood really changed while she was in Australia. I really loved seeing how her small part in the Tanners family really changed her views into motherhood and family life. To me, the Tanners was really the best part of the book. I was somewhat disappointed to see that even though inside she had changed the way she thought about mothers, particularly hers, she still didn't really change their relationship much after that. I guess that's the stuff of fiction though. I liked how even though she and her mother didn't see eye to eye on a lot she still needed her when things got hard. It was good to see how she saw another side of her mother through their working together. The flashbacks and links of her own life to her current situation with the Tanners were done well. As a mother and daughter I enjoyed seeing another viewpoint on mothers and how perceptions can be altered through experiences or lack of them. I really liked how she tied in Evan's explanation of chess (as the queen being able to move anywhere and was the most important piece and without her, you were lost) to the role of a mother. This book was pleasantly deeper than I was expecting. There is some language, drinking and some minor romance.

Happy Reading!

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Book Review - The Burning

Book Review

The Burning (Maeve Kerrigan #1) - Jane Casey

Bookshelves: Adult, Crime, Mystery

Rating: 4 of 5 stars (It was good)

Recommended Age: Adult

Serial Killer, Rape, Language

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one. I've took a break from mysteries and serial killer type books lately and I love that coming back I've really had some good authors reintroduce the genre for me. 

The writing was smooth and easy to read. The setting lands us in England, so if British spelling and slang bothers you, beware. It doesn't bother me, especially when it comes to most of the bad language. This is mostly from first person narrative from a detective, Maeve. There is a little bit of jumping, but not so much you get confused as to who's POV we are in. Maeve is strong and somewhat stand-offish. I warmed to her even though at first she seemed pretty cold. I really enjoyed Rob's character and wish we could've read more from his POV, but there's only one small part about 3/4 of the way through. I properly despised Gil and Louise gave me the creeps. 

Reading the summary one might think that this book is mostly focused on a serial killer and his crimes. If you are expecting that, you might be somewhat disappointed. Don't get me wrong, there is a serial killer, but it is not the main chunk of the book, more of a back burner fire that is eventually put out quickly and neatly. This book is mostly about the fifth murder which doesn't exactly fit with the others, particularly with the small tidbits of info the police didn't reveal to the press. Usually with serial killer books, you might get a copycat, but the copycat killer is found and the serial killer continues on. This is the same way, but parts reversed. Does that make sense?

Anyway, the book is pretty much police protocol, follow the detectives footsteps kind of book. There is some questioning, but I figured out the ending pretty quick. This isn't one with a major plot twist. I did like how the ending was all summed up. Everything was explained down to back story and motive. Overall I was really pleased with this book, I would've given five stars if there was a little more mystery to it and I couldn't narrow down the killer. I will watch this author in the future and other Maeve Kerrigan novels.

Happy Reading!

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