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S. T. A. G. S by M. A. Bennett

“Nine students. Three bloodsports. One deadly weekend.

It is the autumn term and Greer MacDonald is struggling to settle into the sixth form at the exclusive St. Aidan the Great boarding school, known to its privileged pupils as S.T.A.G.S. Just when she despairs of making friends Greer receives a mysterious invitation with three words embossed upon on it: huntin' shootin' fishin'. When Greer learns that the invitation is to spend the half term weekend at the country manor of Henry de Warlencourt, the most popular and wealthy boy at S.T.A.G.S., she is as surprised as she is flattered.

But when Greer joins the other chosen few at the ancient and sprawling Longcross Hall, she realises that Henry's parents are not at home; the only adults present are a cohort of eerily compliant servants. The students are at the mercy of their capricious host, and, over the next three days, as the three bloodsports - hunting, shooting and fishing - become increasingly dark and twisted, Greer comes to the horrifying realisation that those being hunted are not wild game, but the very misfits Henry has brought with him from school...”

Feel Me Fall by James Morris

“Emily Duran is the sole survivor of a plane crash that left her and her teenage friends stranded and alone in the jungles of the Amazon. Lost and losing hope, they struggle against the elements, and each other. With their familiar pecking order no longer in place, a new order emerges, filled with power struggles, betrayals, secrets and lies. Emily must explain why she's the last left alive.

But can she carry the burden of the past?”

The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle

The Accident Season
Moira Fowley-Doyle
Genre(s): Fantasy, Mystery, Young Adult
Published: August 18th 2015
Pages: 282
Rating: 1.5 stars

“The accident season has been part of seventeen-year-old Cara's life for as long as she can remember. Towards the end of October, foreshadowed by the deaths of many relatives before them, Cara's family becomes inexplicably accident-prone. They banish knives to locked drawers, cover sharp table edges with padding, switch off electrical items - but injuries follow wherever they go, and the accident season becomes an ever-growing obsession and fear.

But why are they so cursed? And how can they break free?”

The Accident Season is a... weird book, that's for sure. I would call it unique, but it reminded me too much of We Were Liars and The Ocean of the End of the Lane. Whimsical and nonsensical best describe this mysterious novel. I'm not entirely convinced the author knew what she was doing when she wrote this because it's just so odd.

Sure, it's magical realism, it can get away with being rather kooky and quirky. What it cannot get away with, however, is leaving the reader in the dark. And not just that 'I wonder who the killer is' kind of left in the dark. I'm talking about full on 'what on earth is going on this doesn't make sense am I missing something' kind of feeling.

Yeah. I'm not a fan of that.

The prose was trying too hard to be poetic and metaphorical in the way that is become oh so popular in prose and it fell flat on its face. It didn't draw me in, it pushed me away. The story became boring and a chore to read, and considering this book is under three hundred pages that's an achievement.

There isn't exactly a solid plot (or even really a point) to The Accident Season. It tries to create an air of mystery but ultimately fails by wandering all over the place focusing too long on too many mundane things that are never fully explained. And even when things are resolved, they aren't really solved. Explanations are fleeting and the bare minimum of information is shoved at you and you're somehow meant to fit everything together and understand.

If you're a fan of whimsy and stories that border on pointless and boring, give this a go. If not, don't bother.

TBR Feature #30

TBR Feature is the chance for me to, every Wednesday, pick one of my unread books and discuss it: why I picked it up, when I'll get round to reading it, if I'm still interested in it at all etc.

The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel

Book Review: Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Far From You
Tess Sharpe
Genre(s): Contemporary, Mystery, Young Adult
Published: March 27th 2014
Pages: 343
Rating: 2.5 stars

“Nine months. Two weeks. Six days.

That's how long recovering addict Sophie's been drug-free. Four months ago her best friend, Mina, died in what everyone believes was a drug deal gone wrong - a deal they think Sophie set up. Only Sophie knows the truth. She and Mina shared a secret, but there was no drug deal. Mina was deliberately murdered.

Forced into rehab for an addiction she'd already beaten, Sophie's finally out and on the trail of the killer—but can she track them down before they come for her?”

Far From You wastes no time with the before. It jumps straight into the after, combining present day and past to tell Sophie and Mina's story.

To start with, things were a bit confusing to me. I was intrigued, don't get me wrong, but the chapter headings - 'Now (June)' and '3 months ago (17 years old)' - held no significance for me and left me scratching my head. The change of font between then and now did help, but I couldn't help but find both places in time read very similarly. A clear distinction between the two, such as splitting the book into two halves, rather than alternating, would have been better, in my opinion.

I liked that Sophie wasn't the typically beautiful and perfect main character that tries to call themselves ugly or weird. She came across as normal - troubled and scarred, but very real. I didn't really connect that much with her or any of the other characters, but it was nice to see a more relateable main character in a young adult contemporary piece.

However, I could not empathise or even bring myself to care about Mina. She was a manic pixie dream girl, a la Alaska in Looking for Alaska, manipulating everyone and not feeling sorry for being a bitch (seriously, Sophie says as much yet still put her on this pedestal). That's just something I cannot get behind, and her personality and the way everyone was 'oh poor Mina boo hoo' did not sit well with me. Ugh.

The biggest downfall of this, which promised to be be so good, was that it was slow. And boring. Slow books, while exceptionally annoying, I can deal with. Boring books, not so much. The combination of the two just let me down. I was drawn in by the cover and the synopsis, but when I started to read I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Throughout, I was waiting for things to pick up, but they never really did. I got through the book pretty quickly, but the plot dragged and it took ages for the thriller aspect to actually start. There was a lot of reminiscing that didn't help further things, and I honestly could have done without it.

I'd also managed to guess the plot twist of Mina and Sophie being in a relationship very early. The fact that Sophie said 'I loved Mina' to her therapist at rehab, and how she described Trev's features as being similar to a familiar face that she'd already studied - or something to that effect, at least. It was quite obvious at several points, and wasn't the massive surprise it was no doubt meant to be.

Overall, this wasn't terrible. Not quite what I expected, but I didn't hate it at the end.

Book Review: Joyland by Stephen King

Joyland
Stephen King
Genre(s): mystery, crime, horror
Published: June 4th 2013
Pages: 283
Rating: 4 stars

“Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever.”

Joyland is probably one of the best books I've read this year. But, as it's coming from Stephen King, I'd really expect nothing less.

I only have two complaints (which is amazing for me) that are preventing me from giving this book five out of five stars. Those are: it wasn't the crime novel I was expecting and the pacing could have used some work.

Stephen King is my go-to author when I want to read an 'adult' book or a horror story, so I was expecting Joyland to be really well written, very enjoyable and maybe even a little creepy. (Of course, it ticked all three boxes.) I was aware that it was more of a crime/thriller novel than a horror one when I started, and I was fine with that. I enjoy thrillers. What I did have a little problem with is how the crime and mystery took a bit of a back-seat. While I did enjoy reading about Devin and the approach King had taken to tell his story (flashbacks often have the tendency to go horribly wrong, I've found, but this worked), I was left wondering 'when's the mystery going to be solved? I thought this was supposed to be all about the crime.'

I also felt that the build-up, while easy and enjoyable to read, took too long. When I was half-way through and nothing much had happened I did start doubting. But Joyland is under 300 pages, so I guess that was bound to happen. I don't know.

Complaints aside, I did thoroughly enjoy King's latest novel. 

The mystery was interesting and just when you thought you'd figured out the killer everything changed. I will admit, I did guess whodunit after a certain line (which I won't mention because it really is the tipping point if you're already on the edge of solving it), but I still wasn't expecting it because the character was just so darn nice. I flew through the last twenty or so pages, too impatient for the drama and killer reveal and the consequences that followed. And the ending... Wow. I knew what was coming yet it still hit me hard. It was an almost sweet ending to a book that was about anything but.

I feel like I haven't done Joyland any justice with my ramblings, and it does sound like I came away with more negatives than positives, but that is not the case at all. 

I highly recommend this book. To Stephen King fans, to fans of the 1970s, to fans of whodunit mysteries. To everyone.

Book Review: A Dreadful Murder: The Mysterious Death of Caroline Luard by Minette Walters

A Dreadful Murder: The Mysterious Death of Caroline Luard
Minette Walters
Genre(s): mystery, crime, historical fiction
Published: January 2013
Pages: 125
Rating: 3 stars

“A body is found in the woods . . .
Based on the true story of the shocking murder of Mrs Caroline Luard, which took place in Kent in August 1908.

Caroline Luard is shot dead in broad daylight in the grounds of a large country estate. With few clues available, her husband soon becomes the suspect . . . But is he guilty?”

For such a quick read, I enjoyed this book and wasn't left wanting more at the end.

Things were wrapped up nicely, even though the ending was left open for readers to puzzle over, but no doubt that's how the real murder case was left. No killer was found, so no conclusions could be made. The suspects and motives included in this were all plausible, and I found myself agreeing with the detectives on more than one occasion. The pacing was good, too. Things didn't happen so fast you couldn't fully understand them, which is nice because I find a lot of shorter books tend to be rushed and below average.

A Dreadful Murder was a very quick, very simple but overall very intriguing read.