Nina is not OK by Shappi Khorsandi
'Nina does not have a drinking problem. She likes a drink, sure. But what 17-year-old doesn’t?
Nina’s mum isn’t so sure. But she’s busy with her new husband and five year old Katie. And Nina’s almost an adult after all. And if Nina sometimes wakes up with little memory of what happened the night before, then her friends are all too happy to fill in the blanks. Nina’s drunken exploits are the stuff of college legend.
But then one dark Sunday morning, even her friends can’t help piece together Saturday night. All Nina feels is a deep sense of shame, that something very bad has happened to her…'
I don't know why but I feel like this book should have been set in the nineties! I kind of enjoyed it but at times found the over conversational writing style a little annoying. I feel like it covered the subjects of addiction, growing up and sexual assault well though and the characters were interesting and likeable. 3/5
The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
'On a cool June morning, Isa Wilde, a resident of the seemingly idyllic coastal village of Salten, is walking her dog along a tidal estuary. Before she can stop him, Isa s dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick and to her horror, she discovers it s not a stick at all but a human bone. As her three best friends from childhood converge in Salten to comfort a seriously shaken-up Isa, terrifying discoveries are made, and their collective history slowly unravels. Tackling the slipperiness of your memories, the relativity of truth, and the danger of obsessive friendships, The Lying Game is a page-turning mystery with compelling characters and electric prose, resulting in an unputdownable thriller.'
I am a huge fan of Ruth Ware's first two books (they're amazing) and as soon as my pre order arrived dived straight into this book. Unfortunately I was really sad to find this a bit of a let down. The writing was great but the suspense and and twists of her first two books just weren't there and I felt like there was too much filler about the protagonists baby- when it was crying, when it was hungry, when she fed it blah blah blah. We get it she had a baby! The characters were no way near as interesting or fleshed out as they were in her other novels. I will still look forward to her next offering and hope this is a blip! 3/5
Who Runs the World? by Virginia Bergin
'Sixty years after a virus has wiped out almost all the men on the planet, things are pretty much just as you would imagine a world run by women might be: war has ended; greed is not tolerated; the ecological needs of the planet are always put first. In two generations, the female population has grieved, pulled together and moved on, and life really is pretty good - if you're a girl. It's not so great if you're a boy, but fourteen-year-old River wouldn't know that. Until she met Mason, she thought they were extinct.'
The blurb to this sounded amazing and I was expecting an exciting dystopian read with feminist overtones. Dear oh dear Bergin really failed with this. Apart from the writing which was filled with constant question marks? and exclamations, which drove me mad!!!! She really didn't do feminists any favours with this. The book made out without men the world was some kind of medieval utopia where everyone just hugged it out and there was no wars of violence or crime. Also for some reason they ate insects and rode around on horses. The book was filled with man hate and she could have tried to make so many interesting points with this book but just didn't. (and FYI I do consider myself a feminist). Also the main character was just plain annoying! 2/5
Hopefully I will have a better reading month in July!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
'On a cool June morning, Isa Wilde, a resident of the seemingly idyllic coastal village of Salten, is walking her dog along a tidal estuary. Before she can stop him, Isa s dog charges into the water to retrieve what first appears to be a wayward stick and to her horror, she discovers it s not a stick at all but a human bone. As her three best friends from childhood converge in Salten to comfort a seriously shaken-up Isa, terrifying discoveries are made, and their collective history slowly unravels. Tackling the slipperiness of your memories, the relativity of truth, and the danger of obsessive friendships, The Lying Game is a page-turning mystery with compelling characters and electric prose, resulting in an unputdownable thriller.'
I am a huge fan of Ruth Ware's first two books (they're amazing) and as soon as my pre order arrived dived straight into this book. Unfortunately I was really sad to find this a bit of a let down. The writing was great but the suspense and and twists of her first two books just weren't there and I felt like there was too much filler about the protagonists baby- when it was crying, when it was hungry, when she fed it blah blah blah. We get it she had a baby! The characters were no way near as interesting or fleshed out as they were in her other novels. I will still look forward to her next offering and hope this is a blip! 3/5
Who Runs the World? by Virginia Bergin
'Sixty years after a virus has wiped out almost all the men on the planet, things are pretty much just as you would imagine a world run by women might be: war has ended; greed is not tolerated; the ecological needs of the planet are always put first. In two generations, the female population has grieved, pulled together and moved on, and life really is pretty good - if you're a girl. It's not so great if you're a boy, but fourteen-year-old River wouldn't know that. Until she met Mason, she thought they were extinct.'
The blurb to this sounded amazing and I was expecting an exciting dystopian read with feminist overtones. Dear oh dear Bergin really failed with this. Apart from the writing which was filled with constant question marks? and exclamations, which drove me mad!!!! She really didn't do feminists any favours with this. The book made out without men the world was some kind of medieval utopia where everyone just hugged it out and there was no wars of violence or crime. Also for some reason they ate insects and rode around on horses. The book was filled with man hate and she could have tried to make so many interesting points with this book but just didn't. (and FYI I do consider myself a feminist). Also the main character was just plain annoying! 2/5
Hopefully I will have a better reading month in July!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
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