Tag Archive | Net Galley

The House On Otley Road by Rosa Silverman

Jun29

Gripping

The House On Otley Road by Rosa Silverman is a totally gripping murder suspense that I could not put down.

The action is set in 1999 and 2019, focusing on a house in Otley Road in Leeds. The action alternates between the two time periods. It also looks backwards speculating on what happened at the time.

Two murders, twenty years apart, one murder site – seemingly nothing in common, and everything in common – are they linked? Or random?

We follow the action in 2019 through the eyes of reporter, Kate. The reader gets to know what she knows – but we have the benefit of watching the action unfold in 1999 too.

The book is superbly written. As I read onwards towards the conclusion, I began to join the dots! My heart rate rose as the penny dropped!

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The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston

Jun29

Simply Beautiful

The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston is a simply beautiful novel that I never wanted to end.

It is a timeslip novel about love and loss and awakening. The action is set within the extensive gardens of a large house. There are different zones within the garden, including a secret garden whose entrance keeps moving. Time moves at a different pace within this garden. It is a place where plants and lives are re-awakened.

The novel is about grief. It is a raw grief which was easy for me to recognise as my beautiful Dad has just died and I feel the pain too. “He didn’t tell me how sorry he was for my loss… He simply let me cry until there wasn’t anything left.” Sometimes, we just need others to be there while we cry. There is no need for words.

The loss within the novel is that of a good friend to cancer. The leading lady is learning to live again. She fears that moving on means letting go of Harrie – but Harrie will live forever in her heart.

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Darling Bud by C J Skuse

Jun16

Chilling – Nature Vs Nurture

Darling Bud by C J Skuse is a chilling contemporary novel and the sixth book in the Sweetpea series but can be read as a stand-alone.

There is the theme of nature versus nurture. Do we become monsters? Is there something in our DNA or can we overcome our genes? “You can’t fight a monster by becoming one.” We witness the leading lady trying to overcome her gene pool. Meeting up with her mother when she is sixteen, confirms to her that she is correct in fighting against her ‘bad’ genes.

We witness the desire to belong within a family – but be careful what you wish for – all that glisters is not gold.

There are those who will exploit others for their own gain, whilst hiding secrets.

We see a warped sense of vigilante justice. We need to let the authorities punish the guilty.

A mother’s heart breaks through, if only for a moment. “She’d left me with the best person in the world, knowing that she was one of the worst.”

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The Girl With Two Names by Imogen Matthews

May28

Powerful & Engaging

The Girl With Two Names by Imogen Matthews is a powerful historical novel that is grounded in facts.

We follow the leading lady who is Dutch through her wartime experiences in World War II.

We ‘travel’ from Holland to Britain and back again, as she is part of the S.O.E. and parachuted into Holland. “I couldn’t just sit back and accept what the Germans were doing to the Dutch.”

The Nazis quickly took over much of mainland Europe. Their intelligence was one step ahead of the British, meaning they were ready and waiting for any parachute drops.

The leading lady has a dreadful second half of the war as she is in Ravensbrück and then Mauthausen. Kindness was in short supply but grabbed when seen. “Lotte’s kind, wise words… seemed to shine like a beacon in the darkness.” The women pulled together in order to keep going. They held on to the hope of a better future.

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