review – Page 6 – Lyndsey Hall

Review: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

I’d heard The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware mentioned a few times before it popped up as the Audible Daily Deal, and it actually turned out my Mum read it on holiday last year! I love a good thriller/mystery so I downloaded it straight away for when I’d finished The Raven King and needed to dive straight into something easy-listening to stave off the book hangover. It definitely did the trick.

TL;DR Lo Blacklock is a travel journalist on a private, luxury cruise who thinks she witnesses a murder. The only problem is, cabin 10 was always supposed to be empty, and no one else saw the woman before she vanished. Is Lo losing her mind, or is something more sinister going on in the Fjords?

As a big cruise fan I couldn’t wait to listen to this audio book and imagine myself on board the ship, cruising the Norwegian Fjords with the characters. I haven’t done a Fjords cruise yet, but my Mum’s been a few times and I’ve seen the photos, so I could picture the setting no problem. The ship was a little more difficult, as it’s only a ten cabin mini cruise ship, like a large yacht really, but with the same finery inside, just on a smaller scale. I don’t get claustrophobic on cruises, but I can imagine feeling really uncomfortable and panicky on a ship that small with the same ten other people every day, and that’s before the events of the story take place!

The overall feel of the story is very Agatha Christie – a small number of people in a remote location with nowhere to go and no escape from the murderer in their midst. Think And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. There are also elements of The Girl on the Train, Lo is quite a heavy drinker to begin with and it’s her drinking that leads her to question what she saw and whether she imagined or dreamed the whole thing. It’s well paced and tense throughout, and there are a couple of really surprising twists that I didn’t see coming!

At the beginning of the story, Lo’s flat is burgled while she’s sleeping, and when she gets up to see what’s going on the burglar slams the bedroom door in her face and locks her in. This encounter is pretty terrifying, especially for a woman who often sleeps alone when my husband is away with work (luckily we have a dog so I live in hope she’d scare off any potential attackers). I wanted the burglary at the beginning to have deeper implications than it did, but ultimately it served to put Lo on edge from the very beginning, seeing danger and threats everywhere and explaining some of her reactions later.

In addition, Lo suffers from anxiety and takes medication, which has no bearing on her state of mind at the time of the incident, but is used against her by some of the other characters when they find out. I think this is quite a good representation of the stigma mental health issues can suffer, as well as showing that her mental illness doesn’t impact on the plot or make her an unreliable narrator.

The Woman in Cabin 10 is a pretty easy read, perfect for holiday reading and anyone who likes a good murder mystery a la Christie and Hawkins. Lo isn’t always a very likeable character, she’s quite standoffish and rude, and coupled with her heavy drinking she did remind me of Rachel from The Girl on the Train. Ultimately though, I did find myself rooting for her, as I wanted to know what was really going on onboard the cruise ship and whether she was going to be the next victim, or if it was all an elaborate hoax.

I gave the book 3.5 stars, because I did enjoy it and got through it quite quickly, and the twists towards the end were surprising to me, but it wasn’t quite up to the standard of Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train.

Have you read The Woman in Cabin 10? What did you think? Am I the only one who obsessed over Judah? Please tell me I’m not alone!

Lyndsey

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Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas

Review A Court of Thorns and Roses Maas Lyndsey's BooK Blog

Hello there! I read A Court of Wings and Ruin last month and I can’t believe it’s over, so I thought I’d do a round up review of the whole A Court of Thorns and Roses series for those of you who haven’t read it yet. I’ll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum, but there will be spoilers for book one if you read on to books two and three!

A Court of Thorns and Roses – book #1

Feyre lives with her father and sisters in a ramshackle cabin near the woods, made cosy by her painted murals on the walls and furniture. Times are hard, and her father is unable to work since his leg injury. Her sisters, Elain and Nesta, are too stubborn, spoilt and helpless to do anything to provide for the family, so the responsibility falls to Feyre.

One day, she’s hunting a deer in the forest when she spots an enormous wolf also stalking the animal. She realises immediately that it isn’t a normal wolf, it’s one of the fae from the other side of the wall, the magical beings that enslaved humans for centuries until a war resulted in the wall being constructed to separate the two realms. She shoots the wolf, not wanting to let it deprive her family of a good meal.

Later that night, a hideous beast bursts into their cabin and demands that she come with him to Prythian, on the other side of the wall, in exchange for the life she took. Feyre goes with him, terrified he will kill her family if she doesn’t. There, she discovers that the stories told about the fae amongst humans aren’t all true, and she finds herself torn between her family and their home in the human realm, and the wondrous, magical new world she has discovered.

I enjoyed book one, I’d probably give it a solid 3.5, maybe 4 stars. It begins as a Beauty and the Beast retelling, before taking a serious curve around halfway through. It was at the halfway point that I really started to enjoy it, the action ramps up and some really fascinating characters start to come into their own. ACOTAR is slow going at first, but I recommend you persevere, because it’s about to get SO GOOD…

A Court of Mist and Fury – book #2

After the events of book one, Feyre is back at the Spring Court with Tamlin, a tattoo representing her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court, covering her arm from fingertip to elbow. She’s struggling with PTSD and depression after everything she went through Under the Mountain, and planning her wedding to Tamlin is the last thing on her mind.

She can never return to the human realm and her old life, too much has changed, including her. When Rhysand finally calls in their bargain and forces her to spend one week a month at the Night Court with him, she’s pretty angry, but any excuse to get away from the Spring Court and all the wedding talk is welcome.

Meeting Rhysand’s friends and family, seeing a side of him she never could have imagined after the events Under the Mountain, Feyre begins to wonder if he is really the monster everyone says he is, or if there could be more to him than meets the eye…

OK, there is no denying it, or being coy, ACOMAF is the best book I have ever read in my entire life. This is a solid 5 stars, and if I had more I’d give them to it. The book hangover I was left with when I finished it was the worst I have experienced since Harry Potter ended ten years ago. What did I love so much about it? Only everything! The new characters are all amazing – flawed and layered, with fully realised back stories and motivations of their own. The relationship that develops between Feyre and Rhysand is the stuff of #relationshipgoals, the setting of Velaris is dreamy and beautifully described, the events of the book are heartbreaking, surprising, wonderful and terrible.

Just read it. If you found ACOTAR a bit of a slog, or you didn’t even both finishing, do, and then pick this one up. You won’t regret it.

A Court of Wings and Ruin – book #3

Feyre is once again at the Spring Court with Tamlin, wishing she was in Velaris with her husband and sisters, especially after what happened in Hybern at the end of ACOMAF. But, she’s got a plan to get back to her family, she just needs to hide her true feelings and abilities until the time is right to make her move.

The King of Hybern is mobilising his troops and plotting to tear down the wall between the two realms, enslaving those humans that are not killed in the ensuing battle. A meeting of the High Lords is called, uniting the leaders of all seven courts for the first time in centuries. Old rivalries are renewed and old wounds are reopened, but the only way to stop the King of Hybern is to put their issues aside and work together.

With battle imminent and the outcome of the war uncertain, relationships start and end, bonds are formed and broken, and loyalties are tested to breaking point.

ACOWAR had a lot of living up to do if it was going to surpass ACOMAF, and it didn’t quite reach those realms of perfection, but I felt it was a really enjoyable and satisfying ending to the series. I gave it 4 stars, I enjoyed it more than ACOTAR, but a lot less than ACOMAF. There are a few things I would change if I could, but overall it was the right way to end the story, and it definitely did justice to the the characters and the world Maas has created. I’m really looking forward to finding out more about this spin-off series Sarah has planned (if not already written). I’ve no idea who will feature, if any of the characters we have come to love will, or whether it is a prequel or a sequel, or a companion series, but I’ll be at the front of the queue the day it releases in bookstores.

Have you read the ACOTAR series? Did you enjoy ACOWAR? How did you feel about the way the story concluded? Let me know your thoughts and feelings (because let’s be honest, this series is all about the feelings) in the comments.

Lyndsey

Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Magge Stiefvater Review

I am really burning through The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater! I’ve already downloaded The Raven King and as soon as I finish listening to Nevernight by Jay Kristoff I’ll be getting stuck into the series finale.

If you haven’t read the first two books in the series, you can check out my no spoiler reviews here: The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves.

TL;DR Gansey is still looking for Glendower, Adam is still proud, Ronan is still angry, and Blue is still independent. Maura is missing, the Grey Man is back and his boss, Greenmantle, is on the hunt for the Greywarren (now aware that it is a who and not a what).

At the end of The Dream Thieves, Maura left a note for Blue to say she was going looking for Artemus – Blue’s father, who disappeared while Maura was pregnant and hasn’t been seen since. Now Maura is missing too, underground in the caves beneath Cabeswater.

Persephone is still helping Adam to master his powers and strengthen the ley line. His bargain with Cabeswater is effecting him more and more, making him darker and moodier, although he has learnt how to interpret its attempts at communication, which are often terrifying manifestations and visions.

“For so long, he’d wanted Gansey to see him as an equal, but it was possible that all this time, the only person who needed to see that was Adam.”

Ronan is still trying to figure out a way to save his mother, and all the other dream things that fell to sleep when his father died. He’s getting closer, his mother is now living in Cabeswater, where she seems to function again. Unfortunately, his dreams are encroaching more and more on his daily life, forcing him to sleep in his car rather than endanger Gansey by dreaming up a hornets’ nest inside Monmouth.

“Ronan was angry-every one of his emotions that wasn’t happiness was anger.”

Ronan and Adam spend a lot more time together in this book, working together on secret plans and using their connections to Cabeswater to try and fix the problems that the gang are battling – namely Greenmantle and his obsession with the Greywarren.

“They regarded each other. Adam fair and cautious, Ronan dark and incendiary. This was Ronan at his most truthful.”

Blue and Gansey’s relationship develops really nicely in this book, they continue to grow closer despite the obvious barriers – the fact that Gansey will die within twelve months and Blue will kill her true love if she kisses him. So, small, surmountable obstacles then.

“Blue was perfectly aware that it was possible to have a friendship that wasn’t all-encompassing, that wasn’t blinding, deafening, maddening, quickening. It was just that now that she’d had this kind, she didn’t want the other.”

Colin Greenmantle and his wife, Piper, are absolutely brilliant villains – funny, snarky and completely immoral. Colin replaces the baddie from book one, Barrington Whelk, as the boys’ Latin teacher at Aglionby, which leads to some hilarious exchanges between Colin and Ronan in Latin. Piper is a fabulously self-serving, sharp-tongued, blonde bombshell with a seriously dysfunctional moral compass. Their relationship is just fascinating, I don’t think I’ve ever loved a couple of villains as much as the Greenmantles.

“She drifted towards the bedroom, on her way to have a bath or take a nap or start a war.”

The other star of this book is Jesse Dittley, a man who’s family farmhouse sits on top of a cave they suspect Glendower might be buried in. As it turns out, the caves are cursed and eventually kill every member of Dittley’s family, including his father and grandfather. He finds Blue’s short stature fascinating and seems to be permanently shouting.

“I AM JESSE DITTLEY. DID YOU NEVER EAT YOUR GREENS?”

We also get to know Malory, Gansey’s British friend, much more in this book. He travels over to Henrietta, accompanied by his emotional support dog, and helps the gang find the caves where the believe Glendower to be hidden.

“Malory, unhopeful: “I don’t suppose you have any tea?”

Jesse: “DO YOU WANT EARL GREY OR DARJEELING?”

Malory: “Oh, sweet heavens!””

I listened to Blue Lily, Lily Blue in two days (I was doing a lot of decorating and gardening due to us moving house next month) and I enjoyed it slightly more than The Dream Thieves. There are a couple of songs in this book, one being the moody and traditional Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the other being the catchy and annoying Murder Squash. I love the layers of art in these books, Maggie Stiefvater is a musician as well as a writer and always creates music for her books – one of the treats of listening to the audio books is not only hearing these songs aloud, but hearing Maggie playing her own music at the beginning and end of each book.

One of my favourite things about The Raven Cycle is the slow development of romantic relationships. The obvious one is Blue and Gansey, who aren’t able to be together because of the aforementioned curses, but also because they don’t want to hurt Adam, who liked Blue first. In this book we finally start to see some hint of romance between Ronan and Adam (that might be a spoiler if you know literally nothing about The Raven Cycle, but if you spend any time at all online – especially Tumblr – then you’ll already know, as I did, that they get together).

It’s been hinted at very subtly throughout the series that Ronan is gay – by subtly, I mean it’s not openly stated and he isn’t constantly eyeing up guys, it is suggested that he feels something stronger than friendship for Gansey in the beginning, but that feeling is obviously not reciprocated. It isn’t at any point (that I noticed) suggested that Adam is gay, or bisexual, until this book, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how their relationship develops in The Raven King.

I gave Blue Lily, Lily Blue 4.5 stars, because it was a more gripping read than The Dream Thieves and had less elements I wasn’t a fan of – if anything, the only thing I didn’t love was Malory, I’m not sure his presence really added anything to the story. The tension and suspense is still present in this book, and I am dying to seeing how it all pans out in the final book.

Have you read The Raven Cycle? Which of the four books was your favourite? I’ve seen online that a lot of readers weren’t happy with the finale so I’m slightly apprehensive, but I really need to see what happens to these characters now, I’m so invested!

Lyndsey