The Soldier's Wife was set in World War II and it took place on an island in the English Channel - Guernsey. Eventually the island is occupied by the Germans and the main character must make choices that will impact herself greatly as well as the lives of her two young daughters. It's a love story but also a story of compassion. The war intrudes on every aspect of this mother's life and how she deals with the realities of it are what keeps the reader going. I loved it and gave it a 9 out of 10.
Because I was such a big fan of The Hunger Games, a fellow book club member recommended this series to me - the Maze Runner. The main character of this story is a boy who can't remember anything besides his first name - Thomas. He wakes up one day to find himself surrounded by a group of boys who also have problems with their memories but they are working together to survive in this new place called the Glade. The Glade is surrounded by a maze that seemingly has no end. At night there are things that come to kill you and just when Thomas is getting a handle on things, a new person is introduced to the Glade. a girl. A girl who claims to know Thomas and also a way out of the maze.
I heard or read somewhere that this book is geared more towards boys if you compare it to The Hunger games and I can kind of see that. There is a lot of adventure and survival stuff but also death and killing. You won't see a lot of romance or emotional stuff. You will see friends being killed, friends going insane, and friends begging to be killed. Betrayal after betrayal will make you not want to trust anyone. Overall, I really liked this book series because I never could predict what was going to happen next. As the series continued more and more twists kept coming up. Definitely interesting! I gave the series an overall 7 out of 10.
One of the more interesting books I picked up this month was The Strain. When I skimmed the back it sounded similar to the movie Contagion. A virus spreads quickly across New York, then across the United States, and then across the world kind of thing. The twisty thing that I discovered with this book is that the virus is actually one that kills your mind but leaves your body alive as a vampire. Interesting. These were not nice vampires either. They were more the killing machine kind. The first book was suspense to the max - it was a solid 10. The first few chapters are perfect. Main characters are all solidly written and I love the mix of people that end up together fighting for life as we know it. The following two books are also good but in my opinion the first one is the best. The series is an 8 out of 10.
Don't breathe a word was a book that had high potential but ended up falling flat. A young girl disappears and her brother is now an adult still dealing with the secrets of what happened. There is some allusion to evil faeries as well as evil family but where the story disappoints is in the wrap up and ending. The climax is very anti-climatic and the whole book loses any magic that is had started with. I gave the book a 4 out of 10 but I did like the cover shot - great image!
My grandma got me started on Sandra Brown novels and I have read several that I like a lot. They are always full of people who aren't who they first appear to be and just when I think I have everything figured out - I realize I don't. This book was a typical Brown book which means... I liked it. A widow woman (she's a second grade teacher!) who's husband was a police officer (crazy!) is suddenly involved in things that are way over her head when a man shows up at her house looking for something her husband hid right before his death The widow then recognizes the man from the news because he is wanted for the death of 7 people who were innocent in every way. Or were they?
9 out of 10.
I have a whole slug of books on my "to-read" list so we'll see what I can get through next month!
Happy reading!
1 comment:
sounds like I need to head to the library :) Thanks for the post :)
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