The twist was a little bit of a stretch but a good read overall

Well researched historical fiction, just felt the story could have gone much further... and some of the dialogues in the modern day sections were a little irritating.

It's a little hard to get into. The setup is interesting but the snippets of perspectives go back and forth in time, and it's not very easy to follow at first. Still a pick for me because I thought the author did a great job conveying the stifling feeling of loss that follows the death of a loved one, while in contrast showing just how much of us survives through our online profiles.

First thought as I reached the end was: huh?? It felt like reading a well written essay that never answered the exam question. So many things (not least the title) promised a supernatural mystery. But the supernatural was incidental and the mystery didn't work well. It was a great psychological study though: the characterisation of the female leads, their relationship, and the atmosphere building were superb. Shame they were let down by the plot.

The author has created an interesting world, pairing climate deterioration with the rise of repression in a familiar setting, which makes it all the more unsettling. Perhaps a slow start as the groundwork is being laid, but the pace does pick up, and I'm looking forward to books 2 and 3. I found myself skimming through some technical passages though, as I'm not exactly tech-savvy!

I enjoyed this - the writing flows nicely, the characters are well fleshed out and the pace is good, though i was expecting a more unexpected outcome (so in a way, it was unexpectedly expected?) Anyway, a good read!
#Booked2019, #newtomeauthor
@Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

"I spend the day refusing to get excited because it will all come to naught whilst also meticulously planning my sales pitch. It's an exercise in believing two mutually exclusive ideas; it's exhausting."

Subject is interesting but delivery wasn't. Found the writing repetitive, the tone exaggerated, the narrative simplistic. Overuse of redundant comments. It's a verbatim of the podcast- could have done with more editing to make it more reader friendly.Gets better as you read on, stories are spookier, writing flows better, but it doesn't quite forego the irritating banalities and moralistic quips.
#Booked2019 #Relatedtoapodcast

Havent reviewed in a while! Been cracking on with the reading though... :)
Enjoyed this one, partly because of the local setting :) an interesting take on the alleged big cat sightings in the area. The depiction of family life after the arrival of a newborn is also spot on. Only downside perhaps is the padding around the story can sometimes go on a little.
#Booked2019 #night-oriented
@BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft

French critical thinking & skepticism at its finest, studded with cultural winks and nudges. Funny & profound, poised & radical, an observation & rejection of human nature and its stereotypes. Its two narrators, female and highly intelligent, are pushed by society to the bottom of the influence hierarchy because one is a child, the other a concierge, but both somehow prevail. It mocks the taming of the shrew with all the elegance of the hedgehog.

"As always, I am saved by the inability of living creatures to believe anything that might cause the walls of their little mental assumptions to crumble."

Barely started and I'm loving this book already...

Disappointed. It addressed issues i would have normally enjoyed, and the author's way of raising questions while showing the futility of it is interesting. But I couldn't look past the crude rambling style, despite good descriptions and funny strands here and there. As for the abrupt endings, with no particular punch or twist, though a message in themselves (perhaps reflecting on how most lives end?), they robbed the narrative of a memorable seal.

This book came out when I was still living in Paris.
I remember all the hype around it, yet it has since remained on my to-read list. Time to do something about it! I am sure it will stir up memories of this very #happyplace
#Booked2019 @BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft

This one is for the #Booked2019 #IrishAuthor prompt. Halfway through it so far - very unusual style!
@BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft @Cinfhen

A pick, yes, but I would not rate all the stories equally. The spin on puss-in-boots is unique and entertaining, the descriptions in The Erl-King elegant and poetic. Other stories I found less compelling, like Blue Beard and Mr Lyon (a retelling of Beauty and the Beast), partly because they did not stray far enough from the originals (still had some notable variations though). The Erl-King was my favourite.

Brilliant! It has all the ingredients of a good thriller, I barely put it down than i wanted to pick it up again. Has lots in common with Swierczynski's Revolver (cold case, female lead, cop father, dysfunctional family, drinking and more drinking) but this one felt like an easier read.

Diving into my #fairytaleretelling for #Booked2019. Struggled to pick one but in the end went for a classic that i have shamefully not read yet... It's a genre that I'm getting more and more into!
@Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

A light, entertaining read. Some bits were hilarious, others dragged out a little. Informative whichever side of the Atlantic you are, though it seemed to me more geared towards an American audience.

Have signed up to the #Booked2019 challenge (too ambitious with two little ones at home?) Starting with The Last Place You Look for the #femaledetective one.
@Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage (did i tag everyone?)

Confused? No, indeed.

So well written, brilliantly researched, great pace throughout. Not one dull bit! And I loved the sprinkle of the quintessentially English quips here and there. Though I found Empress Sisi less likeable as I read it than when I first heard her life story years ago...

Captures the tragic side of Empress Sisi's persona quite well...

"There was a moment of silence as the assembled company digested this revelation along with their turbot à la crème."

What I loved about this book is how seemlessly the supernatural blends into the storyline, and how the quirky details about each character are revealed. It's all too human and super-human at the same time. Really comes together nicely. Looking forward to the Night Shift...

There is enough intrigue in Revolver to keep you turning those pages. The characters are vividly painted. Yet I didn't fully enjoy the book because: 1) the pace felt slow but the ending rushed 2) I couldn't connect with the characters, and there was waaayyy too much focus on how much they drank (Stan tried to make it home alive every day - what so he could drink himself to death?) 3) the generation switching was a little distracting at first