Lauren Owen - Small Angels

Lauren Owen - Small Angels 

5 ⭐

Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Fiction, Gothic, Mystery, LGBTQ+, Thriller, Contemporary Fiction 

Pages: 480

Format: Paperback Proof  

Publisher: Tinder Press 

Date Published: 2nd August 2022

Huge Thank You to Tinder Press for a proof copy and for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour. 

Book Blurb: 

A wedding in a small English village attracts a malicious spirit, forcing deep secrets to the surface - a hypnotic tale of sisterhood, first love, and hauntings.

As a teenager, Kate found a safe harbour from her parents' constant fighting in the company of the four Gonne sisters, who lived with their strict grandparents next to Small Angels, a church on the edge of dense green woods. The first outsider to ever get close to the sisters, Kate eventually learned the family's secret: The woods are home to a capricious, menacing ghost whom generations of Gonne's had been charged with stopping from venturing into the village itself. But as the sisters grew older, braver, and more independent, bucking against the family's burden, the bulwark began to crack, culminating in a horrifying act of violence that drove a terrible wedge between the sisters and Kate.

Chloe has been planning her dream wedding for months. She has the dress, the flowers, and the perfect venue: Small Angels, a charming old church in the village where her fiancé, Sam, and his sister, Kate, grew up. But days before the ceremony, Chloe starts to hear unsettling stories about Small Angels--and worse, she begins to see, smell, and hear things that couldn't possibly be real.

Now Kate is returning home for the first time in years, for Sam and Chloe's wedding. But the woods are coming alive again, and Kate must reconnect with Lucia, the most troubled of the sisters and her first love, to protect Chloe, the village, and herself. An unforgettable novel about the memories that hold us back and those that show us the way forward--this is storytelling at its most magical. Enter Small Angels, if you dare.

My Review: 

Beautifully written, captivating and chilling story. Absolutely adored it! Owen’s writing is full of brilliant imagery and words that create such vivid scenes, at points making me think that I am one of the characters in the story. Honestly, such a captivating read that it was so hard to put down!

The story is set in a small English village which is surrounded by mysterious Mockbeggar Woods. Through the ages, local villagers knew that mystery, pain and folk tales all surrounded the woods. They also knew that Mockbeggar Woods are not for them and they should stay away from it. However, one day Chloe, who is marrying someone local from the village, found herself fascinated by the woods and especially by the small gothic church in the middle of it called Small Angels. She wants to get married there but the villagers are worried and concerned that it might anger the woods, yet part of them wants to see whether the folktales and mystery surrounding Harry Child are real. When things and the atmosphere in the woods and the village start to change just a few days before the wedding Chloe and the villagers realise that they might have made a wrong choice by opening the doors of Small Angels and entering into the secrets of the Mockbeggar.

I loved how atmospheric this book is, especially that is set in a small English village and surrounded by folklore, tales, ghost stories and mystery. I always imagined many small mysterious English villages in this way and it was a pleasure to read a story set in this environment.

I also really liked the Gonne family and their strong connection with nature and Mockbeggar. Although villagers branded them as freaks and lunatics, as well as witches, they cherished their lives around the Mockbeggar. I also really liked the relationship between the Gonne sisters and how strongly they loved and fought for each other no matter what.

I really loved how this book explored what power stories have on people and on how people perceive the world because of certain stories. In the case of this book people in the village were always afraid of Mockbeggar Woods because of the story about Harry Child told a few hundred years ago, but that fear persisted for so long that people adjusted their lives living without disturbing the peace of Mockbeggar Woods.

Overall: Captivating and beautifully written yet chilling and atmospheric book. I loved how each character and their stories, brought Mockbeggar Woods and Small Angles back to life. Although for me this book was not as scary as some other thriller, horror and folklore stories I have read, it did have some scary moments at the very end, which added so much to the already powerful ending. Honestly, this book is one of my favourites from this year and I cannot wait to read more from Lauren Owen, as I loved how atmospheric and brilliant her writing is. 

About the Author:

Lauren Owen studied English Literature at St. Hilda's College, Oxford, before completing an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where she received the 2009 Curtis Brown prize for the best fiction dissertation. 'The Quick' is her first novel. She lives in Durham, England.

https://twitter.com/pioneers_o

Katie Gutierrez - More Than You'll Ever Know

Katie Gutierrez - More Than You'll Ever Know  

5 ⭐

Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Contemporary Fiction 

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback Proof 

Publisher: Penguin Michael Joseph 

Date Published: 7th July 2022 

Huge Thank You to Penguin Michael Joseph Publishing for a proof copy and for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour. 

Book Blurb: 

Lore Rivera was married to two men at once, until on a baking hot day in 1986, one of them found out and shot the other. A secret double life, a tragic murder. That's the story the world knows.

It's not the story that fascinates Cassie Bowman.

Carrying the weight of her own family tragedy, true-crime writer Cassie wants to know more about the mysterious woman at the heart of it all, Lore. How did one woman fall in love with two different men? How did she balance the love and the lies?

To her surprise, Cassie finds that Lore is willing to talk. To finally tell her heartbreaking story - about how dance became an affair; how marriage became a murder.

As the two women grow closer, Cassie finds she can't help but confess her own darkest secrets. But when she slowly starts to realise that there might be more to the night of the murder than anyone has realised, can either woman face up to the thing they've been hiding from the truth?

My Review: 

This book! I loved it. It gripped me from the very beginning and kept me wondering what is going on and what was going to happen until the very end. The writing was also brilliant! It was so authentic, easy to read and gave each character their personality and voice. I loved the inclusion of Spanish words and phrases as that displays the reality of Mexican-American families living close to the US border with Mexico back in the 1980s and even now.

The story is divided into two timelines. Timeline one is set in the 1980s and follows Lore Rivera. She is married to Fabian and has two twin sons, Mateo and Gabriel. She married Fabian when she was very young and family is now everything to her. However, she feels lost and doesn’t remember a time when she did something for herself. Her current life is routine… Work, twins and Fabian. So, one day on her work trip to Mexico City she meets a charming Andres Ruso. Straight away she connects with him. He seems to like Lore, too. However, Lore didn’t mention to Andres that she has a husband and a family. As their relationship blossom, lies start becoming more complicated and Lore ends up having two completely separate lives in different countries. That’s until Andres suddenly ends up in Loredo, where Lore, Fabian and the kids live. The same night he ends up killed by Fabian. At least that is the story that everyone knew for the past 30 years…

The second timeline follows a crime blogger and writer Cassie, who accidentally stumbles across an article about Fabian killing Andres and a woman who managed to have two husbands and lives in two different countries. She is immediately attracted to the story and does everything to find Lore and make her talk about what happened to Andres. Cassie wants to write a book that would feature Lore’s true story…but the truth is harder to uncover than Cassie previously thought….Both Cassie and Lore have secrets that they don’t want anyone to know but for both of them in order to move forward, they need to face each other and their pasts.

I liked the backstories of both Cassie and Lore, especially Lore’s backstory as it would explain why she acted the way she did and had an affair with Fabian with Andres. It also helps to understand some of Lore’s actions. I did think that some of Cassie’s backstory could’ve been explained in more detail but other than that it gives enough information to understand Cassie as a character. Both, Cassie and Lore, and even other characters in the book are human, they make mistakes, they lose the ones their love, their struggle and love…and how characters were developed and presented throughout the book just adds to that. It did make me go through a lot of emotions because I felt for the characters, I agreed and disagreed with them, I laughed and loved with them…and that’s thanks to the brilliant writing!

The twists! It is a quite slow-burn family drama but there were quite a few brilliant twists throughout the story and I enjoyed that! It made me want to read the book in one sitting. Also, these twists mixed with American and Mexican history in the 1980s, such as recession, economic crisis, people’s struggles and extreme events made the story more real. It felt like I am reading a real story rather than a piece of fiction.

Overall: I loved this book! It is one of the books I will be recommending to people! I was so surprised by the ending of the book and I thoroughly enjoyed the character exploration in this book, as well as the love story/ affair of Lore and Andres. I did think that the ending was a bit abrupt as it would have been interesting to learn more about what happened to both Cassie and Lore following the book release and how their lives changed. However, brilliant debut, with amazing writing, great characters and just a very gripping read. 

About the Author: 

Katie Gutierrez has an MFA from Texas State University and has written

for Harper's Bazaar, the Washington Post, Longreads, and more. She was

born and raised in Laredo, Texas, a city on the U.S.-Mexico border, and now lives in San Antonio with her husband and two young children. She finished writing More Than You'll Ever Know days before delivering her second child, who turned out to be quite the good luck charm.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/284255/katie-gutierrez?tab=penguin-books

Deesha Philyaw - The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

Deesha Philyaw - The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

4⭐

Genre: Short Stories, Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Feminism, Race, Religion

Pages: 179

Format:  eARC on NetGalley 

Publisher: Pushkin Press

Published: 5th May 2022 (UK)

 

Big thank you to Pushkin Press for having me on the blog tour and NetGalley / Pushkin Press for the eARC.

 Book Blurb: 

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church's double standards and their own needs and passions. With their secret longings, new love, and forbidden affairs, these church ladies are as seductive as they want to be, as vulnerable as they need to be, as unfaithful and unrepentant as they care to be, and as free as they deserve to be.

My Review: 

What a book! Perfect for when you want to take a break from your usual reads and definitely perfect to help you get out of a reading slump.

The book features nine short stories that follow different characters, although the centre stage is given to black women and girls in Southern America. All these Church Ladies, spanning over four generations, are all trying to figure out their place in the world, their desires, their passion and their needs, whilst also having a strong belief in God and his teachings.

I loved that the author explored the lives of different women, especially their inner thoughts, reasoning and passions, but also didn’t shy to show their outer characters, how vulnerable, strong, distinct, loving, caring and colourful all those women are. These stories also look at how these ladies react to pressures, standards and rules set by society and the church, and how all of that changed their lives in ways they might not even imagine.

It was such an easy and refreshing read.  I managed to devour this book in a few hours. Although, it is a book that I would love to go back and reread the separate stories, whilst giving more time to concentrate and get to know each of the heroines better in their respective stories. It is a book that is worth a place on your shelf and that you will come back to read over and over again, as each story has so much to give.

I also loved the writing style, words in this book just flows and there are no wasted words and no long-winded descriptions that would take you off the topic, everything is said for a reason and everything that has been said in these stories matter, either to the character or their story.

My favourite stories are ‘The Peach Cobbler’, ‘Dear Sister’ and ‘Instructions for Married Christian Husbands’, as they are all so powerful but at the same time made me have a rollercoaster of emotions, including laughs, tears and heartaches.

Overall: One of the best short story books I have ever read. Definitely worth reading and having on your shelf. I know that I will be re-reading it soon, especially to have a break from longer books that I am reading to give me that energy and get me out of the reading slump. 

This review was firstly published on NetGalley:  

                                      https://www.netgalley.co.uk/book/239051/review/959200

About the Author: 

Deesha Philyaw is the co-author of Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households After Divorce, written in collaboration with her ex-husband. Her work has been listed as Notable in The Best American Essays series, and her writing on race, parenting, gender, and culture has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s, The Rumpus, Brevity, dead housekeeping, Apogee Journal, Catapult, Cheat River Review, TueNight, ESPN’s The Undefeated and The Baltimore Review; Essence, Ebony, and Bitch magazines; and various anthologies. Deesha is a Fellow at the Kimbilio Center for African American Fiction and a past Pushcart Prize nominee for essay writing in Full Grown People.

https://www.deeshaphilyaw.com/

Christian Cantrell - Scorpion

Christian Cantrell - Scorpion

4 ⭐

Genre: Thriller, Science Fiction, Mystery, Fiction. 

Pages: 392

Format: Paperback Review Copy

Publisher: Penguin Michael Joseph 

Date Published: 14th April 2022 

A big thank you to Penguin Michael Joseph for gifting me a copy of this book to review and for having me on the blog/social media tour for this intriguing and exciting thriller. 

Book Blurb: 

Around the world, twenty-two people have been murdered. The victims fit no profile, the circumstances vary wildly, but one thing links them all: in every case, the victim is branded with a number.

With police around the globe floundering and unable to identify any pattern, let alone find a killer, CIA Analyst Quinn Mitchell is called in to investigate.

Before long, Quinn is on the trail of an ice-hearted assassin with seemingly limitless resources - but she's prepared for that.

What she isn't prepared for is the person pulling the strings...

My Review: 

I am a big fan of good science fiction and a good thriller but honestly, by blending both together Cantrell made a beautiful and intriguing read that got me hooked from the very first page.

In this near-future science fiction thriller, a prodigy CIA analyst Quinn Mitchell is tasked with a unique and rather disturbing assignment that not only takes her out of her office but also her comfort zone. Across different countries, 22 people are brutally murdered, however, none of them had anything in common apart from the 4 digits left on their bodies after the murder. As an analyst, Quinn uses the advances in technology to try and crack the algorithm of these digits, but she suspects that the murderer might be much smarter than to lead her straight to the answer…

I loved how Quinn was portrayed. Although her character is supposed to be this bright and super intelligent CIA analyst who is brilliant at her job, the author also shows her human side, her emotions and how she is trying to deal with a tragic personal loss. I strongly believe that this added so much realness to the book as the main character was so relatable, especially since the book is set in the near- future where technology and AI dominate nearly every aspect of a person's life.

I also loved that some of the other main characters are also portrayed as complex, with very difficult pasts, giving them a reason and a  'green light' to do what they are doing. However, I would have loved to know more about the motives that some of the characters had for the things they did and the choices they made. Oh, and definitely there were some characters that I would love to learn more about, especially their pasts (fingers crossed for a book two).

The pace of the book is quite fast but that’s why it grips you in and keeps you so intrigued. All of this is also well balanced with some quite exciting and some quite unexpected plot twists to keep you at the edge of your seat (which are hard to explain without spoiling the plot). It definitely did that to me!

For me (who’s not very tech and gadget savvy) some of the explanations of technology and the jargon of metaphysics were a bit too complicated to understand at times but I think it’s because this book is written by someone who knows all of that very well. This is the only thing that didn’t make this a 5-star read, even if I adored the plot.

Overall: This book hooked me in from the very first page and got me sitting at the edge of my seat until the very end. I would love to read more about these characters and find out whether what was done by Quinn and Ranveer actually made the future world a better place. Definitely recommend this book if you a fan of science fiction and thrillers as this book has it all… 

About the Author: 

Christian Cantrell - a software engineer living outside of Washington, D.C. His self-published fiction has sold more than a quarter of a million copies, and three of his stories have been optioned for film or TV. Beyond his writing, he leads a team of designers and engineers who prototype the future of creativity at Adobe. 

https://twitter.com/cantrell