Hey! As promised from my previous books post (My Top 10 Books of 2021) here are all the books I got from Waterstones a while ago. I was really lucky to get a £50 gift card as an incentive from my workplace and could choose where I wanted to spend it and my first thought was “Yes I can get more books!” As soon as I could I headed to the Waterstones flagship store in Piccadilly, London – the biggest branch of the bookstore in London. With 5 floors filled with books I could easily spend the whole day in this store – plus there is a cafe so you can definitely spend all day there – Food and books what else could you ask for!
I’ve read all of them already so I’ll also include a little review for the books that I’ve read.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Libby Day was seven when her family was murdered: she survived by hiding in a closet – and famously testified that her older brother Ben was the killer.
Twenty-five years later the Kill Club – a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes – gets in touch with Libby to try to discover proof that may free Ben. Almost broke, Libby agrees to go back to her hometown to investigate – for a fee.
But when Libby’s search uncovers an unimaginable truth, she finds herself right back where she started: on the run from a killer.
This was a must buy after reading Gone Girl and I loved it so I wanted to read more from Gillian Flynn. This book in my opinion does not take the place of Gone Girl but I still enjoyed it. The twists of finding out what happened to the Day family, keeps you on your toes the whole book. With crime thrillers with a whodunit storyline I always love to guess at the beginning who I think the killer is, normally I’m right but this time I did not see this coming. The only drawback I would say would be that I found myself just wanting to find out what happened, the book built up the suspense for so long – got to the point where you’re feeling like come on just tell me already!
Rating: 4/5
Grown Ups by Marian Keyes
Meet Jessie, Cara and Nell.
Married to brothers Johnny, Ed and Liam Casey.
Three very different women tied to three very different men. Every family occasion is a party – until the day the secrets spill out.
Playtime is over. But where are the grown-ups?
I loved this book, it’s not like my normal go to, thrillers normally catch my eye in Waterstones but I read some reviews on Marian Keyes so I thought as I’m technically not paying for this book, let me just try it out. I’m so glad that I did I loved all the family drama and wanted to read more – I want a sequel! I’m definitely going to check out other books by Marian Keyes after reading this.
Rating 5/5
Magpie by Elizabeth Day
She has almost everything. The rest she’ll take.
Marisa may have only known Jake a few months, but she has never felt this certain about anyone. When he asks her to move in with him and they start trying for a baby, she knows she has finally found the steadfast love and support she has been looking for all her life.
But their relationship is tested when they take in a lodger, Kate, who has little regard for personal boundaries and seems to take an uncomfortable interest in Jake – as well as the baby they are hoping to have.
Why is Kate so obsessed with the couple? And, more worryingly, why doesn’t Jake share Marisa’s concern?
In her determination to find the answers, Marisa risks losing everything she holds dear…
I loved the twist after the first part, it really shocked me – I actually gasped out loud on the tube. After the first half though, I’ll be really honest I got a little bit disappointed, it didn’t really keep me excited to keep going. I think after the big twist the main focus is the ‘evil mother in law’ and it didn’t really have the same excitement.
Rating: 3/5
The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney
Jane stumbles on the rental opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to live in a beautiful ultra-minimalist house designed by an enigmatic architect, on condition she abides by a long list of exacting rules. After moving in, she discovers that a previous tenant, Emma, met a mysterious death there – and starts to wonder if her own story will be a re-run of the girl before.
As twist after twist catches the reader off guard, Emma’s past and Jane’s present become inexorably entwined in this tense, page-turning portrayal of psychological obsession.
Excuse my thumb in the photo, I took these photos really quickly and excitedly to send the photos to my girlie who also loves reading books as much as I do! This was a for sure purchase after reading Playing Nice last year and loving it and also seeing that this was adapted by the BBC into a series I had to read it before watching the show. With my high expectations for this book before starting it really didn’t disappoint, I loved the twists and turns in the plot especially at the end. I think the point down in the rating would be that I felt like it kind of dragged in the middle, was kinda waiting for something to happen for a while but the ending did bring it back for me.
Rating: 4/5
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he manages to smuggle a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered; as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss; as a US Marshal and FBI agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.
Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth, together. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they are also building a new future. One neither Hannah nor Bailey could have anticipated.
Got this as it was rated the top thriller of the year so that sold me really, I knew I had to give it a go. I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a smooth easy read, easy to get into, to understand and relate to the characters. The book follows Hannah reeling after her husbands sudden disappearance and trying her best to understand what has gone and protect his daughter Bailey. I feel like the husband could have really avoided a lot of Hannah’s confusion if he was honest with her and left her a little more of a note than just two words – a voice message or something!
Rating: 4/5
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in rural Ireland. The similarities end there; they are from very different worlds. When they both earn places at Trinity College in Dublin, a connection that has grown between them lasts long into the following years.
This is an exquisite love story about how a person can change another person’s life – a simple yet profound realisation that unfolds beautifully over the course of the novel. It tells us how difficult it is to talk about how we feel and it tells us – blazingly – about cycles of domination, legitimacy and privilege.
I wanted to see what all the hype was about but I wanted to read the book before looking to start the tv adaption. To be honest their on and off relationship did annoy me a little, a lot of their arguments could have been avoided or resolved if they just talked to each other which was a little frustrating! As a whole I liked the book but personally didn’t buy into all the hype and I don’t have a lot of interest to watch the series.
Rating: 3/5
Let me know your thoughts on these books if you’ve read them!
Thank you for reading,
Antonia
xoxo
Antonia Conduah 