#81 One Day in December

One Day in December by Josie Silver

One Day in December follows the story of Laurie a twenty something girl living in London chasing down her dreams of working at a magazine. She lives with her best friend Sarah and they have been inseparable since becoming roommates at university. One night on her way home from work Laurie locks eyes with a handsome strange who is sat at a bus stop whilst she is on a bus. She feels an instant connection and likens it to love at first sight, when the bus pulls away she thinks she will never see this mystery man again and she spends the next year of her life obsessing over him and searching every nook and cranny in London to find him.

Just when Laurie is ready to give up she is invited to meet Sarahs new boyfriend, Jack. You can pretty much see where this is going, Jack is the guy from the bus stop and Laurie immediately recognises him. She struggles with whether she should tell Sarah or not but decides not to as Sarah has strong feelings for him and told Laurie that it was the man she was going to marry.

This story is made up of snippets of ten years worth of Lauries life. I found is to be incredibly heartwarming and really struggled to put the book down, i think it took me a day to finish this one, i was so immersed in the characters and what was going to happen. I must admit i didnt love the ending and i did bump it down a star as it was a bit rushed. This book has a very Bridget Jones style to it, parts are very funny but ultimately its very relatable and you can really put yourself in Lauries shoes.

There are many multi layered characters and complex story lines that merge so well even when they are years apart in timeline. I struggled with the male characters in this book as i didnt like any of them! i know im in the minority saying that though. The whole big reads as very human, the characters make terrible decisions but you seem them struggle and try to live with those decisions which made for an interesting read. I dont often enjoy Christmas books but this book is definitely an exception to the rule. Dont get me wrong bits of it like any romance novel are a bit cringey and a bit predictable but all in all its a lovely read.

#80 Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Little Fires Everywhere is a fiercely character driven novel, if you aren't into that then this might not be for you. I used to be one of those people that was more of a plot reader but i don't mind character driven novels occasionally if they are executed well and this was.

The book follows the story of the Richardson's, in the beginning chapter their house burns to the ground. The fire department immediately rule out an accidental fire and rule the tragedy as arson due to multiple accelerant points or 'little fires everywhere'. The book follows the stories of the characters involved in the run up to the fire.

The Richardson's are a well to do upper class family in suburban Ohio. Mrs Richardson is a reporter for a local Shaker Heights newspaper and Mr Richardson is a partner at a law firm. Together they have four children, Trip the lacrosse star, Lexie the potential ivy league attendee, Moody the quiet one and Izzy the unpredictable black sheep. When Mia Warren and her young daughter Pearl move into the Richardson's rental property the story begins to unfold and takes the reader in directions i did not see coming.

There is a few side plots in this novel, it felt like the story of the fire was firmly on the back burner (excuse the pun!) but i promise it all comes together in the end. We have the addition of Mrs Richardson (lets refer to her as Elena from now on as that's her name :P) best friend and her husband as they attempt to adopt an abandoned Chinese baby, when the babies mother who also happens to be Mia's work colleague a custody battle ensues which divides the community. Another side plot that is explored is Mia's back story, she is a travelling artist and never stays in the same city twice, her mother embarks on an artistic mission and when she finishes they typically move on but this time Mia has vowed to Pearl that they will make Shaker Heights their permanent residence, will she uphold this promise? will her past come back to bite her in the ass?

The Richardson kids are a particularly important and interesting part of this story. Mainly the two girls Lexie and Izzy, Lexie is the popular pretty girl at school whereas Izzy is misunderstood and sticks to her guns. Izzy develops a friendship with Mia when she offers to be her assistant. Through this friendship it solidifies Izzys idea that she needs to break away from her family as soon as she is able.

All is all i thoroughly enjoyed this story, fantastic plot twists and side story lines that all came together in the end.  I enjoyed this book more that Celeste Ng's fire novel 'Everything i Never Told You' but it was also very good. Cant fault her writing and the characters have a real feel to them. Oh and a final note i must admit i much prefer the US cover which is not a statement i can say very often!

#79 Turn of the Key

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware 

The Turn of the Key is Ruth Wares 5th novel, ive read them all. Im a massive fan of her work and i must say this one was fantastic. Her writing style is simple yet effective and i enjoy her plot twists, this book was no exception. Ruth Ware has been described as 'The Agatha Christie of our time' which i whole heartily agree with. I could sing her praises all day.

The book follows Rowan Caine, a Londoner living pay check to pay check and working in a baby room of a nursery. When she comes across a job advertisement for a live in nanny position in remote Scotland she is instantly intrigued, when she sees the salary she decides to stop at nothing to secure the position. When Rowan arrives at Heatherbrae House she is swept away by the beautiful scenery and its remoteness. The house itself is high tech- a refurbished smart home with round the clock surveillance, in which all of the appliances are controlled via an app. Rowan is immediately informed by Mrs Elincourt the lady of the house, that a few of their previous nannies had left due to the history of the house and it is implied that they 'scared too easily'. Rowan will become the nanny to the 4 Elincourt children, three problem children and a baby. Rowan becomes their sole carer within a few hours of accepting the position and is immediately thrown into the deep end when both the parents leave for work projects. With the nearest house miles away and only the groundskeeper/handyman to rely on this novel becomes very dark, very quickly.

The book is told in letter form to a lawyer that Rowan is seeking representation from which is interesting in itself and very unique in thrillers. There is a constant creepy vibe to it, Rowan wakes in the night to footsteps on the floorboards and strange noises, she also feels constantly watched not only by the cameras that cover the majority of the house but also whilst she is on the grounds. The children are also problematic and dont exactly warm to Rowan straight away. Maddie, one of the middle childrens behaviour is unpredictable and some what volatile towards Rowan, she hints that the house is haunted and that 'the ghosts wont like her being there'. When one of the children is found dead Rowan maintains her innocence but is charged with the murder and is awaiting her trial, the book is her account of what really happened told in a letter to a potential solicitor. Will we find out what really happened at Heatherbrae House?

My only gripe with this book was the ending. It felt very rushed and not satisfying after all the build up, i was heavily invested in the story and then left it feeling a bit of an anti-climax. Dont get me wrong this was still a solid 4 star read but if the ending was better executed it would have been a 5 star read for me. The twist was enjoyable but was hinted at a few times throughout so was easily worked out but still executed fairly well. I eagerly await Ruth Wares next book.

#78 Starsight

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson 

(Skyward Book 2)

Spoiler free

Skyward was my joint favourite book of 2018, joint top with Evelyn Hugo so its pretty safe to say ive been waiting ALL year for this and it was one of it not my most anticipated book of 2019. Slight spoiler alert, it did not disappoint! whilst i must admit i did prefer Skyward i still thought this sequel was a fantastic continuation and my favourite YA sci-fi series. 

A little synopsis of the first book: Skyward follows Spensa a young girl with big dreams of becoming a pilot, her father defected from a battle and was deemed a coward, he was shot down and his legacy as a coward was moved onto Spensa which made her dreams of attending pilot school almost impossible. Almost ;) 

Starsight continues on directly from Skyward which i enjoyed as i dont care for massive time jumps. The book opens with the continuing fight against the krell. With Spensas unique ability to sense the Krells controls and direction of their spaceships the last remaining humans are therefore able to push the battle farther out from Detritus. When a small single unknown spaceship appears Spensa is sent to intercept it, when she find the pilot injured, the pilot gives Spensa a warning and pleads with her to go to Starsight, a krell space station and then she slips into a coma.  Spensa is subsquently presented with a unique opportunity in this book to imitate an alien from a different planet and to infiltrate their space station to steal their hyper drive technology in the hopes they will figure out how the krell are winning the fight, the risks are high but it may be the humans only chance.

Whilst on Starsight Spensa takes on a new pilot training challenge and must help to train a new crew which was a nice throwback to Skyward. With this there is an introduction of a range of new characters. The new crew comprises of many different races of aliens and a human defector character. Spensa is able to disguise herself as the alien that is currently in a coma using M-bots technology whilst wearing a bracelet on her wrist. Will Spensa complete her mission to steal the krell hyperdrive and make it back to Detritus alive?

So like ive mentioned previously i didnt enjoy this as much as Skyward but i still gave it a full 5 stars as i still thought it was a great story. I enjoyed the characters more in Skyward but i did appreciate the varied characters in Starsight and found that each of them had a unique and interesting backstory. The world building was also bumped up a level in this continuation and i really enjoyed learning more about the other side and found myself warming to the krell and feeling sorry for them. 

Some stand out characters for me were Spensa (obviously) her character growth was fantastic whilst at the same time shes the same impulsive, fiery gal. I enjoyed how the cytonic side of her is developed. I also loved development of Jorgens character towards the end as he has his own developments in this book, wont say anymore as i want to keep this as spoiler free as possible. The alien characters were an interesting addition too. 

I was also very glad that like Skyward this book was pretty much romance free and thats probably why i loved it so much, i love that Sanderson can write an action packed story but doesnt feel the need to focus on a romance storyline. His writing really is second to none. I was very pleased when not only a book 3 was announced but a book 4 too! Shame we have to wait until Spring 2021 for it but im sure it will be worth the wait!