DNFing There's Someone In Your House

Surprise PICK MY NEXT NETGALLEY READ!!! (Pics of covers in next tweet to help you out!)

— Andrew Hall (@PewterWolf) August 27, 2017

After I binge-read Doctor Jekyll and Mr Seek (review for that not coming out just yet, I decided to ask Twitter what I should read. I wanted something fun, addictive and edge of your seat. You guys voted for this (though it was a very VERY close call. It changed in the last two minutes as it was a two-way tie!).

And I read. I kinda wanted to read this as soon as I heard of it. A nod to slasher-horror movies by an author who wrote Anna And The French Kiss. Ok, that's going to be an interesting fish-out-of-water read. So when you guys voted for it, I was surprised but was "Yes!" at it. It's outside my (and the author's) comfort zone and I wanted something fun and different.

And I read. I got to the first 15/18% into my NetGalley and I realised that this wasn't the book for me.  And seeing that I don't like lie to hiding this from you guys (I want you to know that it's ok to go "Ok, this book isn't for me" or "You know, I am not in the mood for this now. Let me put it down and come back at a later date"), I better tell you why I'm leaving this.

I just didn't click. I don't know if it's the voice or what was happening in tone but, when I started this, I thought it was going to be Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer. I expected it to be tense. I might not be a horror fan, but I like a good psychological scare. But it didn't come across that way. The prologue felt like it fitted this, but it didn't go as far as I was expecting. In fact, we don't see anything. Hell, I'm not even sure we saw the character realise that something awful was about to happen. Then, the genre switches and it went romanic. I get why this switch happened - to build tense and to make us care for these characters - but it felt like a misstep.

The one thing I do like in this is diversity. That is the main thing I approve of, but this book feels like a misstep in advertising. It doesn't feel like a horror/slasher, like I was lead to believe, but a romantic with a serial killer edge.

Now, I am not saying this book is bad. I have read reviews where people have raved about this book. Loved it. But, it's just not for me at this moment in time. And that's ok. Just because I didn't click with it doesn't mean you won't either. You might read it and go "This is good. What was that Andrew guy talking about?!". If you like this, good for you. Read what makes you happy.

Am going to put this down and move on. I will return to this one day when I'm ready. But not yet. I want to blitz my NetGalley eProofs in next few weeks as I can focus on Fate of the Tearling, Origin and The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage at the end of September/throughout October... 

GoodRead - Anna And The French Kiss

While I was on holiday in Portugal, I took quite a few books (3 books and a Kindle). After I read The Iron King by Julie Kagawa, I asked the Person I'm With what I should read next: The Name of The Star by Maureen Johnson, The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor and a few that were on my Kindle and, when I said this, he and I agree that we should read this as this book was recommended via Twitter and because it would a random yet fun read.

And I read this in over a day. So, I have no idea if I read this or speed-skimmed it. *shrugs* Oh well…!

Anna has been forced (against her will - blame her dad) to spend a year in Paris and study at a American board school in Paris. But when she's there, she finds herself lusting after Etienne St. Clair. Which is fine. Expect he's dating someone and Anna might be seeing someone who's back in the USA. But will she find love in Paris?

Now, after chatting to a few twitter pals who describe this book like a mug of hot chocolate, I can totally see it. The read is a fast, sugary read. It's mind-candy. You read it, you turn into a junkie while reading it and then, once you've read it, you would go into sugar withdrawals.

There is one or two things that bothered me (one or two things I saw coming a mile off and Anna, for the first few characters, sounded really spoiled until I realised that she was angry with her dad [for sending her halfway round the world in the middle of a country where she can't speak the language!] and, because of that, I liked her as she was flawed!), but I like reading this highly sugary, highly addictive romantic story. Will wait and see what will happen in this author's next novel, Lola and the Boy Next Door. But because of the high sugar level (this book, like the Twilight Saga, should have a health warning!), I need to recover and read something dark now…





PS - Anna in the book has a bleached streak through her hair and yet, Anna on the cover doesn't. How odd.

PPS - I saw this picture and got very excited. This is the Star at Point Zero and it features in the book several times. It's kinda important, and I say nothing more than that...!