eBook Review - The Case of the Drowned Pearl

• Title And Author: The Case of the Drowned Pearl by Robin Stevens
• Publisher: Puffin 
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 96 Pages

HAPPY BELATED WORLD BOOK DAY!!! How are we all doing? Recovering from our book hangovers? 

I’m still, at the time of writing this, reading my current BEAST of a book (don’t ask, it’s LONG so am audiobooking like heck at the moment), but I wanted to do a tiny write-up of The Case of the Drowned Pearl, a mini-mystery written especially for World Book Day 2020 (plus, this will tie fans over till the final book in the series is finally published later this year)!

While on a seaside holiday, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong (aka the Detective Society) among with friends (and rival detectives) George and Alexander discover the body of famous swimmer Antonia Braithwaite - aka The Pearl - on the beach. Everyone presumes she drowned by accident as she was training for the Olympics, but the Detective Society aren’t so sure. If she had drowned in the sea, why does she smell of soap and not seawater? 

It’s such a nice, little story. I could have easily devoured this in one sitting but forced myself to slow down and savour it. I really should read the series from the start and not drop in and out of it as I always enjoy myself when I read Daisy and Hazel. I might have to backtrack and read a few before the ninth (and final) novel in the series is released.

As it is a short story/novella, I did figure out who done it quite quickly (it’s rare that I do and I get it right!) and I do think this could have had an extra few pages, but I like the way this feels. It had all the trademarks of the novels I have read in the series, but there were one or two lines that characters said to each other that made me go “We are in the endgame now. Robin is setting things up for their last hooray!” and it was refreshing and slightly weird as I was expecting Daisy to tell this mystery (she normally narrates the short stories whereas Hazel narrates the novels) but both Hazel and Daisy told this story and it was interesting to see the two characters side by side and see how different and similar they are. 

I really should stop dipping in and out of this series and just go in with both feet. Which ones do you guys think I should try first? 

Book Review - Spot The Difference

HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY EVERYONE!!! *hugs those pretty books of yours! HUG THEM!*

Today, am going to chat about another World Book Day story, Spot The Difference by Juno Dawson.

Avery knows what it's like to be bullied. They call her Pizza-face because of her acne. But when her doctor puts her on a trail for a clinical trail and her skin clears up, people see her. Including the "A List" - the very people who call her Pizza-face. But soon, Avery doesn't like the person she becoming...

Out of Rainbow Rowell's Kindred Spirits (review for this went up yesterday) and this, Spot the Difference is the gritty one out of the two. Juno just gets what it's like to be a teen and the struggles teenagers face every day at schools. I liked how Juno tackled the issues raised in this and try to explain (in one character's case) why they do it. I also like how one character pointed our flaws, not only in the people around her, but in the schooling system - something that is rarely highlighted and should be more often.

This has a poignant message (both this and Kindred Spirits do, now I come to think about it) but if this story makes one reader feel less alone, then this has done its job.

Book Review - Kindred Spirits

World Book Day tomorrow! So, let's chat about one of this year's World Book Day titles: Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell!

Set a few days before the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Elena joins the line to see the movie. Shame the line is three people, including herself. Nor did she imagine that she might have to pee behind a dumpster or meeting someone who "gets" her...

This is very much a Rainbow Rowell story. It's sweet in tone, has engaging characters and leaves readers wanting me. It has the feel she created in Fangirl (if you liked Fangirl, this is totally up your street). And the relationship between the three characters happened quickly yet naturally - something I really enjoyed.

My only nitpick is that I wanted more. The story ended and I wanted to see what happened next between Elena and another character. We might have to tweet Rainbow and demand another book about this couple...

But this is a fun read! A good gateway into Rainbow Rowell and a lovely ode to fandom.

Book Review - Too Good To Be True

In a few days's time, it will be World Book Day here in the UK. So, to celebrate, the next few reads will be short reads that will be published for either this year's World Book Day or as part of the Quick Reads range for this year.

So, let's start with one story from the Quick Reads 2016 range: Ann Cleeves's To Good To Be True. 

When Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez visits the small Scottish town of Stonebridge after getting a call from his ex-wife, he didn't imagine that Sarah would ask him for his help. Sarah asks Perez to look into a recent suicide of Anna Blackwell. The gossip running wild round the small town is that Sarah's new GP husband, Tom, was having an affair with Anna and it's his fault that she killed herself.

But that doesn't make sense. Anna is a single mother who loved kids - she was a teacher at the local school. Why kill herself when no one could look after her daughter? And she seemed to be happier in the recent few weeks. To Perez, this doesn't suggest a suicide. This suggests murder...

I have never read Ann Cleeves before and when I saw this on my kindle for 59p, I couldn't resist. And I am really pleased that I did as I enjoyed myself while reading this.

While this is a quick read, I enjoyed the story and I liked the main character, Jimmy Perez. There's not much I can say without spoiling it due to the story's length, but I like this. It's been a while since I read something with a crime element and I forgot how much I enjoy reading this genre.

If you are a fan of Ann Cleeves's Shetland series, this might fall a bit short as this is a novella and takes place over a very short period of time - 2 days. But for someone who only has just discovered the series (aka myself), this is a good introduction and I plan to read another book by Ann Cleeves (Twitter suggests I read the first book in the Shetland series, Raven Black, so I will trying that) in the near future...

GoodRead - The Boy In The Smoke

It was World Book Day a few weeks back (6th March. I had to check this so I missed it! Oops!) and, due to stress and illness, I have discovered that I can't read when I am either one or both of these things. So, due to this, I decided to try and read something small to get back into my reading swing. Hopefully, this will get me ready to attack my big reads!

The Boy In The Smoke is a prequel to the Shades of London series where we meet Stephen Dene has a teenager. Something awful has happened to him in his life and just when Stephen thinks he's recovering, something is said which leads him into doing a desperate act. But will someone stop him when he realises that he's making a terrible mistake?

If you have read the series, or even the first book in the series, The Name of the Star (review for that is here as I haven't read the second book in the series, The Madness Underneath) but we know Stephen enough or have enough information about Stephen's past to make an educated guess, but here it is and it was good.

I was gripped in reading this for over an hour and it made me long to find my proof of The Madness Underneath and start reading that (but I might save that for nearer the The Shadow Cabinet release as there's someone in there, I think, who will appear in that book...)

And Peter. I want to know more about Peter! I love Peter! Another novella about him and how he came to be, please, Maureen...

But this is a must for fans of the series. Not as scary and unnerving as The Name of the Star but give real insight into one of the series's main characters and will tie everyone over till Shadow Cabinet...

HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY!!!

HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY EVERYBODY!!!



NOW GO READ AN AWESOME BOOK!!!