Tropical Girl Reads

Sunday Review–The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia

Hello all! Today is Sunday and it’s going to be one of those reviews where I won’t have those parts where I describe the ones I didn’t like and ones I like. Today, I will be doing a review in one of the most phenomenal books I have read–The Murmur of Bees, written by Sofia Segovia. The original was written in Spanish but was translated into English by Simon Bruni.

The Murmur of Bees by [Sofía Segovia, Simon Bruni]

From a beguiling voice in Mexican fiction comes an astonishing novel—her first to be translated into English—about a mysterious child with the power to change a family’s history in a country on the verge of revolution.

From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of a small Mexican town forever changed. Disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees, little Simonopio is for some locals the stuff of superstition, a child kissed by the devil. But he is welcomed by landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales, who adopt him and care for him as if he were their own. As he grows up, Simonopio becomes a cause for wonder to the Morales family, because when the uncannily gifted child closes his eyes, he can see what no one else can—visions of all that’s yet to come, both beautiful and dangerous. Followed by his protective swarm of bees and living to deliver his adoptive family from threats—both human and those of nature—Simonopio’s purpose in Linares will, in time, be divined.

Set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and the devastating influenza of 1918, The Murmur of Bees captures both the fate of a country in flux and the destiny of one family that has put their love, faith, and future in the unbelievable.

Hardcover: 476 pages
Publisher: Amazon Crossing (April 16, 2019)
Language: English (original in Spanish)
Genre: Literary Fiction/Historical Fiction

Sofía Segovia was born in Monterrey, Mexico. She studied communications at Universidad de Monterrey, thinking mistakenly that she would be a journalist. But fiction is her first love. A creative writing teacher, she has also been a ghostwriter and communications director for local political campaigns and has written several plays for local theater. Her novels include Noche de huracán (Night of the Hurricane), El murmullo de las abejas (The Murmur of Bees)–which was called the literary discovery of the year by Penguin Random House and named Novel of the Year by iTunes–and Huracán. Sofía likes to travel the world, but she loves coming home to her husband, three children, two dogs, and cat. She writes her best surrounded and inspired by their joyous chaos.

Simon Bruni translates literary works from Spanish, a language he acquired through total immersion living in Alicante, Valencia, and Santander. He studied Spanish and linguistics at Queen Mary University of London and literary translation at the University of Exeter.

Simon’s many published translations include novels, short stories, video games, and nonfiction publications, and he is the winner of three John Dryden awards: in 2017 and 2015 for Paul Pen’s short stories “Cinnamon” and “The Porcelain Boy,” and in 2011 for Francisco Pérez Gandul’s novel Cell 211. His translations of Paul Pen’s The Light of the Fireflies and Sofía Segovia’s The Murmur of Bees have both become international bestsellers.

I read this book through Kindle unlimited at a discounted price. Because the rating and the review were favorable, I decided to try out this book and I must say, I am not disappointed.

In a nutshell, the story is set in Mexico somewhere in the 1900s. The story begins with the sudden disappearance of Nana Reja, who raised Francisco Morales and the search party discovers her under a bridge along with a child. The baby is named Simonopio and he has such a disfigured face that the community thinks that he was being cursed as he was”kissed” by the devil. However, Francisco and his wife Beatriz raise Simonopio as their own son. Simonopio then gets older, surrounded by a swarm of bees. He has an innate ability to communicate with the bees and also the ability to see the future–whether it is good or dangerous.

The story is set in the backdrop of Mexican Revolution in 1910 and the Spanish Flu that ravaged in parts of Mexico (and other parts of the world) in 1918 (kind of like Covid-19 now). Basically this book is also a historical fiction and a sort of like a family saga. The main narrator of the story is Francisco Junior, the younger son of Francisco and Beatriz. The story switches sometimes back and forth, present to past and then present, where it was seen the Francisco was narrating this life story to the taxi driver Nico on the way to Linares. The story tells actually how Simonopio affected the lives of the Morales family, particularly Francisco Junior who develops a close brotherly bond with Simonopio.

I really like the author’s style of writing–it was expressive, emotional and easy to understand. The author does a good job of drawing the reader into that era and you can feel that you are also a part of the story. I also think the translator did a great job translating the book.

I also like how the author used the story of lion and coyote to illustrate the relationship between Simonopi who is the lion and the main antagonist of the story, Anselmo Espiricueta (the coyote). Towards the middle and ending of the story, the story gets a bit emotional to read, particularly when reading about the murders of Lupita, the family’s laundry woman and Francisco both committed by Espiricuetta .

What also made this book more interesting is that at the end of the page, the author has said that this story was based on true events though the characters in the story are fictional. The author has done tremendous research on exploring the Mexican history, particularly on Mexican Revolution and Spanish flu that conquered in Linares.

This is one of the phenomenal books I have read. I recommend this book to anyone who still haven’t read it. Worth five stars!

Book Review–Baby Doll by Hollie Overton

Hey all! I know I was supposed to post a book review yesterday but I didn’t. So sorry! I was hooked into the Korean Drama that I completely forgot about the blog 😦 Anyway, I am going to be doing a book review on a psychological thriller, Baby Doll, written by Hollie Overton.

You’ve been held captive in one room.

You’ve been mentally and physically abused every day since you were sixteen years old.

Then, one night, you realise your captor has left the door to your cell unlocked.

For the first time in eight years you’re free.

This is what happens next.

Bestselling author Hollie Overton is a television writer who has written for ABC Family, CBS and Lifetime.

Overton’s father was a member of the notorious Overton gang in Austin, Texas, and spent several years in prison for manslaughter.

Raised by her single mother, Hollie an identical twin herself, draws on her unique childhood experiences to lend realism and compassion to her depictions of violence and complicated family dynamics.

I read this book back when I first bought in 2017 (I think) and I decided to re-read this book again so I can write a proper book review on this book. So here it is!

The story begins with a girl named Lily Riser, who has been held captive in one room for eight years, since she was sixteen years old. Then one day, due to sheer luck, her captor had forgotten to unlock the room and so Lily takes this as a golden opportunity to escape with her daughter Sky. She reunites with her estranged family. The story basically tells us what happens after Lily escape, how she is dealing with her new environment, about her relationship with her mother Eve and her twin sister, Abby and how she copes with the media frenzy, following her escape and her mental issues.

So as usual, let’s begin with the ones I like about the book.

This is the debut book of Hollie Overton so I think, the author did a good job on keeping the reader hooked into the story. Writing wasn’t bad as well and is understandable.
The story sounds somewhat realistic, especially about the part how Lily deals with all the media frenzy, how she deals with her mother and twin sister as well as her emotions after she has escaped from the ordeal.
The story is told from the perspectives of four characters–Lily, Abby (Lily’s twin sister), Eve (Lily’s mother) and Rick (Lily’s abductor and former English teacher). So it’s kind of interesting to know, what and how each of these characters are dealing with after Lily’s escape. The author has written this in third person’s perspectives instead of first person. Also I like this way rather than the usual chapter wise story.
It’s also interesting to read about Lily’s relationship with Sky, her daughter.

Now let’s start with the ones I didn’t like in the book.

The book was a bit slow and some parts of the book was boring as well.
I feel that there were some unnecessary parts in the book as well. Like for example in Abby’s and Eve’s parts, there were really unnecessary that is not even related to the story.
As I said earlier, the book is told from the perspectives of four characters. I wish the author had used first person narrative instead of the third person narrative so that it would have made the story more interesting and intriguing and we can actually would have a chance to read their thoughts.
Though this book was labelled as the next Gone Girl and The Girl on The Train, I have to say, this book is not like Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train at all. It didn’t have the twists like the other two books did or those unexpected moments like the other two books did. It was kind of straight.

Overall, I would say that this is a good thriller, though not the Gone Girl material type. I rate this book as four stars!

Book Review- Indecent by Corinne Sullivan

Hey all, I will be doing a book review on Indecent, a debut book written by Corinne Sullivan.

Image result for indecent corinne sullivan review

Shy, introverted Imogene Abney has always been fascinated by the elite world of prep schools, having secretly longed to attend one since she was a girl in Buffalo, New York. So, shortly after her college graduation, when she’s offered a teaching position at the Vandenberg School for Boys, an all-boys prep school in Westchester, New York, she immediately accepts, despite having little teaching experience–and very little experience with boys.

When Imogene meets handsome, popular Adam Kipling a few weeks into her tenure there, a student who exudes charm and status and ease, she’s immediately drawn to him. Who is this boy who flirts with her without fear of being caught? Who is this boy who seems immune to consequences and worry; a boy for whom the world will always provide?

As an obsessive, illicit affair begins between them, Imogene is so lost in the haze of infatuation that she’s unable to recognize the danger she’s in. The danger of losing her job. The danger of losing herself in the wrong person. The danger of being caught doing something possibly illegal and so indecent.

Exploring issues of class, sex, and gender, this smart, sexy debut by Corinne Sullivan shatters the black-and-white nature of victimhood, taking a close look at blame and moral ambiguity.

Corinne Sullivan studied English with a Creative Writing Concentration at Boston College, where she graduated in 2014. She then received her MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College in 2016. Her writing has appeared in POPSUGAR, The Millions, Refinery29, and Female First, among other publications. Indecent is her first novel.

This is the debut book of Corinne Sullivan, This book is about a college graduate, named Imogene Abney who starts teaching in one of America’s most privileged boys’ school. She develops a friendship with one of the students named Adam Kipling which eventually turns into a sexual relationship. Eventually, Imogene faces a threat of losing her job as well as facing jail time. Basically this is talking about a sexual relationship between a teacher and a student.

Now with all the books, I will start with the ones I like about the book.

The story is interesting and the reader is feeling that they are at the edge of the seat whether this relationship will get caught or not.
I like the author’s style of writing.

Now about the things I didn’t like about the book.

I didn’t really like the main character, Imogene much. She is naive, and creepy too (she stalks Adam literally) and also stupid. She also disrespects her family that she kind of feel ashamed to be a part of her family. She always dreamed of being in an elite family. And there are no favorable characters in this book.
Too much of sexual content in the book–sometimes it is a little disturbing to read at times and really reminds a little of Fifty Shades (except there is no BDSM)
This is kind of like a rip off of Gossip Girl (for those of you haven’t watched Gossip Girl, check it out)

This book is readable, not really a bad book. Overall, I give this book three stars!

Sunday Review–The Librarian of Auschwitz

Hey all! I just finished reading a Holocaust book…The Librarian of Auschwitz is another one of those Holocaust books based on the true story. So unlike my other book reviews, there won’t be any what I like and what I don’t like. Instead I will be just telling you simply my thoughts.

The Librarian of Auschwitz (Special Edition) by Antonio Iturbe ...

Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during the Holocaust.

Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious volumes the prisoners have managed to sneak past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the librarian of Auschwitz.

Out of one of the darkest chapters of human history comes this extraordinary story of courage and hope.

Antonio González Iturbe is a Spanish journalist, writer and professor. Currently, he is the director of the cultural magazine Librújula.

Literary Translator Dr Lilit Thwaites at Warwick – University of ...

Dr Lilit Thwaites started learning Spanish at McGill University in Canada, and completed her PhD at the University of Toronto, with a specialisation in contemporary Spanish literature, and the work of women writers in particular. Brief stints as a high school teacher in Rhode Island (Spanish & French) and several years as a tutor in the Spanish Departments at the Universities of Toronto & Calgary added invaluable teaching and research experience to her CV. A move to Australia followed (1981), and the start of almost thirty years as an academic at La Trobe, commencing as a tutor and eventually serving as Head of the Spanish Program and Deputy Dean of the Faculty. After a brief period of retirement, Dr Thwaites returned to La Trobe for eighteen months as Acting Director of the Academic Language and Learning Unit, overseeing the implementation of the Unit’s restructure. Re-retirement has meant a return to her status as an Honorary Research Fellow in Spanish at La Trobe, allowing her to focus primarily on literary translation (Spanish>English) and ongoing research projects, and on the organisation of, and involvement in, events and activities that promote all things Spanish (especially visits and lectures by writers from Spanish-speaking countries).

As some of you all know, I like to read books based on Holocaust. This book is no exception. The story is about a Czech Jewish Girl named Dita Kraus who is in charge of the secret library in Block 31, that is designed for the children to gain “knowledge”. And owning books is forbidden according to the Nazi law so it is interesting how the secret library is carried out under the Nazis.

Despite the title being “The Librarian of Auschwitz,” , this book also tells about the resistance movement that is involved in Auschwitz–Rudi Rosenberg who manage to escape from Auschwitz with another inmate and who gave horrific descriptions of what is happening in real in Auschwitz. The book also talks about a small romantic relationship between a Jewish girl named Renee and a Nazi soldier who also escaped from the camp but was eventually caught and executed. The books also details out the horrors of the Auschwitz as well, which is sometimes too emotional to read about.

Anyway, so this is actually a short book review. Stay tuned for my next book review tomorrow!

Book Review – The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

Hello all! Usually I don’t post any blogs on Saturdays. Because usually on Saturdays, I would be extremely busy and tired with my piano classes, since I will be having classes from 7 in the morning till 7 at night (yeah!!!) But these days, with this lockdown and virus thing, I have cancelled all my piano classes so I am free to post a blog now on Saturdays at the moment! Today, I will be doing a book review on one of Liane Moriarty’s books, The Husband’s Secret.

Image result for the husband's secret book

My darling Cecilia,
If you’re reading this, then I’ve died…

Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not only the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. And then imagine that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive…

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. But that letter is about to change everything—and not just for her. There are other women who barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they, too, are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Berkley; Premium edition (June 27, 2017)
Language: English
Genre:- Thriller

Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of seven internationally best-selling novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist’s Love Story and the number 1 New York Times bestsellers: The Husband’s Secret, Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty. Her books have been translated into over forty languages and read by more than 14 million people worldwide.

Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty both debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list – the first time this has been achieved by an Australian. Big Little Lies was adapted into a multiple award-winning HBO series starring Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, who have also optioned the film rights for Truly Madly Guilty. Truly Madly Guilty has sold over 1 million copies in the US alone.

Her new novel, Nine Perfect Strangers is due for release in November 2018.

I have always wanted to read Liane’s Moriarty’s books and this has been on my want to read book list for a long time. I found this book at the book store and immediately grabbed this book.

So in a nutshell, the story starts with a woman named Cecelia Fitzpatrick, a successful businesswoman with a standing in the society and a dedicated mother comes across a letter written by her husband, while she was looking for something up in the attic. She opens the letter and discovers her husband’s secret which would later on have a greater impact on her life as well as to the other characters.

I will start with the ones I liked about the book :-

I really like Moriarty’s style of writing–it was simple and well written, making the reader intrigued with the story.
The story itself was funny and witty and at the same time, there are certain parts of the story that was sad particularly the part about Rachel.
The story talks about the suburban mothers’ lifestyle and so it was kind of intriguing to get to know these lifestyles.
The story talks about the complex relationships particularly among women and also the relationships between husband and wife and the marital issues they are facing when something happens into their family.
I also like the epilogue part better as it outlined “what would have happened” and the possible future.
Despite being a psychological thriller, I like the fact that it was also a little fun to read as most thrillers have a serious tone in it.

Now let’s talk about the parts where I didn’t like about the books.

SPOILER ALERT–this story is solely focused on Janie’s murder had on her mother and the people surrounding it, but I feel Tess’s character may not be that much of an important character in the book.
There were some unnecessary parts in the book.
Some parts of the book was unrealistic.

Overall, this is actually an entertaining and fun book to read with a hint of mystery and thriller involved in it. I recommend this book to those who love to read a thriller book with slightly entertaining part in it.

Overall I rate this book as four stars!

Book Review- Pachinko Min Jin Lee

Hello, I wonder how everyone is with the lockdown? Well, today, I will be doing a review on a famous historical fiction novel, Pachinko, written by Korean-American author, Min Jin Lee. There won’t be any I don’t like and I like parts like I usually do, just ramble on and on about this book.

“There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones.”

In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant–and that her lover is married–she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son’s powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.

Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan’s finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee’s complex and passionate characters–strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis–survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.

Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (February 7, 2017)
Language: English
Genre:- Asian American fiction, historical fiction

Min Jin Lee is a recipient of fiction fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard. Her second novel Pachinko (2017) was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, winner of the Medici Book Club Prize, and a New York Times 10 Best Books of 2017. A New York Times Bestseller, Pachinko was also a Top 10 Books of the Year for BBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the New York Public Library. Pachinko was a selection for “Now Read This,” the joint book club of PBS NewsHour and The New York Times. It was on over 75 best books of the year lists, including NPR, PBS, and CNN. Pachinko will be translated into 25 languages. Lee’s debut novel Free Food for Millionaires (2007) was a Top 10 Books of the Year for The Times of London, NPR’s Fresh Air, USA Today, and a national bestseller. Her writings have appeared in The New Yorker, NPR’s Selected Shorts, One Story, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, Conde Nast Traveler, The Times of London, and Wall Street Journal. She served three consecutive seasons as a Morning Forum columnist of the Chosun Ilbo of South Korea. In 2018, Lee was named as an Adweek Creative 100 for being one of the “10 Writers and Editors Who are Changing the National Conversation” and a Frederick Douglass 200. She received an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Monmouth College. She will be a Writer-in-Residence at Amherst College from 2019-2022.

I have been fascinated with history and I have always wanted to read Pachinko ever since I heard about the book. And I wasn’t even disappointed with the book, as I bought this book through Betterworlds.

Anyway this is what is one of my favorite quotes from the book

“History has failed us but no matter,”

Which is so true in real life.

Just to give you a brief up, the story begins with a couple Hooni and Yeongin who have a daughter named Sunja in the 1900s, just before the WWII. They own a boarding house in an island. When Hooni dies, Yeongin and Sunja runs the boarding house. Then a teenage Sunja meets a man named Hansu and a romantic relationship develops between them. When Sunja becomes pregnant, Hansu, who is a Korean but works as a yakuza tells her that he was already married and has children in Japan. However, he wanted her to become his mistress which Sunja refuses. Then a sickly minister named Baek Isak who is moving to Osaka comes to the boarding house where he later on hears about Sunja’s situation, marries her and then move to Osaka, Japan. Then the story develops in Osaka and tells about the lives of Koreans living in Japan, before, during and after the WWII.

The book is divided into four parts with a time span–the first is based in the Korean hometown of Sunja between 1910 to 1930, then the life in Osaka Japan, from 1930 till 1952 and then the two titled “Pachinko” from the time span of 1952 till 1989 where Sunja’s son, Mozasu, gets involved into the world of Pachinko and becomes one of the rich Korean in Yokohama.

Just to heads up, Pachinko is a Japanese mechanical game used mainly as a recreational arcade sort of game as well as a gambling device, though gambling is illegal in Japan. And also as in the book, in real, most Pachinko parlors are owned by Korean-Japanese people.

I won’t give much spoilers in here, but I really like Lee’s style of writing–it is engaging and I was so absorbed into the book, as if I was also a part of this moving story. The atrocities that many Koreans living in Japan faced during the WWII, different political thoughts when Korea was divided into North and South and about the Korean war and the Koreans who still remain in Japan wishing to be like Japanese so they can integrate into the society. Lee has done tremendous research on this topic, discussing about the lives of the Korean-Japanese people, the racism they faced from the Japanese people and also the history, the way the prisoners were treated in Japanese prisons during the war, particularly the persecution of Christians when they refuse to bow to their emperor (this only happened during the war). However, there are good Japanese characters in the book as well. It is also sad that Koreans are not that welcome in their own native South Korea as well since the South Koreans think they are Japanese. I actually learned a lot from this book.

I was also born in Japan and grew up in Japan and so I kind of can relate to how the Koreans faced while living in Japan. Though I should say, not all Japanese people are bad. Though I was born in Japan, I didn’t get a citizenship though I do have some privileges since I was born there. I do have some Japanese friends though there were some who never talked to me when I was in school. However, Japan is a wonderful and beautiful country and despite whatever the attitude they have, Japanese people are always polite and I remember some random Japanese strangers would buy me a chocolate or candy when I was a kid back there!

Overall I rate this book as five stars and would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read a good historical book based in Asia.

Book Review – She is Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel

Hello all! Tuesday means it’s thriller time! I will be doing a book review on a Swedish thriller, She is Never Coming Back, written by Hans Koppel.

Mike Zetterberg lives with his wife Ylva and their daughter in a house just outside Helsingborg. One evening, Ylva isn’t home as expected after work. Mike passes it off as a drink with a work friend, but when she’s still missing the next day, he starts to worry. As Mike battles suspicion from the police and his own despair, he is unaware that Ylva is still alive, just a stone’s throw from his own home. Ylva has been drawn into a twisted plot of revenge and tragedy that leads back into her and her abductors’ shared past…

Pages:- 400

Language:- Swedish (original) translated into English

Genre–Mystery/Crime/Literary

Hans Koppel is a pseudonym for Petter Lidbeck, an established Swedish author who was born in 1964 and lives in Stockholm. It was revealed that Petter Lidbeck is the author behind the name in August 2010.

So I have read some Swedish novels which practically are all mystery novels. If you have followed my blog, you would notice that I have written a blog on a book called The Asylum which is a Swedish novel so this is my third time reading a Swedish novel. Still my favorite is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson.

So here goes my review but first, let me start with the things I liked

Things I liked

To me the plot is intriguing and interesting. Mike Zetterberg’s wife, Ylva goes missing on the day and Mike thought Ylva is hanging out with her colleagues from work as Ylva had told him she was going for a drink. It takes time for Mike to realize that his wife is actually missing and he becomes a number one suspect (which is typical) but not realizing that his wife is being held as a captive in a house just close to his own house and that his wife is observing Mike and her daughter’s life through a TV screen in the room she is being held captive.
The story begins with a man named Anders who is about to meet a woman he has met online, to be attacked by a man who introduces himself as Annika’s Dad (which made Andres flinch and we wonder why) and the man brutally kills him. The reader ponders why the man and his wife (identity is revealed later on in the book). Ylva was also kidnapped because of what she had done to this Annika girl some twenty years ago and we wonder what did Ylva and Anders and the other two boys had actually done to Annika. We also wonder why Annika’s parents are so bent on seeking revenge, particularly on Ylva.
Many characters are complex. Take Mike for example who is a vulnerable and over-sensitive husband who wants his wife back. Ylva who must have done something awful to this Annika girl that she is regretting what she did some twenty years ago and at the same time thinking about reuniting with her family. Last but not least is Annika’s parents, Gosta and Marianna Lundin who are still suffering from their daughter’s suicide and is trying to avenge for what happened to their daughter. You have no idea to which character you hate most or like most.
The story overall is dark, depressing, depict some real-life situations as what would you actually do. Hans has written very well.
The plot overall is intriguing, interesting, something most mystery addicts would love with twists and turns.

Now, the things I didn’t like…

OK, I know this book is translated from Swedish to English, but the writing is slightly sloppy and there are some parts that are confusing. For example, the author used all chapter numbers so we are not actually sure if it happens on a present day, past year or a memory. Example, chapter 1 begins with Anders death and the last chapter ends with what really happened to Annika some twenty years ago. It would have been nice and neat if Anders death could be written as a Prologue and Annika’s rape scene could have written maybe as a Epilogue–Twenty Years Ago.
There are some unnecessary characters, particularly the journalist part.

Overall, I rate this book as

Plot is interesting but sadly a three star because the writing is sloppy and confusing.

Stay tuned for my next book blog–Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon!!

Tea Planter’s Wife–Book Review

Hello all! How’s everyone with the lockdown? Well, I am fine.

Today, I will be doing a review on historical fiction/romance book, Tea Planter’s Wife, written by Dinah Jeffries.

#1 International bestselling novel set in 1920s Ceylon, about a young Englishwoman who marries a charming tea plantation owner and widower, only to discover he’s keeping terrible secrets about his past, including what happened to his first wife, that lead to devastating consequences

Nineteen-year-old Gwendolyn Hooper is newly married to a rich and charming widower, eager to join him on his tea plantation, determined to be the perfect wife and mother. But life in Ceylon is not what Gwen expected.

The plantation workers are resentful, the neighbours treacherous, and there are clues to the past – a dusty trunk of dresses, an overgrown gravestone in the grounds – that her husband refuses to discuss.

Just as Gwen finds her feet, disaster strikes. She faces a terrible choice, hiding the truth from almost everyone, but a secret this big can’t stay buried forever….

Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Broadway Books; Reprint edition (June 20, 2017)
Language: English
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance/Women’s Fiction

Dinah was born in Malaya in 1948 and moved to England at the age of nine. In 1985, the sudden death of her fourteen year old son changed the course of her life, and deeply influenced her writing. Dinah drew on that experience, and on her own childhood spent in Malaya during the 1950s to write her debut novel, The Separation.

Now living in Gloucestershire with her husband and their Norfolk terrier, she spends her days writing, with time off with her grandchildren

There are many reasons why I took this book – Of course no.1 reason is this book is based on 1920’s Ceylon during British Colonial rule which means Ceylon is now known as Sri Lanka which is where I am from! And also this is a historical fiction even though as many of you know, I am not a fan of romance fiction. So I bought this book.

Let’s start with the things that I really liked in this book.

I really love the author’s style of writing–lot of descriptive phrases and passages.
The author seems to have done a tremendous research about tea plantations in Nuwara Eliya and also about the 1920’s Ceylon during British Colonial rule as well as caste issues and racial differences during that time (Sinhala and Tamil). She has made this story as realistic as possible using the details she has researched from the book.
I did enjoy reading the novel and towards the end, it was intriguing and was unable to put down.

Now let’s start with the things I didn’t like.

First few chapters of the book was boring but in the middle (spoiler alert!) when the main character, Gwendolyn gives birth to a colored child, things then start getting interesting.
I had a hard time liking any of the characters, including the main protagonist, Gwendolyn Hooper even though I do understand her actions. Well, it’s just me.
It is a little predictable–in the end (spoiler alert once again!) Gwendolyn and her husband Laurence live happily ever after although the colored child, Liyoni dies. It also turns out that Liyoni was indeed Laurence’s daughter since Laurence’s great-grandmother was apparently a Sinhalese.

For anyone who love reading historical fiction with a romantic twist, I recommend this book. Overall I rate this book as….four stars!

Book Review–How to Say I love You Out Loud by Karole Cozzo

Another YA/Romance novel book, a debut book written by Karole Cozzo. Got this book from Big Bad Wolf book fair a couple of years ago and now can’t wait to share my review with you all.

Tackling real world issues with sensitivity and grace, this is a touching contemporary novel about learning to accept yourself, speak out for others and let people into your heart.

When Jordyn Michaelson’s autistic brother joins her at her elite school, she’s determined not to let anyone know they’re related. Even if that means closing herself off to all her closest friends, including charming football stud Alex Colby. But she just can’t shake the memory of kissing Alex last summer, and the desire to do it again.

Can Jordyn find the courage to tell Alex how she really feels―and the truth about her family―before he slips away forever?

Chosen by readers like you for Macmillan’s young adult imprint Swoon Reads, Karole Cozzo’s heartfelt debut novel How to Say I Love You Out Loud will stay with readers long after they have finished reading.

Genre:- YA Fiction, Romance, Special Needs

Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Swoon Reads (August 4, 2015)

Karole lives outside of Philadelphia, PA with her family. She splits her time between working as a school psychologist at an area high school and writing YA romance. Hobbies include running, crafting, Disney, and nursing coffee, Target, and Sugarfina addictions.

So I just bought this book for fun and then started reading this book. I am not really a fan of YA fiction but this book was OK. The plot was OK, talking about a girl named Jordyn dealing with her brother’s autism and how she thinks that introducing her brother is a social damage to her social life.

So here are the pros and cons of the books.

Let’s start with pros.

Pros

The book is simple and easy to read, suitable for any teenager as well
It’s actually a heartfelt story

Cons

I didn’t really like the main character much–Jordyn to me is spoilt and insensitive to her brother’s autism and was also quiet selfish too.
The plot of the story was OK.

Overall, I would rate this book as four stars!

The Asylum–Book Review by Johan Theorin

Today I will be doing a book review on a Swedish psychological thriller, The Asylum, written by Johan Theorin.

Anyway, before I begin with the review, just to let you know, we are on lockdown here in Sri Lanka, because of COVID-19 and practically this is the 3rd day of the lockdown. But today, the government decided to open 4 hours for the public to go out and buy the necessities before imposing the curfew again. Yeah, so practically, this is the life under lockdown. So what am I doing during this lockdown? Sewing, baking, watching TV and of course reading books!!!

So let’s begin the review

We don’t talk about sick or healthy people at St Patricia’s. Words such as hysteric, lunatic and psychopath…They are no longer used. Because who amongst us can say that we are always healthy?’ An underground passage leads from the Dell nursery to Saint Patricia’s asylum. Only the children enter, leaving their minders behind. On the other side are their parents – some of the most dangerous psychopaths in the country. Jan has just started working at the nursery. He is a loner with many secrets and one goal. He must get inside the asylum…What is his connection with one of the inmates, a famous singer? What really happened when a boy in his care went missing nine years ago? Who can we trust when everyone has something to hide?

Paperback: 416 pages

Publisher: Doubleday (October 1, 2012)

Language: English (Original Swedish)

Genre–Thriller, Suspense, Crime.

Throughout his life, Johan Theorin has been a regular visitor to the Baltic island of Öland, where his books are set. His mother’s family – sailors, fishermen and farmers – have lived there for centuries, nurturing the island’s rich legacy of strange tales and folklore. A journalist by profession, Johan lives in Gothenburg, Sweden.

All right, so this story is a chilling Swedish psychological novel, where the protagonist, Jan Hauger, who is a pre school teacher with secrets of his own starts his job at the Dell Nursery where it is located near a mental asylum known as St Patricia’s that holds the country’s most dangerous psychos as well. This novel divides between past and present and the author eventually helps us to get a glimpse on Jan’s thoughts. Eventually, we find that Jan is actually a disturbed young youth who had also being locked up in a mental institution himself when he was a teenager and he has a difficulty of getting connected with the people. He is also on a quest as well–he mainly took up the job simply because he wanted to find someone who is locked in St. Patricia–his childhood love named Alice Rami. Throughout this book, it simply talks about obsession as Jan is obsessed to find Rami in the institution.

So here are the things that I liked about the book

I like the writing style of the novel–the writing is engaging and well written.
There are some tense moments in the chapters that makes you wonder what is going to happen next.

Things I didn’t really like

Despite this being a psychological thriller, I feel it’s not as scary as it sounds like. Not like the Girl with the Dragon tattoo.
Cannot feel connection with the characters–all the characters seems to be having flaws.

Over all I rate this book three stars but I do recommend this book though. It has some thrilling sense in it.

Stay tuned for my next review!!!