My Book Reviews

Pet Sematary by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Stephen King himself said, when asked which of his book is the scariest, that Pet Sematary was it. Well, now that I've read it, this is what I think:

I read a quarter of it, and didn't find it scary in the least. No matter. Some books take about halfway through to get to the good bits, right? So then I got through half of it. Still nothing. Not quite scary; a bit of an unease would be best fitted. I still didn't see why King himself deemed it the 'scariest book' he wrote. And I've read Cujo, The Shining, It, and the likes.

Then again, as all his fans will be aware of, the description above wouldn't quite be King.

And rightfully so.

The last 'prelude', if you will, packed so much intensity and was so gripping that I felt spooked. Suddenly being alone in an air-conditioned room, with the sound of rain pelting on my window, didn't seem too calming anymore. Suddenly the slightest sounds just about creeped me out more than it should.
And now, minutes after finishing the book, I'm still jittery. The epilogue scene is stuck in my head. I'm creeped out. Not so much scared, but disturbed. Help.

Even the epilogue ended in a cliffhanger, which made it all the more disturbing, in my opinion.

I actually downloaded the movie, thinking that I'd want to watch it after I'm done with the book.
Now I'm not so sure. At least I definitely won't be watching it alone.

I stayed up till the wee hours just to finish this book, and now I'm not sure if I can go right to bed. *gulps*

You got me, Stephen King. You got me good.

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The Twilight Pariah by Jeffrey Ford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The synopsis of this book really intrigued me. I got this from PageHabit's book bundle, so it had little annotations by the author. The annotations were just little random facts though, and not necessarily about the story.

As this a thin book, it is what I'd call a rather short story. 3 young adults (Henry, Russel, and Maggie) unearth a skeleton of a baby with horns and a jar of some liquidy stuff, and as expected, things start happening to the people close to the 3. The confusing thing was though, at the back of the book in the synopsis, it mentions that the liquid in the jar was red.


However, there was no mention of the colour when they first found it in the book. When the colour of the substance was described though, it was described as being brown; which is rather confusing.


Other than that, the story panned out pretty nicely. Needless to say, the 'monster' was defeated pretty easily (understandable, as it was not a thick book to begin with). The storyline didn't feel rushed either, so that was good.

Overall, I liked it. Not too heavy a plot, and no over-complicated scenes. It won't scare you silly, but it's just enough paranormality.

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*WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS, WHICH I WILL HIGHLIGHT OFF* 

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Firstly, let me just say: what's a Mitch Albom book if it doesn't make you cry, eh? And I can proudly say that I now own ALL of Mitch Albom's books! *throws confetti*

Ahem. Ok, now for the review.

Let me just say that I applaud Mitch for the depth of the subject in which he writes about. All his books tackle different topics, and he tells it as if he's a master of them. Because come on, if someone like me who isn't too familiar with music, composers, chords and whatnot, tell me you did not look up at least one of the pieces mentioned in this book. I dare you.

The story begins and is told by Music, at Frankie's funeral. Actual artistes also give their 'rendition' of how they knew Frankie Presto, compiling the story of his life. Since the beginning, you can't help feeling sorry for Frankie. He has to overcome obstacles all his life, and just when things seem to be looking up, something happens that turns him into ruins again. And all that since he was a baby, mind. All he seemed to know was heartache and pain, and yet, he was hopeful. However, as he grew up, he grew less and less optimistic. I think that very clearly explains how different a kid and an adult's perspectives are.

I admired his persistence to find Aurora. I admired her for staying with him too, despite everything. At first, I couldn't stand that she kept disappearing when she's had enough of him, yet appear again a few years later, only to do the same thing numerous times. I was frustrated that she still came back so many times.
But then I realized: she must have loved him that much. She left for a few years, hoping that he'd get his shit together before coming back to him. So I must applaud her for even coming back, after all he had put her through.

The most beautiful part, in my opinion, is at the end when everything comes together. All the missing pieces are put in place, and it ends on such a beautiful but sad note.

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99 Red Balloons by Elisabeth Carpenter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Starting this book, I didn’t have any expectations. I was confused about the story about halfway through, but then when the revelation came, it all made sense.

And no, it had nothing to do with red balloons (or 99 of them).

I won’t say a lot for fear of spoiling it, but there is a cliffhanger at the end of about 2-3 chapters. 8 year old Grace has been kidnapped at a sweet shop, and it bears an uncanny resemblance to the disappearance of 5 year old Zoe years ago. Why is Emma’s mother acting so suspiciously, and what does widower Maggie have to do in the equation?

I never expected to love this story like I have; just when you think you’re starting to grasp it, you don’t. The story goes to and fro with a handful of the characters, giving the reader an insight to each of their lives before coming together as one beautifully.

Elisabeth Carpenter, I’ve got my eyes out for more of your books.

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*WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS, WHICH I WILL HIGHLIGHT OFF*


The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is my first review with spoilers, because there are things I find confusing. So here goes....

Judging by the ratings, a lot of people seem to love this book. Me, on the other hand; I have a love-hate relationship with it, I think.

It took me a while to get used to it due to the way it’s written. There are very little conversation-openers, and the entire thing constantly shifts from ‘the now’ to ‘before’, that I had a bit of trouble at first determining which was what.

What I still can’t understand though, is how the thing all is. Offred describes having classes with the other handmaids, taught by the Marthas (or rather, Aunt Lydia in particular). But then again, in other scenes, she’s described as being the only handmaid in the household, apart from Rita & Cora who works in the kitchen, and Nick who’s the Commander’s driver. There is no mention of Offred going to another household or building for the ‘classes’, as the classes are very clearly described to be with the other handmaids as well.

Then when they have their ‘afternoon nap’, it is described (such as in the beginning of the story) that they do it in an old university gym. I originally thought that perhaps there were other handmaids living under the same roof, but then when there is a Birth Day, Offred is the only one to go from her household, to the one whose handmaid is having the Birth. That confused me.

Apart from that, it was overall okay. Maybe just not exactly my kind of thing.
Don’t get me wrong; the story overall did get interesting about halfway through. Just that I don’t really understand what all the hype was about.

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The Choice by Samantha King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Out of all the books I’ve read before, this was the only one where my suspicions are about 95% true. Having saying that though, The Choice got me hooked.

Without giving too much away, I suspected Annabel’s fate from the off. I also suspected Dom & Max’s intentions (it was an either/or situation) and to find out that I had been right had been a smug moment for me.
Madeleine’s suffering was very relatable. The way King describes how Maddie is feeling seems to perforate through the pages of the book, because I felt them as if I was living it as well.

The climatic scenes got me breezing through the pages, eager to find out what happens next. The grief she felt, the relief, the panic; this book basically took me on a roller coaster of emotions. There were times I felt so frustrated with one of the characters. However, the ending was perfect, and I admit I almost got teary.

Samantha King is definitely an author to look out for; I know I’d be looking out for her future books!

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I Do Not Sleep by Judy Finnigan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a very easy and pleasant read. Each chapter was only about 10 pages or less, and the font was fairly big. For a story about loss, the plot was fairly light, tone-wise.

Unlike other novels that tackle a grief-stricken protagonist, Molly was very relatable. She had her moments, but at the same time, I thought she was level-headed about it. Whenever she was being ‘unreasonable’, she would later contemplate her actions and the reactions of others. She did not wallow in self-pity and constantly feel sorry for herself; although the grief of losing Joey turned her into somewhat a zombie emotion-wise, she could still deliberate her actions after.

The theme also happened to coincide with a life event of mine, and the message that this book gave me had given somewhat of a comfort for me.

There was a pleasant surprise at the end too.

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The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was a bit hard to concentrate in the beginning. I had a feeling that I would take a while to finish this, and right I was: almost a month.

It got interesting about halfway through, and I admit that the revelation of the killer quite shocked me. The thing about me as I read novels are that I’d conjure up images as to how a character might look like. And I can say that the revelation kind of threw off the image I had about both the killer and another character.

But as with most books, you kind of know how it’s gonna end. The climax was interesting, but at the same time, you kinda knew that someone was going to eventually save the day, so that sort of played down the intenseness of the scene.

When Rhyme explained how he found out who the killer was, there was a bit that I felt didn’t exactly completely reveal that conclusion; but it might just be me.

Was it interesting? Yes, but only after almost about halfway through. Did I like it? Ehhh, it was ok. I’ve got to give it to Deaver though for the brilliantly minute details in the case/plot.

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The Ice Twins by S.K. Tremayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think I vaguely remember seeing this book in a must-read list somewhere. So when I saw it in the Bargain Books store, I knew I wanted it; to see what the hype was about.

And true enough, I loved it. I spotted a few sentence structural errors, but it wasn't as bad as Zombie Britannica. And for me (a self-proclaimed Grammar Nazi) to still rate it 4 stars despite the errors, you know it's good.

There was just something about the story that pulls you in; making you feel like you're actually living it (as all good books tend to do). I could almost feel the damp, salty air described, and the relationship between Angus and Sarah had me spooked; it seems like any one of them could snap at any moment. Though granted, I feel that Angus, as frustrated as he was, was quite patient with Sarah. And from Sarah's point of view, I can feel her anxiety; her paranoid-ness towards Angus. The both of them seem to be treading on dangerous waters (pun intended heh) with each other, and that atmosphere, I feel, was thick whenever they were together.

It might be just me, but the 'epilogue' six months later surprised me towards the end. It sounded like it was going one way, and then it was revealed that it was actually another.

An excellent read.

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Blood Born by Kathryn Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After my bad bout with a Kathy Reich book, I was a bit skeptical with this one. The former had bored me to death with with the terms used.

The little synopsis at the back of the book was interesting. Although this book had many forensic science-y terms, it was easy to keep up with. And if I came across a term that I didn't understand, I'd simply google it up.

Certain novels can be very heavy on courtroom and law terms, and can be hard to follow for someone who has no knowledge of the field. So I liked that this one had an equal amount.

Also, my frustrations with the Harbourn family are yay high. I feel mentally tired just hearing the lengths that the family goes to plan and cover up their crimes. Noelle (understandably, I think) annoys me the most.

I initially had a bit of trouble keeping up with who was who, and what their expertise were, though. And like Anya, I didn't get the initial verdict of the case. It made my heart hammer though because after that, one surprise came after the other; just when you thought it was done with.

All in all, I really liked this book, even with the little grammatical and sentence structural errors that I spotted. Might just pick up another book by Fox, f her other books are as good as this.

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A Gift to Remember by Melissa Hill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The only other book by Hill that I've read is The Charm Bracelet, and A Gift to Remember is similar.

Just when you think you've got it figured out, Hill throws a curveball. As you read on, I think the ending will be pretty predictable though, just like with Charm Bracelet.

It's not a heavy plot, so it goes for pretty light reading; though when Darcy goes to and fro trying to make sense of Aidan's things, and comes up with a blank, it gets a bit (predictably) exhausting.

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