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Wednesday 19 April 2017

Recently Read: February and March

Sure look, I know, it's almost the end of April but better late than never, as always! I'm on track with my 60 books for the year goal and for the most part, I'm loving everything I've read so far. There are some truly excellent psychological thrillers out this year and over the last couple of years and some beautiful historical fiction. Here's what I read over February and March, not including A Man With One of Those Faces, which I reviewed HERE. 


Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
This received a whole lot of hype when it was released at the start of the year. Its PR campaign used the hashtag #WTFThatEnding and so as you can imagine, I was pretty keen to see how it ends. Louise is a single mum and a secretary in a doctors clinic, generally bored with life with only her (extremely annoying) five year old son to give her life meaning. And so, she inadvertently starts an affair with one of the doctors she works with and also inadvertently becomes best friends with his wife, who obviously doesn't know about the affair…or does she? As the book progresses, the perfect marriage of her friend and lover appears less and less ideal as David seems to be controlling and brooding, while Adele seems fragile and weak. Bizarrely, Louise discovers that both she and Adele can astro-project, for Louise this often happens when she sleeps and she can't go very far but Adele seems to have mastered this supernatural skill. The plot thickens! OK, so there's a few red herrings in this one and most of the characters are terrible people who I found it hard to sympathise with. Louise is a bit of an eejit, truth be told and her child..I can't even explain how irritating he was and yes, I know he's a fictional five year old, I don't care. And that ending. Well, I know it annoyed a lot of people but I can honestly say that it completely floored me. There is literally NO way that you can guess this one so if you're looking for an unpredictable psychological thriller- this is it! #WTFThatEnding indeed!

The Trespasser by Tana French
I love Tana French, I've mentioned that several times before but her Dublin murder squad books have for the most part, all been excellent. This is number 6 in that series, I think? You don't need to read them in order but the previous book will feature the detective that's the main character in the next book in the series. If that makes sense. Here, Antoinette Conway is battling to stay on the Dublin murder squad- it's where she's always wanted to be and since she made detective, she does not want to go back to Vice or Undercover or anywhere else. Her partner Stephen is the same. They both have a hunger for it. Unfortunately, Antoinette is not well liked- partly because she's a woman in an all male environment but also because she takes none of her team's misogynistic bullshit. She's a tough cookie. Because of their persona non-grata status, they get the cases that go nowhere, including the murder of Aislinn Murray, a young, pretty blonde, found murdered by a single blow to the head in her own home. There's a distinct lack of DNA evidence at the scene and no obvious suspects, other than a fella Aislinn was seeing. All is going reasonably well until Antoinette and Stephen realise the rest of the squad are not so subtly pushing them into arresting the boyfriend, fast. What they have to figure out is if this is more of the bullying Antoinette has been on the receiving end of or if there's a more sinister reason why they are being coerced into solving the case in a certain way. This is a good thriller/crime/whodunnit. As always, what makes French's books that bit more interesting is the innate Irishness to them, which often translates quite darkly in her stories. While I enjoyed this, I can't say that it immediately hooked me, the way some of her other novels have but I did enjoy it and was keen to see how it would end. 

Final Girls by Riley Sager
I had seen this reviewed on someone else's blog and the name and concept made me want to read it immediately. I was kind of horrified to find out that it's not released til July so I went and asked for it on NetGalley and they very kindly complied. Thanks NetGalley, you completely put me out of my misery! 
The name "Final Girls" derives from horror movies where there's always one girl left. She's faced the slasher/serial killer and has somehow escaped where all of her friends have been brutally murdered. Quincy has been given the nickname of a Final Girl by the media, after surviving a horrific attack in Pine Cottage, a cabin in the woods that left all of her college friends viciously murdered. There are other Final Girls too, each the victims in their own private but conversely, extremely public horror movies- Lisa, who narrowly avoided being one of nine sorority girls murdered by a serial killer and Sam, who was tortured by the "Sack Man" at a motel she used to work in, where all the guests were left for dead. It's ten years later and Quincy now writes a baking blog and lives as quiet a life as she can with her boyfriend. That is until fellow Final Girl Lisa is found dead and Sam shows up on Quincy's doorstep. Did Lisa really kill herself and is Sam a friend or a foe? It looks like someone is after the Final Girls and is trying to drag Quincy back to that forest where she will eventually find out what really happened in Pine Cottage. I am definitely the right market for this- I love horrors, especially 80's slashers so this was right up my street. I was completely addicted to this book. I took a brief break in reading it (I read it in one day) to go to the cinema but spent the time on the way there and on the way back going "I wonder what's going to happen next in my book…and what the hell happened in Pine Cottage?!!!" etc. Sorry, Cilian and Ailbhe for my poor company that evening. I also held my kindle and continued to read whilst simultaneously making tea. Boiling hot water and a lack of attention do not mix, kids. Some of the plot points are a little bit stretched if I'm honest and it was a bit trashy in places, but that's kind of what I liked about it, it made it feel more like an authentic horror movie but in book form. Awesome! 



Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
I'd been aware of Kate Atkinson as an author for quite a while now but this is the first of hers that I've read. This is an unusual book to try and describe but sure, I'll have a go. The story begins on a cold snowy night in 1910 where a baby girl, Ursula is born. Neither the midwife nor the doctor get there on time and she dies. On an alternative version of that night, she lives and continues her life. This is basically a series of sliding doors universes where Ursula lives but is murdered later in life or lives but someone she loves dies or lives but she in turn kills Hitler. I know. Very cool. It's ultimately about the many possibilities that life gives us and the many possibilities that fate takes away from us. I listened to this on Audible and it did take me a while to get into it. I'm not sure that this particular book lends itself well to audio but after a while I really enjoyed it and I loved Ursula. I rejoiced when she re-lived her life and avoided a decision that had been catastrophic for her in a different life and in turn, felt dejected when all the many awful men she met along the way destroyed her. I felt both sad and triumphant at the end, that it was over but also, that I had survived the saga that was the many lives of Ursula Todd! Still, she felt like a friend and I missed the characters so much that I'm now reading the sequel, A God In Ruins. I'm not sure how I feel about that yet- I will report back of course, but I can definitely recommend Life After Life.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
This was for our book club but both my sister and Himself had also bought me super fancy hardback editions for Christmas, both of which are very swoon-worthy. It's also nicely fitting for the story itself, which is dark and twisty but also full of descriptions of nature. This was a really pleasant book to read, I loved the use of language and the imagery that it conjured in my mind. Parts of it floored me. 
This whole paragraph for instance: "One day he said: 'In Japan they'll mend a broken pot with drops of molten gold. What a thing it would be: to have me break you and mend your wounds with gold.' But she'd been seventeen, and armour clad with youth, and never felt the blade go in". 
Anyway, the "she" in that paragraph grows up and becomes a widow with a slightly unusual son and a devoted ladies maid. Cora is a complacent widow as her marriage was an unhappy one but she is an intelligent and inquisitive woman and wishes to see more of the world, which was unusual for 1893. With that, all three move to Essex, hoping for fresh air and a fresh start but Cora becomes obsessed with a rumour about a large serpent living in the waters of Essex and killing its inhabitants. She also becomes close at this time to the local vicar and his family. He is a sceptic about the serpent but finds himself more and more drawn to Cora, especially as his wife becomes more and more unwell…so you can see where that's headed, but lots of other weird things happen in the meantime and overall, it's a strange book. At times enjoyable but often slow and convoluted. There's plenty of competing story lines, that I haven't even mentioned here because we actually don't have the space. I'm not sure I'd recommend this one unless you were very specifically looking for a book like this, which is not to say I didn't enjoy it…I still haven't quite made my mind up about this yet!

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
I saw the film of this a few years ago and thought it was somewhat enjoyable and then I spotted this on the Library ebook section, which I of course then downloaded. I love the Library. Anyway, in case you don't remember, Andy has just graduated and needs a job. She somehow ends up interviewing for a PA position in Runway (a not very well disguised version of Vogue), which she thinks will help her get ahead- she has lofty ambitions to be a serious journalist for the New York Times. Her boss is Miranda Priestly (again, a not super well disguised version of Anna Wintour), the most hated woman in the fashion magazine industry. It turns out that she is the "devil" of the title and treats everyone who works for her with utter contempt using a good old dose of what we now call 'gas lighting' to destroy in particular, Andy's spirit. Meanwhile, Andy is also trying to juggle relationships with her boyfriend and her best friend as she slowly but surely gets sucked into the world of Runway. But can she get out before it consumes who she is? To be honest, by the end of this you probably won't care either way. None of these people are super likeable characters but it passes the time nicely. Having said that, there are plenty of other, better books in this kind of genre, if you're looking for some lighter reading. 


The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood
This was the second Alex Marwood I've read, having previously enjoyed The Darkest Secret, another psychological thriller that read like a "what really really happen to Madeline McCann" expose. The Killer Next Door is set in a dingy house in London, divided into bedsits and filled with a group of very different people, all with something to hide. Their landlord is an out and out creep and spies on and sexually harasses the female renters. One of them is Collette, she's on the run from her gangster ex-boss who she's stolen from, while Cher is hiding from the social services. Vesta, an elderly woman is trying to cling on to what's left of her home, while the male tenants are all loners, asylum seekers and generally outsiders, trying to keep to themselves. Tension builds up in the house as the Summer heat increases until it comes to a head one night when a crime takes place in the house that they all in turn, become embroiled in. None of that is helped by the fact that separate to that there is also a serial killer living and operating in one of the apartments…but who is it?! This was an absolute gripper of a book, I could not put it down and had finished it in about two days. One thing I would say though is that it can be quite gory and at times even my stomach turned at some of the descriptions, which is saying something- it takes a lot to make me squeamish. Having said that, if you like a good thriller and you enjoy trying to figure out who the killer is, you'll definitely like this. 

Paper Girls, Vol 1 by Brian K Vaughan
I bought this in a comic book shop in Galway on a bit of a whim. I'm a fan of graphic novels anyway and had heard this was a good'un but it wasn't 'til I saw it in real life that I knew I had to have it- it practically jumped at me from the shelf and I can't even explain how much I love it. The guy who sold it to me said if I liked Stranger Things then I'd like this too but it goes way beyond that. I adore the colours, the drawings, the pop culture references and the story itself. Four girls who deliver newspapers in an American suburb in the 80's, cross paths on Halloween night and end up joining forces when the apocalypse hits them. This encompasses time travel, other worlds, monsters, feminism and four kick-ass girls taking all of that on. When a twist was revealed I actually went 'OMG!!!' and tried to tell Himself and ruin it for him, just so I could tell someone (I didn't), so you know it's good. I've already bought Vol 2. Very excited for that! 

The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood
This is actually Marwood's first book, so of course I have read it last in the sequence of her releases. Way behind there. I probably have enjoyed this one the least. Three little girls meet on a hot Summers day, but only two of them get home that evening. Jade is from a deprived background, she wanders the streets looking for food and gets up to mischief wherever possible. She meets and befriends Annabel, from the big mansion in the town but also from an abusive home. They somehow end up being lumbered with a four year old to look after for the day, even though they're only kids themselves and don't have the capacity or ability to look after themselves properly. Through what eventually turns out to be a horror of a day, little Chloe is killed and Jade and Annabel are not only found to be to blame but they are vilified and become the most hated girls in Britain. Fast forward several years and both girls are now grown up, using different names and trying to move on with their lives. Annabel is now Amber, a cleaning supervisor in a funfair, in an unhappy relationship with sleazy ladies man Victor, while Jade is now Kirsty, a happily married journalist with two children. They're under strict instructions never to meet or speak to each other again but they have no choice in breaking that promise when Kirsty travels to Amber's seaside town to investigate a series of grizzly murders. The book is peppered with flashbacks to the day of Chloe's death, so we don't find out until almost at the end of the book what actually happened. Add to that the fact that there seems to be two modern day serial killers added to the storyline, who are nothing to do with each other and this one ends up being a bit convoluted. I think the concept of this book was better than it's execution but it was still a good read, it just didn't quite grip me as much as her others have. 


And that's that! Have you read any of these?
What are you reading right now?

To the comments!
XX

Monday 17 April 2017

Greek Beauty Haul

One of my favourite things about going away somewhere new (apart from eating all the food) is trying out the beauty products unique to that particular country. Before we went to Crete, I had a little look online and as I was already a fan of Korres, I had that firmly on my mind.
We don't get their full range over here, which covers skincare, shower products, shampoo & conditioner, perfumes, oils, sun-care, hair dye, make up, nail polish etc.

greek beauty products

Mostly though, I wanted skincare. And so, I specifically was looking for a new oil. Step forward Korres Wild Rose Vitamin C Active Brightening Oil
This is for all skin types and is targeted specifically for dull, uneven skin tone, dryness and fine lines and wrinkles. I was looking for this in particular because it has actual wild rose petals floating in the oil and you know I love a pretty product. 
Plus, gimmick. Gimmick is good. 

Korres Wild Rose Vitamin C Active Brightening Oil

Apparently there is ultra concentrated Vitamin C oil in here that does some fancy anti-inflammatory and antioxidant work that brightens your skin as well as smoothing lines and overall leaving you looking dewy and glowy, like a baby deer, I'd imagine. As always, I find a lot of brand claims difficult to confirm myself, so I'll tell you what it does for me. 
I use this at night time, after my moisturiser. It has a little glass dropper, which I love anyway, cause it makes me feel like a ye olde apothecary. I only use about two drops at a time and warm it in the palm of my hand. 
It's incredibly silky and light and sinks in remarkably quickly. It smells beautiful- like an old fashioned, gentle perfume and genuinely leaves my skin feeling soft and refreshed. I think it's one of the nicer facial oils I've ever used. It's a really enjoyable night time ritual now, that signals the end of the day and a total relaxation to gently massage this in, inhale and sink back into my pillows.
Because my skin is on the dry/dehydrated side, I don't love heavy, clogging products so it's kind of a joy to find an oil that's lightweight and still works. Rejoice! 
Plus, look at the petals!!! Squeee!!

korres cheek butter mandarin oil lip balm

To go with this and because I don't like using oils in the morning because of make-up related issues, I went for a non-oil based serum. This is the Wild Rose Brightening and Line-Smoothing Face and Eye Serum. 


Again, this is for reducing the number and dept of wrinkles (I know it's inevitable but every little helps) and adding a luminosity and a radiance to my skin that I'm always trying to add in. What I love about this is again, how light it is and that it can be used around my eyes so I'm not using an additional eye cream in the mornings. I use this under my moisturiser and it is rather lovely. 

I got 20% off on those so it worked out to be really good value- about €45 in total for both, which is great considering the serum alone is €36 to buy here. The make-up was all full price though and nothing really jumped out at me except for this cream blush and mandarin oil lip balm. Both of which were actually on sale..I know, cheapskate.


This is one of their Cheek Butters; it has shea butter and guava extract in there for moisture and vitamin C for antioxidant benefits. Mad into the vitamin C, so they are. I have the shade Philia Rose, which is a flattering, warm pink. So far I've just use my fingers to blend this in but you could equally use a stippling brush or a blending sponge. I think that shade will suit a lot of skin tones but it comes in two other shades also. This was a fiver, not bad at all. 

The lip balm is another good'un. Having used their little pots previously I wanted to try a stick version and this is as lovely as those. It obviously has mandarin oil in there and there's also shea butter and sunflower wax. This was €2, it's €9.60 on the Feel Unique website.
*does a little victory dance*.

Lastly then, I wanted to try something from Apivita, another Greek brand that focuses a lot on shower products and haircare. 

apivita refreshing fig

Again, I got 20% off on these so although I was just going to get the shower gel, I went for the body lotion as well. These smell absolutely stunning- I love fig and cause these are also packed with lavender and geranium essential oils, they have that kind of "expensive hotel shower product" vibes, if that makes sense.  There's also aloe and honey extracts to moisturise. Love them. 

greek beauty haul


And that is that. Although I did pick up a couple of mini tubes of Korres face masks in the duty Free but I haven't tried those yet, so they're not here.
Did I do good?!
Have you tried any of these?
To the comments!
XX

Monday 10 April 2017

Spring Reading List

I tend to read books quite randomly but I do enjoy making seasonally appropriate picks. I'm not even sure all of these are particularly ideal for Spring but I have my reasons! 
Let me explain…


I know y'all like to look at the lovely covers (and judge them accordingly) as much as I do, so here's some close ups:


This one is for my book club at the end of the month. Sebastian Barry has been a finalist in the Man Booker prize twice now and it's about time that I picked this particular one up, which I'm hearing great things about. it's described as:

An intensely poignant story of two men and the makeshift family they create with a young Sioux girl, Winona, Days Without End is a fresh and haunting portrait of the most fateful years in American history and is a novel never to be forgotten


I actually have two books to read for that one particular book club and this is the second. Completely different to the first as this one is a real story of a neurosurgeon, diagnosed with lung cancer. He describes the experiences throughout the book of going from saving lives to accepting the imminent loss of his own and is supposed to be both a heartbreaking and eye-opening read. Those two are both coming on holiday with me!


This is by the same author as I Let You Go, which was a big deal amongst reading circles for all of last year. I read that one and was completely floored by the twist in the tale so I was intrigued to read her next book, I See You. I've started this one and it's a bit slow to get going but I'm hoping it picks up. This is another thriller. A woman discovers by accident that someone has put her photo into the classifieds section of a newspaper, she's a bit freaked out but puts it out of her mind. That is until other women whose photos are featured next to hers begin to be attacked. 


I've had this on my tbr (to be read) shelf for a while now and for some reason I've decided to pick it up and start it now. I feel like Drew is a Spring sort of person! Basically it's her memoirs to date. 


This is an advanced reader copy of The Witchfinder's Sister, hence why the cover looks like that- the one in store looks way fancier. This has just been released this month and I'm already completely hooked- I'm fascinated by the witch trials in Salem (especially after visiting there the year before last) and this book is focused on the witch hunt of 1640 in England. I love historical fiction and this one is a thriller to boot so you can be sure I'll be reviewing this!


Paper Girls, Volume 2! I only read the first one last month and quickly became obsessed. This is set in 1988, on Halloween night. Four teenage girls who deliver newspapers in their neighbourhoods (hence, paper girls) end up becoming a force to be reckoned with when, seemingly, the apocalypse begins. I can't wait to get stuck into this and see what happens next! 

I also have some great psychological thrillers on my kindle that I'm absolutely ploughing through! I have my reading mojo back at last!

Have you any books put aside in a special Spring pile?!
Have you read any of these?
To the comments! 
XX