The Watchers by A.M. Shine

Rating:

5 Stars

Themes:

Horror

Thoughts:

Wow, just wow. This is my first book by Shine so I had no idea what I was walking into but it had me hooked (like finished it in 2 and a half days hooked). The idea of being watched for half a day everyday for months left me with a claustrophobic feeling but I just had to know what the group would do next. The group themselves are such an eclectic combination but somehow each person adds to the overall working of their routines. Mina is our main character and I liked how she analysed everyone with an artists’ view as it let me picture them so much more detailed but it was interesting to see the other views and it lets us get such a more broad picture of the story when they split up. I did see one of the twists coming but started to doubt myself before it was told. I couldn’t see that ending coming and am sooo glad I can read the next one straight away.

Favourite Quote:

“All days were the same. Dates were insignificant numbers. Life in the forest was one of routine and struggle. No memories worth keeping were made there, and the future's horizon was lost to the trees.”

Comments

Mint and Murder by Carly Winter

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Shame-Sex Attraction by Lucas Wilson

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+ Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is definitely a difficult read and it took me quite a while to get through it for that very reason. It is split up into 17 different peoples experiences with a foreword and afterword. It’s definitely an important read for many as these practices are still legal in many countries, including my own, and without knowledge of the damage of the practices many may not join in the protests or sign the petitions to try to get laws in place. As a member of the community myself I found some of these stories such as the ‘Sniffing the Gay Away’ and ‘Convert’ especially difficult to read and reminded me just how lucky I was to have such a supportive and loving community around me. I appreciated that the afterword highlighted the limitations of the collection such as having little to no religious, geographical or racial diversity but that they did try to ga...

Broken Glass by Sarah Kay

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This collection is mixed for me, some of the poems were really good and all were definitely emotive but I think so many poems on the Hamas attack and subsequent war which is highly politically charged a little difficult to tackle. Favourite Quote: "What good is it to open my heart when in the end, you will stab it in the back?"

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