A Shot in the Dark by Lynne Truss

Rating:

DNF

Themes:

Mystery

Thoughts:

I really struggled with this book and don’t think the series is for me. I found that the characters were pretty much all caricatures which in a series is really unnecessary as we have the time to learn about each new main character and the all cops stupid but the new boy trope was done to an extreme. This felt even weirder to me as the story/mystery was slow to start but it wasn’t because we had to meet the characters in depth since they lacked depth and just followed stereotypes instead. It was also weird that Crystal’s scent was mentioned soo much, even if it is important to the mystery later it felt overboard to have it mentioned multiple times a chapter. I found the Brunswick ‘romance’ element really icky with the age thing even for the time. Working it out Brunswick is about 38 but the girl he is fawning over and chasing is only 19 so it’s nearly a 20 year age gap. As far as the point I DNF’d it, these things were irrelevant but even if it’s important to have an age gap later in the story it was a 10 year gap that was common, not a middle aged man with a child.

Favourite Quote:

“Demanding for crimes to be 'solved' was an ignorant and unreasonable position to take, in Steine's view. It was simplistic. Many crimes went unsolved in this world; it was very common for a crime to go unsolved. In many ways, Steine felt that an unsolved crime was more satisfying - in philosophical terms than a solved one. Complete in itself, it had more integrity as a concept Once you started trying to solve it, it came apart in unattractive ways.”

Comments

Mint and Murder by Carly Winter

Rating: Stars Themes: Short Story, Cosy Mystery Thoughts: Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I had to read this book, seeing it was available, after reading Pipers Piping and Puppies last year. I did read it as a standalone (it’s not the first time I’ve read a series out of order and likely won’t be the last) I managed to follow along fine although I’m sure I’d have understood the relationship dynamics better had I read it in the correct order. I found the story great and as for the mystery I was guessing myself right the way through until Sam figured it out. Sam is a strong female main character who feels worth investing in so I may have to go search some more of the Heywood Herbalist series out. I enjoyed seeing Sam interact with her friends as they had great chemistry and it felt real, and also really liked Sam’s interactions with Doug as it added another layer of humanity to her and reality to the town. I would love ...

Porn is Not Sex Ed! by Jessica Melendez

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Young Adult Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. In the age of lessening sex education this book could be a great tool to help bridge the gap. I appreciate the talk to an adult bits that can encourage children to start to have conversations that are important but they often think are cringy. The note to trusted adults bit at the end is great too and there’s quite a few useful activities to help the messages really sink in. Some of the points here such as fetishisation and body image are really important ones that I never learned that young (which could be the reason I had such poor body image as a teen) and for the most part the book talks to kids on their level although some areas may feel a little immaturely worded for older teens. With thanks to Hachette UK and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy of this book.

The War of Sober by Edward Rand

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Addiction, Psychology Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great book not just for addicts trying to establish and maintain their sobriety but also psychologists, counsellors and the people working with them. It approaches the experience of addiction from the perspective of going to war and may help those who can’t get along with the 12 steps, contingency management or other forms of therapy traditionally used. It’s also helpful to have Edward detail his own experiences and approaches throughout so it feels less clinical and shows he does know what he’s talking about when he mentions the difficulties so it comes across less patronising than some self-help addiction books. Favourite Quote: "It doesn't matter what happened yesterday. Win or lose, if we are still alive, we must decide to be different today and then make the correct choices today, because friends, ...

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