The African Equation by Yasmina Khadra

The African Equation by Yasmina Khadra
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Frankfurt MD Kurt Krausmann is devastated by his wife's suicide. Unable to make sense of what happened, Kurt agrees to join his friend Hans on a humanitarian mission to the Comoros. But, sailing down the Red Sea, their boat is boarded by Somali pirates and the men are taken hostage.

The arduous journey to the pirates' desert hideout is only the beginning of Kurt's odyssey. He endures imprisonment and brutality at the hands of captors whose failings are all too human.

As the situation deteriorates, it is fellow prisoner, Bruno, a long-time resident in Africa, who shows Kurt another side to the wounded yet defiant continent he loves.

A giant of francophone writing, Algerian author Yasmina Khadra takes current events as a starting point to explore opposing views and myths of Africa and the West, ultimately delivering a powerful message of friendship, resilience, and redemption.

Way too wordy and self indulgent what could have been
a gripping and insightful book ended up being a platform for superfluous rhetoric that really had no correlation to the situation the characters found themselves in.

All the characters sounded the same; their 'voices' were not individual and therefore made them appear hollow and unrealistic. Khadra choses to make one of the pirates so eloquent and well educated that it is inconceivable that such an apparently educated man would end up as a murderous thug. It just didn't ring true. It felt that the author was projecting his own thoughts and ideologies into his characters which in my opinion just didn't work.

Khandra's language is littered with clichés and overblown views that seemed out of place in what should have been a gritty and powerful novel. A thug who quotes literary giants one minute and beats the hell out of you the next just doesn't work.

The descriptions of the harshness and beauty of Africa come across well but the endless description of every hut, room and its contents just got tedious and unnecessary. It was way too long, skilful editing could have made a great difference to the end product.

I can't say I enjoyed it, I skipped and skim read several pages in an effort to move it on and I struggled to the end. I am sure there are better African authors but this was my first and it will be a long time before I try another. Not for me, sorry only 1 star

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.

No One You Know by Michelle Richmond

No One You Know by Michelle Richmond
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Her sister was murdered. The killer was never found. Until now…

All her childhood Ellie Enderlin had lived in her sister’s shadow. But then Lily was murdered and their family changed forever.

Now, decades later, Ellie comes into possession of Lila’s lost notebook and has a chance to finally discover the truth about her sister’s death. But her search for justice will lead her to uncover her sister’s darkest secrets…

I really struggled with this novel. I always try to finish a book and give an honest review but I only managed to get to chapter 13 and then had to put it away. To be honest the storyline was so flimsy which alone made it hard to keep going. The main character Ellie is searching for who killed her sister Lila many years previously. Lila's college professor (after meeting with Ellie and pumping her for information) writes a book about the murder and then makes assumptions on who the killer is. Lila is a maths student and has kept a journal with complicated maths calculations and theories and this is so overworked in the chapters that I did manage to read that made it too tedious to bother with. Too wordy and mathematically intense for me - sorry this only gets a 1 star rating.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.

Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante

Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Jane O’Malley loses everything when her teenage daughter is killed in a senseless accident. Devastated, she makes a stab at a new life and moves from San Francisco to the tiny seaside town of Half Moon Bay. As the months go by she is able to cobble together some possibility of peace. Then children begin to disappear, and soon Jane sees her own pain reflected in all the parents in the town. She wonders if she will be able to live through the aching loss, the fear once again surrounding her, but as the disappearances continue, fingers of suspicion all begin to point at her.

Oh dear, where do I start on this one. So boring, confusing, unengaging writing style and by the time I'd reached pg 25 I had to stop before I became brain dead. Awful writing style didn't carry this one forward and confusing convoluted storyline of being inside Jane's mind was just a push too far for me. I never give a totally bad review but this was so awful that I couldn't bring myself to go beyond pg 25. Maybe it gets better, maybe it doesn't but I really couldn't have cared less what happened to the main character and although loosing a child must be one of the worst nightmares you can go through I just couldn't engage in this novel. Littered with staccato bursts of rhetoric with no real outcome or cohesion, the pace was painfully slow. Its a pity because so much could have been done with the concept but I felt it was just an exercise in self pity - as I said perhaps it gets better as you go along but I doubted it as I skim read forwards and it seemed if anything to get more convoluted and messy. So sorry to have to give it only 1 star.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.

Acts of Love by Talulah Riley

Acts of Love by Talulah Riley
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Bernadette knows what she wants.

Tim is perfect, and she's always had a feeling that something is about to happen between them.

He might have just announced his engagement to the sickeningly wonderful Elizabeth, but the ring's not on his finger yet.

And when Elizabeth starts meddling in Bernie's own love life, she knows it's time to act.

Yes, Elizabeth's best friend Radley might be charming, charismatic and intelligent.

But he's not Tim.

And Bernadette's not a woman who takes no for an answer.


I didn't like this one at all. Usual chick lit/modern romance nonsense set in LA with an English heroine, billionaire male character and unrequited love. Way too long with none of the mystique and mastery of Gone with the Wind to which it has been compared. Simple lack lustre plot line, simpering self indulgent characters and a completely uninteresting and boring story line. Nothing like the superb Mitchell novel that it is being compared with. To my mind this novel is just mushy nonsense with no originality or creativity. I couldn't be bothered to read to the end I'm afraid and although I have been harsher with this review it is because you'd have to be brilliant to be compared to the timeless novel that Margaret Mitchell produced and this certainly wasn't even close. Sorry this only gets 1 star from me.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.

The A to Z of You and Me by James Hannah

The A to Z of You and Me by James Hannah
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This is a striking literary debut of love and mortality perfect for fans of quirky, heart-wrenching fiction like Nathan Filer, David Nicholls and Rachel Joyce. Ivo has all kinds of everyday joy in his life - he's young, he's in love, he has friends who promise to stand by him if life ever goes wrong. Then one day, life does go wrong. He makes a mistake, and it's big and unforgiveable. Now time is running out and his life is falling apart. But he's going to put it together again. His own way.

This is a story about how far love must stretch to gather a life in pieces. And how strong friendship never dies.

Oh dear, another deeply depressing and maudlin novel. I like to read for escapism, entertainment, mystery and intrigue not to read about terminally ill people who spending their days in a hospice with no visitors or friends resort to playing a game of A-Z and a memory that goes with it. I really didn't connect with this book, it was too depressing, I skim read it and although the author tried it was just too miserable for me to keep going. Ivo was very self indulgent seeming not to take responsibility for the situation he finds himself in and therefore not very likeable. Dreary, dull and uninspiring I could not recommend it giving it only 1 star for effort.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me this in exchange for an honest review.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Her perfect life is a perfect lie . . . Ani FaNelli is the woman who has it all: the glamorous job, the designer wardrobe, the handsome and rich fiancé. But behind her sharp edges and meticulously crafted facade lies the darkest of pasts . . .

When a documentary producer invites Ani to tell her side of the chilling and violent incident that took place when she was a teenager at the prestigious Bradley school, she hopes it will be an opportunity to prove how far she's turned her life around since then. She'll even let the production company film her lavish wedding, the final step in her transformation.

But as the wedding and filming converge, Ani's past threatens to come back and haunt her. And as her immaculate veneer starts to crack, she is forced to question: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for - or, will it at long last, set Ani free?

This is probably going to be a little controversial but...

Oh dear, I really wanted to like this especially with the glowing reports and all the marketing hype but it really did fall a long way short of my expectations. I am an honest reviewer and don't get swayed by others opinions always making up my own mind and telling it how it is so for this reason I can't pretend it was a great piece of literary work or that it is the 'must read' book of the season, sorry.

I was on page 85 and still nothing concrete had happened and I almost lost the will to live to continue reading but I am nothing if not thorough so did plough on to the end.

Unfortunately it was a predictable as I had thought, no twists or unexpected thrills to keep the reader going or anything to keep me mildly interested in the characters. I hated TifAni FaNelli - what a stupid name and a shallow character, quite honestly I couldn't have cared less about her, the pronunciation of her name, or the 'story'. Everyone was so manufactured and hollow, and where was the humour that the back cover boasted about? There was nothing to anchor the reader, serious issues like rape were glossed over with little or no emotion and even a sexually ignorant girl of 14 would surely show more emotion, guilt or shame over what happened to her than this shallow character - just not believable for me.

I knew it I was not enjoying it because I had to keep reading back to remind me what I had read each time I picked the book up and I really struggled to want to pick it up - took me over a week as I kept putting it off! Normally a page turner will have me done in a day.This book was boring and dull and frankly I am at a loss as to why it was compared to such good writers as Gillian Flynn, Jodi Picoult and Lauren Weisberger when it is clearly not in the same league.

No not for me, all I can give this poor attempt is 1 star, there are far better books out there don't waste your time reading this one.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand

Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand
My rating: 1 of 5 stars



The Carmichaels and Grahams have gathered on Nantucket for a wedding. Plans are being made according to the wishes of the bride's late mother, who left behind The Notebook: specific instructions for every detail of her youngest daughter's future nuptials. Everything should be falling into place for the beautiful event - but in reality, things are far from perfect.

While the couple-to-be are quite happy, their loved ones find their own lives crumbling. In the days leading up to the wedding, love will be questioned, scandals will arise, and hearts will be broken . . .

In BEAUTIFUL DAY Elin Hilderbrand takes readers on a journey into the heart of marriage, what it means to be faithful, and how we choose to honour our commitments.

Well what can I say? I never like giving a bad review and generally can find something about a book that I liked sadly Beautiful Day is the exception - I can't think of a single nice thing to say about this book. It was so boring and depressing in parts that I didn't even finish reading it which for me is unheard of.

Most authors manage to create a work of fiction that transcends all cultures and nationalities so that anyone can identify with it no matter where they are in the world. Not so this author - it was SO American that it seemed to want to exclude all non Americans. References that made little or no sense (unless I am assuming you are American) which was so frustrating. I found the whole subject matter very miserable and morbid, reminding the reader constantly that the daughters' dying mothers' wishes for the perfect wedding for her daughter will be one occasion that she will not live to see. There were attempts at humour but frankly the whole thing left me feeling depressed. This was one of 4 novels I took on holiday with me to review and it was the last one I read; thank goodness otherwise I may never have got round to reading anything else on holiday!

I can't tell you how it ended as I didn't bother reading to the end, I could not even bring myself to skim read it either. I feel bad about writing such a stinging review but feel that there was nothing redeeming about the book at all. I'm afraid that it only merits a 1 from me - the wedding still hadn't taken place by page 285 out of an astonishing 401 pages - this could easily have been cut down. Laboriously slow paced, it was schmaltzy, overindulgent and depressing - sorry.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.