Patient Care: Death and Life in the Emergency Room by Paul Seward -
This is a memoir of an ER doctor who shares many interesting, and sometimes amusing, stories of the things he has seen throughout his time as a doctor. I've mentioned many times before that I really enjoy reading these kinds of books. I have read quite a few medical memoirs in recent years and this is one of the more average ones I have picked up. I have noticed recently that I tend to enjoy these kinds of memoirs more if they are set in the UK, probably as I know that system pretty well and know how things work, and this was set in the US. Other than that aspect, which I knew going into the book anyway, I found myself getting bored while reading this and I wasn't fully invested in all of the stories. While the stories were interesting, especially to someone with some medical knowledge who loves to hear about unusual cases, there wasn't any kind of reasoning to their order and this made the book seem kind of thrown together. I did enjoy it and was able to learn some interesting things from the stories told, but it wasn't as good as some of the other medical memoirs I have read.
Rating: 3/5
Unwind by Neal Shusterman -
Oh yes, I finally started my reread of this series! I read the first two books in the series years ago and have been wanting to reread them in order to finish the series for the longest time. I finally picked Unwind up again at the beginning of the year and I am making it a goal for 2020 to finish this series. This is the first book in a dystopian series in which children between the ages of 13 and 18 can be sent by their parents to be 'unwound' meaning every part of their body is obtained for transplant. The first book follows three unwinds who have run away and have to try to survive while being hunted down. I absolutely loved the first book in this series on first read but found on reread that I didn't enjoy it as much. I think this is just down to the fact that I have read a lot more books now and so have a lot more to compare it to. I still enjoyed it, I think the concept is really clever and the story is incredibly well-written, and at some times a bit too vivid. However, I just wasn't as invested in the characters this time around and didn't find the story quite as engaging.
Rating: 3.5/5
Girl Made Of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake -
After seeing so many rave reviews of this book, I finally decided to pick it up for myself. It follows a girl who's twin brother is accused of rape by one of her best friends and while she knows her friend would never lie about it, she struggles with the idea that her brother could ever do something like that. This book was a lot! Obviously from the topic I knew it would be a tough read, but this was so raw and honest that it was heartbreaking. I will say I didn't love this book quite as much as everyone else seems to have, which makes me sad. I found the main character to be really annoying at times and thought the relationship drama between Mara and Charlie was a little unnecessary, or at least it could have taken more of a back seat as I felt at times that their relationship was more of a focus than her friend being sexually assaulted. Those problems aside, I thought this book was incredibly well written, with the topic of rape handled well. I was also very impressed with how Mara's unimaginably hard situation was written as her struggle is portrayed so vividly that I was almost feeling her inner turmoil right there with her. This is not a book for everyone, there is definitely a risk to those who are sensitive to or triggered by such topics, but it is definitely one I would recommend to anyone who feels they can read it.
Rating: 4/5
Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams -
Sadly, this was my biggest disappointment of the month. This follows a man and woman who regularly take the same train and one day the man decides to put a missed connections note in the paper for the woman, which of course starts a near miss love story developed through notes in the paper. I would have put much more effort into that synopsis if I had actually like this book but just thinking about it makes me disappointed. I really wanted to love this book! It sounded like a super cute rom-com style book, which was exactly what I was in the mood for. It turns out I should have just DNFed it when I first wanted to. I found the characters incredibly annoying, with many of the side characters seeming totally irrelevant and as though they didn't actually need to be there. I think the idea could have been cute but I found the fact Daniel actually knew a bit about Nadia while she didn't even know who the notes were from just made it a little creepy. However, my main problem with this book was how long the 'near miss' aspect was dragged out for. I fully understand that with a plot like this you are going to have that almost meeting but just getting somewhere too late or similar scenarios, but it just went on for far too long. I found that it stopped becoming frustrating but cute and just turned into plain boring. The end was okay and redeemed it for me slightly but I guess this book just wasn't for me.
Rating: 2/5
UnWholly by Neal Shusterman -
This is book two in the Unwind series and my second reread of the month. I really wanted to carry on with this series while the previous book was still fresh in my mind since I am terrible at remembering the plot of books. I liked this a lot less than the first book when I first read the series and my thoughts for this one were pretty similar the second time around. This was a reread but it felt like I was reading it for the first time, there was maybe two things in the whole book that I remembered, which I think is what made it a more enjoyable experience than rereading book one. This book had a whole different vibe to the first, new characters were introduced and we got their perspectives, and our main characters from the first book are in much different situations than those they were in during book one. I still really enjoyed the writing and found the plot to be engaging, it definitely has a plot of it's own rather than just setting up the next book. I'm excited to carry on with the series, especially now that I have reached the books I have not already read before.
Rating: 3/5
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty -
I have had this book on my shelf for years and have borrowed the audiobook from the library at least 4 times, but I have finally gotten around to reading this book. From the synopsis, this is about a woman who finds a letter from her husband for her to open in the event of his death, but while he is still alive. While that is the focus of the main plot twist or conflict, this book is actually a lot more than that. It focuses on three women, each with something big happening in their own lives, whose paths cross and lives become intertwined. I really love the way Liane Moriarty writes so cleverly that the mysteries in her books become like a quiet background while the characters lives are in the forefront, until suddenly the mystery seeps through and affects everything. They're almost like slice of life stories with a little extra something going on. That is exactly how this book was written and it was done brilliantly. I really enjoyed all three women and their stories. They were all such different characters and were each dealing with their life situations in their own ways that just seemed so fitting to their personalities. I also found the mystery to be quite interesting and though it wasn't a bit shocking moment, it wasn't something I had guessed, and the way it was resolved was quite unique. My only issues with this book were that I got bit bored in the middle so would have liked the pacing to be a bit better and I would have liked the twist to have been a bit more shocking.
Rating: 3/5
Rating: 3/5
Unwind by Neal Shusterman -
Oh yes, I finally started my reread of this series! I read the first two books in the series years ago and have been wanting to reread them in order to finish the series for the longest time. I finally picked Unwind up again at the beginning of the year and I am making it a goal for 2020 to finish this series. This is the first book in a dystopian series in which children between the ages of 13 and 18 can be sent by their parents to be 'unwound' meaning every part of their body is obtained for transplant. The first book follows three unwinds who have run away and have to try to survive while being hunted down. I absolutely loved the first book in this series on first read but found on reread that I didn't enjoy it as much. I think this is just down to the fact that I have read a lot more books now and so have a lot more to compare it to. I still enjoyed it, I think the concept is really clever and the story is incredibly well-written, and at some times a bit too vivid. However, I just wasn't as invested in the characters this time around and didn't find the story quite as engaging.
Rating: 3.5/5
Girl Made Of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake -
After seeing so many rave reviews of this book, I finally decided to pick it up for myself. It follows a girl who's twin brother is accused of rape by one of her best friends and while she knows her friend would never lie about it, she struggles with the idea that her brother could ever do something like that. This book was a lot! Obviously from the topic I knew it would be a tough read, but this was so raw and honest that it was heartbreaking. I will say I didn't love this book quite as much as everyone else seems to have, which makes me sad. I found the main character to be really annoying at times and thought the relationship drama between Mara and Charlie was a little unnecessary, or at least it could have taken more of a back seat as I felt at times that their relationship was more of a focus than her friend being sexually assaulted. Those problems aside, I thought this book was incredibly well written, with the topic of rape handled well. I was also very impressed with how Mara's unimaginably hard situation was written as her struggle is portrayed so vividly that I was almost feeling her inner turmoil right there with her. This is not a book for everyone, there is definitely a risk to those who are sensitive to or triggered by such topics, but it is definitely one I would recommend to anyone who feels they can read it.
Rating: 4/5
Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams -
Sadly, this was my biggest disappointment of the month. This follows a man and woman who regularly take the same train and one day the man decides to put a missed connections note in the paper for the woman, which of course starts a near miss love story developed through notes in the paper. I would have put much more effort into that synopsis if I had actually like this book but just thinking about it makes me disappointed. I really wanted to love this book! It sounded like a super cute rom-com style book, which was exactly what I was in the mood for. It turns out I should have just DNFed it when I first wanted to. I found the characters incredibly annoying, with many of the side characters seeming totally irrelevant and as though they didn't actually need to be there. I think the idea could have been cute but I found the fact Daniel actually knew a bit about Nadia while she didn't even know who the notes were from just made it a little creepy. However, my main problem with this book was how long the 'near miss' aspect was dragged out for. I fully understand that with a plot like this you are going to have that almost meeting but just getting somewhere too late or similar scenarios, but it just went on for far too long. I found that it stopped becoming frustrating but cute and just turned into plain boring. The end was okay and redeemed it for me slightly but I guess this book just wasn't for me.
Rating: 2/5
UnWholly by Neal Shusterman -
This is book two in the Unwind series and my second reread of the month. I really wanted to carry on with this series while the previous book was still fresh in my mind since I am terrible at remembering the plot of books. I liked this a lot less than the first book when I first read the series and my thoughts for this one were pretty similar the second time around. This was a reread but it felt like I was reading it for the first time, there was maybe two things in the whole book that I remembered, which I think is what made it a more enjoyable experience than rereading book one. This book had a whole different vibe to the first, new characters were introduced and we got their perspectives, and our main characters from the first book are in much different situations than those they were in during book one. I still really enjoyed the writing and found the plot to be engaging, it definitely has a plot of it's own rather than just setting up the next book. I'm excited to carry on with the series, especially now that I have reached the books I have not already read before.
Rating: 3/5
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty -
I have had this book on my shelf for years and have borrowed the audiobook from the library at least 4 times, but I have finally gotten around to reading this book. From the synopsis, this is about a woman who finds a letter from her husband for her to open in the event of his death, but while he is still alive. While that is the focus of the main plot twist or conflict, this book is actually a lot more than that. It focuses on three women, each with something big happening in their own lives, whose paths cross and lives become intertwined. I really love the way Liane Moriarty writes so cleverly that the mysteries in her books become like a quiet background while the characters lives are in the forefront, until suddenly the mystery seeps through and affects everything. They're almost like slice of life stories with a little extra something going on. That is exactly how this book was written and it was done brilliantly. I really enjoyed all three women and their stories. They were all such different characters and were each dealing with their life situations in their own ways that just seemed so fitting to their personalities. I also found the mystery to be quite interesting and though it wasn't a bit shocking moment, it wasn't something I had guessed, and the way it was resolved was quite unique. My only issues with this book were that I got bit bored in the middle so would have liked the pacing to be a bit better and I would have liked the twist to have been a bit more shocking.
Rating: 3/5
Those were the six books I read in January. No 5 star ratings, but looking back I think I've been pretty harsh with my ratings last month. Maybe I'll find a new favourite read in February.
What was the best book you read in January?
Sophie :)
No comments:
Post a Comment