1/31/2016

The Messenger by Daniel Silva

When I started this thriller, I didn´t know that it was part of a series. And when I realized it, I was right in the middle of a tough but well-written plot about agent Gabriel Allon, who has to do another dangerous job. I have to be honest I am truly no friend of starting a series in the middle. I don´t like it, because my experience shows, that the characters in all the series I´ve ever read started to change one way or the other. All the things they went through, all the emotions they had to deal with, etc. made them change, develop other ways of seeing things and when you can read a series from the beginning, you can see all that with your own eyes, can live with them to all of it and that gives you, what I call it, a rounder picture.

 

The Messenger

by Daniel Silva
Gabriel Allon Series #6
Publisher G.P. Putnam´s Sons on July 25, 2006
Genre Thriller
Pages 352
Format Hardcover
Source Library
Goodreads

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Gabriel Allon – art restorer and spy – is about to face the greatest challenge of his life. An al-Qaeda suspect is killed in London, and photographs are found on his computer – photographs that lead Israeli intelligence to suspect that al-Qaeda is planning one of its most audacious attacks ever, aimed straight at the heart of the Vatican. Allon and his colleagues soon find themselves in a deadly duel of wits against one of the most dangerous men in the world – a hunt that will take them across Europe to the Caribbean and back. But for them, there may not be enough of anything: enough time, enough facts, enough luck. All Allon can do is set a trap – and hope that he is not the one caught in it.

Story

The story starts right off with a deadly situation and the more I read, the more it felt kind of scary. Because almost everything that happened in this thriller is today – about ten years later – a sad reality. The setting goes from London and Tel Aviv to Rome, Paris, the Caribbean, Switzerland and back to Rome and a few other places. No question, Daniel Silva´s writing style is accurate and good to read. Fine, there are a few sections where the story is filled with details about the scenery or what a figure was doing and I had my little problems with that, but mostly I enjoyed reading it.

Style

Told by an invisible narrator, the reader gets from the beginning a very complex and intense story told, where death, secrets and money rules. Daniel Silva has a clear writing style. No word is misplaced and he gives the reader a lot of information on one page and on the next, he brings a scene in a telegraphic style. By doing so he builds up a terrific tension which and keeps that tension right till the end. The pope is in danger and Gabriel is ordered to keep him safe. But he can´t prevent the explosion and it becomes very clear to him, that the plan failed because of him and that he needs to eliminate the killer. But how to do that when that killer is secured by one of the richest men on the planet? And the US is the country that benefits the most from that wealth?

Characters

Gabriel Allon is a character who went through a lot. He is one of the best conservators in the world – only that the world doesn´t know that. He´s got many names, and only a few know that he is still alive and where he lives. He is one of the good, but for the world he is evil. And so it doesn´t wonder that he does everything to convince the world who the real evil is. But where money and power rule, it isn´t easy to pull the right strings to achieve the goal.

Conclusion

The Messenger is one powerful thriller, where you´ll find some good entertainment. Kind of in a James Bond way only that not England is behind the agent but Israel. For me, this was the first Daniel Silva thriller I´ve ever read. And I recommend it with a good conscience though I would advise you to start reading this series with book one.

  


Happy reading

Daniel Silva

Daniel Silva is an award winning New York Times bestseller author. His books are sold in over thirty countries and worldwide bestsellers. He got appointed into the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and lives with his wife and their two children in Florida.

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1/30/2016

Fire & Flood by Victoria Scott

That is the first book in a dilogy where I wasn´t at first too eager to read it at all. The cover of the German edition wasn´t really my thing - still isn´t – and I didn´t have it on my schedule for the year anyway. I got asked by the publisher if I wouldn´t be interested in reading the second book and since I try to avoid jumping into a series, dilogy, trilogy, etc. in the middle without knowing the books that were published before (it just gives you a better picture of the entire development of characters, the plot, etc) I went to my library to see if they had it – and what can I say? It was there and so I took it home. So I started reading and was, to my utter surprise, very haunted. And the old saying; never judge a book by its cover, kicked right in.

Fire & Flood

by Victoria Scott
Fire & Flood Dilogy #1
Publisher Scholastic Press on February 25, 2014
Genre Young Adult
Pages 320
Format Hardcover

Goodreads

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Tella Holloway is losing it. Her brother is sick, and when a dozen doctors can´t determine what´s wrong, her parents decide to move to the middle of nowhere for the fresh air. She´s lost her friends, her parents are driving her crazy, her brother is dying – and she´s helpless to change anything.
Until she receives mysterious instructions on how to become a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed. It´s an epic race across jungle, desert, ocean, and mountain that could win her the prize she desperately desires: the Cure for her brother´s illness. But all the Contenders are after the Cure for people they love, and there´s no guarantee that Tella (or any of them) will survive the race.
The jungle is terrifying, the clock is ticking, and Tella knows she can´t trust the allies she makes. And one big question emerges: Why have so many fallen sick in the first place?

Story

Tella is a sixteen-year-old teenager who´s interested in fashion, the best style, and where to get the perfect matching scarf to her outfits. She loves to text with her girlfriends and to eat salad among other things. All that changes, when she has to move with her family from Boston to a very small town in Montana, where she´s kind of cut off from the internet, her friends, and every other technical progress that mankind has ever made. Her brother is very sick and for some reason, her mother believes that living in the countryside will make him get better. But when Tella finds a mysterious little package on her bed and hears a baffling message, and her father tries to destroy the item, her curiosity is ignited. Tella takes the old family car and starts the murderous Brimstone Bleed race that will change her life forever.

Style

Victoria Scott´s language is wonderfully ironic, her sentences are short and to the point and she has a unique way to capture the reader´s eye. Her style is expressive as well as brutal and very fascinating. From Tella´s point of view, the reader gets thrown into a diversified story about a group of people who have all the same goal: To win this race to get the Cure for one of their loved ones. Okay, some passages were a bit boring and kind of uneventful but then from one second to the other the author changes that like nothing, and the story is the incredible opposite to what was before. Thank god those spots are not that often to find in this novel, so no real harm done here. The way how Tella handles every situation was most intriguing. She is completely inexperienced, yes, but her instincts kick in and no matter what happens, she never loses her way of thinking or one of her principles. Even if that means that she´ll lose the stage win of the second part through the desert. But friendship and the need of others – even the ones of the Pandora’s – mean more to her then giving up her humanity.

Characters

It is actually very stunning to see, how Tella acts and thinks. Her thoughts are full of great compare to things she knows from her daily life. And what she feels and has in her mind when it comes to Guy is no exception. She is driven to win this murderous race to get the Cure for her sick brother and he seems the only chance for her, to achieve that goal. He knows everything about how to survive the jungle or what to do in the desert. Sometimes I thought why is she depending so much on him? He is a competitor after all and her growing feelings for him are fantastic, but the timing isn´t good.

Conclusion

Fire & Flood is a novel with some surprising moments which you don´t expect at all. What I found most astonishing was the change that the protagonist went through. She kept her principles, is not willing to sacrifice the way she is, only because the people, who make the race, want her to. Her inner strength becomes stronger and stronger, and every step of the way she learns more about herself and why her parents, especially her mother, did what she did. So if you´re looking for a book that brings you action, love, the meaning of friendship, and what you can achieve with your own strength and will – then this is your book!

Happy reading

Victoria Scott

Victoria Scott is the author of The Collector, The Liberator, The Warrior, Fire & Flood, Salt & Stone, and the upcoming Titans. Her books have been bought and translated into eleven foreign markets, and she's represented by Sara Crowe. Victoria lives in Dallas and loves hearing from readers.

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1/29/2016

Sunset Embrace by Sandra Brown

I know Sandra Brown´s books for many years, and I personally believe she is at her best when she´s writing thrillers. Yes, she has one or two good books in the other genres she´s written about, but Sunset Embrace isn´t one of them. I missed the brilliance of her writing style, her fantastic use of the words she usually has and of course the lack of the thrill. Sure, the story of Sunset Embrace has some kind of thriller elements, there is a lot of hot scenes, shooting, dead people and a wonderful love story are developing between Ross and Lydia. But the rest?

Sunset Embrace

by Sandra Brown
Coleman Family Saga #1
Publisher Grand Central Publishing on June 1, 1990
Genre Novel
Pages 384
Format Paperback

Goodreads
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They were two untamed outcasts on a Texas-bound wagon train. Two passionate travelers, united by need, threatened by pasts they could not outrun … Lydia Bryant –voluptuous and russet-haired, fleeing from a secret shame, vowing that never again would a man, any man overpower her … Ross Coleman – dark, brooding and iron-willed, with the shadow of a lawless past in his piercing eyes, sworn to resist the temptation of his wanton longings … Fate threw them together on the same wild road, where they fought the breathtaking desire blazing between them, while the shadows of their enemies drew ever closer until a showdown with their pursuers was inevitable. Before it was over, Lydia and Ross would face death … the truth about each other … and the astonishing strength of their love …

Story

Sandra Brown tells in this novel the story about some families and how they make their way to Texas. Lydia was found by the eldest son of Ma Langston and brought to the trek and Ma took care of her when she recovered from giving birth to a stillborn. And Ma Langston is it, who sees the solution when Ross Coleman´s wife Victoria dies during the birth of his son Lee. The widowed father is now alone with his baby boy and it looks like the baby is following his mother. Lydia and Ross have both been hurt in the past. However, they find themselves thrown together, fighting the same enemy and unable to stop the events that will eventually pit one man's vengeance against the strength of a woman's love.

Style

The story is so predictable, so obvious and the main figure, Lydia, isn´t what I would call a great woman. Don´t get me wrong, I liked the way she looked, how she was acting and what she in some scenes did, but had she really to be so insecure, so obedient and so eager to please everyone around her?

No doubt, the story itself is nice to read, I give her that without any hesitation, but the author can do much better. Good, I have to admit, that the novel was written in the mid-eighties, and back then the writing style of Sandra Brown wasn´t as brilliant as it is today. And for some reason, many things got spoken out when others were left in silence. There are a lot of really hot scenes in this novel, and I mean really hot! What Ross does with Lydia, and what she later in the story does with him, that was quite something to read.

Characters

There are only two figures in this novel that I really cared about. The rest was too weak, too pale or way too bitchy. One figure loves to point with the finger on others, to accuse them of every evil thing that had happened to the trek but she herself is so cold, so damn ignorant about what´s happening right before her own eyes or inside her own family that I really loved the scene when she got smacked by Ma Langston and told what she really is.

Oh yes – Ma Langston is one heck of a woman! She fears nobody, no matter if woman or man, and she says what she has to say, but only when the time is right. She takes not only care of her own bunch of kids but also of Lydia and Ross and she is it, who kind of saves Ross just like that by walking bye from giving in into his dark soul.

Ross Coleman – what a man. His dark past and what he´s done many years back have changed him in many ways. He killed, he tricked during Poker games and he had no conscience about whatsoever. But when he met Victoria, the daughter of a rich man, he saw his chance of becoming something, he wasn´t from birth. Yes, you guessed right, he´s the son of a bitch, and that bitch never cared about him. But the moment he meets Lydia, he starts to change again. This time he experiences what love can mean, really mean, and what it feels like to love and to be loved.

Yes, he and Lydia have their troubles, have to get to know each other and yes Lydia is different from Victoria, in so many ways, but soon he discovers that it isn´t that bad to be married to a woman like Lydia. And when one other man starts giving her a hard time, he fights for his love in a way, he´s never done before.

Conclusion

Sunset Embrace is clearly not one of the best novels Sandra Brown has ever written. For my taste too smooth, too predictable and way too soft what her writing style concerns. Never read a book of her, that had so many sappy lines. But Ross and Ma Langston were worth it to give these novel 3 stars. Without them, there wouldn´t be any star at all.

Happy reading

Sandra Brown

Sandra Brown is the author of 63 New York Times bestsellers. Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published over seventy novels, bringing the number of copies of her books in print worldwide to upwards of eighty million. Her work has been translated into thirty-four languages. A lifelong Texan, Sandra Brown was born in Waco, grew up in Fort Worth and attended Texas Christian University, majoring in English. She is much in demand as a speaker and guest television hostess. Her episode on truTV´s Murder by the Book premiered the series in 2008. She appeared in 2010 on Investigation Discovery´s new series, Hardcover Mysteries. In 2009 Brown detoured from her thrillers to write Rainwater, a much acclaimed powerfully moving story about honor and sacrifice during the Great Depression. Brown holds an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Texas Christian University where she and her husband Michael Brown, have instituted the ELF, a scholarship annually awarded to a student pursuing a fiction-writing career. In 2008, she was named Thriller Master, the top award given by the International Thriller Writer´s Association. Other awards and commendations include the 2007 Texas Medal of Arts Award for Literature and the Romance Writers of America´s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2011 she and four colleagues went on a week-long USO tour to Afghanistan, meeting with service members on numerous bases. Sandra is the past president of the Mystery Writers of America in 2012. She lives in Arlington, Texas, with her husband, Michael Brown.

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1/28/2016

Low Pressure by Sandra Brown

A beautiful and very haunting thriller. Sandra Brown shows with this book again that the human soul is as fragile as nothing else and that truth is above anything the most important value in a family or in life. And what can happen if a family ignores some certain signs that something is quite wrong?! I was so haunted by this thriller, that I was barely able to put it aside. There may be not that much action in the story, but the psychological effect is immense and very thrilling.

Low Pressure

by Sandra Brown
Publisher Grand Central Publishing on January 29, 2013
Genre Thriller
Pages 480
Format Trade Paperback

Goodreads

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Bellamy Lyston Price was only 12 years old when her older sister Susan was killed on a stormy Memorial Day. Bellamy´s fear of storms is a legacy of the tornado that destroyed the crime scene as well as her memory of one vital fact that still eludes her. Now, 18 years later, Bellamy has written a novel based on Susan´s murder. It´s her first book, and it´s an instant sensation. But because the novel is based on the most traumatic event of her life, she´s published it under a pseudonym to protect herself and her family. But when a sleazy reporter for a tabloid newspaper discovers that the book is based on a real crime, Bellamy´s identity – and dark family secrets – are exposed. Suddenly, she finds herself embroiled in a personal conflict and at the mercy of her sister´s killer, who for almost two decades has gotten away with murder … and will stop at nothing to keep it that way.

Story

Bellamy tries for 18 years, since the brutal murder of her elder sister Susan had happened, to find the last piece in the unsolved puzzle. Yes, the murderer was found, convicted and put behind bars, but she is not really convinced, that they got the real one. Her attempt to bring light into her darkness, by writing a novel, is only one step of the way that lays ahead of her. She knows by instinct, that she´s something missing - something very important. But she didn´t expect all the things to happen after her book hit the stores and became a bestseller. Not only, that her real name was revealed within no time and her life´s no longer private, she also receives shocking presents and can´t get rid of the feeling, that she´s been followed and even worse: being watched. All she knows: she has to find that last piece of her memory to find her peace and to be able to go on with her life without the dark shadow of her dead sister above her. A sister, who was a heartless beauty and an ice-cold bitch, who loved nobody but herself. Yes, her sister loved to manipulate and to terrorize the people around her - foremost her family. Something Bellamy never saw during her childhood or didn´t want to see.

Style

Sandra Brown knows how to fascinate the reader´s eye. Low Pressure is an intriguing thriller, bloody, full of passion, hate, rage and very plain-spoken. But never vulgar, never dull. The author masters the fine tightrope walk perfectly without losing her high language level. She has a very sensitive and unique way to tell a high-class plot. The perfect mixture of language, big feelings, a breathtaking landscape, and great scenes gives the thriller a fantastic atmosphere. She unravels bit by bit not only what happened that one terrible day - where all began - but also the deep and passionate love between Bellamy and Dent. Dent was the last boyfriend of Susan and the declared enemy of her family ever since. He was the number one suspect back then and finds himself right back in the fireline of the one, who wants Bellamy dead - at all costs.

Characters

Bellamy´s struggle with the truth, how she deals with all the new information and with a shocking truth about her family is shown by Sandra Brown in a great way. As always the author knows exactly how to use the right words, change a scene or put some new facts into a dialogue to keep the reader at pace. And with her way of writing sharp on the edge of obscenity Sandra Brown brings the extra kick to this thriller. The tension growths from sentence to sentence and with every page, you turn, you want to know more about that secret and what had really happened on that Memorial Day so many years back.

Conclusion

Low Pressure has really everything a 5-star thriller needs. No matter when you read it, day or night, one thing is for sure: Good entertainment is guaranteed.

Happy reading










The German edition was published by Blanvalet in 2014 called Kalter Kuss

Sandra Brown

Sandra Brown is the author of 63 New York Times bestsellers. Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published over seventy novels, bringing the number of copies of her books in print worldwide to upwards of eighty million. Her work has been translated into thirty-four languages. A lifelong Texan, Sandra Brown was born in Waco, grew up in Fort Worth and attended Texas Christian University, majoring in English. She is much in demand as a speaker and guest television hostess. Her episode on truTV´s Murder by the Book premiered the series in 2008. She appeared in 2010 on Investigation Discovery´s new series, Hardcover Mysteries. In 2009 Brown detoured from her thrillers to write Rainwater, a much acclaimed powerfully moving story about honor and sacrifice during the Great Depression. Brown holds an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Texas Christian University where she and her husband Michael Brown, have instituted the ELF, a scholarship annually awarded to a student pursuing a fiction-writing career. In 2008, she was named Thriller Master, the top award given by the International Thriller Writer´s Association. Other awards and commendations include the 2007 Texas Medal of Arts Award for Literature and the Romance Writers of America´s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2011 she and four colleagues went on a week-long USO tour to Afghanistan, meeting with service members on numerous bases. Sandra is the past president of the Mystery Writers of America in 2012. She lives in Arlington, Texas, with her husband, Michael Brown.

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1/27/2016

Sea Swept by Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts has a very unique way of telling stories. Sea Swept is no exception. With sensitiveness and fine humor, this novel shows every aspect, a reader wants to see in a good book. Sea Swept is the first book of the Chesapeake Bay Saga. It tells how three grown-up men fight for their new brother, what they do, and what they have to sacrifice to achieve their goal: to keep their father´s legacy alive.

Sea Swept

by Nora Roberts
Chesapeake Bay Saga #1
Publisher Berkley on May 7, 2013
Genre Novel
Pages 368
Format Paperback
Source Purchased
Goodreads

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A champion boat racer, Cameron Quinn traveled the world spending his winnings on champagne and women. But when his dying father called him home to care for Seth, a troubled young boy not unlike Cameron once was, his life changed overnight …

After years of independence, Cameron had to learn to live with his brothers again, while he struggled with cooking, cleaning, and caring for a difficult boy. Old rivalries and new resentments flared between Cameron and his brothers, but they tried to put aside their differences for Seth´s sake. In the end, a social worker would decide Seth´s fate, and as tough as she was beautiful, she had the power to bring the Quinns together – or tear them apart …

Story

Cameron feels bound to the promise his father gave to Seth, even though he mourns the loss of him deeply. But it hits him like a rock when he figures out what it all involves to make things happen the way his father would have wanted him and his brothers to do. So from one day to the other, he finds himself not only in the unaccustomed situation of keeping a household together and a boy at school and doing his homework he also has to find a way to deal with the youth welfare office.

Style

Sea Swept is the very wonderful and beautiful written story about Cameron Quinn and his fight for Seth, the youngest in the Quinn family. He is supported by his other brothers Philip and Ethan. They´re way of raising Seth, how they deal with all those things that come across in life, and with a boy of that age is one fantastic story with the right sensitiveness. Nora Roberts shows an endless line of great scenes, even better dialogues and figures who are simply great.

Characters

The author created with Cameron, Ethan, Phillip, and Seth fantastic characters, and when you read that novel again, many years after the first time and know some of her current work as well, you realize that something´s changed. I can´t put it into the right words, it´s only something my gut tells me, but I mean that her characters from this novel are very deep-going, very charismatic and that they have a vulnerability which is rare in a man. I´m not saying, that men don´t have that in general, all I´m saying is, that in this Saga they´ve got plenty of it and each of them is dealing with it in a different way. But they do have one in common: All three of them got saved by Raymond Quinn, their father.

Conclusion

Sea Swept is a beautifully written novel. Great characters and great places and lots of emotions are shown between the pages. Not all of those emotions are good, but they bring the real touch to this novel. Sea Swept gets 5 stars not only for the big entertainment and it´s a great story, but also for the beautiful and breathtaking landscapes.

Happy reading

Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts, born in Silver Spring, Maryland, is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels. During the now-famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write. It was there that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981. Having spent her life surrounded by men, Ms. Roberts has a fairly good view of the workings of the male mind, which is a constant delight to her readers. It was, she’s been quoted as saying, a choice between figuring men out or running away screaming. Nora is a member of several writers groups and has won countless awards from her colleagues and the publishing industry. Recently The New Yorker called her “America’s favorite novelist.” She is also the author of the bestselling futuristic suspense series written under the pen name J. D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

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1/26/2016

Aquamarin by Andreas Eschbach

What a fantastic book! Unfortunately, this title is currently or better said, at the moment my review was written, only published in German. But I wanted to write a review anyway because this title is too great and too wonderful to be ignored by the rest of the reading world. I got caught by the beautiful cover at first sight. And to be honest, the back text was as promising as the cover design, so this one went home with me.

Aquamarin

by Andreas Eschbach
Publisher Arena on June 1, 2015
Genre Children 14+
Pages 400
Format Hardcover
Source Library
Goodreads

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There´s a secret in the depth of the sea … Be aware of the sea! That´s what Saha got taught. A strange injury forbids the sixteen year old every water contact. In Seahaven, Saha is, because of that, an outsider. The town at the seaside of Australia lionizes the sea. Who does not dive or swim here, doesn´t belong to society. Like Saha. But a terrible incident puts that in question. For the first time, Saha dares to step into the ocean. There she discovers the incredible. She has a gift that must not be – can´t be. Not in Seahaven, not in the rest of the world. Who or what is she? The search for answers leads Saha into the darkest abyss of a blue shimmering world … (personal translation by ©Vi at Inkvotary). 

Story

Saha and her aunt Mildred live a life at the edge of society, only because they're different. But their happy, and that´s all that counts. But when Saha starts to ask questions, life becomes difficult. She is a Chimera, something, others don´t want or understand, especially not in Seahaven. The town lies within the Neotraditionalismus zone and there it is strictly forbidden to be genetically transformed. But is she really genetically transformed? And if, how can she keep it a secret? Because one thing is clear: if she has to go, her aunt would go with her, and that is the problem. Her aunt’s happiness counts more to Saha than anything else.

Style

The story of Aquamarin takes place in the year 2151. People use a device called board (which is what we call a tablet nowadays) and do everything with it. The world is sorted by zones; some areas of the world are called group division and some are free areas. The technique is only good if she serves the human beings who use her. Andreas Eschbach shows this conflict in a very sensitive and great way. His fantasy is so brilliant that you can actually really see how the world beneath the water surface looks. The story is told from Saha´s point of view. Aquamarin is well written and towards the end really breathtaking. And the saying you-should-be-careful-with-your-wishes is here taken literally. One figure gets in the end what she wanted all along, but in a totally different way than expected.

Characters

The author created not only a world that lies in the far future but also characters that are completely opposed. As different as they are, they have on in common: they´re all very convincing and profound.

Saha, the protagonist, is different. She is neither pretty nor tall, her face looks like a fish and she does everything to avoid contact with others. She just doesn´t want to get noticed by them. So she dresses in clunky and casual clothes, her hair is a mess and in her spare time, she has nothing else to do but to read and learn. No wonder, that the rich town beauty, which happens to be her schoolmate as well, tortures her every chance she gets. Her life starts to change, as one of those concourses for Saha into a very dangerous situation turns. She figures out why she is different, and with the help of Pigrit, a young boy from her class, she discovers the great world of printed books.

Conclusion

So I only have two things left to say. First: I want to read more about Saha! And second: You have to read this novel – it´s worth every second you take of your time to read it.

Happy reading

Andreas Eschbach

Andreas Eschbach, born in Ulm, Germany, studied Aerodynamics at the Technical University of Stuttgart. With his books, he climbed definitive into squad of the German Top-Thriller authors. His books for young readers are published at Arena Verlag. In 1996 he won one of the highest awards of German science fiction, the SFCD-Literature Award. And he is prize winner of the great German science fiction award, the Kurd Laßwitz Award, too. Today he is considered to be one of the most successful German SF writers ever. He lives as a freelance writer with his family at the French Atlantic coast.

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1/25/2016

Slammed by Colleen Hoover

This is the first book of Colleen Hoover´s famous Slammed Trilogy. I have to admit, that when this novel first appeared on the net as an eBook and produced a hype, I noticed that yes, but I had no attention at all to read it – no matter how great the critics were. The reason: I actually don´t like neither of them. Not the ebooks and hype´s not as well. This one I found by accident in my town library and thought, in the form of a real book why not? And now I could hit myself – Why haven´t I read this sooner?!

Slammed

by Colleen Hoover
Slammed Series #1
Publisher Atria Books on September 18, 2012
Genre Novel
Pages 352
Format Paperback
Source Library

Goodreads

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Following the unexpected death of her father, 18-year-old Laykenis forced to be the rock for both her mother and younger brother. Outwardly, she appears resilient and tenacious, but inwardly, she´s losing hope. Enter Will Cooper. The attractive, 21-year-old new neighbor with an intriguing passion for slam poetry and a unique sense of humor. Within days of their introduction Will and Layken form an intense emotional connection, leaving Layken with a renewed sense of hope. Not long after an intense, heart-stopping first date, they are slammed to the core when a shocking revelation forces their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossible painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together, and the secret that keeps them apart.

Story

Layken moves with her family or better said with what´s left of her family, to a small town in Michigan. There she meets Will on the very first day of her arrival and the magic between them unfolds. They spent some great time together until life hits them with all its cruelty that two lovebirds can stand: Will is her teacher and because of that he isn´t allowed to have a relationship of any kind with her. Not if he wants to jeopardize his future as a teacher. For Layken begins pure hell. Every time she finally gets over it they come close again and she has to sort it all out – again.

Style

From Layken´s point of view, the reader gets thrown into a heartbreaking and very emotional story where Layken has to learn that her share of pain and loss isn´t complete. After her father died she has not only to accept that they have to move from Texas to a small town in Michigan, but also that Money is a big issue now. And as the story goes on it becomes quite obvious to the reader and Layken herself, that something else is a big issue too. But it takes Layken a while to figure out what issue that is. Meanwhile, she discovers that for Will and her life won´t be easy. It takes a very cruel turn for them – again – and becomes real torture for both when they have to learn, that his job is more important to him than his feelings for her. At least it looks like that to Layken.

The way how they deal with the situation they´re in, how they feel about it, act and behave is shown by Colleen Hoover in a very sensitive, emotional and great way. And how Layken expresses her feelings about Will´s decision in that one poetry slam scene – wow, during that scene I was as pissed as she was! There was such a power in her words, such anger, such deep wrath and I don´t know what other emotions …

Characters

Colleen Hoover created with her figures in this novel a few beautiful characters, which have their weaknesses, but also an inner strength that is remarkable. They are sooo young and they already had to learn that life can be very cruel. How each of them deals with a sudden loss, how they manage to survive it – the author uses the right words, the right feelings to describe it. You find yourself laughing with them, crying with them and you´ll share some of their most precious moments with them.

Layken is used to hide most of her feelings from her family. She believes that she has to be strong for them; otherwise, the last bit of what´s left of it would break apart as well. And she knows that her brother Kel needs her now more than ever. So she divides her time between school, learning and going with him to all his games. But when she discovers that another death will soon be added to her life list, she is devastated. How much will she be able to take? And what can she do to fight for what means the most to her? When life kicks in with Will being her teacher, she learns what it means to see the one you love more than anything else but not being able to touch or even kiss that person – and for Layken this means pure hell. Every time she finally gets over it they come close again and she has to sort it all out – again.

Will is a young man, who´s not only responsible for himself, but also for his younger brother. The sudden death of his parents a few years ago has forced him to rethink his future plans and to find a way instead that allows him to take care of his little brother and still be able to become a teacher. He is handsome, thinks things through before he acts and what love really means he gets to know the moment he sees Layken. From that time he is in heaven and starts to feel alive again. She understands him like no one else, she touches a part of his soul no one has ever before and being her neighbor seems not that bad. Until he has to discover that she´s his student and his world turns upside down - again.

Conclusion

What a wonderful and great written book about love, life and what happens when it comes to between two young people. I had tears running down my cheeks when I closed it. I should have read it way sooner, but maybe the right time for me wasn´t before now. This book is too fantastic to be ignored for what reason ever! I highly recommend this!

Happy reading

Colleen Hoover

Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Slammed, This Girl, Point of Retreat, Hopeless, Losing Hope, Finding Cinderella, Maybe Someday, Ugly Love, Maybe Not, and Confess. She lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys.

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1/23/2016

Sycamore Row by John Grisham

I have to admit, that I haven’t read A Time To Kill, the first book of the Jake Brigance series, for whatever reason. But I´ve watched the movie some years ago. Okay, it´s not the same as to read a book, but in this case, it was better than not knowing anything at all. There are a few scenes where the author recalls some things that happened in the first book, Jake thinks about those things and their aftereffects which led to his financial situation and where he and his family now live. It´s not an ideal situation, but they´re alive – and that´s all that matters.

     

Sycamore Row

by John Grisham

Jake Brigance Series #2
Publisher Bantam on August 19, 2014
Genre Thriller
Pages 464
Format Paperback
Source Library

Goodreads

★★★★

Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County´s most notorious citizens, just three years earlier. The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?

Story

Jake Brigance, the most famous lawyer Ford County has, receives one morning a mysterious letter that contains the last will of one of the richest men in the county: Seth Hubbard. The old and sick man, who hanged himself only hours before, tells Jake what he wants him to do and how to do it. No money for his family, but almost everything inherits his housekeeper Lettie.

Style

In Sycamore Row the author shows how White and Black people live together in Dixieland during the eighties in the countryside or better said: try to. `Cause the blacks are still underprivileged and some things are just not meant to be happening for them. Inherit a huge amount of money is one of them.

Within days after the funeral, Jake finds himself in a case, where nothing else but money counts and where the children of the deceased start fighting an ugly battle to get what they think they deserve more than anybody else in the world: The millions from their father. John Grisham´s writing style is steady, he doesn´t need loud tones. A fine irony comes through the lines and the thriller seems to be told by an invisible narrator. There are a lot of scenes where I had to smile because of what Jake thought or said to someone. And judge Atlee is one heck of a fantastic judge. Though he sometimes makes decisions Jake doesn´t agree with.

Characters

Judge Atlee is one of those judges, who had a great career as a lawyer. Fine, he had something happen during his time as a lawyer and no one is good-advised if he reminds the judge of that, but other than that? No problem at all. He rules with an iron hand, says what he´ll allow in his court and what not and that he´s the only king in there. The scene with one of those many lawyers where he proofs exactly that was one hell of a great scene.

Jake is a man, who went through a lot. The Carl Lee Hailey case three years back has not only brought him fame but money problems as well. He uses in a nice and charming way his look to get what he wants from others but never in a bad way. So he does something, no one other would´ve probably done: He gives a young black woman a job and a chance to prove herself to the job. He has his principles; he wants to earn money and to be able to live a better life with his family than he does currently. But for as long as the trial continues, he has to measure carefully if his actions will put him in conflict with his work as a defender of Seth Hubbard´s legacy. And not every good meant advice is welcomed to him. Not even from judge Atlee itself.

Conclusion

Well, this was a wonderful book which I enjoyed very much. And I am sure, that I´ll read the first book of this series as well – as soon as I have the time for it. Until then I´ll recommend Sycamore Row for everyone who´s loving John Grisham or a good thriller at all.

Happy reading

John Grisham

John Grisham, born in 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, graduated from law school at Ole Miss in 1981. After practicing law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specialized in criminal defense and personal injury litigation, he was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1983, and served until 1990. A day at the DeSoto County courthouse, where he overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim inspired him to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl´s father had murdered her assailants. Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood Press, who gave it a modest 5.000 copy printing and published it in June 1988. It followed The Firm, which he sold the film rights to Paramount Picture and the book rights were bought by Doubleday. Spending 47 weeks on the New Times bestseller list, The Firm became the bestselling novel of 1991. With The Pelican Brief, which hit number one on the New Times bestseller list, and The Client, which debuted at number one, Grisham confirmed his reputation as the master of the legal thriller. There are currently over 300 million of his books in print worldwide; translated into 40 languages. Nine of his novels have been turned into films. 

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1/22/2016

Girl Online by Zoe Sugg

With Girl Online presents the author a beautifully written book. Zoe Sugg shows all the problems and defiance teenagers and young adults have to face in their daily life. In a refreshing and sometimes ironic and a bit sarcastic way, the protagonist Penny lets the reader be a part of her world. With a fresh and funny undertone, the reader can dive deep into the life, dreams, and hopes of a young girl. In a refreshing and sometimes ironic and a bit sarcastic way, the protagonist Penny lets the reader be a part of her world.

Girl Online*

by Zoe Sugg
Girl Online #1
Publisher Atria Keywords on November 25, 2014
Genre Children 12+
Pages 352
Format Hardcover
Source cbj

Goodreads

✶✶✶✶

I have this dream that, secretly, all teenage girls feel exactly like me. And maybe one day, when we realize that we all feel the same, we can all stop pretending we´re something we´re not. That would be awesome. But until that day, I´m going to keep it real on this blog and keep it unreal in “real” life.

Story

Penny lives a normal life. Well at least, for a teenager. All her thoughts, her feelings and how she sees the world she puts on her blog. And that goes very well until the moment when she falls in love for the first time and starts to blog about it. She doesn´t use any real names, but she has classmates who are jealous and envy her. And so one day Penny sees herself right in the middle of a huge shit storm and has no other choice but to close her blog. But the nightmare isn´t over yet …

Style

It feels like sitting with her in her room, and she tells you all that, that matters to her. A big part of all is her friend next door: Elliot. He is an incredible young man, who is unconditionally open, honest and his way of style is unique. He reminded me very much of Nolan from the Hit-Series Revenge. Elliot is a nice guy, but he can be very bitchy and aggressive if someone he loves isn´t treated right. He helps Penny to see things from another perspective and is always there for her. In fact, the Porter-Family is his real family – his family by heart.

But what I liked most about Girl Online is, that the story is not only a sweet girl thing but also full of rage, embarrassment, anger, hope and a lot of growing self-confidence.

Ok, I have to admit, that I´m no teenager anymore. But all the sorrows, fears, problems and worries of a teenager haven’t changed. Only the way how pictures, events, and news get out into the world that´s changed. Today Smartphones, the Internet, blogs, YouTube and Twitter rule the world – a world that can be as dangerous and frightening as the real world. Zoe Sugg writes with wonderful words, respect and dignity about a video that goes viral and how her protagonist deals with the consequences.

Characters

Penny is a beautiful girl, with hair every girl dreams of – except for Penny. Zoe Sugg lets her protagonist go through a lot of ups and downs but also shows that Penny can, no matter what happens, count on her family. What I found very impressive, Penny is not a flashy teenager. She likes to look behind things, to get to know what lies deep down. Okay, she isn´t perfect, needs sometimes a bit time to see how her schoolmates really are (I think here most of Megan and Ollie – both of them played a very mean and selfish game with Penny) but the moment, she gets the clue, the moment she starts trusting nobody but herself and her instincts, she reacts and gets the things straight.

The author shows all that and a lot more in very convincing characters, loving and caring parents, parents who refuse to accept who their son is and all that makes this novel great delight. But I also have to say, that you can´t expect here a novel that goes far beyond things. This book was obviously written only to entertain but not to make the reader very sad or unhappy, though you as a reader feel the emotions that flow inside of Penny.

Conclusion

Zoe Sugg shows with a great sense of humor, how complicated and fearful the life of teenagers can be; the great magic of Christmas and a lot more in wonderful characters, a well-written story and that nothing can compare with the love and loyalty of a caring family. Girl Online is a novel that could easily describe your own life. And it is very touching and very emotional.

Happy reading

*I read the German edition published by cbj on February 23, 2015

Zoe Sugg

Zoe Sugg is a vlogger from Brighton, UK. Her beauty, fashion and lifestyle vlogs have gained her millions of YouTube subscribers, with even more viewing the vlogs every month. She won the 2011 Cosmopolitan Blog Award for Best Established Beauty Blog and went on to win the Best Beauty Vlogger award the following year. Zoe has also twice received the Best British Vlogger award at the 2013 and 2014 Radio 1 Teen Awards and the 2014 and 2015 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice award for UK's Favorite Vlogger, and she was named Web Star for Fashion and Beauty at the 2014 Teen Choice Awards.

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