Throwback Thursday – Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan

Throwback Thursday is a meme created by Renee at It’s Book Talk to share old favorite books rather than just the new shiny ones. This is a great idea to bring back to life some much-loved books. Please feel free to join in.

My choice for this week is: 

 

Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan

Published February 5, 2015 by Piatkus

 

Goodreads Description:

Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes.

Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public’s attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.

As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent’s nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most.

Where is Ben? The clock is ticking…

 

 

My Thoughts:

This book is also under the title “What She Knew”

Rachel Jenner and her eight-year-old son, Ben and their dog are taking a walk through Bristol Park. This is something they often do together. Ben asks if he can go ahead a bit on his own, Rachel says yes and off he goes. After a short time, Rachel calls for Ben and he doesn’t answer. As she searches for him she starts to panic, in only moments her worst fear, any parents worst fear has happened….

Ben has vanished.

I thought that the author did a fantastic job of portraying how differently people could react in this situation. Emotional and gripping I couldn’t stop reading.

I wanted to know what happened to Ben.

In my opinion, this was an amazing debut psychological thriller. I would definitely recommend this novel. I am hoping to read more from this author soon.

 

 

 

REVIEW: Vox by Christina Dalcher

 

Published: August 21, 2018 by Berkley

 

As soon as I read the description for this novel, I knew it was a book I HAD to read.

I’m often running to Google for one thing or another when I’m reading a thought-provoking book. But this time, I was Googling things before I even had the novel in hand. The first thing I had to know was how many words the average person speaks in a day. Google told me:

The average woman speaks 20,000 words a day. The average man speaks 7,000 words a day.

WOW!

Imagine that you are only allowed to speak 100 words in a day…

In VOX people in the United States are given a 100 word per day limit. But NOT everyone is given this limit….just the female population. They wear a counter on their wrist to keep track of how many words they speak. If they go over the 100 word limit…they pay a painful price. What happens if people try to communicate in other ways such as writing things down or using sign language? Well, let’s just say it’s not something they want to find out.

Words shouted out in passion, in anger, in a child’s nightmare – IT ALL COUNTS!!

They are kept a prisoner in their own country. Some people fled to places like Canada, Mexico in the beginning, but now there’s no escaping.

Dr. Jean McClellan is/was a cognitive linguist but now…

“I’ve become a woman of few words”

Jean’s husband, Patrick reminds her with a tap on her counter that she only has a few words left for the day. The counter will reset at midnight. Her husband and sons have to remember to ask close-ended questions to Jean and her daughter, six-year-old, Sonia. Her sons are eleven and they have seen what happens if more words are spoken. There are times where she’s irrationally angry at her husband and sons.

“I don’t hate them. I tell myself I don’t hate them. But sometimes I do”

When Jean attended university her friend, Jackie tried to warn them. She told them to think about words like ‘spousal permission’ and ‘paternal consent.’ Think about waking up one morning and finding you don’t have a voice in anything.”

But now THEY need Jean’s help, her expertise. At first, she tells them she won’t help them, but then they make her another offer….one she doesn’t know if she can refuse.

Will Jean help those who are responsible for the position she’s in? The position ALL women and girls are in?

I FLEW through this novel. Although it made me incredibly angry at times, I was hooked. Some things I would find over the top one minute and terrifyingly possible the next.

A fascinating storyline with well-developed characters and an ending that I didn’t see coming.

In my opinion, “Vox” is a thought-provoking, excellent read.

I’d like to thank Berkley Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

 

 

Goodreads Monday – August 27, 2018

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren’s Page Turners . To take part, simply choose a random book from your TBR and show it off.  Be sure to check out Lauren’s blog too!!

Today the book I’m going to show off is :

 

The Waiting Room by Emily Bleeker

Published August 21, 2018 by Lake Union Publishing

 

Goodreads Description:

Ever since her husband’s death collided with the birth of her daughter, postpartum depression has taken hold of Veronica Shelton. She can’t sleep, can’t work, and can’t bear to touch her beautiful baby girl. Her emotional state is whispering lies in Veronica’s ear: You’re a bad mother. Your baby would be better off without you. But not everything can be reasoned away by Veronica’s despair. Can it? After all, the break-in at her house happened. The disturbing sketches she found in her studio are real. So is the fear for her daughter’s safety—especially when Veronica comes home to a cold, silent nursery and a missing baby.

As she turns from victim into primary suspect, Veronica realizes that only she can find her daughter. Authorities aren’t helping. They’re only watching. Veronica’s concerned mother has suddenly vanished from her life. And a new friend seems to be keeping secrets from her too. Now, reality is waiting for Veronica in a dark place—because someone’s mind games have only just begun.

 

My Thoughts:

Books about missing people always catch my attention. This will be my first read from this author and I’m really looking forward to it.

“a gripping novel about a mother, her missing daughter, and the dark secrets that engulf them”

As soon as I read that, I knew this was a book I would have to read. It was just released last week and I really hope to get my hands on it soon.

If you’ve read this one already, I would love to hear what you thought of it.

 

Have a great week everyone!

Happy reading!

 

REVIEW -The Cast by Amy Blumenfeld

Published August 14th, 2018 by SparkPress

When Becca was just a teenager and struggling with health issues, her good friends banded together and made her a video recording to lift her spirits.  It was ninety minutes long. A take on Saturday Night Live they called it “Becca Night Live”. It did cheer her up and it’s one of the reasons her family still owns a VCR to this day.

The cast consisted of Jordana, Seth, Holly, and Lex. All these years later the tape is still being played…mostly by Becca’s seven-year-old daughter, Emma. She can’t get enough of it.

Now twenty-five years later Becca and her friends are going to reunite in honor of Becca’s 25 years of good health.

Becca is really excited about the trip. However, a phone call she receives a few days before they are scheduled to leave changes everything. She has some tough decisions to make. Her husband, Nolan who should be making things easier on her, is actually making things much worse.

Jordana has put a lot of effort into hosting the “Cast Party” reunion on the Fourth of July. So if the guest of honor doesn’t show …she’ll be devastated.

Becca doesn’t know it but her friends are also having troubles of their own.  Will the reunion be over before it’s even begun?

This was an interesting novel that I read in just a couple of sittings. The story is told from multiple points of view. We get to see how each of the other cast members/friends have grown and what their current struggles are. Though the novel deals with a lot of emotional issues, there were also some funny parts that helped lighten things up.

I enjoy stories that deal with lifelong friendships. It was interesting seeing how these characters and their relationships changed and developed over twenty-five years. There were a couple of characters that I wish I’d heard more from, but overall, I thought that the characters were well-developed and their stories relatable.

“The Cast” was an engaging read about friendship, marriage, illness, and many of life’s other challenges.

I’d like to thank SparkPress for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.