Book Review / Homecoming by Kate Morton

 

The highly anticipated new novel from the New York Times and #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author of The Clockmaker’s Daughter, a sweeping saga that begins with a shocking crime that echoes across continents and generations.

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959

At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek in the grounds of a grand country house, a local man makes a terrible discovery. Police are called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most baffling murder investigations in the history of South Australia.

Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, she now finds herself unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and is seriously ill in hospital.

At Nora’s house, Jess discovers a true crime book chronicling a long-buried police case: the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. It is only when Jess skims through its pages that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this notorious event—a murder mystery that has never been satisfactorily resolved.

An epic story that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love, how we protect the lies we tell, and what it means to come home. Above all, it is an intricate and spellbinding novel from one of the finest writers working today.

Published:  4th April 2023  

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster

Goodreads : Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  I can't tell you how excited I get each and every time this author comes out with a new book.  I already adore the writing and adore the style of historical fiction.  This time around the story is split between 1959 and 'present day'.  In the past we follow the story of the discovering of a horrific murder scene and watch this unfold.  In the future we follow Jessica as she investigates what has gone on in the past.  This story just beautifully unfolded and weaved together.  I just could not put this down and at 537 pages, yes I did read this is on one entire reading filled day!

Would I recommend?  100%  If you are a fan of historical fiction fully of secrets and intrigue, this is a novel not to be missed.  In fact, you MUST pick up each and every book this author has released so far!

Book Review / Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

 

The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible — a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.

Published:  14th January 2025

Publisher:   MacMillan / FlatIron

Goodreads : Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  Oh this book was good, really good!  I'm a massive thriller reader and I've read a lot over my reading life, so a book has to be at a top tier level to be able to surprise me.  I've not read anything from this author yet so I decided to go into this blind and read this via audiobook (Audible).  Right from the beginning, I was intrigued.  I needed to know what happened to Abby but then Grady travels away from home to process his grief over his missing wife to concentrate on his writing but all is not as it seems.  There were quite a few occassions in this book where I thought the story was going in one direction, but ended up in completely the other direction.  Adored everything about this book, including the ending.  

Would I recommend?  Absolutely, but I would recommend going into this blind (unless you've already read this review - sorry... maybe give it a while so you forget about it first...) with no expectations.  

Book Review / What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella

“What Does It Feel Like? is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story.”—Sophie Kinsella

Eve is a successful novelist who wakes up one day in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. Her husband, never far from her side, explains that she has had an operation to remove the large, malignant tumor growing in her brain.

As Eve learns to walk, talk, and write again—and as she wrestles with her diagnosis, and how and when to explain it to her beloved children—she begins to recall what’s most important to her: long walks with her husband’s hand clasped firmly around her own, family game nights, and always buying that dress when she sees it.

Recounted in brief anecdotes, each one is an attempt to answer the type of impossible questions recognizable to anyone navigating the labyrinth of grief. This short, extraordinary novel is a celebration of life, shot through with warmth and humor—it will both break your heart and put it back together again.

“Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”—Sophie Kinsella

Published:  8th October 2024

Publisher:  Dial Press

Goodreads : Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...   This book was so much fun and heartbreaking, at the same time, to read.  I always hope that every book I pick up from this author has the same feeling to it, and it did.  This time this has a hint of seriousness to it with Eve struggling with her memory and the issues that she has to deal with, but along with that the fact that this book was more autobiographical than her other works.  

Would I recommend?  For fans of Sophie Kinsella, this is a must read.  For others who have not yet experienced this author's writing, this is a must read along with her other novels (although, personally and honestly, I wasn't a big fan of the Shopaholic series).  

Book Review / Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey

 

In his first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, #1 bestselling author John Grisham and Centurion Ministries Founder Jim McCloskey share ten harrowing true stories of wrongful convictions. Impeccably researched and grippingly told, Framed offers an inside look at the injustice faced by the victims of the United States criminal justice system.

A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty there is very little room to prove doubt. Framed shares ten true stories of men who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, wives, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place, and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and the corrupt court system that can make them so hard to reverse.

Told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed is the story of overcoming adversity when the battle already seems lost, and the deck is stacked against you.

Published:  15th October 2024 

Publisher:   Doubleday

Goodreads :  Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this book ...    This book was such an eye opener for me.  Living in England, I don't tend to hear a lot about stories like this in the news despite the fact that it probably does happen here also.  There are some truly heartbreaking stories in this book that I just couldn't believe even though its true.  What made this book even more interesting was the fact that you had two different perspectives, both authors.  One from the side of an author who used to practice law and one from the founder of an organisation that is dedicated to the vindication of the wrongly convicted.   

Would I recommend?  Absolutely.  This is such an important read even for those who live outside of the US.  

Series Review / The Empyrean (Fourth Wing) Series (Books 1, 2 and 3) by Rebecca Yarros

 

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders...

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die

Published:  Book 1 (2nd May 2023), Book 2 (7th November 2023) and Book 3 (21st January 2025 

Publisher:  Red Tower Books / Platkus

Goodreads :  Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Books 1, 2 and 3, The Empyrean

Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story so far ..  I adore this series so far!  It may be better to list here what I didn't like about this story because it wouldn't be a long list.  The writing was easy to read and follow.  The story was addicting, for me, right from the first page.  There are characters that I both like and dislike (sometimes both for the same character).  If I had to pick one thing that I liked the most about this series so far it would have to be the history of the world and certain characters.  I am not going to spoil it for those who either haven't started the series or have not read all of the books yet but there are certain characters where its obvious that there's a lot more history to be discovered.  That's not mentioning the world they are living in which I feel like there's so much more we don't know about yet.  I can't wait for the next book, but I fear I may be in for a bit of wait....

Would I recommend?  Absolutely!  Not too complicated and so much fun to read.  Book 3 read a lot slower than the first two books but feels to me to be more of a book in the series that is laying down the ground work for the next books.