BOOK CLUB #2 THE BEST SUMMER READS

Hello and welcome to my long overdue second book club post, you can see the first one here from almost a whole bloody year ago... OOPS!
What can I say I'm a slow reader and an even slower reviewer, but alas here we have four absolutely cracking books that are totally perfect for your summer holiday or for lounging in your back garden during this rather spectacular heat wave.
These photos were shot in the idyllic Italian cluster of towns of Cinque Terre somewhere I'd urge you all to visit, it is a truly stunning place and the perfect destination to get stuck into a good read this summer.
So grab a cuppa, get Amazon at the ready and enjoy these mini reviews of books I've LOVED reading this summer but mainly whilst on holiday in the Maldives lets face it.

SWEET LITTLE LIES BY CAZ FREAR

First up we have Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear, Frear's debut novel and one I absolutely LOVED reading! It had me hooked from the off with the back and forth through time and the fabulously realistic characters. I feel that Frear has a great knack for bringing a character to life; each character within the book was totally believable and I truly found myself as a part of the plot.

So now for a little background about the book which I hope will have you clicking "Add To Basket" in no time at all.

The main character Cat Kinsella is a police detective investigating a case of a dead woman Alice, whose body is found extremely close to the pub that Cat's dad owns. Cat is a self confessed daddy's girl but there relationship has been somewhat difficult for many years as Cat believes that he had something to do with the disappearance of Cat's friend Maryanne back in 1998. When a connection is found between the victim Alice and Cat's friend Maryanne, Cat is determined to get to the bottom of both cases.

The story goes back and forth between the past and the present, something I personally LOVE in a book and is narrated from Cat’s perspective throughout. It's a really great and thrilling novel that had me hooked from the off. Some people believe the plot is a little slow but personally I thought it was perfect. Something to get stuck into on your summer holiday for sure!

BEHIND HER EYES BY SARAH PINBOROUGH

Next we have Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough and a book that was probably one of my most favourites in a really long time! This book had me on tenterhooks throughout and left me with my mouth WIDE OPEN with one of the most unexpected endings I have ever read!

A bit of an interesting one about relationships, mental health and a HECK LOAD OF SECRETS but honestly, I don't think I've ever read a book so quickly, I simply could not put it down with it's truly gripping plot, delicious story telling and the constant "where the heck is this going" thoughts racing through my head; one thing is for sure, this book is anything but predictable.

As many reviews state it's pretty tricky to give an overview of this book without giving the entire plot away so please do trust me on this, pick it up and give it a go. Behind Her Eyes is a character driven psychological thriller, a triple narrative which you know I absolutely LOVE in a book based around the characters Louise, David and Adele and how their lives collide.

Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson

Her Every Fear is the second book by Peter Swanson that I have read and I must say it let me down a little bit. The first book I read by Swanson was "The Kind Worth Killing" a book that I proclaimed to be the best book I had ever read, albeit this was a few years ago now and my second dabble into Swanson's work wasn't quite what I expected.
What I will say is that it certainly had me hooked, I was desperate to know what had happened to the main character Kate and what might happen to her cousin Corbin. Although this book took some time to get through and despite usually being of the mindset that life is too short to force yourself to read a book, I persisted as I desperately wanted to finish, which can only really be a good thing right?

Once again with a double narrative between both Kate and Corbin the story tells how Kate and her second cousin Corbin (whom she hadn't met before) were swapping apartments for 6 months, Kate would move into Corbin's apartment in Boston and Corbin to Kate's flat in London. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? Oh you know, just a serial killer looking for revenge, a peeping Tom/stalker and a creepy white cat named Saunders...

It was a little repetitive in parts and really rather slow indeed, unlike Swanson's previous thriller, this didn't have any "OH MY GOSH!" moments or anything that left me open mouthed, however, it was a book that I had to read in the daytime only as it was a little creepy in parts as for the most part it was based in someones home during the night time, so make of that what you will.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

And finally we have what appears to be the most hyped book of the year, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, hyped it was but rightly so!
This book plucked at my heart strings, it made me laugh, it made me cry and it really made me think about how society treats those who are a little "different"

Honeyman's portrayal of a lonely somewhat kooky character, Eleanor Oliphant was truly beautiful, leaving me full of love for the unusual character.

Eleanor Oliphant leads a lonely life, with no real friends, a job where she is undervalued and mocked, yet she is happy in her day-to-day routine. Routine is key with Eleanor, a phone call with her "mummy" at the same time every week; mummy is an extremely unlikeable character and I found myself tearing up as we learnt more of what had happened throughout Eleanors life and the awful things her mother says to her.
We don't really learn why Eleanor is the way she is, lonely, kooky and desperate for the love of a man until the end, but as she makes friends with the seemingly odd yet totally loveable character Raymond she begins to finally live her life and learn what it feels like to have real human connections.

It truly is a heartbreaking novel that gives the reader a true understanding of what it is like to be lonely.

An absolute emotional rollercoaster but one of the best books I have ever, ever read and I urge each and every one of you to read it and then tell your friends about it!

And there we have the books I have read so far this year (plus the odd poetry book, here's looking at you Charli Cox) Each and every one of them totally worth picking up for any holidays you have coming up as I truly enjoyed reading all of them! I'll hopefully be back soon with another book club post as we are having a floor to ceiling bookcase built in our dining room in the next few weeks, which has been a life long dream of mine I must say, so I'm going to need to get purchasing some more books to read and to fill that bad boy!

Please leave any book reccomendations you may have in the comments below as I'd LOVE to hear from you what I should read next, and do let me know if you've read any of the books I've mentioned and whether you enjoyed them as much as I did. And finally, if you want some more reads, check out my last book club post here and shop my outfits below.

x M