Murder at the Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani (Review)

Murder at the Christmas Emporium by Andreina Cordani

Blurb

It’s Christmas at The Emporium, a bespoke gift shop hidden in the depths of London’s winding streets featuring handcrafted delights unavailable anywhere else. Tinsel coils around the wooden beams, lights sparkle in the windows and the open fire crackles comfortingly. As closing time approaches after a busy trading day, only a few customers drift towards the exit – but they find they cannot leave. The doors are locked.

What initially seemed an innocent mix-up turns sinister as the shopkeepers seem strangely uninterested in lending assistance. The festive cheer has all but disappeared among a growing feeling of unease – and then a chilling discovery is made in Santa’s grotto.

For those that survive the night, it will be a Christmas to remember.

Review

This is my first book by Cordani and I chose it because I loved the cover and the title of the book. Thankfully I was not disappointed!

I loved this book because it gave me real Charlie and the Chocolate Factory vibes with Agatha Christie vibes. It was a weird concoction which worked brilliantly together and although it was set in modern day London, at times you could almost say it was set in Victorian times with a bit of Dickens Christmas thrown in as well.

Montagu Verity is definitely the Willy Wonka character in this book. He is a born and bred showman but he also has a sinister side to him which starts to emerge as the story goes on. He also knows a disturbing amount about his special guests.

This book has historical flashbacks which helps build up the story and connects all the modern events together. Each chapter builds on what has happened before and starts to create a rich tapestry of facts for the reader to try and unravel.

I really liked the mix of characters in this book and although I struggled with Merry’s character to begin with she definitely became a favourite. I also really liked Fran and Knives. The descriptions in this book were stunning and it really made me want to visit a Christmas Emporium. I could not put this book down and give it 5 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)

About the author

Andreina Cordani is a writer and journalist who writes fiction for adults and young adults.

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke (Review)

The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke

Blurb

Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees—and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.

One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst—and the path of her life is changed forever.

From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the Strange universe. Featuring an introduction by Susanna Clarke and gorgeous illustrations from Victoria Sawdon truly worthy of the magic of this story, this is a mesmerising, must-have addition to any fantasy reader’s bookshelf.

Review

I bought this short little book for my husband who is a huge fan of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell but I fancied a short wintery read so I picked it up at the beginning of December for a quick read.

I loved the illustrations in this book and for me the illustrations were the best thing because I just thought the story itself was really lacking. Sadly for me the book was just too short. I needed a bit more character development, I wanted to know more about the Merowdis and her sister. I definitely think this would have been better as a full novel.

My opinion of this book is that it is rather forgettable. To be honest if it wasn’t for the blurb I wouldn’t have remembered the main character’s name and I definitely can’t remember the sister’s name. The main thing I remember is the pet pig called Apple because how can you forget a pet pig called Apple?

The story felt like Clarke was aiming for a Grimm’s fairytale feeling but for me it just missed the mark. I was quite excited for this book but sadly it just was a bit beige. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Susanna Clarke (1959) is an English author who has published novels and short stories. Her debut novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and her set of short stories The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories are all set in a magical England.

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Diddly Squat: Home to Roost by Jeremy Clarkson (Review)

Diddly Squat: Home to Roost by Jeremy Clarkson

Blurb

It’s been another memorable year on Diddly Squat Farm – will the chickens finally come home to roost?

—-

Welcome back to Clarkson’s Farm.

So, that went well . . .

The spring barley crop failed.

Just like the oil seed rape.

And the durum wheat.

Then the oats turned the colour of a hearing aid and the mushrooms went mouldy.

Farming sheep, pigs and cows was hardly more lucrative. Jeremy would be better off trying to breed ostriches.

But in the face of uncooperative weather, the relentless realities of the agricultural economy, bureaucracy, a truculent local planning department and the world’s persistent refusal to recognise his ingenuity and genius, our hero’s not beaten yet. Not while the farm shop’s still doing a roaring trade in candles that smell like his knacker hammock, he isn’t.

On the face of it, the challenges of making a success of Diddly Squat are enough to have you weeping into your (Hawkstone) beer, but misery loves company and in girlfriend Lisa, Farm Manager Kaleb, Cheerful Charlie and Gerald his Head of Security Jeremy knows he’s got the best. And it’s hard for a chap to feel too gloomy about things when there’s a JCB telehandler, a crop-spraying hovercraft and a digger in the barn.

Because as a wise man* once said, ‘there’s no man alive who wouldn’t have fun with a digger . . .’

*Jeremy

Review

I do love the Diddly Squat books and TV series and have read all the previous books so I was very excited when this book came out. These books are always short and sweet and can easily be read in one sitting so I always find them the perfect breather from the chaos of the run up to Christmas.

This book had me laughing out loud whilst reading it. However, it was also really interesting and thoughtful. Clarkson really highlights the plight of farmers in England from the red tape they have to deal with to the changing climate, to how little money they make from their produce. He also highlights quite a bit about the plight of the average pub owner.

I really found that in this book Clarkson has realised that in farming he can’t please everyone and so has decided to make certain decisions and deal with the consequences. He can’t farm and be environmentally friendly to both the soil and the air so he has to decide which one to choose.

I know these books are just compiled from the newspaper column that Clarkson writes and is just another money spinner for him but I thoroughly enjoy them and find them excellent accompaniments to the TV series. I give this book a full 5 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born April 11, 1960) is an English broadcaster and writer who specialises in motoring.

He writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun, but is better known for his role on the BBC television programme Top Gear.

From a career as a local journalist in the north of England, he rose to public prominence as a presenter of the original format of Top Gear in 1988. Since the mid-1990s Clarkson has become a recognised public personality, regularly appearing on British television presenting his own shows and appearing as a guest on other shows. As well as motoring, Clarkson has produced programmes and books on subjects such as history and engineering. From 1998 to 2000 he also hosted his own chat show, Clarkson.

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir (Review)

Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir

Blurb

From one of Britain’s best selling historians, a sweeping and magisterial history of the extraordinary lives of five queens in England’s turbulent Age of Chivalry

Medieval queens were seen as mere dynastic trophies, yet many of the Plantagenet queens of the High Middle Ages dramatically broke away from the restrictions imposed on their sex, as Alison Weir shows in this gripping group biography of England’s fourteenth-century consorts.

Using personal letters and wonderfully vivid sources, Alison Weir evokes the lives of five remarkable Marguerite of France, Isabella of France, Philippa of Hainault, Anne of Bohemia and Isabella of Valois.

The turbulent, brutal Age of Chivalry witnessed the Black Death, the Peasants’ Revolt, the Hundred Years War against France and savage baronial wars against the monarchy in which these queens were passionately involved. Queens of the Age of Chivalry brilliantly recreates this truly dramatic period of history through the lives of five extraordinary women.

Review

Now I will be honest I have started with the third book of the England’s Medieval Queens series but this book is the book that contains the queens I know least about so I thought I would work my way backwards. I own the other books but still wanted to start with the third book because why be normal?

The Plantagenet period during the fourteenth century is a period I am not overly familiar with so I was really keen to learn more about Marguerite of France, Isabella of France, Philippa of Hainault, Anne of Bohemia and Isabella of Valois.

The thing I love about Weir’s books is that they never read like a stuffy history book. They read more like a novel even though they are packed with facts. I love how she includes financial details and gives you modern day values, she includes clothing details and even what they ate if the data still exists. I love how there are subtle little jokes and that I just want to keep reading because I want to know what happens next. What happens to these queens from history?

This book isn’t all about the queens because we also get a lot of detail about their spouses and this is because the only reason we know these poor women existed is because they came from royalty and married a king. An everyday woman of the period would never have been remembered and as it is we only know so much about these women because of their spouses. History sadly remembers men because history is recorded by men, so we only know what we know because these men from history decided to record what the wife did occasionally.

However, what is left behind has been meticulously researched and collected into this brilliant book by Alison Weir. She has also tried to make the book about the Queens, rather than their husbands and tried to keep the husbands to the bare minimum. I found this a brilliantly informative read where I have learned a great deal. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Alison Weir was born in 1951 and is a British writer of history books, and latterly historical novels, mostly in the form of biographies about British Royalty.

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths (Review)

The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths

Blurb

In the next Ruth Galloway mystery, a vision of the Virgin Mary foreshadows a string of cold-blooded murders, revealing a dark current of religious fanaticism in an old medieval town.

Known as England’s Nazareth, the medieval town of Little Walsingham is famous for religious apparitions. So when Ruth Galloway’s druid friend Cathbad sees a woman in a white dress and a dark blue cloak standing alone in the local cemetery one night, he takes her as a vision of the Virgin Mary. But then a woman wrapped in blue cloth is found dead the next day, and Ruth’s old friend Hilary, an Anglican priest, receives a series of hateful, threatening letters. Could these crimes be connected? When one of Hilary’s fellow female priests is murdered just before Little Walsingham’s annual Good Friday Passion Play, Ruth, Cathbad, and DCI Harry Nelson must team up to find the killer before he strikes again.

Review

I love a Dr Ruth Galloway book and have now only one left to read from the series. Thankfully, this book did not disappoint and as usual I could not put this book down.

I’ve always loved Tudor history and I have seen so many references to pilgrimages to Walsingham so it was really fun to read a modern day book set around this place which has always been such a special place. There wasn’t really the archaeological link that most of the books from the series have but Griffiths came up with a very clever reason for Ruth being involved in these murder investigations and of course helping Nelson.

The shrines to the Virgin Mary at Walsingham are not the ideal place for Ruth who is an atheist and really not comfortable with anything Christian based due to her upbringing but because of an old university friend Ruth ends up in Walsingham quite a lot.

Hilary is Ruth’s old friend and she is receiving some rather nasty letters because she is a female priest. Due to Ruth’s past working with the police, Hilary decides to ask Ruth for advice but the situation soon escalates from threatening letters when one of Hilary’s fellow female priests is murdered. I really liked Hilary and it was nice to meet one of Ruth’s friends from her past. I like it when we meet Ruth’s friends from her past because it is quite clear that Ruth is not great at keeping in contact with people but I also love seeing how surprised she is when these people have changed. It makes me wonder whether Ruth thinks that she hasn’t changed at all and so always feels surprised when she sees others have. Ruth obviously has changed because we see it happening through the series.

There was one big inaccuracy in the book which annoyed me slightly. Ruth and Hilary are at the shrines where the monks used to live and they are judging the monks because of all the oyster shells you can see in the garden. Considering Ruth is an archaeologist and Hilary is also a trained archaeologist surely they know that in the monks’ time oysters were a poor man’s food. Yes, there was a lot of money in the church and some monks did live rather well but you can’t judge them for living well and privileged lives on the basis of oyster shells.

I was pleased that my favourite Cathbad was in this book more as I missed him in the previous book. He is such a good character who always brings a smile to my face.

I flew through this book and give it a big 5 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway novels take for their inspiration Elly’s husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt who lives on the Norfolk coast and who filled her niece’s head with the myths and legends of that area. Elly has two children and lives near Brighton.

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty (Review)

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty

Blurb

Yvonne Carmichael has worked hard to achieve the life she always wanted: a high-flying career in genetics, a beautiful home, a good relationship with her husband and their two grown-up children.

Then one day she meets a stranger at the Houses of Parliament and, on impulse, begins a passionate affair with him – a decision that will put everything she values at risk.

At first she believes she can keep the relationship separate from the rest of her life, but she can’t control what happens next. All of her careful plans spiral into greater deceit and, eventually, a life-changing act of violence.

Apple Tree Yard is a psychological thriller about one woman’s adultery and an insightful examination of the values we live by and the choices we make, from an acclaimed writer at the height of her powers.

Review

This is another book that has been sat upstairs on an untouched bookshelf for about seven years. This was another book that I bought because of the all the hype at the time that surrounded it.

I will be honest this is probably the worst book I have read in 2024 so far as I just really did not get along with it. I nearly gave up with it several times but I persevered because as per usual I always try and give a book a second chance. However, the book was brilliantly written and very cleverly worked out. Doughty really knew how to feed the reader just enough information to keep them hooked to the story and I enjoyed her writing style.

My biggest problem with this book was that I just could not stand the main character. Yvonne is a successful and very intelligent woman with a successful career as a scientist but I found her extremely dumb at times and very frustrating. There were so many times I wanted her to grow a spine and actually do something especially in her home life and with her husband. I also found her very gullible and quite frankly unbelievable.

I found the scenes in the courtroom fascinating and very well researched. As someone who has done jury duty I really appreciated the detail that was included in these scenes. It was obvious what was going to happen but still really good to read about.

I found this book so frustrating because it was well researched and cleverly written but the main character was just too implausible for me to believe in. I give this book 2 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Louise Doughty is the author of ten novels, most recently A Bird in Winter, published by Faber & Faber UK Ltd in August of last year. Her previous books include Platform Seven, filmed for ITVX and broadcast on 7th December 2023; Black Water, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; the bestseller Apple Tree Yard, adapted for BBC One; and Whatever You Love, nominated for the Costa Novel Award and the Women’s Prize for fiction. She has been nominated for many other prizes including the Sunday Times Short Story Prize and the CWA Silver Dagger, along with creating and writing the hit BBC drama Crossfire. Her work has been translated into thirty languages.

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

A Place Like Home by Rosamunde Pilcher (Review)

A Place Like Home by Rosamunde Pilcher

Blurb

A Place Like Home is a spellbinding collection of short stories by internationally bestselling author Rosamunde Pilcher, never before published in book form. The collection contains fifteen stories, which range from “Our Holiday”, in which a wife surprises her husband of twenty-five years with a holiday full of Mediterranean sunshine, red rocks and blue seas in an effort to rekindle the romance they had before children; “Through the Eyes of Love”, which takes the reader to a village by the sea where old flames meet again; and “A Place Like Home”, where a lonely young woman goes to recuperate in the Scottish countryside after a brief illness. The fruit orchards and fresh sea air offer much needed respite–but not as much as the handsome, mysterious farmer she meets.

Each unforgettable story is the perfect slice of romance written with warmth and passion featuring wonderfully memorable, smart, and feisty female characters that will transport the reader to another time and place.

Review

People who have been following my blog for some time know that one of my favourite authors is Pilcher. I absolutely adore her full length novels but I do struggle with some of her short stories. I find Pilcher’s strength as an author was in the epic novel where she had the freedom to create such powerful female characters that were strong and in control of their own futures.

This set of fifteen short stories has been sat on my kindle since last year as it was a holiday read that I never got around to reading. These stories all focus around marriage and courtship and quite a few strong female characters. Each story is beautifully written and has Pilcher’s wonderful charm about it but I did find them all rather similar and could guarantee what the ending would be of each story after finishing the third story.

Whilst there isn’t anything very remarkable about this book of short stories the stories were all enjoyable and a nice read and of course beautifully written. I did find myself wanting to know more about several of the characters and would have loved a full length novel instead of a short story. This was the case for the stories that had the romantic couple as the main characters of the story. The stories which had the romantic interests as side characters were much better suited to the short story format.

This was an enjoyable read and one that was perfectly suited for reading when you have a short space of time but it really lacked the special something that I expect from Pilcher. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Rosamunde Pilcher was born on the 22nd September 1924 in Cornwall. She began writing when she was 7 and published her first short story at the age of 15. From 1943 to 1946 she served with the Women’s Royal Naval Service. In 1946 she married her Graham Hope Pilcher and they moved to Dundee, Scotland together. In 1949 Pilcher’s first novel was published under the pseudonym Jane Fraser, she went on to publish a further ten novels under that name. In 1955 she published her first novel under her own name, by 1965 she had dropped the pseudonym entirely. Pilcher retired from writing in 2000, two years later she received her OBE.

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Review)

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Blurb

Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.

Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.

Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…

Review

I have recently been going through some bookshelves in our house that have basically been neglected since we moved into the house seven years ago. Due to this I have discovered a load of books that I had forgotten about and this is one of them. I can’t believe I waited so long because once I started this book I could not put it down.

There were so many twists and turns in this book which really kept me on my toes. This book just kept surprising me and I loved it. I had a few suspicions about who the guilty party was. Some of my early thoughts were way out but I slowly started to work out who it was. The first thing that hooked me in was the prologue to the book. It really set the scene and made me want to know what it all meant. So of course I had to keep reading.

The other element I loved about this book was how it was written. The story is mainly told from Rachel’s point of view but we also have the point of view of other important characters as well and it really added an extra element to the story and threw in a few red herrings. The book is written as diary entries and in Rachel’s case she has a morning and evening entry to go with her train commute.

Rachel is such a tragic character who just needs someone to love her again and care for her. She desperately needs to find meaning and purpose in her life again but she can’t find the way so when she sees something from the train she finds a way to be part of something again and starts to find meaning in life again but the process is not pretty. I felt desperately sorry for Rachel but at times she really did frustrate me. I just really wanted her to succeed and become a better version of herself. Due to Rachel’s problems she doesn’t always remember things very well which adds to the story because the reader is left wondering what actually happened in those blank moments.

I can’t quite believe this is Hawkins’ first thriller novel because it is so accomplished and beautifully written that I would have thought she was a well established thriller writer. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and give it 5 out of 5 Dragons and I can’t wait to read another book by Hawkins.

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Paula Hawkins (1972) is a British author best known for her book The Girl on the Train.

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (Review)

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Blurb

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

Review

I am very late to the party with Fourth Wing but I won’t be making that mistake with the Iron Flame and and the rest of the books from the series. This is definitely one of my favourite reads of 2024. I’m always wary about books that get a lot of social media attention as I’m usually very disappointed in them but thankfully this was not the case with Fourth Wing.

There was never a dull moment with this book and it was full of twists and turns. I also loved the pacing of the book. However, the best thing about this book has got to be that it has dragons in it!

The story resolves around Violet who is the daughter of a formidable general and a scribe. Violet was meant to be a scribe, it was what she had spent years of her life preparing for but then her mother has other ideas and makes her daughter join the Riders Quadrant. Even though it could mean the death of Violet.

During the book we see Violet take on each challenge that a rider faces and the challenges are brutal. It is possibly the scariest school imaginable! The challenges Violet faces aren’t just ones set by the Riders Quadrant, she also faces challenges of fellow cadets trying to kill her and to top it all her body is fragile and can easily be hurt.

I loved how strong Violet was, she never looked too far ahead but faced every challenge or danger head on. She was also a fierce friend to those loyal to her and I loved to see her friendships develop and people to see that she wasn’t weak or a liability but strong and clever. I also loved the humour that came through and the joking around between friends.

Obviously my favourite characters were the dragons and Tairn was just brilliant. I also have a soft spot for Andarna and can’t wait to see what happens with Andarna in the next book. I absolutely loved this book and give it 5 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and coffee addict. She is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels, including Fourth Wing, The Last Letter and The Things We Leave Unfinished. She’s also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward. Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for over twenty years. A mother of six, she is currently surviving the teenage years with all four of her hockey-playing sons.

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Babylon’s Ashes by James S. A. Corey (Review)

Babylon’s Ashes by James S. A. Corey

Blurb

A revolution brewing for generations has begun in fire. It will end in blood.

The Free Navy – a violent group of Belters in black-market military ships – has crippled the Earth and begun a campaign of piracy and violence among the outer planets. The colony ships heading for the thousand new worlds on the far side of the alien ring gates are easy prey, and no single navy remains strong enough to protect them.

James Holden and his crew know the strengths and weaknesses of this new force better than anyone. Outnumbered and outgunned, the embattled remnants of the old political powers call on the Rocinante for a desperate mission to reach Medina Station at the heart of the gate network.

But the new alliances are as flawed as the old, and the struggle for power has only just begun. As the chaos grows, an alien mystery deepens. Pirate fleets, mutiny and betrayal may be the least of the Rocinante’s problems. And in the uncanny spaces past the ring gates, the choices of a few damaged and desperate people may determine the fate of more than just humanity.

Review

Every time I read the next book in The Expanse series I think it can’t be beaten but yet again I am proven wrong. This book was fantastic and I could not put it down. It was also way better than the corresponding season of the TV show which after reading the book is a massive let down.

The main thing that I absolutely love about this series is that each book is told from several characters’ points of view. You get to see the story from several perspectives and learn about the characters. However, in previous books you have about 4 or 5 perspectives; this book had loads. Yes, we have the usual main characters such as Holden but we get to hear from even minor characters and it works beautifully. Some only have one chapter but it adds so much to the story.

There were quite a few emotional moments in this book for me and in particular one death really upset me as I always liked that character. There was also a really moving moment with Avasarala in this book which made me quite sad but it was so nice to see a different side to this usually super hard character. I found the growing relationships in the book really moving especially the family bonds that grew on the Rocinante.

This book was packed with action and really did not stop moving but at the same time it showed so much of the human struggle for survival. Earth is dying, people are dying on all sides and there is so much fear about what the future holds. The characters are all so real as well even though the setting is pure science fiction.

Amos has always been my favourite character and I was pleased he was on usual fine form in this book. However, my other favourite character in this book was Bobbie. Bobbie was wonderful in the hot seat of the Rocinante and she is definitely a part of the crew and family. I also loved Bobbie’s humour and how she interacted with Amos and Naomi.

This is definitely my favourite book of the series so far and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

James S. A. Corey is the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, George R. R. Martin’s assistant. They both live Albuquerque, New Mexico.