Tuesday 28 August 2012

The Hoodie and the Humpback

2/5
by
Faye Meredith

Amazon.UK
Amazon.com

This was the most strangest book I think I've ever read! The prologue opened like a children's book, but the main story was most definitely adult.

The main character Tanya was a troubled teen who drank, smoked, swore and stole without a care in the world. Society owed her (or so she thought) and I didn't like her. She was the dregs that society wanted to forget--but then something profound happened to make her question her existence and I began to like her.

This book is very gritty, and sometimes disturbing. I thought the dialogue was a little stilted at times and there were minor typos, which stuck out a bit too much for me to be able to ignore.

Blurb:

People cross the road when they see Tanya coming. A fact she's immensely proud of; being feared is essential for survival on her London estate. But when her friend Lena gets picked to join a gang and she doesn't, Tanya's life changes. She wanders home in the early hours, nursing the world's worst hangover and sees the bizarre sight of a whale swimming up the Thames. Apart from dangerous dogs on studded leads, Tanya's never seen a wild animal before. She gets obssessed with the whale and blags her way onto the muddy bank where it's stuck. Before long she's volunteering to drench it in buckets of water. Meanwhile, Lena's new lifestyle puts her in terrible danger and Tanya has to decide whether to save the whale or her friend.

Monday 20 August 2012

Ecelectic: Ten Very Different Tales


3/5
By
Jonathan Hill

Amazon.com
Amazon.UK

Like it says on the tin (or book cover) ten very different tales. Some of them were a twist in the tale, others were just fragments of a character’s life.

I didn’t read every story because not every story could hold my attention. I found the lengthy paragraphs unwelcoming on the eye, but one tale really had me giggling: The Ornithologist. It wasn’t a horror tale, but one of observance. Its dry humour appealed to me, and made me understand that Jonathan Hill is clearly an author who has a strong sense of how the human psyche works.

I could imagine him writing a chilling thriller in the near future!



Blurb

ECLECTIC: Ten Very Different Tales

From humour to horror, drama to pathos, this book of short stories will move and surprise you.

Starting with a relationship spanning an entire lifetime in just several pages and ending with a boy's struggles both at home and school, via stories including a woman's disastrous brush with modern art, a teenager's deadly obsession with video games, a man's ghostly encounter and even a humorous poem, this five-star book of eclectic tales has something for everyone.

Enjoy the variety!