Weekly Book Round Up #48

I've really gotten into this series from J.K. Rowling. This is the second book written as Robert Galbraith, that follows the detective Cormoran Strike. This time, he's investigating the disappearance of an author, who made plenty of enemies both before and after writing his scandalous novel, Bombyx Mori. The novel was sent to his editor as a draft who accidentally forwarded it on to a publishing company, even though it contained characters closely resembling those close to the author in a less than appealing light. Once Cormoran discovers the body of the author, the race is on to catch a brutal and calculated killer. This book had me gripped from beginning to finish, and I'm absolutely loving how the series is developing. I can't wait for more!

Nicola's rating: 4/5

I think this book slightly suffered from me reading Cormoran Strike right before. It's a new series from Elizabeth Haynes, following DCI Louisa Smith as she tries to uncover the twisted link between a murder of a young woman, and a suicide. I'd not read anything by this author before, but I felt that the book was very rushed in places, and not really laid out very well. There were also initially a lot of characters which I found hard to keep track of. Perhaps under other circumstances I might have enjoyed it more, but it felt flat after reading The Silkworm.

Nicola's rating: 2.5/5

Weekly Book Round Up #9

 

I finally got around to giving J.K. Rowlings first non-Harry Potter book a whirl this week. I was surprised at how depressing this book is. I expected that it would more adult, but I was really quite shocked at how bleak it is in places. The book is centred around the village of Pagford, and the ongoing debates among the council. It follows a lot of characters, and at first I found it quite confusing trying to keep up with who was who. However, after a while I managed to keep up with the characters and I was actually really impressed with the seamless way J.K. Rowling managed to transfer the reader from one individuals story to another. I did find that the majority of the characters were horrible. There were really only one or two overall that I felt any kind of sympathy towards. I'm still quite interested to read the novel she wrote under a pseudonym, I just hope its not quite as depressing as this!

Nicola's rating: 3/5

 

 

 

Kate Emerson is an author that I'm always excited to hear about. Her 'Secrets of the Tudor Court' series follows the lives of lesser known individuals that were living on the outskirts of the court. She combines historical research with fiction to create interesting and unique stories. This one follows the life of Audrey Malte, a girl who was brought up by the kings tailor, and was possibly a child born out of wedlock to Henry VIII. I always find these kinds of stories intriguing, as I'm really interested in Tudor history. I do find that Kate Emerson's writing can sometimes be a bit hit and miss, and her female characters can be a bit drippy at times, but this was still an enjoyable read.

 

 

Nicola's rating: 3/5

 

 

And that's all for this week! I've started reading Game of Thrones which is massive. No doubt there will be a review for that next week.

 

Thanks for reading :) xxx