Cinderella Sister by Dilly Court

Title: Cinderella Sister

Author: Dilly Court

Released: September 2011

Lily Larkin is the youngest of six and the least important member of her family. With their father dead and their mother a stranger to them, she must stay at home and keep house whilst her elder siblings go out to work. As she goes about her daily chores, her head is full of dreams. And she longs for the day she can have a life of her own.

When a fire threatens to destroy the nearby docks, Lily's act of kindness towards a handsome foreigner has disastrous consequences for the whole family. For shortly afterwards they are thrown out of their home and have no choice but to move into two mean rooms above the fire station where Lily's brothers work. Here the family struggles to make ends meet. But just when things might be looking up for them all, Lily makes a terrible error of judgement. In anger her eldest brother turns her from the door. Forced onto the streets, Lily wonders if she'll ever see her family again...

Rating: 3 Stars

Positives: At first this seemed like a really good story and I was intrigued to see how Armand's arrival would affect the Larkin family. I also found myself wondering just how big a lapse of judgement Lily would have for her brothers to throw her out of the house. I continued to follow the story quite happily falling particularly in love with the characters of Lily and Prissy who we just know as a country girl. For some reason the common way she spoke reminded me of a Yorkshire girl, and that's how I'll continue to envisage Prissy. Its also nice because whilst the Larkins aren't a rich family they seem to expect certain standards of living, and they themselves don't approve of the upper classes or toffs. Their disdain for Lily only increases when she starts mixing with her mother who clings to the fringes of "better society". And yet the Larkins seem to treat Prissy as a servant of theirs when she first arrives with Lily. 

Negatives: To me there was suddenly too much happening in the last couple of chapters. With only four chapters left in the book Molly is eloping to France and there's so much drama with Armand and his father. It all felt a bit rushed, and it also felt like characters were being paired off with each other in the end just to try and give everyone a happy ending. I don't see Christian the horrible reporter who hates the Larkin family really being happy with Lily's mother. Everything just seemed too circumstancial. It was a shame because this book had such promise at the start and everything just petered out for a predictable ending. 

Would I recommend this book? I would, but not if you want something that will really challenge or stimulate you. A light Sunday poolside read seems to fit this book more. 

A Gathering Storm by Rachel Hore

Title: A Gathering Storm

Author: Rachel Hore

Released: September 2011

Photographer Lucy Cardwell has recently lost her troubled father, Tom. While sifting through his papers, she finds he'd been researching an uncle she never knew he'd had. Intrigued, she visits her father's childhood home, the once beautiful Carlyon Manor. She meets an old woman named Beatrice who has an extraordinary story to tell ...Growing up in the 1930s, Beatrice plays with the children of Carlyon Manor - especially pretty, blonde Angelina Wincanton, Lucy's grandmother. Then, one summer at the age of fifteen, she falls in love with a young visitor to the town: Rafe Ashton, whom she rescues from a storm-tossed sea. But the dark clouds of war are gathering, and Beatrice, Rafe, and the Wincantons will all be swept up in the cataclysm of events that follow. Beatrice's story is a powerful tale of courage and betrayal, spanning from Cornwall to London, and Occupied France, in which friendship and love are tested, and the ramifications reach down the generations. And, as Lucy listens to the tales of the past, she learns a secret that will change everything she has ever known...

Rating: 4 Stars

Positives: I found myself instantly enthralled with Beatrice's story and even though I knew she and Rafe ended up together I found myself right on the edge of my seat throughout the book. She shows exactly how hard some of the decisions were that people made during the war, and she has an amazing strength to her. It seemed that nothing would stop Beatrice from doing what she felt was right. The other characters were perfectly well written too, inclduing the horrible Angelina, who I must say somewhat reminds me of my younger sister both in looks and nature. Of course there were going to be casualties throughout the book as it's set during one of the most devastating wars we have ever known, but nothing had quite prepared me for the sadness I felt at Guy's death. I'm not ashamed to say I shed a tear then, as well as one when Beatrice returned from France and was unable to see her son Tommy. 

Negatives: The big twist? Yeah it's really not that big. From the moment Beatrice tells us she had a son, it is obvious what the twist is going to be, especially given Hetty's remarks in the prologue. The fact that even whilst telling the story to Lucy, Beatrice never mentions her sons name, not until she returns from France, only further shows what this big twist is. Plus we had the warnings from Peter Wincanton himself about how toxic his family is. 

Would I recommend this book? Yes I would. I enjoyed A Gathering Storm very much, even if parts of the story were somewhat predicatable. 

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré

Title: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Author: John Le Carré

Released: June 1974

George Smiley, who is a troubled man of infinite compassion, is also a single-mindedly ruthless adversary as a spy. The scene which he enters is a Cold War landscape of moles and lamplighters, scalp-hunters and pavement artists, where men are turned, burned or bought for stock. Smiley's mission is to catch a Moscow Centre mole burrowed thirty years deep into the Circus itself.

Rating: 4 Stars

Positives: Despite my original thoughts I really enjoyed this book once I got into it. I found myself being drawn into the world of the Circus and the politics that rage around us.

Le Carré has created some amazing characters each of whom have their own strengths, and I found my favourites had to be Jim Prideaux and Peter Guillam. I was intrigued to find out not only who the Russian mole was, but also what had happened to Jim back in Czechoslovakia. 

I wasn't disappointed in the slightest when the truth came out, and the mole's identity was revealed. I had heard that with the film it's obvious who the mole was, but I'm glad to say where the book is concerned I was kept guessing. And my original assumption was wrong as well!

Negatives: My only problem was that the book got off to a bit of a slow start to me, and I would sometimes lose myself with the flashbacks. This meant I would often have to re-read whole chapters just to understand what was happening. However this can be overcome with perserverance. 

Would I recommend this book? Yes I would. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I'm a little upset that I've finished it now. 

A Discovery Of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Title: A Discovery Of Witches

Author: Deborah Harkness

Released: September 2011

A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it.

When historian Diana Bishop opens an alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, a vampire genticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are crossing. As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...

Rating: 5 Stars

Positives: Well where can I begin? The sheer level of detail in this book is absolutely amazing, so much so I've actually had dreams based around the characters and the events of the books. From the chilling Peter Knox to Diana Bishop herself each and every character is so well thought out, and there are certainly some tear jerker moments. The worst part for me I think was in chapter 37 when something happens to Matthew, no I'm not going to spoil it for you, and I sat there crying my eyes out. Deborah Harkness has created an amazing spellbinding world, and she's spent a lot of time doing her research. I was a little worried when I picked up this book that it would be nothing more than some fluffy teenage romance, and whilst there are a few elements of that, the book itself provides so much more. I was constantly sat on the edge of my seat, wanting to read the next chapter. For someone who only allows myself a couple of chapters a day this was definitely a struggle. I'd say this book is a good set up for the rest of the trilogy, and I really can't wait to read the rest. 

Negatives: If anything I would only criticise the first chapter. After I'd read it I was certain I'd be able to put the book down and not feel the need to pick it up again, apart from the fact that I owe you all a review!!! 

Would I recommend this book? Yes, yes, yes. I loved this book and it's fast become one of my favourites. I love everything about it and I only hope that the rest of the trilogy proves to be as good. Well why are you still reading? Go out and buy a copy now. 

Snowdrops by A. D. Miller

Title: Snowdrops

Author: A. D. Miller

Released: September 2011

Snowdrops. That's what the Russians call them - the bodies that float up into the light in the thaw. Drunks, most of them, and homeless people who just give up and lie down into the whiteness, and murder victims hidden in the drifts by their killers. Nick has a confession. When he worked as a high-flying British lawyer in Moscow, he was seduced by Masha, an enigmatic woman who led him through her city: the electric nightclubs and intimate dachas, the human kindnesses and state-wide corruption. Yet as Nick fell for Masha, he found that he fell away from himself; he knew that she was dangerous, but life in Russia was addictive, and it was too easy to bury secrets - and corpses - in the winter snows...

Rating: 2 Stars

Positives: The only positive that I really found with this story was that the story finally picked up about three or four chapters from the end. 

Negatives: Where do I start? Firstly from the blurb of the book it sounded like a really interesting read but I really really struggled to get into this book. Even when I was seventy percent of the way in I was struggling to read, let alone enjoy this book. It was obvious from the start that Masha and Katya will be no good for Nick, it was only the lengths of their deception that was unknown. The book appeared to have no storyline to it, and I was quite frankly bored. 

Would I recommend this book? No I wouldn't. To be honest, in my opinion this book was a complete waste of my money. 

The Ugly Sister by Jane Fallon

Title: The Ugly Sister

Author: Jane Fallon

Released: September 2011

When it comes to genes life's a lottery . . .

As Abi would the first to know. She has spent her life in the shadow of her stunningly beautiful, glamorous older sister Cleo.

Headhunted as model when she was sixteen, Cleo has been all but lost to Abi for the last twenty years, with only a fleeting visit or brief email to connect them. So when Abi is invited to spend the summer in Cleo's large London home with her sister's perfect family, she can't bring herself to say no. Despite serious misgivings. Maybe Cleo is finally as keen as Abi to regain the closeness they shared in their youth?

But Abi is in for a shock. Soon she is left caring for her two young, bored and very spoilt nieces and handsome, unhappy brother-in-law - while Cleo plainly has other things on her mind. As Abi moves into her sister's life, a cuckoo in the nest, she wrestles with uncomfortable feelings.

Could having beauty, wealth and fame lead to more unhappiness than not having them? Who in the family really is the ugly sister?

Rating: 3 Stars

Positives: After a fashion I was able to get into this book, and I grew to love the characters of Abi and Jon as well as the kids Tara and Megan. There is still something so sweet and innocent about the children in the way that they blurt out how Abi has only been invited over because the nanny's left, not because her company is wanted. And Fallon has perfectly portrayed Cleo, the older sister who has grown up in the limelight and who is nothing but a mega bitch who is always used to getting her own way where everything is concerned. Plus the ambiguous ending as to whether or not Abi manages to change her career and life is perfect. In that one small part Fallon has slowly pulled away from the generic storyline that has been seen again and again. 

Negatives: Firstly the storyline is very generic. How many stories are there out on the market at the moment where the main character falls for someone else's husband, a husband who is unhappy in his own relationship, and who returns her feelings? That's right, there's way too many. Secondly I found with the first chapters I could do no more than skim read them as the chapters kept cutting from the present day to when Abi and Cleo were both growing up. However this mistake in writing was rectified later on when the chapters became focused merely on the present day. 

Would I recommend this book? If you're looking for a read that's not too challenging and is just something for a silly Sunday then this is a good book. However if you want something gripping then this isn't the book for you.