JANUARY BOOK REVIEWS

I have told myself in 2018 I want to find time to read more books, and I’d like to share those books with you lovely people. 

Today I am going to share 3 books I have recently read, please do let me know what you think. 

The couple next door : by Shari Lapena 

Synopsis: Anne and Marco are new parents to their baby daughter, Cora. One night Anne and Marco head over to their next door neighbours for dinner and drinks, however, Cora isn’t welcome. Marco assures Anne that Cora will be fine, and decide to check on her regularly. Anne and Marco head home late that evening, to discover that Cora is missing. 

They checked on her every 30 minutes, how could she be missing, surely they would have heard something, who would take a little baby? 

These questions are faced regularly throughout the book, when detective Racbach gets involved and tries to piece together what has happened, the relationship dynamics and who is to blame, but most importantly, where is Cora and is she still alive? 

I liked this book, however, written at most points in third person is something I have definitely struggled with, this gave a distant feel to the characters, in comparison to other psychological thrillers written from solely a first person perspective. Nevertheless, this book explores post-natal depression and the effects this can play, its queried whether this is the answer for Cora’s unexplained disappearance. 

Throughout the book and building upon the characters it becomes clear dirty secrets can be hidden behind closed doors, and what is presented in front of us, is not always as it seems. 

It isn’t the first time I have read a psychological thriller, I usually have a love for them, as they can be so dark and gripping, drawing you in and giving you this unsure sense of what will happen at the end. There was elements of this book that i was surprised by, however, I found the ending to be rushed and in some ways expectable. 

I liked the concept of revealing someone dark secrets, and how they usually remain hidden, it makes you question this topic in every day life, and how far people are pushed may depend on what they will become capable of. Despite this, It has not been my favourite book, but nonetheless I definitely enjoyed it. 

Small Great things: by Jodie Picoult

Synopsis: Ruth Jefferson is a labour and delivery nurse at Connecticut hospital, where she has worked for the past 20 years in this role. Ruth has wealth of experience and knowledge and deemed one of the best by her colleagues. Ruth comes on shift one day to perform routine check ups post delivery on a baby boy whose parents are white supremacists. Ruth is African American, and the parents of the little boy request that Ruth no longer cares for their baby son. 

The little boy is taken for a routine circumcision, however, after procedure the labour suite becomes highly busy and understaffed, Ruth is asked to watch over the baby boy, whilst another staff member goes to a c-section. Ruth knows this is not right, but thinks everything will be fine, until the little boy goes into cardiac arrest. What does Ruth do, does she comply with orders not to touch the little boy, or intervene?

I absolutely loved this book, I have to say I am not surprised in the slightest. Jodie Picoult has to be my favourite author, I have read all of the other books she has written, and loved them, and small great things was no different. 

Jodie is able to take raw, and often controversial topics and allow them to become  the basis of her books and this one is absolutely no different. 

Small great things explores prejudice, race and justice, it is done in the most wonderful and raw way. You feel the characters pain they are experiencing for different reasons and it makes you evaluate your own preconceptions you may unconsciously hold. 

I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to happen to each character, but I began asking myself the question of why did I want that. 

I think what makes this another fantastic book of hers is that their is so much knowledge and research that has gone into understanding the history of race, and this is built up around each character and the relationships they hold with others. I was able to put myself in the shoes of each main character and almost physically feel the pain they would have been experiencing, and therefore in my opinion this is down to the work of an incredibly talented author. 

I would highly recommend this book, at times it was truly heartbreaking to read, yet an ultimate page turner, I had to continue reading. 

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine : by Gail Honeyman

Synopsis: Eleanor Oliphant has learnt to survive, not live. She lives the same routine week after week, she eats the same food, wears the same clothes, buys the same 2 bottles of vodka and has the same scheduled weekly chat with mummy. Eleanor Oliphant, lives in a world of isolation where she struggles to engage socially with peers and hides behind a wall which protects her from her darkest secrets. One act of kindness encourages Eleanor to re-evaulate her life, and breakdown the barriers she has so strongly built around her. Can this change be good for Eleanor? 

This book is utterly fantastic, I could not put it down, and read it in the space of 4 days, each page I turned I would say to myself “I will stop here and continue reading tomorrow” Yet I couldn't, I had to know what was going to happen. Gail Honeyman creates a beautiful and quirky character in Eleanor, you feel true pain from her current difficulties and the harrowing experiences of her past. You will laugh and cry. This book made me feel so many different emotions, and I couldn’t work out what was going to happen to Eleanor, or what her secrets may be. The ending totally shocked me, and I thought it covered some truly difficult topics in such a sensitive and beautiful way. 

This book has to be my current favourite out of these and my favourite book in a very long time, I usually wouldn’t ever read a book twice, yet this is a massive exception to the rule. 

I hope you have enjoyed reading these little reviews, have you read any of these books? If so what are your thoughts?

If you have any book recommendations you think I should read please let me know, I need to fill my reading list.