#YouDunnit | Book Review (NO SPOILERS)

Title: #YouDunnit
Author(s): Nicci French, Tim Weaver & Alastair Gunn
Originally Published: October 2013
Page Count: 107 pages
Genre: Crime / Thriller

#YouDunnit is an interesting experiment with crime fiction. Penguin teamed up with Specsavers and twitter followers to come up with an interesting idea. They asked three crime writers to write their own short story based on plot devices thought up by twitter. Whilst the concept was basic and fairly ludicrous, the authors seemingly made it work.

There are three different short stories, but each revolves around followers of a particular twitter account getting murdered.

WHAT BOOKS TO TAKE ON HOLIDAY!

Hey guys, Rob here.

So I know I've completely missed my opportunity to be helpful to any of you readers out there going away for the summer because summer is kind of over. Gutted! Everyone has been on holiday and now is the time to go back to school / uni / work / life and get on with things. So instead of this post being what books you should take on holiday with you, I'll be showing what books I plan to read on my holiday because SUMMER ISN'T OVER FOR ME... just yet.

On Sunday I head to Salou, Spain for a week with 11 uni friends. To say I'm excited is an understatement, and I'm sure those who have been lucky enough to holiday abroad know of such excitement. I intend to spend many days by the pool / sea / cocktails, reading. So here are the books I plan to take away with me and read whilst I'm there.

Updates & the #CatchUpReadathon.

Hi everyone, welcome back. 

Today I thought I'd give a little update on my blog before I go and bombard you with posts that haven't been properly explained.

FORGIVE ME, LEONARD PEACOCK by Matthew Quick (SPOILER FREE)

Something about a one-legged pigeon.

Hey roberrrrto-reviews readers, whoever you may be. Today I thought I'd post something a little bit different. 

Being a review blog, it's natural that my blog is just filled with reviews on the latest books I've been reading. But to be honest, this is straying from my original intentions with this blog. While I love reviewing and will continue to do so, this blog will definitely be changing (hopefully for the better) - I've had an identity crisis here. While my youtube is a collection of whatever I feel like making, here I've been quite basic and rigid. Today sees a change, today I talk about my weekend. You can pass this by and read another review, but this is just one of the few changes I'd like to make here. I'd like to do more reviews on film, do more blog posts on what I've been up to, on where I've been, on whatever I want to really. I initially started out writing about my university life (posts can be seen here), and I'd like to add-on to those posts as I embark on my final year of university (scary!)

Anyway, today's blog post is one in a couple of posts in which I talk about my weekend away in Northumberland and Scotland. This particular anecdote is in regards to a pigeon-obsessed man, an unattended bag and arriving in Alnmouth. 

I arrived on Friday, after three trains, four hours and some panic in the train station about unattended bags. Yes, I was that idiot. You hear the announcements in train stations about bags being removed due to them having been unattended for a while, and while it is probably just a forgetful person, some of us do over-react. It's like the train station is saying, "be afraid, be very afraid!" 

But yes, whilst I awaited for a connecting train from Manchester Piccadilly to York, I had a sit down, ate a sandwich (kind-of, I'm known for never being able to finish them - boring fact -), and marvelled at the man sat next to me. You see, the pigeon on the floor had been stood, observing my eating habits, hoping for food and attention. As it stood, it decided to stand on one leg, maybe the other fell asleep? Maybe the pigeon's like me - whilst volunteering at a charity shop, and when bored, I tend to hold one leg, I don't know why, when we have no customers and I'm not using the till, I get a bit bored and obviously, slightly strange- anyway, the pigeon was stood on one leg. The man next to me, pointed to it, gave a laugh and giggled with his wife. However, this was not enough. I could see the desire within the man's inability to sit still that laughing was not enough. He wanted to see this other leg. It's almost as if he wanted it to be one-legged. Which isn't uncommon, I've seen quite a few pigeons with one leg, it's a sad sight. But maybe this guy wasn't from Manchester and needed proof that it did have one leg. He stood up slowly, made his way around to the back of the pigeon. I could almost hear the pigeon thinking, "God, not again", as he lunged forward to pick it up. 

Well, I have never jumped so much in my life as the pigeon flapped its wings and flew at me. The man knelt on one knee laughing. I have a slight phobia of pigeons, especially when they flap their wings. So, after being bewildered and traumatised by the pigeon, and copying its flailing movements, I went for my train. (I may or may not have been having heart palpitations at this point). 

The platform was busy and full of people waiting to get on the train, naturally. I was a bit nervous about getting my seat. I'm one of those who loves train journeys,that is, I love train journeys when you're comfortably in a seat you know is yours and have your book out, but until I'm at that point I'm nervous. You have to fish out your ticket, your seat reservation, panic at the undoubtable situation in which you have to tell a stranger they're in your seat (slight human interaction), and then dump your things in the storage above you, whilst others are trying to push past you to get to a free seat and push their pram down the aisle. It's hectic and I don't do well with those situations, especially alone. I am quite tragic.

But as I stood there watching a woman lift her suitcase onto the train, I had a moment of confusion. Why did that suitcase make me feel so panicky, oh yes, my brain clicked... you had a bag with you. Shit, shit, shit. I ran back to the pigeon-hotspot, only to find a policeman rummaging through my belongings. Oops. After explaining, slowly edging away to the platform in a state of apology and marvelling at his hat, I got on the train, found my seat on a table with a family of three, and was on my way. Phew!

Isn't it weird how nosy we can be? I mean, I don't mean to be rude, but when sat on a train and your book is most unfulfilling (I was reading Never Coming Back), one can't help but listen in to conversations. I didn't hear anything important or interesting, but I find it interesting that we can hear a fragment of someone's life, we're all colliding at one point, bound to never consciously meet again. From the impression I got, the grandfather wasn't as close to his son-in-law as he'd like to be, he'd probably insisted on the journey to be with his grandson, who was obsessed with trains and was impressively able to name every train that went past us. He had a magazine on the topic that the pair were eyeing intensely. The father seemed like a bit of a distant dad - not that i'm judging, just observing - he made calls to work, and also spoke about things to the grandfather in which he said he didn't know were happening because he just "goes to work". It seems quite sad, but nice that they were off somewhere together. I probably grinned and unnerved them. 

Anyway, I made my connection in York to Alnmouth, and after half-an-hour of being stood up, I found an empty seat and was told by a six-year-old boy that it seemed I'd been swallowing stones. Lovely. Actually, him, his mum and the girl next to me were all really nice, and it's quite a nice feeling sitting with strangers, maybe having a chat and learning about their life a bit, all before you disembark, go your separate ways, again to probably never speak again. I find it fascinating, and I'm glad there are still people sociable enough to have a talk with a stranger, just so the world seems like a slightly smaller and happier place. And whilst I can be socially awkward, just as long as they don't try to charm pigeons, I'm incredibly happy to chat back. 

NEVER COMING BACK by Tim Weaver (SPOILER FREE)

Title: Never Coming Back (David Raker #4)

Author: Tim Weaver

Genre: Crime / Thriller
Originally Published: 2013

Page Count: 533 pages

Published by: Penguin

Date Read: 21st July - 30th July 2014

Never Coming Back is the fourth instalment of Tim Weaver's thrillers that use missing persons investigator, David Raker, as the protagonist. In this, my first, and Raker's fourth outing, we see Raker return to his family home in the south of England, recovering after the events of (what I assume was) the third book, 'Vanished'. Whilst there a body washes upon the shore, while at the same time an old flame visits him and asks him to investigate the disappearance of her sister, Carrie, and her family. 

This the basic gist of what sparks the rest of the novel. There are a series of flashbacks from Raker's past but mainly from other people as well, which I assume is just to keep the reader interested and so we're not just following Raker trying to piece things together whilst pissing everyone off in the process. The novel was confusing to start with, we start with Raker in 2007, and then we're in the shoes of former-Cop, Healy. It was confusing switching back and forth between the pair, who were both as annoying as one another. 

By the end of part one, we're essentially following just Raker with the occasional flashback to other characters in Las Vegas. The characters in the novel range from the stereotypical mob-boss with bird-like mannerisms (he reminded me a bit of Norman Bates, or Billy Drago in The Untouchables), to the equally stereotypical villagers, where Raker lives. The whole novel seems to focus on the enigma of one of these 'gangster-type' men, Cornell, whose stern seemingly follows everyone. 

I must admit this took a slightly different path from what I expected, I thought it was going to match that of Linwood Barclay's No Time For Goodbye, but it didn't. It became some political crime novel, which I really enjoyed.

The characters were frustrating, all the male characters are arsey with one another and can't seem to listen to each other. The dynamic between Healy and Raker was annoying, and as a first time reader with this series, I question Healy's relevance to the novel. I put in my review on goodreads: 

 "Read this if you like characters who are so arsey with other people it's a wonder people bother with them, several incredulous plot twists, and very descriptive writing."

The writing was clumsy at times with its phrasing, but what novel isn't nowadays? It was annoying that the most redundant things were being described to us. 

The strength of the novel comes with its mystery, it wasn't exactly original but it held my attention and kept me coming back for more. I just wish it strayed from the stereotypes, and had tried to keep its 'plot twists' down. I can't quite count how many chapter endings I could hear the 'Eastenders' credits sequence in my head. Despite this, the mystery was engaging, the writing was brilliant, and whilst I couldn't really care for Raker, I'll be checking out some more of his adventures soon. 4 stars.

THE EDGE OF REASON by Helen Fielding

Title: The Edge of Reason (Bridget Jones #2)

Author: Helen Fielding 

Genre: Chick Lit / Humour
Originally Published: 1999

Page Count:424 pages
Published by: Pan Books

Date Read: 10th July - 14th July 2014

This sequel carries on right where the previous one left us. Another year; another diary. Again it follows Bridget's life, her career, her love life, her mishaps, and for the most part it is funny, but I couldn't help feel the whole novel was redundant. 

The novel is kind of an exact replica of the first one. The events that happen to Bridget in life don't seem to be very 'life-changing' even though a lot of them certainly would be. I don't understand. She begins the novel happy because *slight spoiler from book one* she has a boyfriend. Wow. Well done, Bridget. But as soon as life loses its equilibrium of romance, Bridget is of course desperately trying to live life as a singleton, which naturally, for her, is the worst thing in the world. The only character I really love is Shazza, she's hilarious and tells Bridget when she's being pathetic. 

The novel does have its really funny moments. There's a part in which she gets to interview Colin Firth (a bit ironic, haha), and I just found it hilarious and relatable. I would probably act the same way if I had to interview, say, any of these men:

WOW! Isn't that a work of art? 

Now I may be looking at this too critically but one thing that really frustrated me about these two books in the series is Fielding’s characterisation of her gay characters. If we look at the gay people in the novel, they are either: sexually deficient and therefore shag anything that moves and whore themselves out there, incredibly pretentious and stuck up, or some form of older sexual piranha whose prey is the younger generation. I realise that Fielding exaggerates stereotypes throughout the novel for comic relief, but I just hope these stereotyped characteristics stay in the nineties, and with her 2013 sequel, Mad About The Boy, we find some level of maturity and character growth when it comes to Bridget’s perception and the author’s writing.

I find it rather of low wit to rely on exaggerated stereotypes for cheap laughs and it did kind of annoy me that it was that in which the author relies to make comedy. Of course Bridget's tribulations were sometimes hilarious themselves, which really made the novel great in the end. 

I seem fairly negative about this book, but how can I stay negative when there's that beautiful picture up there. Just stare at it. It's nice.
Anyway, I ended up rating this a 3 stars. It's decent, but I don't think I'll carry on with Bridget. I hope she finds some happiness and isn't a depressed single again, clinging to some form of respectability by having a boyfriend. Note to anyone reading this, as Jude says, being single is good. Amen. But damn, those men up there.

LET'S DO THIS! | Booktube-a-Thon 2014

Hey guys, 

So I've been fairly quiet about my participation in the Booktube-a-thon (I've been keeping it a secret, shhhh - I haven't. I'm trying to be funny. I failed).

The booktube-a-thon and everything you need to know will be linked here.

With the booktube-a-thon come challenges, and I'm attempting most of them. 
(With the exception of the challenge in which you are to start & finish a series. I instead (from Dani at PerformingBookFelf's recommendation) decided to start one series and finish a different series. Slightly cheating but, who cares? It's all for fun!

Here's the tbr in a cute little video, enjoy!

If you're taking part in the readathon, let me know which book you're most excited to read!

BOY21 by Matthew Quick | Book Review (SPOILER FREE)

Title: Boy21

Author: Matthew Quick

Genre: Contemporary / YA
Originally Published: 2012

Page Count: 277 pages

Published by: Headline

Date Read: 10th July 2014

*Note: Book sent by publisher through Bookbridgr for review. All thoughts & feelings 100% genuine*

Boy21 is a multi-layered Young Adult contemporary novel, in which we follow the protagonist, Finley, a high school basketball player. Finley's life is a combination of looking after his 'Pop', sitting on his roof with his girlfriend, Erin, and basketball. When his Coach one day asks him to reach out to new student, Russ, as a favour, Finley's life gains a shadow and a friend who continues to go by the name 'Boy21' and believes he is from outer space and has a mission to complete. As the two boys develop a friendship in their town of gangs and racial divides, it becomes clear that their friendship is beneficial for both, as they both hide a past that they are refusing to confront. 

While the synopsis may sound a tiny bit ridiculous when I put it like that, the novel was infact quite breathtaking. I've never read any of Matthew Quick's work and I'll tell you straight away that I will be picking another of his novels up as soon as possible! It's so short and wonderful that I read it in an afternoon. 

There's more than just that synopsis I put together, there's the wonderful characters. (Note-to-self: Stop saying wonderful). Anyway, Finley is wonderful a breath of fresh air as a protagonist. He's a very quiet individual, but one who is always present and never judging. His growth in the novel is outstanding and you can't help but sympathise with him. Russ, or Boy21, was fantastic also. He was so imaginative and caring, there was definitely a sense of connection with the two boys. And finally an ode to Erin, for she was hilarious. Her interactions and mannerisms were so beautiful, you couldn't help but want to be best friends with her. 

The plot itself is intriguing. It can become clear that basketball was the centre of this novel, and that sport gave each boy a drive in their life when they needed it. In reality, however, its their friendship that drives this novel. The time they spend together, unjudging of one another, and discovering each other is what drives this novel and it was great that, although the love interest plays a big part of this novel, friendship was the glue that held together this YA novel, something which I feel is forgotten about with some of my recent YA reads. 

If you get a chance, pick this book up, it's much more powerful and warm (can a book be warm? I'm saying it can) than I first thought and I'm so grateful that Bookbridgr gave me an opportunity to read it. Definitely check it out. ★★★★☆ (4.5)

THE SILKWORM by Robert Galbraith (SPOILER FREE)

Title: The Silkworm
Author: Robert Galbraith (pseudonym for J.K. Rowling)
Genre: Crime / Thriller
Originally Published: 2014
Page Count: 455
Published by: Sphere

Date Read: 1st July - 4th July 2014

I was incredibly dubious going into this series initially. JK Rowling has filled my childhood with so many fantastic and beautiful stories that I hold incredibly dear to my heart. I don't want to sound clichéd, but she did. Last year I read 'The Cuckoo's Calling' after discovering with the world that Robert Galbraith didn't write it, Joanne Rowling wrote it under a pseudonym. I really enjoyed 'The Cuckoo's Calling', but 'The Silkworm' was something else.

I had no idea on the plot when picking this up, it was an instant-buy, I wanted it, I needed it. I bought the hardback and started reading. Without going into too much detail the novel takes place after the first book, in the winter of 2010, when the wife of famous writer Owen Quaine hires Cormoran Strike (our hero from book one) to find her husband as he's disappeared. The novel subsequently takes a sinister turn and everyone's a suspect due to Quaine's unpublished manuscript for his new book being incredibly critical and rude about the people around him. 

The prose of this book was beautiful. Rowling (or Galbraith - I'll stick with Rowling) has this beautiful way of describing the simplest of things. While she uses some clumsy and rather pedantic descriptions of things, her writing on the setting paints such a beautiful picture. Rowling almost romanticises London, her descriptions are what a reader craves. I already have a romanticised view of the hustle and bustle of the big smoke, and Rowling, not shying away from describing London's grittier side, continues to entice me to England's capital. 

Her characters grow enormously within this book. Not literally of course. Strike and Robin's relationship, especially, continues to blossom. I adore their relationship, it's maybe a cliché but they work so well together and the continued dynamic with Matthew, Robin's fiancé, makes things a lot more interesting. Robin is as likeable as ever, but she'll never surpass Strike. Strike has such a history that we haven't scratched the surface of, from his failed relationships and further back to his army days. I assume there's a lot more characters from his past who will crop up in future installments.

The mystery itself was fascinating. Set within the publishing world, any reader is enthused. The only thing I really have negative to say is that the mystery is never really outstanding or innovative, it's again, like its predecessor, rather clichéd with the tropes of all crime fiction added. The use of the mcguffin to drive the plot was excellent and did hold my attention. 

As far as solving it goes, I don't know whether it's a bad thing that her novels are rather predictable. The writing and relationships are so fantastic that you don't really mind that you've put the pieces together. Tension is still sustained and there's always that doubt in your mind that maybe you are wrong and you've missed something. 

Whatever Cormoran and Robin get up to next, to use a clichéd phrase, I'll be there with bells on. Fantastic novel. 5 stars. 

WIDE AWAKE by David Levithan (SPOILER FREE)

WE WERE LIARS | Book Review

Title: We Were Liars
Author: E. Lockhart
Originally Published: 2014
Published by: Hot Key Books
Page Count: 225

"We are the Liars.
We are beautiful, privileged and live a life of carefree luxury.
We are cracked and broken.

A story of love and romance.

A tale of tragedy.

Which are lies?
Which is truth?" 

(Source: Goodreads)

It's no lie that this book is huge right now. It has seen growth through the great marketing campaign by Hot Key Books, who have really utilised the power of social media. The #LiarsLiveRead gained trending status on twitter, and there have been countless reviews by booktubers and book bloggers alike. But what is the book actually about?

Like everyone, I feel it would be an injustice to the book to give you any direction of where it's going. All that I will say is that its genre lies within the contemporary side, with tropes of mystery thrown in there for good measure. 

The book is filled with lies. And instead of telling you any of them, I'll note vaguely what I liked/disliked, so you can get a sense of what I thought and whether this is the book for you.

Liked: 

1. The characters, while some are temperamental and incredibly confusing, each person was more than the one dimension they appeared to be in the beginning.
2. The setting was a great choice. 
3. The writing style was fragmented and genius. 

Disliked:

1. I felt the family and setting were not described well enough, it relied way too heavily on the map and family tree at the beginning.
2. The love interest - you knew it'd be in here, it does work well as it fits the nature of the characters but I just can't stand YA romances.

I can be quite critical of YA but this was one of the best YA books I've read. Give it a read this summer, I'm sure Hollywood will get the rights to it. Personally, i'd love it to be made into a small independent film, it would blend perfectly. 


4.5 stars.

BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY | Book Review

Title: Bridget Jones's Diary (Bridget Jones #1)
Author: Helen Fielding
Originally Published: 1996
Published by: Picador
Page Count: 336 pages

I think we all know the story of Bridget Jones by now, but if not, the novel is essentially the thoughts of Bridget, a 30-something singleton, desperate to quit smoking, lose weight and gain a boyfriend. It's all very simple.

The format of the book, obviously, is a diary. The novel is divided into months and each month has a collection of entries throughout that month. The entries can be at times monotonous and contrived. Bridget is so desperate for one man, Daniel (her boss), to take notice of her that many consecutive entries are simply: why hasn't he emailed me back? why doesn't he notice me? why won't he flirt with me? where is he? - One side of me was screaming inside: Get Over It! Why are you so desperate? You don't need a man! But to be fair, Bridget is a pretty good depiction of a lot of people. I have, and I'm sure most people have, spent minutes, hours, days, weeks (maybe - hopefully not), pining over someone to get back to them, to take notice of them. It may be pathetic but sometimes, that's life.

With that aspect of life does come some startling realisation that they're not worth it and your friends have been right this entire time. Which brings me to the characters. Bridget, aside from being desperately single, is incredibly funny. She talks about 'fuckwittage' and things being 'v.g.', she is actually quite interesting to study at times, as I'm sure she is real in many shades of each of us. She messes up, climbs up fireman's poles instead of sliding down them, she's infectious. Her friends are brilliant, albeit stereotyped and one-dimensional at times. Her gay best friend, Tom, epitomises the gay lifestyle that has so been characterised on television. In a way it's insulting but in a way it's also truthful and provides comic relief and sound advice. Bridget's other friends are hilarious, having terrible boyfriends or husbands, and succumbing to the new fad in self-identity and spirituality. They're people you know and people you can laugh and relate with. 
Bridget's mum was a personal favourite, probably showing the main reason Bridget is v. desperate. Her mum's overbearingness is tragic yet relatable (AGAIN!) - I'm sure this is an autobiography and not fiction. The lead male characters of Daniel and Mark are pretty boring. Daniel's a chauvinist, which is good because the novel made me hate him. Mark Darcy is a bit boring and isn't as likeable as one would think. 

I've rambled far too much. Often like Bridget. Her diary extracts do become very narrative-like, with whole conversations put in with speech marks and everything. It's definitely not a realistic diary, but to be fair, I don't think it'd be half as interesting if some conversations weren't transcribed. 

In the end I did enjoy this, it was at times stupid and monotonous but the initial opening became very funny and [trying to find a word that isn't 'relatable']... relevant (?). I don't know. I enjoyed it mostly, but the ending was predictable and boring. I may read the sequel if I need some easy reading. 3.5 stars.

ALLEGIANT | Book Review

Title: Allegiant (Divergent #3)
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: YA / Dystopian
Published by: HarperCollins Children's
Originally Published: 2013
Page Count: 526 pages

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

(Source: Goodreads)

First of all, I don't want to spoil anything really and didn't want to publish the real blurb here incase anyone stumbles upon this review and finds out plot points to the first and second book, so I'll keep it simple.

The writing of this book was one that we've come to expect and enjoy with Roth. Her writing is effortless and just keeps you turning the page as she has definitely found her writing style. The characters in the book become slightly more developed, especially in regards to Four. We finally get Four's perspective in the book, allowing entry into his thought processes, and into how he sees the conflict going on around him. He does at times come across as petty, which I feel was Roth's intentions but it fell a little flat at times. Tris has continued to grow throughout the novels. The first novel really saw her develop, the second saw her make mistakes, and this final novel sees Tris learn from her mistakes and essentially become a really strong person, let alone a strong protagonist. We are introduced to new characters from whom, come answers. The whole of the series has been based on the faction system that has dominated society, separating you into either Amity, Abnegation, Candor, Dauntless or Erudite, depending on how your mind works and how you view society. Tris, finding out she's 'Divergent' in book one, and that she doesn't fit into either of these still has much relevance in the third book as it did in the first. I feel like what Roth did is what many writers fail to do, especially with dystopian, and that is explain how everything came about and what everything meant. 

It does become pretty complex at times and you become pretty unsure on who are actually 'the good guys' as there are many different groups in turmoil with each other. It does seem like one conflict after another. Yet this conflict provides some brilliant metaphors for today. I feel that Roth perfectly conveyed how corrupt society can become by trying to change someone, trying to fit them into a box of what you see as normal. It's something that's been done many times yet Roth did make it very interesting. 

With the dual perspectives the novel found some flaws. Tris and Four are together for a massive portion of the novel, and the chapters continue to switch between the two of them. With Roth having her identifiable writing style, it was sometimes hard to determine whose chapter you were in until it referenced the other protagonist. It became unnecessarily confusing and often tedious. It's when the pair aren't together that this really works and you get to see both sides of their stories and of the action that novel provides (although, comparatively little in regards to the first two books). 

I must note how slow the middle became, I feel the only reason I was continuing was because I was on a high from seeing the film that had just come out. 

The ending was brilliant, all answers had been provided, all loose ends tied up. And although it was a predictable ending it's one I enjoyed and thought was very powerful. A little slow at times, yet still a good ending to a great series.

4 stars.