The Perfect Match by Dandy Smith | Blog Tour Book Review

[AD/Gifted - I received an ebook copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]

The Perfect Match by Dandy Smith

My rating: 4/5

Publisher: Embla Books

Publication date: 19th January 2023

Blurb:

Best friend or boyfriend, who would you believe?

Zara has always felt a little ordinary next to her spirited best friend Ivy. Even her dreams seem mundane: a boyfriend, marriage, children... Besides, who would pick her when they could choose Ivy?

So when Zara meets Henry and there's an instant spark, she can't believe her luck. A wealthy CEO who wants to settle down? He's perfect... until Ivy insists he's too good to be true.

As Henry and Ivy repeatedly clash, doubts creep into Zara's mind. Could it be that Ivy just doesn't want to share her best friend with anyone else? Or does Henry have a hidden agenda? Zara is caught in the middle, constantly trying to prove who she loves more.

Then someone winds up dead, and Zara realises there's more to this than jealousy...

Review: 

This book! My head is spinning.

Twenty-eight year old Zara dreams of being married, having children and having a perfect family, in spite of her upbringing which was quite the opposite. Her best friend Ivy is happy to flit around, never settling down and thinks Zara's idea of being settled is pathetic.

When Zara meets Henry and begins a whirlwind romance, Ivy is less than pleased. Zara and Ivy's relationship is extremely close and made me feel a bit uncomfortable at times if I'm honest. Ivy is telling Zara things to turn her against Henry and Henry is doing the same about Ivy. Zara is stuck in the middle but who can she trust?

I absolutely loved how this was written and I think I went from about 17% to 75% in one sitting because I just wanted to see what was going to happen next. It is very dark at some points and had me guessing throughout. I really enjoyed the end scene where Zara relays the story from two different perspectives. Very well done!

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Thanks to Compulsive Readers & Embla Books for having me on the blog tour. You can find out more about the bloggers taking part in the tour in the graphic below.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides | Book Review

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

My rating: 4/5

Publisher: Orion 

Publication date: 12th December 2019

Blurb:

Alicia Berenson lived a seemingly perfect life until one day six years ago.

When she shot her husband in the head five times.

Since then she hasn't spoken a single word.

It's time to find out why.

Review:

Alicia Berenson is a famous artist. One night six years ago, she shot her husband in the head five times and hasn't spoken since.

Psychologist Theo Faber is convinced that he is the one who will be able to communicate with her and get her to speak after all this time. He gets a job at The Grove, the secure unit where Alicia is, and sets upon creating a bond with her.

He looks into her relationships, her paintings, her past, all to build a picture. But what will be revealed?

This book is so cleverly written. It is the perfect pace and I felt a real chase whilst reading. I was desperate to know the truth. The psychology and Greek aspects were very interesting to me. I did however start to guess the outcome towards the end - maybe I've read too many thrillers! But it was very enjoyable with a lot of red herrings.

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover | Book Review

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It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

My rating: 3/5

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 

Publication date: 2nd August 2016

Blurb:

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

Review: 

I jumped on the bandwagon with this book because I had a touch of FOMO. I thought it was a standard romance novel but, massive trigger warning for domestic abuse.

It Ends With Us tells the story of Lily who moves from Maine to Boston and sets up her own flower shop. She meets neurosurgeon Ryle on the rooftop of an apartment building following her father's funeral. Six months later, their paths cross again as Ryle is the brother of Alyssa, the flower shop's newest member of staff. Even though Ryle has issues from his past, he and Lily embark on a relationship.

Whilst their story develops, we hear about Lily's first love when she was a teenager, Atlas, through journal entries. 

It took until about two-thirds into this book before I really started to enjoy it. I found it hard to like the characters. I know we were meant to like Ryle at the beginning until...we weren't, but I also didn't care too much for Atlas either. I did find the journal entries being written to Ellen DeGeneres a bit strange too! 

The saving grace for this book was the wonderful job it did on the subject of domestic abuse. It was so well-explored and really pointed out why it's not so easy for women to leave but the cycle must be broken somewhere. Great character development for Lily.

Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew | Book Review

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Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew

My rating: 4/5

Publisher: Walker Books 

Publication date: 2nd July 2020

Blurb:

During Frankie’s first sexual experience, she gets her period. It’s only blood, they agree. No shame.

Then a graphic meme goes viral, turning a fun, intimate afternoon into something mortifying and damaging. And Frankie begins to wonder: is she disgusting?

As the online shaming takes on a horrifying life of its own, Frankie's universe implodes. But can laughter, bravery and the fiercest of friendships help Frankie find her way out of the darkness?

Review: 

I don't tend to read lot of YA because at thirty years old I feel like I am a bit too old but I heard a lot about Blood Moon and wanted to give it a go. I thought a YA would be an easier read in between heavier books.

Blood Moon follows teenage astronomy lover Frankie. When she has her first sexual encounter with Benjamin, a boy she likes from school, she gets her period. Word spreads around the school, she becomes an internet meme, other schools hear about it and it even infiltrates her personal life.

It doesn't help that she has fallen out with best friend Harriet and Frankie believes she has been betrayed by her.

This story really brings you back into high school and just how cruel and starved for gossip teenagers can be. Cuthew writes so well and really helps to shut down period taboo, tackles toxic masculinity and goes on to show empowerment and standing together. I really enjoyed this!

Bad Fruit by Ella King | Book Review

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Bad Fruit by Ella King

Star rating: 4/5

Publisher: HarperCollins 

Publication date: 18th August 2022

Blurb:

LILY IS A GOOD DAUGHTER

Every evening she pours Mama a glass of perfectly spoilt orange juice. She arranges the teddy bears on Mama’s quilt, she puts on her matching pink clothes. Anything to help put out the fire of Mama’s rage.

MAMA IS A GOOD LIAR

But Mama is becoming unpredictable, dangerous. And as she starts to unravel, so do the memories that Lily has kept locked away for so long.

She only wanted to be good, to help piece Mama back together. But as home truths creep out of the shadows, Lily must recast everything: what if her house isn’t a home – but a prison? What if Mama isn’t a protector – but a monster...

Review: 

This is probably one of the toughest books I've read yet. 

Bad Fruit is the story of Lily, daughter to a Singaporean mother and English father, and the abuse she and her siblings suffer at the hands of their parents. 

Lily thinks of herself as the favourite child. She knows how to placate her mother. She serves her, and pre-tastes, the slightly spoiled juice that her mother loves, dyes her hair, wears contacts and the wrong shade of foundation to be more like her mother. But when she starts having flashbacks and hallucinations the summer before she is due to study law at Oxford, more about her mother's life and her own life are revealed. How the trauma spans generations and how her siblings tried to save her from remembering.

This is written beautifully. It is so dark and disturbing that I did have trouble reading it because I felt so sad. I don't want to go into too much detail about the actual story but it is a mix of domestic thriller and psychological thriller. Very well done.