A Place of Secrets by Rachel Hore

Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publish Date: February 1, 2012
Format: Audio
Discs: 12
ISBN: 978 

Can dreams be passed down through families?  As a child Jude suffered a recurrent nightmare: running through a dark forest, crying for her mother.  Now six years later her six-year0old niece, Summer, is having the same dream, and Jude is frightened for her.

A successful auctioneer, Jude is struggling to come to terms with the death of her husband.  When she’s asked to value a collection of scientific instruments and manuscripts belonging to Anthony Wickham, a lonely 18^th century astronomer, she leaps at the chance to escape London for the untamed beauty of Norfolk, where she grew up.

As Jude untangles Wickham’s tragic story, she discovers threatening links to the present.  What have Summer’s nightmares to do with Starbrough folly, the eerie crumbling tower in the woods from which Wickham and is adopted daughter Esther once viewed the night sky?  With help of Euan, a local naturalist, Jude searches for answers in the wild, haunting splendor of the Norfolk forests.  Dare she leave behind sadness in her own life and learn to love again?

My Thoughts

Was this a story about trying to understand the reason for Summer's bad dreams or Jude finding love again or solving the mystery of the Wickham family and what happened to Esther or tracking down her grandmother's long lost childhood friend?  I'm not really sure because there were so many sub-plots going on that each got lost.  It was very slow paced and I just found the overall plot to be boring and uninteresting.  The novel had so much potential - why couldn't it just be about Jude unraveling the mystery of Esther and be done with it.  The dream aspect was just plain unrealistic and held no value to the story.  I also found the love story to be unnecessary and boring.  I felt zero engagement with the characters and couldn't wait for the story to end.

I listened to this on audio and I have come to the conclusion that I strongly dislike British narrators!  I have listened to a number of them and the attempt at doing different voices for each character (especially a man or child) makes my skin crawl.  

It had been a few weeks since I listened to this book and I can't real how it even ended.  Hate when that happens.

My Rating: ««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

Publisher: William Morrow
Publish Date: August 6, 2013
Pages: 354
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0062227324

Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs.  And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects.  But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family.  They want her to become a ghost bride for the family’s only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances.  Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit.  Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price.

After an ominous visit to the opulent mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lim’s handsome her heir, Tian Bai.  Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel would of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits and monstrous bureaucracy – including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit.  Li Lan must uncover the Lim family’s darkest secrets – and the truth about her own family – before she is trapped in this ghostly would forever.

My Thoughts

So I haven't finished this one yet, I got it from the library and didn't have a chance to finish it before I had to take it back and renewal was unavailable due to (lots) of holds placed on it.  I got back on the list because I DO want to finish reading it, but I wanted to give you my thoughts on it so far while they are fresh on my mine.

Although I don't know much about Chinese culture/rituals/beliefs I have been thoroughly enjoying this read.  I'm half way through (Chapter 20) and so far I find it very haunting.  The novel is broken into 4 Parts and follows Li Lan on her spiritual journey.  I really enjoyed the first 3 parts of the story and currently am on part 3.  I'm finding myself getting a little bit lost with the story and I think it's mainly due to the references that are made to the Chinese culture and their beliefs in the afterlife.  I never like giving away the plot to a story line in my reviews, so I don't want to say too much about what is currently happening and why I am finding myself confused with the plot.

Stay tuned for a future update of the remainder of the book.  

My Rating: yet to finish

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Publisher: Random House

Publish Date: 1967

Pages: 245

Format: Hardcover (2003 Stephen King Edition)

ISBN: 978-0965723176

Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling actor husband Guy move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and mostly elderly residents.  Neighbours Roman and Minnie Castavet soon come nosing around to welcome the Woodhouses to the building, and despite Rosemary’s reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, her husband takes a special shine to them.  Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant, and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welfare.  As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavet’s circle is not what it seems. 

My Thoughts

First things first, this was my first classic horror novel and I wasn't going to review it but I can't get it out of my head!  There are so many things about this book that are still lingering with me and it's been a week since I finished it.  So much that I had to go out and pick up the sequel, Son of Rosemary.

The story line does develop somewhat slowly, but Levins'  masterful writing style develops characters that keep your attention and you want to keep reading.  Instead of building a huge amount of suspense it slowly unfolds into a deliciously creepy and a great fast read.  Although I never found the novel to be scary it has a very dark plot.  No spoilers...read it for yourself.  If you don't want to read it, watch the movie.

My Rating: ««««

Buy it Now!

The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.