The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary REVIEW

I tend to stay away from the romance genre as when I did read it a while ago, it would annoy the hell out of me. Nothing in a romance book ever happened in real life and I ended up resenting the story somehow. Sounds mad I know, but that’s just how my mind works 🙂 After seeing The Flat Share a lot across Bookstagram, I decided to buy it and give the romance genre another go.

I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised. I went into this book thinking that more than likely I wouldn’t enjoy it and that it would just put me in a mood afterwards, however, I actually enjoyed this very much.

OK, the premise of the story is very far-fetched and unbelievable but overall, it turned out to be a lovely read so I looked past this crazy storyline.

Tiffy is coming out of an abusive relationship and decides that the best way to get rid of her abusive, narcissistic boyfriend is by moving out once and for all. Living in London, she obviously has London rental prices to deal with so when she comes across an ad from Leon, she thinks it’s too good to be true. The idea is that while she isn’t at work 9am-5pm, she will have the whole flat to herself as he is working nights and spending weekends at his girlfriend’s house. The catch is that they will have to sleep in the same bed while it’s each of their turns to be in the flat.

They both communicate by leaving post-it-notes around the flat and through these written messages, you see their relationship start to grow. Leon’s own relationship fails and then the reader is routing for Tiffy and Leon to finally meet. An accidental encounter in the shower is full of chemistry and then the reader is routing for them to go on a date!

The story has alternative chapters with the POV changing between Tiffy and Leon. It did take me a while to get used to the writing style in Leon’s chapters, but I can see the author deliberately chose to change the writing style to make it easier for the reader to differentiate between the POV.

There seems to be two further characters that is making it difficult for them to get together. Tiffy’s ex-boyfriend has started to stalk her and Leon’s brother is currently in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Both sub-stories is stopping Leon and Tiffy from finally getting together, however, when Tiffy finds a way to help Leon’s brother, they are pretty much thrown together to work on getting the brother out of jail.

When they finally manage to get together, this becomes a lovely story and the ending had me crying happy tears. Yes, I know that I am getting soppy as I get older haha!

I enjoyed this book so much that I am going to try more romance novels and I will definitely read the other books by this author. I would recommend if you are after a quick, easy read and not likely to be put off by far-fetched stories and can enjoy for the lovely romance that it’s meant to be.

4/5

The Poison Garden – Alex Marwood REVIEW

“Where Romy grew up, if someone died you never spoke of them again.

Now 22, she has recently escaped the toxic confines of the cult she was raised in. But Romy is young, pregnant and completely alone – and if she is to keep herself safe in this new world, she has some important lessons to learn.

Like how there are some people you can trust, and some you must fear. And about who her family really is, and why her mother ran away from them all those years ago.

And that you can’t walk away from a dark past without expecting it to catch up with you…”

I find stories about cults absolutely fascinating! It’s the psychology behind it. How does one prominent figure manage to persuade a whole community that everything they say and do is right? It’s a clear sign of brainwashing and yet we hear of this still going on. There are whole communities who still believe that their leader is an almost “God-like” person and they worship this individual. Obviously there are some good and some bad cults, and this story follows an exceptionally bad cult we ends in a grisly way.

When a teenage Alison has to leave her family home after falling pregnant out of wedlock, her younger sister Sarah never questions the disappearance. Their devout-Catholic parents never speak of Alison.

Romy is born to Alison and they both join a cult led by a prominent, male leader, Lucien. Romy has only ever known life within the cult. Romy, along with her two siblings, becomes survivors after the cult ends. The two siblings are sent to their Aunt Sarah’s house to live. Sarah had no idea that her elder sister, Alison, had even been alive, let alone that she has two nieces and one nephew. With her own problems, living in her deceased parents house just as it was when they were still alive, she now has to take responsibility of the two children.

We also follow a pregnant, 22-year-old Romy with her life after the cult and how her dark past starts to catch up with her. Multiple character POV gives an insight of life before, during and after the cult and the reader is taken to a toxic, tragic and bleak territory that shows the dangerous world of cults and communes.

From the very first chapter I was hooked!

I loved the writing style and the plot, although creepy, also felt real and intense, as well as seeming like it could have been taken straight from the news. The vividly, descriptive narrative certainly helped to picture. This is a book that I would highly recommend. Certainly a haunting read, but one that I just didn’t want to put down.

***** 5/5

Now accepting book tours and reviews

I haven’t been able to take part in book tours or review new releases since back in March due to having to finish DIY on our flat, put it up for sale and move. But, I can now start accepting book tours and reviews again!

This will only be the case for the next six weeks, therefore, if you have a new release that you would like me to review or a book tour that you would like me to be a part of, before 16th November 2021, then please get in touch.

Please use my official email address biancatrent@outlook.com (not the one currently on my contact page)

The only genre that I won’t review is sci-fi for the time being.

Below is an image of a superb, yet creepy, PR package that I have received today for The Hawk and The Raven by Stacey Dighton. I will be taking part in the book tour between 1st-5th November 2021.

October TBR

I have been using a TBR jar the last few months to help me get through the huge pile of books that I have that still need reading, however, for October, I decided to pick out my spookier reads. There are two other books to be read in October that aren’t pictured.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

This book came out in 2019 and I don’t know too much about it except that it won many awards in 2019! It is a book that is spoke about often and all I know is that it features magicians?

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

Obviously King is the go to author when trying to find a spooky read for October! I have already started this book (around 300 pages in) I am enjoying it so far and as usual King has a lot of description that generates more pages than the story probably needs. It’s a 4 star read so far as I do keep reading and I’m flying through quicker than other chunky books.

If We Were Villains by M L Rio

This seems to always be on Autumn/ Halloween TBR lists! Again, I don’t know too much about this but I’m looking forward to getting to it soon.

The Hellion by Harriet Young

I know that this is a witch story set in Pendle. Obviously witches is great for Halloween so I had to make sure this book was on the TBR for October. It released earlier this year and I’ve heard good things about it.

Gothic Short Stories

Obviously a short story collection is a superb way to get all the ghost and haunted building stories in this month!

My chosen book from the LoveMyRead subscription box will be arriving just after 7th October and I have chosen The Pact by Sharon Bolton so will be reading it very soon and I’m looking forward to seeing what goodies I get in my box!

I have also been gifted a copy of The Hawk and The Raven by Stacey Dighton. I will be taking part in the Bookstgram tour between 1st-5th November so will be reading this next with my review going up at beginning of November.

September Wrap Up!

Hey all, a bit late with my September wrap up but I have decided to start posting to this blog page again! If you follow me on either my Instagram or Twitter, then you may have already seen this but I’m going to start using my blog for more detailed content.

I had a fairly good reading month in September with finishing six books, all above 3 stars. The full review for each will be posted soon, but below is a short section of my review for each.

The Poison Garden by Alex Marwood 5/5

I absolutely love books that focus around a cult. The idea of one leader being so powerful to a community that they are believed with everything they say and do, completely fascinates me. This story follows 22-year-old, pregnant Romy who has survived from a cult which she has only known all her life. There are three different narrated sections, each section shows the before, during and after the cult. We follow Romy as she learns that the horrors from the cult are going to catch up with her.

The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary 4/5

I never read romance books, but I picked this up to give it a go as I had heard so much about it across Bookstagram. I was very pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed this a lot! We have Tiffy who is coming out of an abusive relationship and decides that the best way is to move out of the house, however, living in London, rental prices are super high! She comes across an advert from a guy called Leon where outside of her working hours of 9am-5pm, she will have the flat to herself as Leon works nights and spends weekends with his girlfriend. The catch is that there is only one bedroom so they have to share a bed! The reader sees their “relationship” grow as they communicate via post-it-notes and I desperately wanted the story to get to their meeting.

Ice Station Zebra by Alistair MacLean 4/5

I had this book on my TBR for ages as I kept putting it off due to the synopsis. I thought that it would be way too political as it mentions the UK, US and Russia. Turns out that this was another read that I surprisingly enjoyed. We follow Dr Carpenter who boards the USS Dolphin submarine which is being captained by Commander Swanson. Dr Carpenter explains how a distress call has come in from Ice Station Zebra and that they must get to the survivors who are out on the Arctic ice. This is a very tense read which then turned into a bit of a murder-mystery as when they arrive, they realise that a couple of the dead have in fact been murdered. This gives a bit of a locked-room mystery and Agatha Christie vibes which I loved!

Gone Without A Trace by Mary Torjussen 3/5

This started by giving of Gone Girl vibes and I thought that this was going to be the premise. While on a work conference, Hannah has been given some idea that she may be made director of the company. She buys some champagne on her way home, ready to celebrate with her boyfriend, Ben. When she arrives, she is shocked to find that Ben has in fact gone! Not only him and his stuff, but all photos, emails and messages have been erased. We follow Hannah as she tries to work out what has happened to Ben, whether he has gone on his own accord or if something more sinister is involved. A bit of a psychological thriller but the narrator, Hannah, is quite annoying and the story-line is quite unrealistic. Not my favourite of the month.

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward 5/5

The synopsis is very vague, we just learn that this is about a man named Tim who lives with his daughter, Lauren and cat, Olivia. Multiple POVs (one including the cat) A story that you should go in blind to and not know anything about. As the reader goes through the book, you think you have sussed out what is happening, why and how, but I can guarantee that you will be wrong.

The Passengers by John Marrs 4.5/5

This book is set slightly in the future where every vehicle is driverless, an idea that terrifies me and this story certainly didn’t help in quenching my fears! Eight different passengers get into their vehicles which are then hacked. The lives of each person is in the hands of a jury and every worldwide social media user. Who dies and who survives is chosen after learning small snippets of information about each passenger.

I will post my full review for each book soon!