Roberta Reads

Heartless by Gail Carriger My rating: 5 of 5 stars Gail Carriger is a delight, as always. In this book, Alexia Maccon, in her capacity as Muhja, has to unravel a plot against the queen. Along the way, she also unravels some of the past, solves everyone’s problems (to her own satisfaction anyway), and drinks a lot of tea. Silly in the best way! View all my reviews

A Brazen Curiosity: A Regency Cozy by Lynn Messina My rating: 4 of 5 stars An entertaining cozy crime set during the Regency Era, this audiobook is light-hearted and amusing to listen to. For me, this audiobook is let down by the narrator. Although the expression and emotion used by the narrator is excellent, it’s a shame that her rather obvious American accent keeps sneaking its way in. This may not be an issue for American listeners, but as a British listener, it stands out a lot to start with. After a while I became used to it, and no longer noticed (except for an occasional word that was pronounced so oddly I had to think about what it was). I’m told this has improved for the next book, which I shall certainly be listening to. The story itself, however, is great fun. Though not necessarily highly accurate to the Regency Era (I wouldn’t know, all I know about the era comes from Heyer and Austen), there was nothing that stood out to me as an anachronism. I greatly e...

The Frights of Fiji by Sunayna Prasad My rating: 2 of 5 stars I’m sorry to give such a negative review, but I really didn’t enjoy this book. I’m an adult, rather than of middle grade age, but I have read many MG books and really enjoyed them (Stephanie Burgis, for example). The language used in this story is really odd, almost as though it has been translated from another language. For example, people were frequently “bending” their eyebrows - both for (presumably) surprise/enquiry and when they might have been frowning. Emotions are never referenced. The physical manifestations of emotions (sighs etc) are described. The whole book reads almost as an official report of some kind, everything feels at a distance, it’s impossible to feel involved in the story. The writing comes across as very stiff. There were also excessive quantities of description of food, clothing, detailing routine tasks, mentioning the number of minutes things took. The heroine wa...

My Sisters and Me by Lisa Dickenson My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is an excellent and very enjoyable read. I loved everything about it, apart from one thing: the people of the town never got their comeuppance, and thus the story feels unfinished and slightly unsettling. View all my reviews

Gone With The Ghost by Erin McCarthy My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book was okay, a short, fun murder mystery. BUT, the main character has been in love with the murdered guy for ages, and he’s really not a nice person. I can’t understand what she saw in him at all, he’s only interested in himself. Passed a few hours quite pleasantly, but I won’t be continuing the series. View all my reviews

Case of the Shinigami by K.C. Hunter My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the prequel story of the Kana Cold series. A young girl has become ill with bruises and other injuries appearing overnight in a series of alarming attacks. Her parents are at their wits end and call in Kana Cold. Although this short story is not my usual fare (I don’t usually read haunting/possession stories, especially involving children), it is well written and grabs the interest. I only noticed one typo - people were drinking bear rather than beer - but this could be a drink I’ve never heard of. Although this short story is obviously a prequel to a series of books, it does not have a cliffhanger ending. It sets up several very interesting plot points for the future series, that almost have me buying them, even though this is not my cup of tea in terms of content. If you are into well written books, containing hauntings with excellent, interesting and exciting storylines, then this is definitel...

A Vintage Summer by Cathy Bramley My rating: 2 of 5 stars I have very mixed feelings about this book. I’m a Cathy Bramley fan, but this one really bothers me. What it boils down to is this - if you saw someone you knew (whether friend, acquaintance, or someone you’re in love with) being kissed by their violent ex, would you drive off, or would you stop and just check to make sure it’s consensual? No matter how hurt you are by seeing her kiss someone else, wouldn’t you make sure? I certainly would. Even if I was currently at outs with that person. I don’t think I’d have taken Jensen back without an abject apology for leaving her to be sexually assaulted. Possibly not even then, there would have to be a VERY good explanation. It’s lucky Harvey didn’t decide to take things further. I really enjoyed the middle 80% though, well written, fun and romantic, everything you’d expect from a Cathy Bramley. However, I don’t think this will be a repeat read for me...

Who's That Girl? by Alexandra Potter My rating: 3 of 5 stars I found the first 50% of this book extremely frustrating as Charlotte stays with the clearly unsuitable guy, stressed out of her mind and makes no changes until about 60% of the way through when she realises she’s not in love with him. Luckily, the time travelling elements were enough to keep me interested, and the second half was much better. A lighthearted look at what might happen if you could meet yourself 10 years ago. Fun, but much too slow off the ground for my taste. View all my reviews