Book Club #3 Reading is life

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epl000 said:
@Katykatykaty - your review sums up what I had come on here to say. I finished it last night and completely felt the same. Could definitely have edited down the middle of the book - it dragged quite a lot. 3*s for me too.

I also was like who is Emmett - thought I just hadn't been paying enough attention. I did like how the author kept it uncertain as to whether she might have done it right up until the end, I thought that was clever. Loved the grandma character, she was ace. Didn't particularly warm to Lucy, found her a bit annoying.
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Totally with you on the Grandma character - she was brilliant!
 
I’ve finished this today and given it 3.5 stars. It started well but as others have said, I was also confused as to who Emmett was. None of the characters were really likeable either.

I know others didn’t like Clickbait as much as much as I did, but I thought that was done so much better.
 
I quite enjoyed it, 3.5 stars from me. I thought it was much longer than it needed to be, and a lot of the characters were pretty unlikeable, but it still kept me reading.

duck me though, what an incestuous town. Was anyone not having an affair with every other character?

Also - the very end - am I right in thinking Lucy and her Grandma had pre-agreed for her to come out to Texas and work with Ben? For a minute, I read the ending as suggesting that they’d concocted the whole story to feed to Ben to get public speculation off Lucy. But I don’t think that’s right. I think it was just trying to drop a big surprise in the last chapter and I think that surprise was just that Lucy actually went to Texas with the intention of doing all this, rather than Ben being sprung on her when she got there? But I’m sure there were direct conversations between Lucy and her Grandma earlier on that suggested otherwise? 🤷‍♀️
 
I finally finished the Charlotte Salter from last month. I enjoyed it, though it took a while to get into. 3.5 stars. I feel it could have been 100 pages shorter 😅 I also feel like the reason for Charlotte's murder was a bit of a let down, build-up wise. Because she laughed at him or was a bit flirty? I don't know, it would have been better in my view if she'd witnessed him do something or knew a secret or something. But then again I suppose sometimes murders are crime of passion/red mist related. We also didn't hear about his wife's reaction to the news, she's been living with a murderer for decades. Anyway, I can pick Listen for the Lie now, back up now after starting it the other week. I had about 3 books on the go and Charlotte Salter got dropped for a few weeks. I do this and it annoys me but I also can't seem to help myself start new books 😅
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Smca53 said:
I’m about 65% into Charlotte Salter and enjoying it but confused about one point

It said the Thorne’s went out and left their oven on after an argument but it was that house clearing woman whose house was on fire? Did I miss something, was it supposed to make you think one thing was going to happen but then a different fire did? Is this part of the story? I feel like a few unexplained things like this have happened that pulled me out of the story
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Yes I wondered this too!
 
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I started listening to Listen For the Lie today, it'll be my last mystery/thriller before diving fully into Christmas fare.

I'm enjoying it except for the intrusive thoughts. Every time the audio goes "leeeet's kiiiiiill" I chuckle. It just totally breaks the fictive dream for me.
 
I didn't particularly like listen for the lie. I didn't find it very engaging or surprising and thought it just sort of plodded along.

The red herrings were particularly irritating with the podcast format. They would be randomly dropped out of nowhere with someone suddenly coming forward with key information that noone has mentioned the whole time. It would then be resolved a page later with no consequences. Like, what was the point of the mum's affair? This was kind of an issue with all the revelations. The revelation that they were planning to kill the husband and that's where the intrusive thoughts come from? Cool. Except it doesn't affect the story in any way because they just...don't.

I also really hate the device of 'character has been unable to remember key information for years but now can because they just thought about it really hard'.

Emmett being a psycho was also predictable for me because it followed my general rule of whodunnits - if there is a character who keeps popping up on the page and has dialogue etc but doesnt seem to affect the story in any way, it's them.
 
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I finished listen for the lie and wasn't a huge fan. I'm not sure if it was because I listened to it on audible - I generally struggle with audio books unless they are autobiographies.

Similar to what others have said I thought it was quite slow and dragged on longer than needed, I got kind of lost with some of the characters and had no idea who Emmet was until late on and the voice really annoyed me!!
 
It’s probably too early but I’d like to suggest this for Decembers read. It’s only 0.99 today.

UNRAVELLING

The stories we tell ourselves and others are very often not true…

To the outside world, Bhanu seems to have a perfect life: a beautiful home and a wonderful husband and family… No one knows that each superficial layer has been carefully constructed to hide the dark secrets of her past and to bury the utter disappointment that what was written in the stars did not come to pass.

Then, on the eve of her fortieth wedding anniversary and vow renewal ceremony, a chance encounter shatters Bhanu’s pretence, when a face from her past reappears.

Deep, her first love who was etched into her heart, the man who lingered in her dreams throughout her married life, reappears, asking her to abandon everything for a second chance at love.

Forced to confront the consequences of choices made long ago, Bhanu begins to unravel as her life is thrust into chaos. But by reaching for a different future, can she heal the wounds of her past?

An extraordinary story about the complex tapestry that makes up a woman’s life and how facing the truth can change everything…

Praise for PREETHI NAIR

‘Moving description packs a powerful punch in this book about family, forgiveness and the power of truth’
GUARDIAN

‘A dynamic author’
THE BOOKSELLER

Amazon product
 
ToxicPony said:
I didn't particularly like listen for the lie. I didn't find it very engaging or surprising and thought it just sort of plodded along.

The red herrings were particularly irritating with the podcast format. They would be randomly dropped out of nowhere with someone suddenly coming forward with key information that noone has mentioned the whole time. It would then be resolved a page later with no consequences. Like, what was the point of the mum's affair? This was kind of an issue with all the revelations. The revelation that they were planning to kill the husband and that's where the intrusive thoughts come from? Cool. Except it doesn't affect the story in any way because they just...don't.

I also really hate the device of 'character has been unable to remember key information for years but now can because they just thought about it really hard'.

Emmett being a psycho was also predictable for me because it followed my general rule of whodunnits - if there is a character who keeps popping up on the page and has dialogue etc but doesnt seem to affect the story in any way, it's them.
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The fact that I rated it 3.5 and quite enjoyed it but agree with every single thing you’ve said 🤣
 
I finished Listen for the Lie - I listened to it on audiobook, and I think it helped that I had just had a massive audiobook slump as my last one wasn't interesting to me at all but I still persevered with it, so compared to that one, Listen for the Lie gripped me. But I agree,

Emmett wasn't memorable enough for me to be shocked about the reveal, I found Lucy a bit of an annoying narrator as well
 
My suggestion for December:

Amazon product

A spellbinding, muligenerational story set between the 1950s and the present, The Butterfly Room is an enchanting tale of heartbreaking secrets from Lucinda Riley, international bestselling author of the Seven Sisters series.

'Captivating . . . poignant yet uplifting' – Woman's Own

Posy Montague is approaching her seventieth birthday. Still living in her beautiful Suffolk family home, Admiral House, she is surrounded by memories of her idyllic childhood catching butterflies with her beloved father, and of raising her own children. But Posy knows she must make an agonizing decision.

Despite the memories the house holds, and the exquisite garden she has spent twenty-five years creating, the house is crumbling around her, and Posy knows the time has come to sell it.

Then a face appears from the past – Freddie, her first love, who abandoned her and left her heartbroken fifty years ago. Already struggling to cope with her son’s inept business dealings, and the sudden reappearance of her younger son after ten years in Australia, Posy is reluctant to trust in Freddie’s renewed affection. And, unbeknown to Posy, Freddie has a devastating secret to reveal . . .

'A perfect beach read' – Daily Mail

'Prepare to be intrigued, moved to tears and ultimately uplifted' – Lancashire Evening Post

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I've not yet read any Lucinda Riley yet but I'm curious to try.
 
Ok, I finally finished Listen for the Lie. I give it 3.5.
after about 30% I got into it. I loved the Grandma 😂 Emmett was a piece of work, I can't stand the idea of a man feeling entitled to a woman just because he wants her, and also Matt is a piece of work too. Who needs enemies when your best friend from childhood and your husband want to treat you so bad?! The amnesia for the suspect reminded me of The Murder After The Night Before. It wasn't quite a 4* for me but engaging enough that I wanted to find out what happened.
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nbt said:
I’ve finished this today and given it 3.5 stars. It started well but as others have said, I was also confused as to who Emmett was. None of the characters were really likeable either.

I know others didn’t like Clickbait as much as much as I did, but I thought that was done so much better.
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Yes I preferred Clickbait
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Smca53 said:
I’ve bought it too, definitely will be reading! I’m hoping it does remain 99p, nothing suggests it’s a daily deal etc so 🤞
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I find it hard to tell when the deals will expire.
 
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