My Lovely Wife book review

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

SUMMARY
"Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored.

We look like a normal couple. We're your neighbors, the parents of your kid's friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with.

We all have secrets to keeping a marriage alive.

Ours just happens to be getting away with murder."

Goodreads' link to the book!
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I wanted to read this book for many reasons; the Mr and Mrs Smith idea, the concept, and the fact the @BooksandLala loved it. And maybe it was those expectations, but as a whole the book fell flat for me, and I feel like it could've done so much more.

Stars: ✦✦✦✧✧

So as usual, I'll tell 3.0 things I liked about the book and 2.0 things I didn't like.

+1 | The idea and premise is clever and intriguing

+1 | Everything written is there for a reason, which I appreciated. It comes full circle at the end if that makes sense

+1 | The ending. Not the "who-dunnit" aspect, but the actual last pages ending

-1 | It wasn't surprising or shocking, which is something I look for in mysteries. I want to be kept wondering

-1 | I felt like the pace was one and the same throughout the book. It didn't move along with the story

Read on lovelies,

S

How I Rate Books

When reviewing a book I like saying as many good things as I gave stars, and as many bad things as I didn't give stars... If that makes any sense.

So if I give something 3/5 stars I say 3 good things and 2 "bad" things or things I didn't enjoy.

I love this system since it also clears my head on what I rate it, and this way I don't nitpick on that weren't that consequential.

So first when reading, and right after, I think about the:

>Plot

>Pace
>Flow
>Characters

>Relationships

>World (if fantasy for example)
>World building
>Language
>Overall: If part of a series would I continue it?


And if you were wondering I don't give 5 stars easily but neither a 0. So usually a 3 and at times a 2 or a 4 quite often.

I also do give half stars, but usually at that point I'm not sure what to rate it and compare it to others books with similar stars. Though a 4.5 is common for me with loving a book but it having something small that I wasn't a fan of.

Star rating system:

* Nope, maybe even DNF

** Decent? but wouldn't recommend

*** Good & Promising

**** Great & Entertaining

***** Unique & Loved it

Read on lovelies,

S

New Schedule?

I've been writing here since winter 2013 with up to 11 posts one month (!) with T5W ones on wednesdays, regular posts on saturdays and wrap-ups at the end of the month for a long time.

Each summer I'd have a break or post every other week, like I have been doing now, and I've been really enjoying it. It forces me think carefully about what I really want to write about since I only have three posts per month with one being a wrap-up.

So I've decided that's what I'll continue to do, at least until Christmas. At the end of each month there'll be a wrap-up. Then every other post will probably be one review (or I've been thinking about doing a couple small reviews in one post) and every other either a tag or something else I'll come up with. But we shall see!

Read on lovelies,

S

Read This Month: July & August

Read This Month:

July & August

1. Magical Experiments ebook Non-fiction REVIEWED ✦✦✦✦✧
2. Fabulous Monsters ebook Non-fiction REVIEWED ✦✦✦.5✧
3. To All The Boys I've Loved Before ebook ✦✦✦✦✧
4. Crazy Rich Asians ebook ✦✦✦✦.5
5. Narnia ✦✦✦.5✧
6. The Lovely and the Lost ebook ✦✦✦✦.5
7. A Natural History of Dragons ebook ✦✦✦✦.5
8. My Lovely Wife ebook ✦✦✦✧✧ 
9. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ebook ✦✦.5✧✧
-
10. Need To Know ebook REVIEWED ✦✦✦✦.5
11. Maybe This Time audiobook ✦✦✦.5✧
12. Down Among the Sticks and Bones audiobook ✦✦✦✦.5
13. Beneath the Sugar Sky audiobook✦✦✦✧✧
14. In an Absent Dream audiobook ✦✦✦.5✧

Data:

Male/Female author:

         64 % female,

         36 % male

Genre:

         36 % fantasy,

         21 % romance,

         21 % crime,

         14 % non-fiction,

         7% retelling

Pages:

       4 124 p

Format:

         64 % e-books,

         29 % audio books,

         7 % physical books

Average:

         3.79

Arcs:

          21 % sent to me (for honest reviews)

*For more info check my Goodreads: link*

Read on lovelies,

S

Need To Know book review

Need To Know by Karen Cleveland

*e-ARC kindly provided through NetGalley  in exchange for an honest review!*

SUMMARY
"Vivian Miller is a dedicated CIA counterintelligence analyst assigned to uncover the leaders of Russian sleeper cells in the United States. On track for a much-needed promotion, she’s developed a system for identifying Russian agents, seemingly normal people living in plain sight.

Vivian has vowed to defend her country against all enemies, foreign and domestic. But now she’s facing impossible choices. Torn between loyalty and betrayal, allegiance and treason, love and suspicion, who can she trust?"

Goodreads' link to the book!
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Stars: ✦✦✦✦.5

So as usual, I'll tell 4.5 things I liked about the book and 0.5 thing I didn't like.

+1 | The writing and the way that things were told

+1 | The plot and flow of the story

+1 | It keeps you reading, guessing and at the edge of your seat

+1 | The ending! Throughout the book you think you know things, but then suddenly things are flipped

+/-0.5 | All in all, though interesting it wasn't anything too new

Read on lovelies,

S

First Sentences in Books part I

The very first sentences we read in books tells us a lot; about the writing, the feeling, the setting or character. Not all first sentences are made equal though, they don’t always convey anything about the story. There are many memorable ones for me, both in the negative and positive aspect, and here are some great ones!

—
There are ones that are nostalgic,
ones that grab your attention immediately,
ones that throw you right in the middle of the action,
ones that tell you a lot about the book or the style,
ones that make you laugh,
and ones that just purely make you want to know more.
—

We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.
- Feed by Anderson

My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted.
- Jellicoe Road byMarchetta

The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say.
- The Knife of Never Letting Go by Ness

It seems like there should be some sort of introduction to this.
- Hyperbole and a Half

I can't remember many specific details of the accident, but the fear I felt that day is still crystal clear in my memory.
- Cinder and Ella

The end of the sword was pointing straight at my heart, and my murderer's eyes were like black holes threatening to swallow up everything that came too close to them.
- Emerald Green

The sound of my knife slitting across a throat feels much too loud in the darkness.
- Daughter of the Siren Queen

The blood underneath her nails bothered her.
- Batman

You may think you know the story.
- My Lady Jane

No one survives beyond the fence.
- The Revolution of Ivy

This time we were in the Great Room enduring another etiquette lesson when bricks came flying through the window.
- The One

In some part of my brain, probably the logical part that seemed to be missing at the moment, I knew I should let go and walk away, maintain some of my dignity.
- The Fill-in Boyfriend

How did they find us so fast?
- A Torch Against the Night

Locked in darkness that surrounded me like a coffin, I had nothing to distract me from my memories.
- Poison Study

This book begins the same way as nearly all my social interactions; with a series of detailed and thorough apologies.
- The Idiot Brain

Read on lovelies.

S

Disney Book Tag

Disney Book Tag

#1. The Little Mermaid – A character that is out of their element, a “Fish out of Water”.

Gwen in the Precious Stone Trilogy.
I think it was smartly done since quite often the story goes that the main character knows nothing of what they actually are and are thrown into the world (Harry Potter, The Mortal Instruments etc.), but in these books she knows about time travel but always thought that it wouldn't be her.

#2. Cinderella – A character that goes through a major transformation.

Tris in Divergent. She embraces what she is, but I'll still go with that answer.

#3. Snow White – A book with an eclectic cast of characters.

The Lovely and the Lost doesn't have that many characters but they're all extremely different from each other. And lots of dogs.

#4. Sleeping Beauty – A book that put you to sleep.

My Life Next Door. I don't remember the plot or characters, and I think that was the problem - it wasn't memorable at all to me.

#5. The Lion King – A character that had something traumatic happen to them in their childhood.

Cinder from The Lunar Chronicles

#6. Beauty and the Beast – A beast of a book (a big book) that you were intimidated by, but found the story to be beautiful.

Winter, one of the longest ones I've read - and loved.

#7. Aladdin – A character that get’s their wish granted, for better or for worse.

I'm going with A Natural History of Dragons. Isabella gets what she wishes, and not at the same time.

#8. Mulan – A character that pretends to be something or someone they are not.

Lia in The Kiss of Deception

#9. Toy Story – A book with characters you wish would come to live.

Harry Potter characters! I don't think I need to explain this one

#10. Disney Descendants – Your favourite villain or morally ambiguous character.

This is a tough one - even Harry Potter has multiple; between Snape, Voldemort and Umbridge. Also Levana from the Lunar Chronicles is quite a character!

Read on lovelies,

S