Our Kind of Cruelty

Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall 

ISBN: 978 - 0374228194

Publish Date: May 8th 2018

Read Date: 06/17/2018 - 06/27/2018 

 I received  Our Kind of Cruelty as part of a Goodreads giveaway. My honest review is not required.

When does love meet obsession?

Mike Hayes had  the worst childhood one could imagine. An alcoholic mother with a parade of abusive men in and out of her home. It stands to reason that Mike may not fully understand love and treatment of a loved one.

After being removed from his mothers care, Mike entered foster care. His foster parent tried very hard to teach him how to love, and be loved in return. They thought they had done a decent job.  They got Mike through school, and even got him into college.

During college Mike met Verity, (V).  There was an instant attraction, as Verity is that girl that every boy wants to date, and every girl wants to be.  Mike became deeply devoted to V.  He worked until he had the successful career meant to support V. The physique one would expect of a partner of a woman such as V. Created the perfect home he believed V to belong in.

Mike and Verity had a very sexual relationship, even creating a game of sorts out of it. The couple would enter a bar separately, and Verity would use her striking good looks to entice an unsuspecting man to flirt with her.  She would then signal mike, using a secret code only they knew and he would swoop in to her rescue.

Then Mike agreed to take a job in New York, leaving V in England.  During his time in NY he kept in constant contact with V, wanting to know every part of her day. Then he ran into Carly, and Mike had an affair. Deeply disturbed by what he had done, he returned to V during Christmas and revealed his shamless act to her.  Thus prompting V to end their years long relationship. Little did Mike know, V had secrets of her own.

Mike receives an invitation to Vs wedding in the mail.  Mike is in denial about the wedding and has convinced himself that this V has started up their old game. Mike decides he is all in. He is willing to play.

What Mike doesn't understand is this is no game. Verity is deeply in love with her new fiancee, wanting no more than a friendship with Mike.

Mike is not willing to let Verity go.

One night, it all comes to a head when Veritys new husband arrives at Mikes house, highly drunk. An altercation occurs leaving  Verity to arrive to witness one of the men dead.

** Large amounts of sexual content, may not be appropriate for younger readers**

Mapping the Bones

 Mapping the Bones by Jane Yolen

ISBN:  978 - 0399257780
 
Publish Date: March 6th 2018

Read Date:01/19/2018 - 01/24/2018
 
**** Apologies for the repost, I accidentally deleted this review****

Thank you to Jane Yolen, Goodreads, Penguin Teen and Philomel Books for an advanced uncorrected galley of Mapping the Bones. I received my copy of this book as a giveaway, and my honest review is not required.

Normally a 413 (ish) page book takes me around 2 days to get through. This book however, took me a couple more days. It was a hard, albeit good read. The subject matter is a hard one to stomach.

This fictional story based in 1940s during the Holocaust follows the life of 4 children, Chaim, Gittel, Sophie and Bruno.

This book is basically split into 2 parts.

The first half of the book is the story of the 4 children and how they were forced from their homes into a Polish Ghetto by the Nazis, where they lived in squalor waiting for their " wedding invitation" to relocate them once again and their escape to the Polish border.

The second part of the book follows the childrens capture by German soldiers and their placement in a labor camp where the children try to survive unclean water, spoiled food and the inhumane experiments done by the Doctor. (The Doctor is modeled off of Dr Mengele)

While it was a very good read there were parts that i could have done without. Throughout the book, Chaim doesn't speak due to a severe stutter and uses hand signs that only his sister knows to communicate, but is able to proficiently speak through poetry. Because of this there is quite a bit of randomly placed poetry. Bruno has a superiority complex, which renders him rather annoying. I am not certain this was not done purposefully. The way the children are written rather annoyed me, because i felt a bit of their story was added mush, that could have been left out.

My general annoyance with the children did not take away from the book as a whole, as i still gave it 4 stars.

There is minor graphic explanations of the experiments performed at the camp.

Marketed as a Young Adult Fiction genre for ages 12-18, I felt uncomfortable reading parts at 36. I would allow and encourage my teenagers to read this book, but provide them with a word of caution.

Something in the Water

 Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman

ISBN:  978 - 1524797188

Publication Date: June 5th 2018

Read Date: 06/05/2018 - 06/17/2018


I received an ARC of Something in the Water from Goodreads as part of a giveaway. My honest review is not required.

Erin and her new husband Mark are on a dream honeymoon to Bora Bora. They do all of the touristy things one would do on their honeymoon, scuba diving, sightseeing, shopping.

While on the honeymoon, a large storm hits the island forcing them to change their scuba plans. Now, rescheduled for a nice sunny day after the storm, the two set out. During their dive they locate the remains of a recently downed plane, and a large heavy suitcase.

Convinced it is better to turn in the suitcase rather than open it, they leave it with the front desk upon their outing return. However, a miscommunication lands the suitcase back into the newlyweds possession.

One drunken night, the pair decide to open the suitcase and to their astonishment find a bag of loose diamonds and a large sum of money.  They make the choice to keep the money and the diamonds and use it to begin their mew married life together.

This badly thought out decision set of a chain reaction of events putting both newlyweds in danger.

Erin finds out she is being followed shortly after depositing the money in a off shore bank account, and attempting to sell the diamonds. Mark attempts to convince her that she is not being followed and everything is fine.

Eventually the person hired to follow her, and the person who hired him is revealed. But, it is not what Erin was expecting.

The Woman in Cabin 10

The Woman in Cabin 10  by Ruth Ware

ISBN: 978-1501132957

Publish Date: July 19th 2016

Read Date: 05/03/2018- 05/05/2018

If you thought you witnessed a murder, how far would you go to solve it? What if no one listened?

Small-time journalist Laura (Lo) Blacklock, is handed the opportunity of a lifetime when her pregnant boss gives her the chance to cover the maiden voyage of the expensive and exclusive cruise ship, 'The Aurora'. With only 10 cabins on board, The Aurora is set to give you most of the experiences of a luxury cruise line with more privacy.

Without sleep and hungover, Lo finds herself on board the Aurora and being ushered to her cabin. The first night on board, Lo is desperate to network but realizes that in her hasty packing she failed to bring every girls make up best friend, mascara. She decides to take a chance and pop over to the cabin next to hers to see if she can borrow some. After knocking on the door the woman in cabin 10 (hey there look at that !!!) answers the door seemingly surprised to see Lo. The woman practically throws the mascara at her and rushes her away. 

Sometime throughout the night Lo is awakened by what she believes was a scream and a splash. Confused by the noise, Lo goes out to the veranda to take a quick look. She sees no one so she checks the veranda of the cabin next door where she doesn't see any people, but she does see a blood smear on the sliding door. Now convinced a murder has taken place, Lo is on the hunt for answers. She advises the head of security of what she saw and heard. He seems puzzled because Cabin 10 is supposed to be empty. The guest assigned to that cabin, did not make the trip.

Determined to prove she was right and something happened in that cabin, Lo is traipsed around the entire ship going person to person on board to find her mystery mascara giver. After everyone on board has been checked, and mystery woman still not found, security begins trying to poke holes in Lo's story. Still slightly hungover, Lo begins to wonder if it was in fact all in her head. 

Then, the mascara goes missing.. Has Lo gone crazy, is the mixture of her depression/ anxiety medication and alcohol making her imagine things? Unknown to Lo at the time, her story is just beginning. 

Lo begins to have strange occurrences around her, strange writing on a steamed bathroom mirror and everyone trying to convince her she is wrong. Ultimately, convinced she is not going crazy, she tells her story to anyone who will listen. Someone has to know about the missing girl after all. Right? Lo makes the decision to notify the police at the first docking stop. 

The evening before the Aurora is scheduled to dock for the first stop of the trip, Lo believes she sees her mystery woman. She exits her cabin to follow her, only she doesn't find her. Lo is knocked out and awakens in an all white windowless room at the bottom of the ship, under the water line. She soon realizes that she is unable to escape the room, the only contact with anyone is the hand opening the door just enough to shove her food tray inside. 

While trying to fight her way out, her captor is revealed. She learns her captor isn't alone. Still, Lo is determined to make it out alive. 

With the discovery of 2 bodies in the water, will we finally know who was murdered? And will Lo make it out alive?