The Witch by Freida McFadden

 

Synopsis :

Some secrets don't die―they wait.

When Julia Barlow loses her job and her apartment, she has nowhere left to go but Pemberton, her family's sprawling seventeenth-century estate in rural Massachusetts. Officially, she's there to check in on her aging grandmother. Unofficially, she's hoping the old house will give her a place to disappear.

Instead, Pemberton begins to unravel her.

Every night, the grandfather clock stops at exactly 3:41 a.m. The lights flicker without warning. And a disembodied voice cries for help outside Julia's bedroom door.

As Julia digs into the house's dark history, she uncovers the story of a woman executed for witchcraft in 1692―and realizes the past may not be finished with Pemberton yet. When decades of family lies begin to surface, Julia must confront a terrifying truth: Pemberton may be haunted by women whose voices refuse to stay silent.

This is what I have to say :

Here I am. Once again. With the latest title from Freida McFadden.

I read this title over a weekend.  I read The Witch expecting it to be the same as per her previous titles.  However, I must say the author decided to level up (that's how I would describe it).

As a hint, the twist to the story started right at the beginning of the story itself and that itself is pretty refreshing to me.

Alternating between Caroline in 1692 and Julia in current timeline, the story is very captivating and as much as I want to know what happend to Caroline, I also wanted to know what is happening to Julia in current timeline.  I have no choice but to exercise patience and read it one page and a time and not to flip to the ending! But that doesnt stop me from guessing what the twists were and when I got to the part with the surprises, I was loving it.  To me there were two main surprises and the surprises were rather refreshing as it does have a hint of Freida but at the same it, it was different too.

I can quite safely say that this title is now my favourite title.  Of course nothing beats The Housemaid but this is also very good.

Ok, Freida. What's next?

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Book #1)

 

Synopsis :

What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

This is what I have to say :

I first saw Before The Coffee Gets Cold in a bookshop in TRX (if you know what's TRX, you know, if you dont, it's ok too).  I managed to get my hand on an ebook version sometime later.  During a recent solo trip I thought it would be chill to read it inflight.

Bad move! Dont get me wrong. It is a GREAT book.  Before the Coffee Gets Cold is so so good. I love the way the author wrote or maybe it's the translation. But it was easy to read but captivating at  the same time.  Readers met four individuals who wanted to time travel for various reasons.

The traveller that touches my heart was the one who travelled back in time to meet her husband who is suffering from alzheimer and do not recognise her now.  She wanted to meet him again at a time when he can remember who she is.  Their story brought heart breaking tears to my eyes and horror of horrors,  I found myself sobbing mid way through my flight.  So embarassing!  Luckily the most of the other passengers were snoozing and it was a pretty empty flight and I did not have an immediate neighbour. 

I have discovered that there's actually 6 books in the series and you can be sure I will be getting my hands on them and you will hear all about it here in time to come.  Whether there will be another embarassing episode from me or not will depends on where I read the other titles in the series. 

The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth

 

Synopsis :

And the world as it is today is a very scary place.

When British and American intelligence catch wind of a major Al Qaeda operation in the works, they instantly galvanize- but to do what? They know nothing about it: the what, where, or when. They have no sources in Al Qaeda, and it's impossible to plant someone. Impossible, unless . . .

The Afghan is Izmat Khan, a five-year prisoner of Guantánamo Bay and a former senior commander of the Taliban. The Afghan is also Colonel Mike Martin, a twenty-five-year veteran of war zones around the world-a dark, lean man born and raised in Iraq. In an attempt to stave off disaster, the intelligence agencies will try to do what no one has ever done before-pass off a Westerner as an Arab among Arabs-pass off Martin as the trusted Khan.

It will require extraordinary preparation, and then extraordinary luck, for nothing can truly prepare Martin for the dark and shifting world into which he is about to enter. Or for the terrible things he will find there.

This is what I say :

I read this title in 10 days. Started on a Sunday and completed it the following Tuesday.  I am rather pleased with myself for this achievement.

That said, The Afghan wasn't a difficult title to read. Being a thriller, it is actually quite captivating in the way that an experience author is able to.

There are very few dialogues.  It is like reading a brief. Somewhat dry but surprisingly captivating.

Not much character development but at the sime time feel like we know the character well enough.

It ended quite sudden and abruptly and I was left with "that's it?" but then quite rightly too as what more can be written about it. 

I do like The Afghan.  I would recommend it to you if you are a fan of thriller but only if you are ready to commit to it then you will appreciate it.

Salvage by Keren David

 

Synopsis :

Aidan Jones was my brother. But I couldnt remember his face

Cass was adopted at an early age and life' been comfortable ever since - too comfortable, some might say.

I glance at the paper. There's a picture on the front page. I sit down and stare at Cass. It's her. My stolen sister.

Aidan's disrupted childhood has been spent shuttling between foster care and children's homes, with a brief disastrous return to his birth mother.

Their experiences couldn't be more different, but their paths are about to converge. Aidan manages to track down his lost sister, and they arrange a secret meeting.  But neither of them have really thought this through.

Can a broken family be salvaged?

This is what I say :

This is my first title since a couple of months ago.  I found this book while looking for some other titles. If I remember correctly, this book belongs to the princess. But I read it anyhow as I wanted to clear it from that section of THR titles.

I started this title on an Wednesday and I finish reading it on that Saturday.  

It was a ok title.  Wasn't bad. But doesnt have the wow factor also.

It's a title that wants readers to think after reading.  1 family (brother and sister). Lives disrupted by circumstances and choices not from their own making.  Started from the same root but moves on to different lives system. One was adopted. the other went into foster care.  

If you like to 'think and reflect' after reading, you can do a lot of 'thinking and reflecting' from this title. From their you can draw your own conclusion. Can what's broken be salvage?

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

 

Synopsis :

Fixie Farr has always lived by her father’s motto: “Family first.” But since her dad passed away, leaving his charming housewares store in the hands of his wife and children, Fixie spends all her time picking up the slack from her siblings instead of striking out on her own. The way Fixie sees it, if she doesn’t take care of her father’s legacy, who will? It’s simply not in her nature to say no to people.

So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, Fixie not only agrees—she ends up saving it from certain disaster. Turns out the computer’s owner is an investment manager. To thank Fixie for her quick thinking, Sebastian scribbles an IOU on a coffee sleeve and attaches his business card. But Fixie laughs it off—she’d never actually claim an IOU from a stranger. Would she?

Then Fixie’s childhood crush, Ryan, comes back into her life and his lack of a profession pushes all of Fixie’s buttons. She wants nothing for herself—but she’d love Seb to give Ryan a job. And Seb agrees, until the tables are turned once more and a new series of IOUs between Seb and Fixie—from small favors to life-changing moments—ensues. Soon Fixie, Ms. Fixit for everyone else, is torn between her family and the life she really wants. Does she have the courage to take a stand? Will she finally grab the life, and love, she really wants?

This is what I say :

I would give this title a 6 out of 10.  I seldom rate a book in such manner but I dont know how else to start sharing my thoughts on this title.

I dont dislike it but I dont quite like it too.  Recent titles by Sophie Kinsella dont really hit the mark. Having said that, I Owe You One is quite readable.  

Fixie (nickname) I cant even remember her real name, as a main character doesnt really appeal to me. I miss Samantha from Undomesticated Goddess and the author's other characters from earlier years.

Or maybe it's just me.

I am different now from when I first read Sophie's title many many years ago.

Even then I am glad for the opportunity to read this title since Sophie said a forever good bye to this world end of last year.

The Divorce by Freida McFadden

 

Synopsis :

Naomi was living the quintessential love story. Boy meets girl. They fall in love, get married, buy a dream house, start a family…

Then―he kicks her out, hires the city’s best divorce lawyers, drains their accounts, and takes up with a 20-something.

It’s a brutal end to the story. Naomi should accept defeat: move into a dingy apartment, get back into the workforce, and piece together the shattered remains of her life.

Except, why should she?

Instead, Naomi fixates on her husband’s new girlfriend. What begins as cynical curiosity soon twists into obsession―and then into something far darker. As Naomi uncovers secrets she never imagined, she realizes her own life may be in danger.

But if it keeps her perfect family intact, isn’t it worth it?

This is what I say :

I discovered Freida's new title The Divorce on a Friday. That evening itself, I have the ebook in my tablet. The next day, I read it and it took me one whole day in between other stuff.

I can't believe I am back with another title by Frieda McFadden.  I also can't believe the author has published yet another new title.

So what do I think of The Divorce.  Firstly, the title itself is misleading.  It should not be The Divorce but something else.  Maybe the Family?  Because the story is more than just the divorce.

Secondly, the synopsis above is also misleading.  it doesn't mention a key character which is binds all characters together.  

Having said that, I am quite happy to spend the day on The Divorce and trying to guess the twist to the story.

Hint : The son

Surprise Me by Sophia Kinsella

 

Synopsis :

After being together for ten years, Sylvie and Dan have all the trimmings of a happy life and marriage; they have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, beautiful twin girls, and communicate so seamlessly, they finish each other’s sentences. However, a trip to the doctor reveals they could live another 68 years together… and panic sets in. They never expected ‘until death do us part’ to mean seven decades.

In the name of marriage survival, they quickly concoct a plan to keep their relationship fresh and exciting: they will create little surprises for each other so that their (extended) years together will never become boring.

But in their pursuit to execute Project Surprise Me, mishaps arise and secrets are uncovered that start to threaten the very foundation of their unshakeable bond. When a scandal from the past is revealed that questions some important untold truths, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew each other after all…

This is what I say :

Surprise Me was read in between many of Freida McFadden titles.  

I am always a fan of Sophia Kinsella.  Her titles especially some favourites never fails to put a smile on my face.

However, Surprise Me doesn't really it like a typical Sophia Kinsella's title.  It is still a good read but something is different and maybe Sophia's life at the point of writing is different which somehow translate into her writing.

I didn't like Sylvie much.  I am also not really a fan of Dan.  As such, these characters do not 'speak' to me.  While I still enjoy the book, it would not be high on my recommended list if you have other titles to read.