My October Reads

October was a rather lacklustre month for me, I read some below average books, one of which is so overhyped it's unreal. I'm hoping November is going to be a better reading month.

I will include the books descriptions first.

Here are the book descriptions, just because I didn't like the books doesn't mean that other people won't!

The Whisper Man

Still devastated after the loss of his wife, Tom Kennedy and his young son Jake move to the sleepy village of Featherbank, looking for a fresh start.

But Featherbank has a dark past. Fifteen years ago a twisted serial killer abducted and murdered five young boys. Until he was finally caught, the killer was known as 'The Whisper Man'.

Of course, an old crime need not trouble Tom and Jake as they try to settle in to their new home. Except that now another young boy has gone missing. And then Jake begins acting strangely .

He says he hears a whispering at his window...

Want To Play?

The slaying of an old couple in small town America looks like one-off act of brutal retribution. But at the same time, in Minneapolis, teams of detectives scramble to stop a sickeningly inventive serial killer striking again in a city paralysed by fear.

When the two separate investigations converge on an isolated catholic boarding school, decades old secrets begin to fall away. It seems an old killer has resurfaced. Yet still the killer's real identity remains dangerously out of reach ...

Schoolgirl Missing

When fourteen-year-old Poppy vanishes on a family boating trip, suspicion soon turns close to home – to the two people who should do everything to keep her safe, her parents, Kit and Neve. Can they really be responsible for their little girl’s disappearance?

Neve loves Poppy like her own daughter, but the truth is, she isn’t. And her very existence means Neve will never have a precious child to call her own. But would Neve harm her step-daughter simply to get her own way? In times like this Neve has always turned to her sister Megan to help. Megan will know what to do…

Kit would do anything to keep his family safe and happy. But his refusal to have another child has been causing a strain on his marriage. And he’s worried Neve’s mental state is growing increasingly unstable. But would he harm his own daughter just to prove he is in control?

As the frantic search for Poppy grows, Kit and Neve’s marriage is close to breaking point. And only one person can get what they want.

The first book I read in October was The Whisper Man by Alex North.

This is the book that was overhyped, it's just an average book, nothing too special. I didn't dislike it but I wasn't blown away at all. If I'm being honest, looking back at my review, I probably wouldn't read it again like I said and I would rate it a 2.5 if that was part of the rating system on goodreads (hey goodreads, can you get on that please..).

Anyway here is the review I wrote on goodreads : (3 stars)

The Whisper man was an intriguing thriller, I enjoyed reading it, it had an interesting storyline which included small horror elements and a lot of gritty, psychological aspects.

The Whisper man took me on an emotional journey, with different 1st and 3rd person narratives of the loving widowed father, and the hardworking police officers, it really helped me understand each character and made me feel involved in their emotional journeys.

Although regarding the two police officers, I wanted more personality from them, I was hoping for more of a close partnership between the two, but I just didn't get that chemistry which was a shame.

It became quite the slow burner, as it was fast paced in the beginning, which is the opposite of how a book usually is, straight away it was about murder but then the book focused more on the emotional development of the main characters son, which I didn't dislike but I would've liked more action, and more horror (I know it's a thriller but it also features murder).

It had a rather anticlimactic ending too, it was obvious who the killer was about half way into the book, there was no shocking twist.

Perhaps I was expecting more from this book as I had heard many good things about it.

Overall I did enjoy it and I can easily say that I would read it again, I just think it lacked a certain level of depth and finesse.

The second book I read in October was Want To Play? by P.J Tracy. I won't be reading this one again if i'm being honest, it just wasn't it for me.

I didn't really enjoy it, I forced myself to finish it.. I have a habit of finishing books I dislike, because I absolutely hate DNF'ing books.

Here is my review : (2 stars)

This book just wasn’t it for me, I don’t necessarily think it’s bad, I just didn’t vibe with it.

There were far too many characters to keep track of, half the time I wound up saying ‘who?’ and ‘Is this the policeman from that state or the other state’.

It was just too much for me to understand.

The same goes for the plot, I grasped most of it but bits and pieces were lost with me, because It was difficult to recall which plot went with which characters.

The ending was a little predictable too, and to be honest, a little lacklustre - it seemed as though the author was really struggling to come up with a concept as to why the murderer was killing all these people.

I liked the characters though, I found pretty much all of them entertaining, especially the police officers but it just wasn’t enough to keep me interested, I needed more from this book.

I only read three books in October and this third one, was the worst read of them all, I just hated it so much, pure garbage. It is Schoolgirl Missing by Sue Fortin.

This does contain spoilers.

Review : (1 star)

** spoiler alert **

I can’t say anything good about Schoolgirl Missing, and that’s what made the decision for me that this was a 1* book.

Firstly, this book should be called ‘ A Toxic Marriage’ because that’s what it’s entirety is all about.

The girl Poppy is missing for less than 100 pages.

Before that it’s constant whining from the woman and then theres the man who’s losing a battle with his insecurities (Including a big ego and harmful masculinity).

After she’s found, it’s more or less the same thing except now there’s a tedious investigation added to the mix.

I physically found the plot mind bogglingly stupid.

The woman, Neve is begging her husband for a baby and he refuses every time, so in order to get him on board with the idea of having one she kidnaps her stepdaughter/his daughter, making him desperate enough for another child? Right, because that’s plausible and not at all ridiculous.

So in the end, all we learn is that Neve is severely mentally unstable but winds up not getting help and just living happily ever after.

However the worst part about this book is the terrible grammar and punctuation, it’s amateur level at best.

There are unfinished sentences throughout, and awful punctuational errors such as speech marks that are thrown in at random, I saw ones that weren’t even connected to sentences.

I wouldn’t read this book again if you paid me to.