The whole concept behind this book initially appealed to me because I thought it sounded like a lovely,  humorous take on the way we scrutinize our relationships and define our ‘criteria’ for the perfect partner. And of course, a story where a man defies his criteria for his soul mate is one that every woman wants to hear, right?

The Rosie Project is full of emotion and eccentric characters, but for some reason I didn’t find it as entertaining as I hoped.  It follows the story of Don Tillman, an extremely intelligent geneticist who suffers unknowingly from Asperger’s Syndrome, which makes any social situation his worst nightmare (imagine Sheldon from Big Bang Theory, but older). Don is becoming frustrated with his lack of success with the dating scene so, drawing upon his expertise, he decides to devise a detailed questionnaire that will enable him to find the most compatible, perfect wife. He calls this ‘The Wife Project’.

With the help of his best friend and colleague, Gene, Don launches the project but is dismayed by the responses to his questionnaire – the women aren’t quite as perfect as he hoped. But then Gene introduces him to Rosie (who would score catastrophically low on the questionnaire, FYI) and he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself. Rosie is everything a wife shouldn’t be, yet Don can’t help but learn to adore her. He even helps her to pick up the pieces of her family life by searching for her biological father, risking his career in the process.

It’s the ultimate – if slightly bizarre – love story, and I like the fact that the characters don’t adhere to your typical stereotypes: Rosie is flawed but strong and courageous, whereas Don is naïve, warm-hearted and just damn right strange! For a female reader Don’s incapability to be open-minded is so frustrating at the start, but to see his character develop is endearing and you do come to empathize with him and really route for his happiness.

I read this book while I was on holiday and, although some parts did grip me, towards the third quarter of the book my interest started to waver and I wasn’t as hooked as I expected to be. For me, I felt the story-line was a little too basic; I would have liked to have seen some more plot twists or some surprising secrets unveiled that would add more substance to the characters, especially Rosie.

The second installment The Rosie Effect has just been released, and I’m still undecided on whether to read it or not. What are your thoughts? I’m really tempted to give this story another chance, so watch this space!

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Daughter follows the lives of the Malcolm family after the disappearance of their youngest child; their daughter Naomi. Told from the perspective of the mother, Jenny, the reader can do nothing but helplessly watch the family fall apart after Naomi doesn’t return from her performance in the school play one evening. The chapters alternate between the days leading up to Naomi’s disappearance and the months afterwards.

After the disappearance Jenny desperately tries to see watch she missed, what she did wrong or remember anything that would give her some kind of clue as where Naomi had gone. As a reader, I felt myself assuming the worst throughout the novel, having been used to hearing such awful and gut-wrenching stories about missing children on the news. Jenny becomes her own detective in the mystery, and you follow her trails of thought all the way to the end.

One of the most poignant things about Daughter is the importance of ‘knowing’, more specifically knowing your own family. Everyone keeps secrets, but I imagine as a parent you hope that your child won’t keep harmful secrets from you. Growing up as a teenager can often feel oppressive, with parents trying to do what’s best for their child and instead coming across as invasive. There is often a pressure to conform to the values of your family, even more so if you’re just not like them.

As it turns out, Naomi was keeping secrets from her family. But so were her brothers: one of them regularly taking ketamine and the other homosexual. In some cases it doesn’t hurt to keep secrets, but those of the Malcom family prove to be better out in the open –  it’s better to be honest, even if you are having an affair with a work colleague (in the case of Naomi’s dad).

This tangle of secretive behavior becomes even more chaotic after the disappearance of Naomi. At times like that everyone wants to point the finger at someone and to blame them for what’s happened. So who was to blame – Jenny for working long hours at the GP surgery, more concerned about other people’s children than her own? Naomi’s dad, for having an affair with a colleague right in front of his daughter while she was on work experience? Naomi’s boyfriend, for leading her astray and away from her family values? Or Naomi herself, for dreaming of something more than what she had?

You’ll have to read it and make up your own mind – I’m sure by the end of the novel you’ll reconsider who you think is the victim in this family drama. Definitely worth a read, a captivating story that tugs on the heartstrings of everyone.

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If you’re looking for a really easy read that keeps you intrigued this book is a good choice – you could whiz through this in just a week or two. One Moment, One Morning is about how the lives of three women are intertwined as a result of a horrific incident on the morning train from Brighton to London.

It begins as any other normal morning would, with sleepy commuters slumped on the train either listening to music, reading the paper, drinking coffee… Lou observes a couple opposite her, chatting away to each other. They seem happy, she thinks.  But not a second after Lou is warmed by their happiness has the carriage erupted into commotion, the man violently vomiting then collapsing head-first on the tray table in front of him: dead.

Simon’s wife, Karen, blames herself. She should have known when he complained of heartburn on the way to the station, she should have realized he wasn’t well. But that doesn’t matter now; they were on their way to sign the contracts for a new house, but those will remain unsigned and their two small children will never see their daddy again.

The novel covers just one week of time, the chapters split up into days. It follows Karen as she desperately tries to hold it together, small objects and routines reminding her of Simon and how sudden and unfairly he disappeared from their lives. It details accounts of Karen’s best friend Anna, who was also travelling on the train that day, and how she assumes her role in supporting Karen whilst struggling with an alcoholic boyfriend. And then there’s Lou, the stranger who witnessed it all, who promised her late father she’d never tell her mother she was gay.

What strikes the reader most in this narrative is how easily a normal life can be turned upside down, and how differently each individual feels about what life has dealt them. Throughout the novel the characters of Anna and Lou begin to relate their lives to Simon’s death, and the choices they make that week are shaped considerably by what they have seen happen to Karen. I personally felt the frustration from all three women as they battled to let go of their pasts, because this is something I’m terrible at myself! The future is daunting, even more so when your loved ones aren’t there to guide you.

I felt the ending of the novel was a little bit cliche – Karen and her family are planting in a new allotment, which is something Simon had always wanted to do. Planting new seeds has long been a metaphor for both a new start and keeping a spirit alive, but it was an appropriate way to bring the characters together to symbolize the start of a new era.

I think Karen’s character in particular was a little flawed, or perhaps it was that her mentality was not explored in enough depth. There are understandably cracks in her shell, including an incident with a salad bowl, but I could never imagine being so calm and collected during such a traumatic period. If Karen was naturally a strong person, I did not see enough evidence in other parts of her life to believe it. If she was trying to put on a front for her family and friends, she didn’t falter enough to suggest this either. So when it came to the closing scene in the allotment it felt all bland; I’d been waiting for Karen to do something or be something more than she was. Like a salad with no dressing, pretty much.

Nevertheless, I can’t say that this was a book I didn’t enjoy.  In some ways it explores death much like Life After Life in the way that it creeps up unexpectedly, and no matter how much you scrutinize yourself there’s no guarantee you could have done anything to change it. I liked the way Anna and Lou were involved in the narrative, and how the reader is able to draw parallels between each of their ‘dilemmas’, demonstrating how the intensity of other people’s problems can throw a new perspective on your own.

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Well… where do I start?! At a hefty 690 pages this is hardly a short read, but don’t be alarmed – the story isn’t necessarily difficult to follow, so it’s easy to dip in and out of.

A Discovery of Witches will (not surprisingly) appeal to fans of Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood and all other supernatural-based dramas. The reader is first introduced to Diana Bishop, a descendant of the famous Bishop bloodline dating back to when witches were burnt at the stake in Salem. But Diana isn’t your ordinary witch; researching alchemy at modern-day Oxford University, she has spent most of her life choosing not to rely on magic. Aside from a few instances where magic really comes in handy of course, like when you can’t reach a book you need on the top shelf of the University library…

Diana has been spotted. Not by a human, thank goodness, but by something else. Matthew Clairmont is vampire several centuries old, and his eyes are piercing the spot between Diana’s shoulder blades. This chilling introduction between the two characters is the start of a tangle of conflicts around Diana, her family and an ancient manuscript that holds the secrets of all supernatural creatures. Diana’s unclear dynasty ensures that she is the only witch who can unleash and interpret the power behind this manuscript – undeniably overwhelming for a witch who barely uses magic. Henceforth other witches, vampires and daemons all over the world are on high alert; stalking, threatening, contriving, impatiently waiting for answers that have been sought for centuries.

And how could I forget, no supernatural drama is complete without an inter-species relationship! Of course Diana and Matthew fall hopelessly in love, which is severely frowned upon by the Congregation representing supernatural beings. But Matthew must protect Diana from other vampires, daemons and witches in search for the manuscript’s secrets. He works tirelessly with Diana to try and unscramble her secrets – what happened to her parents, how to unlock her magic and how she has come to be linked with such a powerful and important manuscript.

One of the things I particularly liked about this book was (ignoring the cliché’s that did exist) there were elements of this story that I have not come across before in a supernatural narrative, for example spellbinding and time travel. It was refreshing to be enticed into different events not replicated from mainstream best-sellers such as Twilight, but I still can’t say I was too excited by the story-line as a whole. It has a very linear progression, which is great for an easy-read, but meant that it was predictable at times. As a reader I do like to be left guessing occasionally, but there was no room for this at all – every plot development was accounted for, which I don’t believe is always necessary and can result in a bulk of dull narrative that just fills the gaps.

I do feel though that the characters are well defined and there is a good range of different traits. Diana herself comes across as very independent, focused but also vulnerable, especially in the absence of her parents. Matthew is mysterious, wise and stubborn – very typical for a vampire! Diana’s aunts are eccentric, fussy and over-protective. I felt myself change my perception of only one character in the whole book, and that was Matthew’s ‘mother’, Ysabeau. She came across as slightly threatening to begin with and I flagged her as a character not to trust. However, I began to see how misunderstood she was as Diana began to warm to her and crave her maternal presence.

Overall, I think the book would appeal more to readers who have not read many supernatural texts before and are looking for something a bit different – the story-line is quite predictable for those who are familiar with vampire-esque stories, but as I mentioned there are some elements that I have not come across before.

The Discovery of Witches is the first book in a trilogy series, all of which are hefty sizes so this series would require a fair bit of dedication. Similar to my verdict on The Rosie Project, I’m unsure whether I will continue reading, but I am intrigued to see how the story develops and unfolds in the second installment, so I’ll definitely keep an open mind and will possibly approach the second book in the near future. It depends how soon I need a vampire fix!

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I’m a little late to the bandwagon with this one, since it was the first choice for the new Loose Women book club over a month ago and has received a lot of attention since then. But better late than never! I’d definitely recommend this book to fans of Gone Girl (whether you’ve read the book or seen the film) and anyone who likes reading mysteries or thrillers.

In a nutshell, The Girl on the Train is about a regular train passenger Rachel, who passes by the same house every day on the same train, morning and evening. Most days she catches a glimpse of the couple that live in the house, whether they’re in the garden eating breakfast or making coffee in the kitchen, just beyond the patio doors. Rachel had doors exactly like those once, only a few doors down.

One morning Rachel discovers that the woman who she idly gazes at from the train carriage has been reported missing.  She tries to wrack her brains for any snippet of information that could help this poor woman – perhaps she saw something? But this proves to be a difficult task for an alcoholic, as Rachel can barely remember how she got into her own bed most nights.

And so begins a tangle of controversy, deceit, love, hate and instability, where the reader struggles to uncover the facts behind the disappearance through eyes often intoxicated by either alcohol or jealousy, or both. Rachel is like the crazy friend who no matter how hard you try, you just cannot persuade her to get her life back together.

She is an unreliable source (literally) so it’s natural as a reader to want to lean on the accounts of other characters to get the bigger picture. But as the novel progresses you begin to doubt your judgement, as not a single character is as straightforward as they seem. This is one of my favorite elements of the book, as the ability to define false impressions of characters is certainly not an easy feat.

There’s Megan – an innocent victim, kidnapped from her own home and most probably brutally murdered. But she’s also suspiciously damaged, if not a little unstable – far from the perfection that Rachel has formulated from the window of a train. And her husband Scott: a grieving, distraught widower or a violent, murderous husband? There’s Anna, a manipulative home-wrecker who will just about do anything to get what she wants. Until she realizes she was wrong about everything she thought was right. And there’s Tom, Rachel’s ex and Anna’s partner, a poor guy just caught in the wrath of two feisty females. Until page 278 when Rachel realizes:

“She’s not looking at me, but over my shoulder, and as I turn around to follow her gaze, I see him standing in the kitchen window, watching us.”

Creepy indeed. I think this novel has a great way of encompassing the phrase ‘things aren’t always as they seem’. It plays on our tendency to assume the worst and to revert to clichés wherever there’s an opportunity. It plays on the way we judge people’s characters from their past rather than their present, and how we can misinterpret actions so easily. And it plays on our ignorance – people may look happy or sad on the surface, but how well do you know exactly what’s going on around you? Sometimes it takes an outsider looking in to discover the truth

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