Review: What Lies Within

What Lies Within by James Morris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh boy did I take a long time to finish this book. I kept putting it off and on because I couldn't get into the story in the beginning. I would like to apologise for taking this long to finish this book.

"What Lies Within" is a thriller-science-fiction-ish book. It was suspenseful and fast-paced. The suspenseful plot would keep you reading until you have finished the story. The plot was refreshing and new; many occasions where I find myself in awe with what happened.

However, I had some slight problems with the first quarter of the book as it was pretty plain and I felt the story was being dragged for no reason. That was partly the reason why I couldn't get into the book as well as I should have. After that, I practically flew through (with occasions of assignments and heavy workload) it.

I also had problem with Shelly (the protagonist) because I don't feel attached to her. I constantly find myself questioning why did she do what she's doing and why would she even think that way? Maybe that's the perks of (usually) a female protagonist.

Overall it was an interesting and compelling read. Recommend to any thriller or even crime&investigation readers out there.

I've been sent a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

View all my reviews

[REVIEW] The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

I received this book from a Tumblr giveaway.

First impression - the cover is one of my favourite book covers. The photography is so stunningly beautiful. I believe this trilogy has the most beautiful and relatable book covers ever. However, they say 'do not judge a book by its cover and I find that idiom very suitable in reviewing this book.

Goodreads synopsis: Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.  

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed. 

There is. 

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love. 

She’s wrong.

As I implied above, yes, this book is not in my favourite list. It's enjoyable but the characters are annoyingly perfect. If this were my first young adult paranormal romance, I might hug this book and rave about Noah. The truth is that Twilight is my first YA paranormal romance so this book didn't struck me as appealing as it should be.

First off, Noah is the problem and the sadly protruded problem is him being too perfect. If you have not guess it already, yes, he is another hot-i-dont-have-to-study-but-i'm-smart-becoz-i've-photographicmemory-skipclasses-pickfights-becoz-dont-touch-my-girl-hotbody-changedgirlfriendslikecloths-but-i-see-you-are-the-one guy. Everything else is self-explanatory. On the other hand, our main heroine, Mara Dyer is the damsel in distress for Noah to be attracted to and saved. Actually, Mara does not get on my nerves that much because of her paranormal-ness but Noah does. His character struck me as too perfect and no character should be perfect for the story to go on.

"You have to be an artist and a madman, a creature of infinite melancholy, in order to discern, at once, the little deadly demon among the wholesome children," he said, his British accent melting around the words, his voice smooth and low. "She stands unrecognised by them and unconscious herself of her fanatic power."

Who the hell will say something like that?

Secondly, I like the creepy and eerie feelings during the first 1/3 of the book but how did it suddenly projected to some flowery high school romance drama. I wanted to know what's going on with Mara and all that was told is Noah is hitting on Mara. The relationship was widely mentioned because this is in fact, a paranormal romance novel.

Look on the bright side, I did enjoy this book as it was a fast read. The chapters are left off as mini cliffhanger and you would be eager to read the next chapter to find out what's going on. I also really impressed with the idea of Mara's ability. It's not vampire or werewolf or magic or fallen angel but something unexplainable. That idea of supernatural power is not something you would easily come across in fictions, even paranormal fiction.

Seeing that I sped through this book but unwilling to continue (maybe next time) the series, I gave it a 3-stars. If you like paranormal romance and Noah is your type of guy, maybe you'll love this book.

Summer

pretty cover book: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones

original post

- SYNOPSIS LINK -

First book of the Inside Out Trilogy. An adult erotic thriller so if you’re not around the age and mentality, just be aware. 

I picked up this book all thanks to the paint-brush pen free gift. & thanks topolandbananas20 / xtinemay1920 for her hilarious booktube videos. 

First off, for people who made comparisons of this book with 50 Shades of Gray, you got the wrong idea. I agree that both books are about BDSM but the plots were greatly distinct in every scene. (maybe not the rich and sexy part. LOL)

Skipping through all sexual scenes, IIWY started off being captivating, intriguing and mysterious. That keeps me from reading it to till the end. 

Okay, how do I start?

I like the detective moments where Sara (the main character) vows to solve this Rebecca’s mystery. First 100 pages (around there) of the book, Sara was still very keen on seeking out for Rebecca but the detective instinct sort of stopped though out the middle of the book. Then later, only comes back at the near end of the book. & I didn’t like it. I wanted to know about Rebecca, her mysterious life, her encounter with that dominant ‘master’ and where the hell is she? 

Agree or not, through out the book, I believe all readers are constantly questioning - Mark or Chris, is the man with Rebecca? If you’re not, what are you reading then?

At first, I really thought it would be Mark. He’s arrogance and fetish with “punishments”. But as the story unfolds, I kinda shift the burden to Chris. So, I can’t be sure. OHOHOH, I did came up with this theory of Chris and Mark are actually working together to victimise on Sara. That would be picked up on the part where they constantly have cockfights with each other. & Ava is another mysterious character. & Elle and her fiancé. So much of mystery going on I had to get the rest of the trilogy. 

Note on the plot twist where Sara was actually a daughter of a rich established businessman. That was a real surprise. (Not to mention, surprises in books are good.) 

[EDIT A LITTLE] I totally forgotten to mention about the artsy-futsy settings. Yes, it levels up the whole mood of the book! I really like it when the characters were discussing about arts and wines, it’s like I’m learning some extra knowledge. 

To be honest, kinky BDSM erotica is not my cup of tea but the thriller aspect is. If someone who kindly message me on the spoiler of this trilogy I would be so glad. Seriously. I don’t like this cliffhanger feels. Even if I had to buy the rest of the 2 books, it will take weeks for them to arrive. 

The reason for 4-stars on Goodreads. There are some parts where I really couldn’t accept it. I was swearing through those moments. Yeah so. 

Find Rebecca,

Summer

To Get into the Inside Out Trilogy:

If I Were You / Being Me / Revealing Us