Title: When I Was Me
Author: Hilary Freeman
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Book Depository Link: Buy now
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Mystery/Thriller
Buy: Yes
Review: Goodreads
Synopsis
One girl, two lives. Which is real?
When Ella wakes up one Monday morning, she discovers that she is not herself and that her life is not her own. She looks different, her friends are no longer her friends and her existence has been erased from the internet. Even worse, years of her history appear to have been rewritten overnight. And yet, nobody else thinks that anything weird has happened.
A tense and dark psychological thriller full of unexpected twists and turns about the random events and decisions that make us who we are. If you can't trust your own memories, then who can you trust?
Review
I actually did not expect anything from this book at first. I picked up this book because of two reason: 1) It's on sale. 2)The cover is pretty. Anyway, I'm glad that I picked up this. Sometimes, I'm lucky when it comes to pick a random book. Sometimes, I don't. But this time, I'm lucky.
This book started with Ella waking up one day feeling like not herself. I do sometimes..like where am I? Who am I? But this is not the case for Ella. Because she literally waking up as a new and different Ella. Her room, her mom and her appearance looking so much different than yesterday. Maybe she loses her mind or maybe she just need to calm down and sleep a bit. But nope..even after calming down and all, she still not herself. It's really crazy.
There's so many things Ella needs to find out. The truth, her real self and someone who can really understand her confusion. And she also needs to adapt to her new life now. As she going through with all that emotion and experience, I feel her sadness and loneliness. She actually is a strong girl mentally. Yes, she cried and break down..but there's something in her that I admire. Especially when she was supposed to major in filmography and the next day she's majoring in chemistry/science..I can't even. How am I supposed to feel about this? It's break my heart, like I was picturing myself as her. What will I do if I was her? I can't think. She adapted very well, bravo Ella.
Apart from that, she's trying her best to get back to her real self with the help of this one person who knows everything. And because of that, she discovered something really complex and she had to made a decision for herself. This book is really interesting and I cannot believe how thin this book is. Like I need explanation. I need more. Please, how's Ella doing after everything? I really get attached to Ella and don't want to leave her.
I don't want to review a lot about this book, because I might spoil it without realizing. The vital part to enjoy this book is by not knowing anything about it. I enjoyed it very much and really recommended this book to anyone..and everyone. It's fast paced book and very thin book (I don't like this part), so yeah.
Book Quotes
(may contain spoilers)
Either I have lot my memory.
Or I have lost my mind.
And if I'm not me, fully me, then who am I?
Like the radiographer, she seems delighted that my brain is 'perfect'. Some people have great legs, others great hair. Apparently, I have beautiful brain. It's just my luck that nobody else will ever be able to appreciate its gorgeousness unless I leave my body to science and it ends up in a jar on someone's desk.
The truth is, I have already lived many lives in my lifetime; there have already existed more versions of me than I can count. I have been constantly changing, little by little, cell by cell, pore by pore. All these other transformations were so slow that I simply didn't notice them happening. This one is different because it was so violent and sudden, because it happened overnight.
Title: Irène
Author: Pierre Lemaitre
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Genre: Crime fiction/ Thriller
Buy: Yes
Review: Goodreads
Synopsis
For Commandant Verhoeven life is beautiful: he is happily married, expecting his first child with the lovely Irène.
But his blissful existence is punctured by a murder of unprecedented savagery. Worse still, the press seem to have it in for him – his every move is headline news. When he discovers that the killer has killed before – that each murder is a homage to a classic crime novel – the fourth estate are quick to coin a nickname… The Novelist…
With both men in the public eye, the case develops into a personal duel, each hell-bent on outsmarting the other. There can only be one winner – whoever has the least to lose…
Book Review
This is one of the mind blowing book I've read at the beginning of the year. Mind you, I haven't read much of mind blowing books before. So maybe this is the first time. I can't believe that I've been tricked by this book because the twist is something that my mind didn't expect, hence the mind blowing thing. This book is the first book of the Verhoeven series written by Pierre Lemitre, a French author that have been translated to English by Frank Wynne (thank you, thank you so much).
The story start with the horrifying murder that happened to the two young woman that became a case for Commandant Verhoeven and his team to investigate. Let me tell you, the murder is too vivid and horrifying that I still get nightmares about it these days. I hate it but I love it.
Camille (Commandant Verhoeven) and his team consisting of Louis, Armand and Malevel are looking for clues and anything related to the murder and finally got some information that the crime is actually a crime series that happen before and surprise surprise...the murders that happened are exact copy from the crime fiction novels (multiple novels).
It's really intense book as I couldn't put this book down because I just want to know and solved all those mysteries. The main character is really interesting as well as the team. I love every part of this book and there's not a single page that I felt boring or not interesting enough. Every single page is worth it. Then we have Irène, Camille's wife as one of the important character as title is named after hers. So of course, everything will be related to her and I hate that. Leave Irene alone!!
I don't want to write long review because I'm afraid that I'll spoil all the important details of this book. As for me, if I were given this book to read, I definitely will jump into it without knowing anything about it, That will be the best way to enjoy this book. Highly recommended this book for someone who loves crime fiction and wouldn't mind all these scary crime details that will give you nightmares for several days. And the twist..something you cannot imagine (if you're just like me..pea size brain..hehe). It's funny book too despite the serious topic of murder.
Book Quotes
(may contain spoilers)
"Bastard!" "Who's a bastard?' "Oh, the world is full of bastards, Louis, but that hack from Le Matin, is leagues ahead of the rest." Camille told Louis about his encounter the previous evening.
"What's that?" "A list of wallpaper shops. Specifically those that stock the Dalmatian print." "How far have you got?" " Number thirty-seven." "And?" "And, I'm about to call number thirty-eight." "Obviously."
"It's not much, is it?" "Oh yes, there's one more thing: the letter was posted in Courbevoie, right next to the crime scene. The man's got style.
"Apparently the minister is 'deeply troubled'." "Troubled? A minister? You jest!" "Not at all, Camille. To me, a minister who is deeply troubled is deeply troubling in itself. But ministerial anxiety has practical benefit. Everything we were told was impossible yesterday is now top priority. By this afternoon you'll have a bigger squad room and lot more officers."
Title: Stolen
Author: Lucy Christopher
Amazon Link: Buy now
Book Depository Link: Buy now
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Contemporary/Thriller
Buy: Yes
Review: Goodreads
Synopsis
IT HAPPENED LIKE THIS.
I was stolen from an airport. Kidnapped. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Imprisoned by sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him.
This is my story. A letter to my captor.
Book Review
Gemma and her family went vacation to Bangkok when she first met her captor/kidnaper Ty at the coffee shop in Bangkok Airport while waiting for her flight to go back to London. She's sixteen years old girl who's really kind hearted and friendly and that's the reason why she accepted Coffee from Ty thinking that he was just being friendly. They talked for a while (Gemma being friendly) and suddenly she was in another continent. This is a story about how Gemma coped in that situation. At first she was terrified of that event and was really scared that Ty gonna kill her and all those nightmares. However, she then adapted to her current situation and finally accepted (I guess) that she won't be back home anymore.
First what I like about this book is Gemma's character. The author definitely portray how Gemma felt through all things that happened to her in a realistic way. She was scared at first and by the end of the book, she develop a comfortable feeling towards Ty. This is really possible because she doesn't have any choice but to be dependent on her captor although she hated him at first. But in real life situation, you'll eventually will be attach to Ty when all you can see is how good Ty treat you and somehow you'll forget that Ty is the reason you there (and all the bad things he done). They called it Stockholm syndrome: a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors.
I hate Ty character. I just hate him. The moment I start reading this book, all I want to do is burn this book or punching someone face. Because, I hate him. I can't understand him at all. He just some psychotic man and I don't really care about him. I don't want to know anything about him..at all. There are some parts where he discussed the first time he met Gemma and how he was really attracted to her, hence planning on kidnapping her that make my blood boil. Like seriously man..you need help. He's like a villian character from the drama that you hate so much and convince yourself that the person is real and you don't want to watch anymore because you hate him. It's positive kinda hate when you can't distinguish between reality and fiction.
I haven't really read lots of book that involve my emotion especially hateful emotion. Sometimes I do feel emotional while reading but always like happy, sad or terrified but never hate. I think this is the first book that I felt quite disturbed by the fact that I hate the character so much. Apart from that, this is a good book to understand the Stockholm syndrome. I just wish that Gemma will eventually find her own happiness and forget about all those traumatized event that happen to her.
Book Quotes
(may contain spoilers)
'Camels just make a lot of fuss.' You ran your hand up heck, and spoke gently to her again. Her ears flicked back to listen to you. 'As soon as she understand what we wants, she'll do it. Camels are like that.' I wondered if you thought the same thing about me.
What you did to me wasn't this brilliant thing, like you think it was. You took me away from everything-my parents, my friends, my life. You took me to the sand and the heat, the dirt and isolation. And you expected me to love you. And that's the hardest bit. Because I did or at least, I loved something out there. But I hated you too. I can't forget that.
But what else I can do, other than to plead with you like this? Other than to write down my story,our story, to show you what you've done..to make you realise that what you did wasn't fair, wasn't right.
