This is How You Fall in Love - Anika Hussain

I enjoyed this rom-com where the protagonist is a South Asian, since such characters not often seen in this genre. The characters are well drawn and I loved getting to know Zara and Adnan and enjoyed reading about their camaraderie and the confusion that gets the plot going.

Hussain has a good grasp of the young adult mind and their dilemmas. She skilfully balances the idiosyncrasy of the families and the peer pressures, in How to Fall in Love. I found it to be a good balance of a well told story with some great characters and themes.

Zara and Adnan have known each practically all their life and it is a given for their friends and families that they will get together. However, Zara and Adnan don't feel that way. And then when Zara steps in to help Adnan out of a small fix, they don't realise that things may quickly spin out of control which can create complications not only for them but also for those they love!

The narrative style especially the use of text messages is employed well and I enjoyed racing through the story to find out "will they, won't they".

An enjoyable read. My teenage daughter and I read it together and had a great time talking about the book. I am already making plans to buy more copies for some YA readers I know!

The Murders at Fleat House - Lucinda Riley

I remember reading Riley years ago, the Olive Tree and enjoyed it immensely. She is a great storyteller and I was curious to see how she handled this crime thriller genre since I saw her as a contemporary fiction writer. Plus when I learnt that this was a posthumous publication it added to the novelty factor as well as the interesting premise of a murder mystery set in a Norfolk.

Gist:

Fleat House is a boarding school for the privileged. Big names send their children here and with any other boarding school, it smacks of wealth, bullies and nasty secrets. But when a pupil is found dead under unusual circumstances, the school wants to hush it up as an accidental death. However when one of the teaching staff is found dead, the school is forced to allow the police into the school to find out what is happening.

Investigating office Jasmine Hunter is stepping away from her police career for private reasons. However she decides to take up this case as a favour to her boss. With her trusted right hand Alistair Miles, they plunge into this dark world of priviledge, grudges and unsavoury truths.

My review:

I liked the atmospheric boarding school setting. A slew of characters are introduced at first, as Riley takes us into their lives. In her true engaging style, the reader is invested in the characters and settles well into the story straightaway.

There are a lot of disparate threads and Riley navigates through them skilfully. These threads have their own subplots and it is a while before they all come together and fuse into a singular narrative, but it is hugely entertaining and a delightful read.

I couldn't put it down and found myself snatching a few minutes just to find out what happens next. There were times when the story took a different path, throwing the reader offguard. The twists and turns were so nicely done, throwing the seasoned armchair detective off, with its red herrings and then the reveal which loops the story very well bringing it into a whole circle.

Thoroughly loved this read and it is a shame that the readers won't get to read more of Riley. Her talent will be truly missed. 

My review:

Wrong Place Wrong Time - Gillian McAllister

 I had heard lots of great things about this book and was intrigued. I had never read Gillian Mcallister before and was keen to discover this writer who was local to me. So happy when I finally managed to pick up a copy and what a treat it was.

Gist:

One Halloween night a mother looks out of the window, waiting for her teenage son. She sees him come up the drive but then right in front of her eyes, she sees a murder happen. She knows what she has seen, and wakes up the next day which is the day before, only this time she knews what is going to happen. 

How do you stop a murder once it has happened? 

My Review: 

This one really blew my mind. The premise did sound a bit ambitious and I was not sure what to expect, but the way Mcallister unfolds the story and takes us back and forth, I enjoyed every bit of the ride. Twitter which is my primary source of book recommendations was raving about this one, and I was a bit cautious. Especially in crime thriller genre, the premise is very unusual and shocking and then once you get past the shock factor, the story fails to live up to the build of  the premise. 

This is not the case here at all. As a reader I was cautiously waiting to see how the story panned out, it is a tough one to pull off and I marvelled at the way the reader is taking through the story in a reverse narrative, each scene revealing the past at the same time taking the story forward.

The story is so smoothly told that the reader feels well placed with as layers are revealed with some well defined characters in the story.

A great read. I picked this one up from the library and just saw the paperback is out. I am going to get a copy for myself now!