Hello guys!
Happy Holidays, belated Merry Xmas and all that jazz! I hope you had a lovely time with the family and got loads of gifts!
To celebrate Boxing Day this Friday Reads I have an amazing book that you all need to buy and add to your reading pile STAT! It's rare that I highly recommend a contemporary and this is one of those occasions!! It was even in my list of Top 10 Debuts on Wednesday, so yep, go get it!!
Every Breath by Ellie Marney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
One of my bookish resolutions of next year will be checking out more Australian fiction, because the two series I've started written by Australian authors, I've fallen in love with them completely!
When two of my bookish canaries, Kristen and Kim, highly recommended this one and then my fellow street team founder Ri concurred, I knew I had to give this one a chance, and since it was a loose retelling/reimagining of Sherlock Holmes, I just HAD to get it into my reading list before the end of the year!
And it was so the right choice! I'm not usually a big fan of contemporary, but this... this I absolutely loved! Both Watts and Mycroft (and dear me, I kept on thinking of either naked Stephen Fry's for movie's Mycroft or Mark Gatiss for BBC's Mycroft at first whenever I read the name!) feel like extremely genuine and realistic teenagers, with more or less extreme situations, with their own kind of family and personal drama that added to the whole setting of the book but never felt done for the sake of adding drama. The Watts are a family in a rather difficult situation and for once parents are there, caring but at the same time a cause of conflict. And Mycroft's aunt is a more absent figure, one that doesn't know how to deal or care for him.
The secondary characters are pretty well developed themselves and never felt like a filler, and I simply adore Mai with all her legal knowledge! She and Gus together were also quite cute and showed that friends were there for both Watts and Mycroft when needed! And boy does our Mycroft need friends and one with legal knowledge to boot!
I loved how the author adapted Sherlock's beggars and underground contacts to Mycroft and his knowing everyone in the streets, from the tram drivers to cafes owners and homeless guys. Like that many other characteristics can find their own parallels, even having a Watts instead of a Watson, except that Mycroft ain't as condescending with Rachel as Sherlock was with his good doctor.
The murder mystery they have to solve is one that hits Watts & Mycroft since it's someone they knew and it's them who discover the body, thinking that the police won't have enough interest they start their own investigation, colliding or collaborating with the police following their leads. I did figure out who was the killer a lil before Mycroft and Watts but not as much as to make it frustrating waiting for them to catch up.
The way the author mixes developing relationships, characters' growth and the investigation of a murder mystery and how sometimes the three mix in the most unexpected of ways was fantastic. I loved reading the progression of the relationship between Watts and Mycroft, from best friends to waaay something more and they both seem to either be oblivious to their chemistry or simply restisting it for fear of what the change might bring, but dear me I was shipping these two with the force a thousand burning suns!! *does a lil happy dance*
The book in itself was a clear 4 to 4.5 stars for me, BUT then we add the Englishness of Mycroft and the mix of British and Australians expressions and saying and I just had to add an extra half star just for that!! SO VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO BOOK TWO NOW!! Or re-reading this one maybe!
View all my reviews
Happy Holidays, belated Merry Xmas and all that jazz! I hope you had a lovely time with the family and got loads of gifts!
To celebrate Boxing Day this Friday Reads I have an amazing book that you all need to buy and add to your reading pile STAT! It's rare that I highly recommend a contemporary and this is one of those occasions!! It was even in my list of Top 10 Debuts on Wednesday, so yep, go get it!!
Every Breath by Ellie MarneyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
One of my bookish resolutions of next year will be checking out more Australian fiction, because the two series I've started written by Australian authors, I've fallen in love with them completely!
When two of my bookish canaries, Kristen and Kim, highly recommended this one and then my fellow street team founder Ri concurred, I knew I had to give this one a chance, and since it was a loose retelling/reimagining of Sherlock Holmes, I just HAD to get it into my reading list before the end of the year!
And it was so the right choice! I'm not usually a big fan of contemporary, but this... this I absolutely loved! Both Watts and Mycroft (and dear me, I kept on thinking of either naked Stephen Fry's for movie's Mycroft or Mark Gatiss for BBC's Mycroft at first whenever I read the name!) feel like extremely genuine and realistic teenagers, with more or less extreme situations, with their own kind of family and personal drama that added to the whole setting of the book but never felt done for the sake of adding drama. The Watts are a family in a rather difficult situation and for once parents are there, caring but at the same time a cause of conflict. And Mycroft's aunt is a more absent figure, one that doesn't know how to deal or care for him.
The secondary characters are pretty well developed themselves and never felt like a filler, and I simply adore Mai with all her legal knowledge! She and Gus together were also quite cute and showed that friends were there for both Watts and Mycroft when needed! And boy does our Mycroft need friends and one with legal knowledge to boot!
I loved how the author adapted Sherlock's beggars and underground contacts to Mycroft and his knowing everyone in the streets, from the tram drivers to cafes owners and homeless guys. Like that many other characteristics can find their own parallels, even having a Watts instead of a Watson, except that Mycroft ain't as condescending with Rachel as Sherlock was with his good doctor.
The murder mystery they have to solve is one that hits Watts & Mycroft since it's someone they knew and it's them who discover the body, thinking that the police won't have enough interest they start their own investigation, colliding or collaborating with the police following their leads. I did figure out who was the killer a lil before Mycroft and Watts but not as much as to make it frustrating waiting for them to catch up.
The way the author mixes developing relationships, characters' growth and the investigation of a murder mystery and how sometimes the three mix in the most unexpected of ways was fantastic. I loved reading the progression of the relationship between Watts and Mycroft, from best friends to waaay something more and they both seem to either be oblivious to their chemistry or simply restisting it for fear of what the change might bring, but dear me I was shipping these two with the force a thousand burning suns!! *does a lil happy dance*
The book in itself was a clear 4 to 4.5 stars for me, BUT then we add the Englishness of Mycroft and the mix of British and Australians expressions and saying and I just had to add an extra half star just for that!! SO VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO BOOK TWO NOW!! Or re-reading this one maybe!
View all my reviews
Awesome review Pili :D I'm so glad you enjoyed this book. <3 I have heard so much good about it. And now I really want it too, lol. One day, I hope :D So glad you loved it as well. Thank you for sharing sweetie. <3 I don't read much of this genre either, but I wouldn't mind reading this one :)
ReplyDeleteOh Carina, I think you'd love it! I hope you get to read it soon!
DeleteHmmm, so this is the magical Every Breath novel that you loved! I think I might wait until the series ends to give it a whirl. Excellent review, Pili!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa @ The Eater of Books!
YESS! THIS IS IT!! I'm planning to order book 2 and 3 in late Feb once it comes out in Australia from the publisher's page! ;) This one is a Pili Pushed book for you miss! ;)
DeleteYES, read more Aussie lit! I haven't read much of it, but most of what I've read has been amazing. There's just something about the writing and the stories that I just love.
ReplyDeleteEvery Breath is one of my favorite books of the year, so I'm so glad you loved it! Watts and Mycroft are such good characters. I love their chemistry! :)
YESS! So happy that I didn't miss this one this year! Their chemistry was off the charts!
DeleteThanks Kaitlin!