Book Review - Twisted River by Siobhán MacDonald

 

Kate and Mannix O'Brien live in Curragower Falls in Limerick. They live in a beautiful house that they can barely afford. Fergus, their son, is constantly bullied in school. Izzy, their daughter feels helpless as she can't do anything to help protect her brother. Kate is struggling to see her family deal with life and decides that they all need a vacation.  She thinks their luck is about to change when she finds a beautiful Manhattan apartment available on a home exchange website.

Hazel and Oscar Harvey live with their two children in Upper West Side, Manhattan. On the outside, the couple seems happy and perfect. However, Hazel is covered with mysterious bruises and Oscar has secrets about his dental practice. They decide that they need a change of pace and offer their apartment  up on a home exchange website. Hazel always wanted to show her family her native home and it will give the couple a chance to work on their marriage. However, things take a turn for the worst when Oscar discovers a body in his host's car.

The book had an interesting premise but, it failed to keep my attention. Both couples were very similar and I had to go back a few times and try to remember who they were. The book had quite a few twists but, it was mostly the author led you to believe this but, they really meant this. Almost all the twists were like this. Around the middle point of the book, this book became insufferable that I was struggling to power through it.

Book Review - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

 

In summer of1950, Flavia de Luce is a young girl aspiring to be chemist with a passion for poison. She becomes entwined in a mystery when a dead bird is found on their doorstep with a stamp pinned through its beak. Hour later, Flavia discovers a man dying in their garden and watches as he takes his last breath. Flavia is excited that a murder occurs at Buckshaw as she soon becomes invested in solving the case.

This isn't usually the type of book I would pick for myself. However, it was given as a recommendation to me. It wasn't a bad book but, it wasn't a book that suit my tastes. I found the boisterous Flavia to be annoying and overwhelming at times. I didn't care for the writing style and I found myself having to reread several parts of the story too many times. I was a bit turned off with scenes of  the "Oriental" magic trick and found this to be in poor taste. Some readers might find this series enjoyable, I do not.