Book Review: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Hey Guys!

I hope you've had a great week and have a fun weekend planned! This week I'm back with another book review and this time it is one a little different to Harry Potter. With a lot of books I read I don't tend to stick to one genre -  so Rebecca wasn't anything new (genre-wise) for me, however, it was a little different...

This book is a masterpiece when it comes to classic novels. It is still a great piece of literature now, a lot like Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility, which with time has only grown more popular amongst book lovers ❤

Rebecca is a gothic novel written by Daphne du Maurier in 1938 and was very popular in the era it was published but it also became even more popular due to Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of the novel in 1940.

Blurb

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley Again...

Working as a paid companion to a bitter elderly lady, the timid heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Life is bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower whose proposal takes her by surprise. Whisked from Monte Carlo to Manderley, Maxim's isolated Cornish estate, the friendless young bride begins to realise that she barely knows her husband at all. And in every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca. 

Rebecca is the haunting story of a woman consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity. 

Opinions

When I first picked up the novel I was in the gift shop to a Daphne du Maurier museum in Cornwall and was browsing the endless piles of her books available to buy. My mum has read a few Daphne du Maurier books in the past, so after seeing me take interest in her novels my mum offered to buy me two of her novels - so I picked up Rebecca and Jamaica Inn.

When I first picked up Rebecca and read the blurb I knew it would be a book I could easily sink my teeth into as I'm a huge fan of books that hold a lot of mystery, suspense and drama (especially anything like Agatha Christie's crime novels) so I was excited to start reading and bury deep into the mystery that was Maxim de Winter's previous dead wife Rebecca. However, I also had the perception that the book would be easy to read - even though it is a novel that was written quite a long time ago I had the idea that the book wouldn't be a challenge. However, I was very wrong. The language used was quite dated so I found myself having to search for words to understand what they meant - which was probably due to the time period in which the novel was written, but I also found it very difficult to fly through chapters like I usually would. I had to keep re-reading pages and going back to previous chapters to understand what was going on. Even with chapters where there wasn't a lot happening I found myself having to go back and re-read the previous page to remind myself what was going on - and I think that was purely due to it being a very busy novel in the sense there was a lot going on in each chapter to get to the plot twist and give the reader all the context they needed. In the end, it took me forever to finish the book. I started reading in on holiday in Lanzarote with the idea I'll finish it in the two weeks I was there but no...it took me more than a month (even though I was reading it every night) to finish the book. 

Even though it was a book that took time to read it was so worth it. It is a novel I would recommend - especially to those who love lots of suspense, drama, mystery and confusion. There were certain parts of the book where I had no idea what was going on, so you needed to keep reading to find out why particular events took place and the context such as Mrs Danvers attitude and hostility towards Mrs. De Winter. You will get frustrated every now and then that nothing makes sense and events are taking place but nothing links together until the end and the plot twist is revealed. 

One thing I find interesting is that the protagonist Mrs de Winter never had a first name. The novel is written all in the first person so she was never once referred to with her forename. Up to the end of the book, you never find out the protagonists first name - which drives me crazy because as a reader I really want to know her name as the heroine of the novel. Like the lack of a name for the heroine there are many parts in the book that you question but after completing the novel I wouldn't have changed anything as it's what makes it so compelling!

I find Maxim de Winter a very interesting character as well as he doesn't give away a lot at the beginning of the novel and he remains a big mystery along with his previous wife. You find yourself asking lots of questions to who he really is, where is Rebecca and what happened all those years ago. AND luckily all these questions do get answered but like the heroine, at first, you feel like you barely know the character Maxim until more drama unfolds and the past comes to light revealing everything - which unravelled an amazing plot twist!!

The plot twist in the book was so surprising. It is one you'll never be able to guess and that is one of the reasons why I loved the book so much - it was so unpredictable. You'll be gasping and holding your breath through it all. The suspense is the best bit!

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves classic novels like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre! It was quite a difficult read but I would definitely read it again! 

When I start to read her other novel Jamaica Inn I'll be going in with the perception that it might take me a while to read!

What book are you reading at the moment? Let me know in the comments below ❤

See you next week my lovelies for a new blog post! 

Amy x 

Book Review: Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling

Hey Guys!

I'm back! I took a break from posting on here after Christmas to concentrate on handing in all my essays for university and then getting organised with my dissertation (third year is sooo much fun!!) so I took a back seat from blogging and concentrated on getting all my work done. Now that I'm not an uncoordinated mess I want to start uploading once a week again! Finding a balance with all my uni work, extra-curricular activities, freelance work and blogging is a challenge but I'm attempting to make it work!

This week I'm back with another book review, which is still quite new to my blog as I've never been one to post many book reviews before - however now that my love for reading has sparked again I want to share my thoughts and opinions with you guys, especially as I have a long TBR list! 

I read Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire back in September while I was on holiday in Lanzarote, but you know me - I'm late with everything! So I made sure to make some notes while I was reading it so that I could write a blog post later on - and here we are! ❤

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling

Blurb

Harry Potter is midway through his training as a wizard and his coming of age. Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup. He wants to find out about the mysterious event that's supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, an event involving two other rival schools of magic, and a competition that hasn't happened for a hundred years. He wants to be a normal, fourteen-year-old wizard. But unfortunately for Harry Potter, he's not normal - even by wizarding standards. And in his case, different can be deadly.

I fell in love with the Harry Potter books ever since I began reading them in my first year of university more than two years ago! Between each book, I've found myself picking up other books on my TBR list but I've always gone back to another Harry Potter book in the end. I've always been captured and pulled in by Harry Potter ever since I watched the films as I child, but now that I'm making my way through the books I'm even more drawn in by the charm of the characters, Hogwarts and the whole of the Wizarding World.  I know a lot about the Wizarding World and Harry Potter characters as I've seen every film at least a hundred times but reading the books has helped me dive even further into the lives of the characters and the challenges Harry has to face both with the Dursleys and in the classroom. It is so easy to lose yourself in The Goblet of Fire thanks to the imagery and narration. 

The highlight to The Goblet of Fire was the introduction of other wizarding schools from around the world - in the three previous book other wizarding schools aren't mentioned, so meeting characters from places not related to Hogwarts and seeing them all take part in the Triwizard Tournament was so capturing! I think because I'd already seen the film I already had the scenes and settings imagined in my bed but reading one chapter to the next made it come to life even more!

The characters explored were definitely the best part of the fourth instalment! Hearing more on the protagonists Harry, Ron and Hermoine were fun but getting to meet Victor Krum, Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, Cho Chang and Padma and Parvati Patil was so interesting. Two other characters that I wish were featured in the film was both Charlie and Bill Weasley! You get to hear more about the Weasley family and all the Weasley children which isn't featured in the film, especially the home life at The Burrow. Also, another fun character that was introduced in the book and not the film was Ludo Bagman. Now that I've read and seen The Goblet of Fire I really wished Ludo Bagman was included in the film. Obviously, other characters take over his parts such as Bartie Crouch and Cornelius Fudge but having the character Ludo Bagman in the film like his character in the book would have been great - especially his enthusiasm for the Quidditch World Cup! 

When the book goes into detail of the Quidditch World Cup and all that it encompasses it was an element to the story that made it so much more exciting - having wizard celebrities and the celebration of an event that is so close to our own football world cup was fun! Seeing a magical twist on a normally mundane event. 

One element of the book I was really taken in by was the story of Tom Riddle's childhood. In the film you don't get given an insight into Tom Riddle and his family like you do in the book. Especially the beginning chapter when it gave such extensive detail on the Riddle family house and how it's a location/setting is key to the story.  

There are so many elements to the book that made me fall in love with The Goblet of Fire all over again. Especially as the fourth part of the Harry Potter collection has always been one of my favourites due to J.K Rowling introducing so many new characters, wizarding schools which previously weren't mentioned and more of Voldermort's evil crimes and back story. This is when the story of Harry Potter and Hogwarts really takes off! 

If you haven't read the fourth book of the Harry Potter series then I highly recommend you pick it up. You won't be able to put it down and you'll be moving on to the next book straight away to continue escaping to the Wizarding World ❤

See you next week for another new blog post! I'm not sure what day I'll be uploading a new post as I'm still sorting out my week plans but there will be one! 

Amy x 

Book Review: The Last by Hanna Jameson

Hey Guys!

Over the past couple of months, I've been posting a lot more content related to books and book reviews. Before I didn't really talk about books much on my blog but as I've found my love for reading again I've become more interested in discussing the books I'm reading, what I potentially want to read and my thoughts on particular novels. 

Back  in August, I received 'The Last' by Hanna Jameson in the post after being chosen to receive the book. I've never been sent an advance proof copy by a publisher before, so to be one of the three individuals chosen by Hanna was very exciting!

The Blurb

Jon Keller was on a trip to Switzerland when the world ended. More than anything, he wishes he hadn't ignored his wife Nadia's last message.

Twenty people remain in Jon's hotel. Far from the nearest city, they wait, they survive.

Then one day, the body of a girl is found. It's clear she has been murdered. Which means that someone in the hotel is a killer...

As paranoia descends, Jon decides to investigate. But how far is he willing to go in pursuit of justice? And what happens if the killer doesn't want to be found?

About The Book

The Last is written from a first-person perspective. It is an account/diary by Jon Keller on life before and after the world ended, including the discovery of a dead girl's body. Jon details life at the hotel in Zurich, events and relationships between the characters, problems they face as a group of survivors and the investigation into who murdered the girl. The main storyline focuses on life after the world suddenly ended and the uncovering of a murdered girl, but alongside these events, mini-stories develop throughout the book relating to the lives of the other characters and how they all ended up at the hotel in Switzerland, detailing their back stories and relations to other characters.  

It isn't really a diary, but more of an account of information and events, which details the feelings and thoughts of Jon and what he has discussed with other characters. Jon details his life before the world ended sharing memories of his wife and children, what would have happened hadn't such events taken place, his ideas and thoughts of the future and what might happen to the group he has found himself residing with. 

When I was reading the book it reminded me a lot of 'The Walking Dead'. There are a lot of parts in the book that reminds me of a lot of scenes I saw in 'TheWalking Dead' series, especially because of the end of the world scenario where shops are ransacked and people have to kill to survive. I loved watching 'The Walking Dead' so to read a book with a somewhat different storyline but a similar outcome was fun! I would always finish a page or a chapter and talk to my mum about what was happening or my thoughts, as there was so much going on all at once and I was always coming up with scenarios in my head of who was behind the events taking place and who I suspected as the murderer. 

My Thoughts

When I read the first couple of pages I had absolutely no clue what was going on! I was so lost. The book started without explaining any of the context or what had happened, so I had no idea what to think about the storyline until I got further in and the story properly began. The first couple of pages are very similar to those of a diary/account and are very short and don't explain a lot of detail, so for a while you don't really know what is going through the mind of Jon Keller. However, after a while, the story takes full swing and a lot more context and detail is given to the reader to help you understand why such events had taken place.

Having the book written in a first-person perspective made the book feel a lot more personal, you felt like the character was sharing their thoughts and feelings with you,   details that nobody else knew, so it felt very special as a reader. I became invested in the story very quickly! 

There are a few moments in the book where you are wondering what the hell is going on, as it can jump from one thing to the next without much notice. But when you finish the book a lot of things make more sense and all the random details add up to paint one big picture! Especially as there is a huge plot twist that explains a lot of what was going on in the main storyline. 

The book made me question and think a lot about the world we live in currently and I was always asking myself what would I do in an end of the world scenario and whether I would be tactical enough to survive. Questions like what resources would I need to survive and how would I plan to live as long as I could with the resources I had came to mind. 

What was kind of scary reading the book was that what happened in the book could actually happen in real life, and is a very realistic novel when it comes to how the world ended and the reasons behind it.  

When I finished the novel and read the last page I was questioning what happened to so many characters such as what did Nadia's message imply, what happened to Nathan and did everyone survive? What happens next? The book will leave you with so many different questions about what will happen next and about what everyone around the world experienced in those last few weeks. It is definitely a book where you have to stop and think sometimes, what would we do if this disaster really happened? 

A lot of the time I had to put the book down to process what was going on and take it in, especially as a lot of things were going on at the same time throughout the book! 

If you like murder mysteries, adventure or apocalyptic novels then this is a book for you! You won't be able to put it down and you'll be constantly questioning what will happen next.

 As the book isn't officially out yet, look out for 'The Last' on the 31st January 2019, the link to pre-order the book on Amazon is here. Make sure to check out the author Hanna Jameson on Twitter here. 

Look out for some more book reviews soon. What book are you reading at the moment? Let me know in the comments below ❤

See you soon! 

Amy x 

Book Review: The Secret Life of Bletchley Park by Sinclair McKay

Hey Guys!

In one of my previous posts, I discussed the current books I was reading: Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J.K.Rowling (still reading) and The Secret Life of Bletchley Park by Sinclair McKay. Last week I finished Sinclair McKay's book and after reading the last page I knew I wanted to share with you guys the details of the book, my thoughts and whether it was worth the read ❤

WARNING: SPOILERS!

The Secret Life of Bletchley Park: The WWII Codebreaking Centre and the Men and Women Who Worked There is about the lives of those who worked at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, England in World War II codebreaking and decrypting German and Japanese messages. Sinclair McKay explores all the different aspects of life at the park from the Engima, Bombe and Colossus machines, recreational time, romance and relationships, the Blitz, D-Day and time after the war when Bletchley wasn't needed anymore. Throughout the book, he uses quotes from Bletchley Park veterans, memoirs and references from other published material to describe how it was personally for those who spent nearly six years as part of the Bletchley Park community.  

Blurb

"Bletchley Park's cracking of the Enigma code was one of the greatest achievements of the war. Now, for the first time, here are the stories of the ordinary men and women who made it happen..."

"At the secret codebreaking centre of Bletchley Park, debutantes, factory workers, students and Wrens were thrown together with Britain's most brilliant brains, united in work of almost unbearable intensity, and even greater importance. But there was far more to their days (and nights) than the long hours spent decrypting enemy messages. "

"From world-class concerts by visiting musicians and amateur dramatics to ice-skating on the frozen lake and furtive romances sealed down quiet country lanes, Sinclair McKay's acclaimed book reveals what life was really like for the young people who clandestine efforts were instrumental in winning the war." 

My Thoughts

Personally, I love history and any fiction or non-fiction books based on the First and Second World War are my favourite. I've already got quite an extensive collection of books based in World War II, so I was excited to read something that wasn't fiction and instead based all on fact, memories and testimonies from those who experienced life at Bletchley Park during WWII. 

I visited Bletchley Park Museum in Buckinghamshire back in April. It was overwhelming learning how much these men and women actually did throughout the war and the pressure they were under to decrypt thousands of messages a day. From visiting the museum and grounds of the house it has helped me piece together parts of the book and understand what life at Bletchley Park was like for these men and women codebreaking. 

Sinclair McKay goes into such extensive detail about the mechanics of the machines (Engima, Bombe, Colussus, Heath Robinson) such as how each machine worked and how they were manned by Wrens and engineers with such skill in machinery that they were able to build more and have them moved to places of importance such as a location in Middlesex. They were using these machines to decrypt messages and following the stories of veterans like Sheila and Oliver Lawn, Jean Valentine, Mavis and Keith Batey and Sarah Baring really brought it to life. He describes how those who were decoding messages and signals from German High Command and from U-boats had the pressure of working hours on hours sometimes stuck on one message, trying to crack it and find out what moves the German navy, air force and army were going to make next. 

Sinclair McKay has the skill of delivering all this information, testimonies and facts without overstimulating you as a reader. Sometimes it was hard to read the book when I was tired as you are being given a lot of complex information on machines, decoding methods and the movements of the German army throughout the war. 

Reading this book with all the memoirs and recollections from veterans has opened my eyes to how it wasn't just the men in the field protecting our country and winning the war but also those who had to fight the war back in England finding out what the German, Japanese and their allied forces were planning. There were so many times throughout the book where I was in utter awe at what these men and women achieved in those years of war. With all the pressure and stress they were under they did an incredible job of maintaining motivation and efficiency, but I guess in wartime they had to!  

His attention to the smallest details shows throughout the book. 

He clearly put a lot of time into researching every part of life at Bletchley Park and getting even the smallest of facts. Collecting the memories of those who experienced it all first hand would have taken time and patience, so Sinclair McKay did a great job in getting all the information he possibly could from archives and the Bletchley Park Trust, giving the men and women of Bletchley Park the recognition they deserve! 

What other books do you recommend I read? Let me know in the comments below! 

See you on Wednesday ❤

Amy x