The hunting party by Lucy Foley.

The hunting party is a typical adult mystery thriller. Set in the Scottish highlands, it follows a group of old friends attempting their annual New Year’s getaway, a tradition they’ve kept for 10 years. As life continues for each of them, they realize that they are growing apart, slowly separating, this will only continue and each have their own secrets.

As the winter grows colder, they are snowed in, (reminiscent of Agatha Christie, ) with no way in or out of the estate. That is when someone dies, but it was no accident.

We follow multiple characters, as we learn who was murdered, who killed them and why.

I didn’t find this book to be revolutionary, or good for that matter, it was just your typical, cliche, mystery thriller. I didn’t care for the characters or their plot points as I’ve seen similar characteristics in other books. We were given multiple perspectives, yet, they all had similar tones, thoughts and personalities, meaning that a lot of it was unnecessary and prevented movement in the plot. Each woman in the story, continuously, narcissistically, victimized themselves, curing their self-hatred with wine and overcompensated socializing. And all, except two, men seemed to feel emasculated, protecting their emotions with violence. The suspense was done well, leaving each ‘chapter’ with an air of mystery, yet, because I didn’t care about the characters, I felt no eagerness to continue. The plot was also rather slow moving, letting us have an in-depth analysis of each person’s movement since they arrived. For you, this could be a good thing, I just tend to prefer fast-paced suspense novels.

With all this, I believe that this book had more potential. The ending really helped to tie it together and made me feel as if pushing through was worth it. I believe that this book has an audience, I’m just not apart of it.

So, do I recommend you read this book? Yes, all the qualities I disliked in this book, you may love. I think I went into this book with different expectations, meaning, it had a lot to live up to, but I don’t think it’s bad. And i would consider picking up more by Lucy Foley in the future, now I know her writing style better.

  • Rating: 3.25-3.5 stars
  • Setting: Highlands, Scotland
  • Publisher: Harper Collins
  • Publication date: 2019
  • Pages: 388
  • Price: £12.99
  • ISBN: 978-0-00-829711-4

Elevation by Stephen king.

I’m going to start by saying, I love everything about Stephen King’s books, from the style of writing to the fantastical stories within. The novella ‘Gwendy’s button Box’ is one of my favourites and although Elevation didn’t quite live up to it, I still really liked it. If you too like Stephen King’s nonsensical side, you may love this one.

Elevation is a novella set in Castle Rock, with a bizarre king story. It follows Scott as he befriends his, married, Lesbian neighbours, who are social pariahs in this intimate republican town. He also has a slight (weight) issue of his own.

It clearly discusses modern politics whilst displaying the authors own views. Yet, that doesn’t hinder my personal rating. Nor does it take away from the plot and fantastical story.

Elevation was personally an enjoyable read. This novella seems well for those who want to experience King for the first time or for those who know he’s Books well. definitely recommend.

  • Rating: 4.5 stars
  • Setting: Castle Rock, Maine
  • Publisher: Hodder & stoughton
  • Publication date: October 2018
  • Pages: 132
  • Price: £14.99
  • ISBN: 978-1-473-69152-0

The boy at the back of the class by Onjali Q. Raúf.

This is an emotional rollercoaster of a story, about the 9-year-old protagonist, ‘me’, and how she befriended a ‘refugee kid’ who had recently joined the class. This leads to adventures like no other and a story line that needed recognition.

It handles topics like racism, migrants, refugees, grief and more. For a middle-grade, I think this was done well. We learn about the ‘refugee crisis’ in the Uk from the prospective of a child and how personal views often fall into a ‘for’ or ‘against refugees’ category.

This is the authors debut, and I hope to read more from her in the future. I loved this book, it was a short read that kept me hooked, from the beginning until the end. I Absolutely recommend reading this book, for kids and adults alike.

  • Rating: 5 stars
  • Setting: London, England
  • Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
  • Publication date: 2018
  • Pages: 297
  • Illustrated
  • Price: £6.99
  • ISBN: 978-1-5101-0501-0