en-US Tue, 08 Oct 2024 17:13:26 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 57845693
Alina recrutada pelo Exército para acompanhar os Grishas, mágicos poderosos que lutam para salvar Ravka, Cartógrafa do regimento militar, assiste a um brutal ataque, numa das expedições que tem de fazer ao Sulco da Sombra. Vitima dos monstros volcra o seu seu melhor amigo e inconveniente paixão, Maly sofre vários ferimentos. Na tentativa de o proteger Alina descobre um enorme poder até aí adormecido, que pode ser a chave para libertar o seu país.

É assim levada para a corte real, para exercer esse poder, arrancada de tudo o que conhece e para ser treinada pelos Grishas, onde conhece o líder desta elite mágica, o misterioso Darkling.

Mas nada é o que parece naquele mundo e com a escuridão a aproximar-se vertiginosamente, Alina terá de enfrentar as ameaças e os segredos dos Grishas e do seu coração.]]> 369 Leigh Bardugo Sharn 4 4.11 2012
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/08
date added: 2024/10/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 56928673 Medal Winner in The Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards‘Articulate and intoxicating - bursting at the seams with both classical fantasy elements and inspiring worldbuilding. Phyllo Cane leads the pack with his creativity and effervescence.Dizzyingly bewitching.�� �� The Booklife PrizeWhen Phyllo accidentally burns down the big top, he can forget his dream of being a magical confectioner, it’s the Circuit for him instead. Now he must face a daunting string of magical apprenticeships to find his talent and prove his worth. Straight in at the deep end, his first is with the flyers of the high trapeze.Training is knee-trembling and mind-bogglingly dangerous, but when Phyllo finds himself in another near-fatal disaster, he realises it’s not just his nerves that are holding him back. Other acts crumble. Masked men stalk the cast. Something dark and evil conspires against them all and, Phyllo discovers, if the Circus of Wonder is to survive, he must solve the problems of the past�� or lose the magic forever.Join Phyllo for his first magical apprenticeship and the battle to stay with the Circus of Wonder, where magic awaits, if he can dare to believe. New cover June 2022.]]> 364 Sharn W. Hutton Sharn 5 4.31
author: Sharn W. Hutton
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.31
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/07
date added: 2023/03/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 44490433
With his life disrupted by an unscrupulous work colleague and a bully at his son Toby’s school, things go from bad to worse when his neighbor’s abusive boyfriend goes missing, plunging the introvert into the center of a murder investigation.

Increasingly hounded by a meddlesome detective, and with his thoughts continually urging him to make people “red and open�� and to “achieve it�� with his girlfriend Donna, what follows is a sometimes brutal, oftentimes hilarious, and absurdist account of the life of one very anti-social and unexpected anti-hero.]]> 226 Michael Paul Michaud 1644371219 Sharn 5 4.42
author: Michael Paul Michaud
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.42
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2019/10/01
date added: 2019/10/01
shelves:
review:
I really got sucked into this book. Similar in voice/point of view, I thought, to 600 Hours of Edward, only the protagonist in this one has psychopathic violent inner life. Unusual to say the least! The characterisation is great and you never fall out of his head. Very absorbing.
]]> 35522551 But, hey, there’s no mileage to be gained from telling the kiddywinks that monsters are real.

Morag Murray is one of the god appeasers, an end of life carer for an oblivious planet, keeping everything calm and under wraps until the day the world ends.

But in the city someone’s buying souls and dealing the kind of magical drugs that guarantee a really bad trip and, if Morag doesn’t do something about it, the end of the world might just happen a lot sooner than anyone planned.]]> 517 Heide Goody Sharn 5
Oddjobs 2, as the name might suggest, is the second in a series and although I was assured that the story was independent (and it is) I couldn’t help but feel that I was missing something good: a sniff of backstory here; a lost character there. Having said that though, the brave new world of alien gods inhabiting Birmingham under the general public’s radar was so confidently written I felt in safe hands.

The story delivers a zany cocktail of the outrageously inhuman and everyday familiar that will have you checking behind your wardrobe for signs of alien invasion and casting a suspicious eye over the ‘not quite rightness�� of your average Disney character.

Strong characters and humour aplenty (more than once I was asked what I was snickering at) with ‘Steve the Destroyer�� taking my top prize as a demon god trapped in a six inch fabric doll, hurling ineffective curses and throwing his greatly depleted weight about to little effect.

All excellent fun and a great introduction for me to many more books from these authors.
]]> 4.36 2017
author: Heide Goody
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2017/08/16
date added: 2017/08/25
shelves:
review:
Oh happy joy! A new (to me) author team with lots of lovely books for me to read. I’ve been aware of Heide Goode and Iain Grant’s books for a little while and stacked a couple on the ole TBR pile so when Oddjobs 2 came up for review I jumped at the chance to get that particular ball rolling.

Oddjobs 2, as the name might suggest, is the second in a series and although I was assured that the story was independent (and it is) I couldn’t help but feel that I was missing something good: a sniff of backstory here; a lost character there. Having said that though, the brave new world of alien gods inhabiting Birmingham under the general public’s radar was so confidently written I felt in safe hands.

The story delivers a zany cocktail of the outrageously inhuman and everyday familiar that will have you checking behind your wardrobe for signs of alien invasion and casting a suspicious eye over the ‘not quite rightness�� of your average Disney character.

Strong characters and humour aplenty (more than once I was asked what I was snickering at) with ‘Steve the Destroyer�� taking my top prize as a demon god trapped in a six inch fabric doll, hurling ineffective curses and throwing his greatly depleted weight about to little effect.

All excellent fun and a great introduction for me to many more books from these authors.

]]> 13227454
Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage. Harold Fry is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live.

Still in his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold embarks on his urgent quest across the countryside. Along the way he meets one character after another, each of whom unlocks his long-dormant spirit and sense of promise. Memories of his first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, his joy in fatherhood, come rushing back to him - allowing him to also reconcile the losses and the regrets. As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first time in years.

And then there is the unfinished business with Queenie Hennessy.]]> 320 Rachel Joyce 0812993292 Sharn 5 3.91 2012
author: Rachel Joyce
name: Sharn
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 9317452 392 Ben Aaronovitch 0575097566 Sharn 5 3.83 2011
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Sharn
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 35155071
But the setup goes all wrong. The elite assassin is himself murdered by not one but five assailants. When those attackers turn out to be androids, who turn towards Chase and smile when the murder’s done, Chase is marked as the mastermind behind the crime.

Now he’s on the run for his life, the most wanted man in America, not just to the FBI but to every intelligence agency in the country. And once his face is sprawled all over the media, there isn’t a cop or a fireman or a Good Samaritan who isn’t looking to turn him in.

For Max it’s all a game. Literally. Because this is his initiation into the FBI-FD, the Futurist Division of the FBI. Tasked with keeping those wielding breakthrough technologies from causing an apocalypse, or the next closest thing, the department is on a tight budget, understaffed and overworked. Their solution: the Setup. If Max can survive the frame AND bring in the actual mastermind without being killed under the ever-watchful eye of an angry nation, he can pick up his FBI-FD badge. Until then he won’t get one iota of help from the department.

They won’t even acknowledge that he exists.

And that last part is definitely a problem, since his genius wife and prodigal twelve-year-old boy are caught up in the dragnet. If he thought they were estranged before...

Join the hunt for what is sure to be your favorite marked man and dysfunctional family!

Pick up this page turner today!]]> 560 Dean C. Moore Sharn 4 Moore pulls no punches in this action packed techno thriller that’s got the pedal to the metal from start to finish. If you like your fiction futuristic and your battles blazing then this is the book for you.
I received an advance copy of this book and freely give my review.
]]> 4.57
author: Dean C. Moore
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.57
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/06/13
shelves:
review:
Dean C Moore has a vision of the future where technology replaces humans with super-strength, super-powered androids and you’d better hope they’re on your side! The leading man, Chase, has a lot on his plate to out-wit those who set him up, not least in dealing with his estranged family, who are far from helpful. I do wonder what happened between them before this story began to make them want to vex him so!
Moore pulls no punches in this action packed techno thriller that’s got the pedal to the metal from start to finish. If you like your fiction futuristic and your battles blazing then this is the book for you.
I received an advance copy of this book and freely give my review.

]]> 30826260 One tiny DNA test to find your perfect partner - the one you're genetically made for.
A decade after scientists discover everyone has a gene they share with just one person, millions have taken the test, desperate to find true love.
Now, five more people take the test. But even soul mates have secrets.
And some are more shocking, heartbreaking and deadlier than others.
]]> 343 John Marrs Sharn 4 4.40 2016
author: John Marrs
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/05/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 32808811 160 Michael Paul Michaud 1626945470 Sharn 5
Seen entirely through the eyes of the central character, the story is coloured by his quirky and twisted view of the world. He felt like the kind of character you could root for �� unselfconscious, simple and naive, but his propensity to imagine people around him ‘red and open�� when they behave in a way he doesn’t like, sets the scene pretty early on! The Introvert (who remains nameless) appears to have a straightforward view of the world and is, in his own mind, good natured and reasonable. You’d believe that too if it wasn’t for the evidence presented to the contrary!

It’s difficult to say too much more without giving the story away, so I’ll just say this: The Introvert is an accomplished book that convincingly sucks you in to the point of view of a dangerous and bizarre personality. Brilliantly done - it’s a demonstration of first-rate characterisation.

This is an unbiased review written based on an ARC received via TBC.]]> 3.93 2016
author: Michael Paul Michaud
name: Sharn
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2017/03/14
date added: 2017/03/15
shelves:
review:
At just over 100 pages The Introvert is a quick read that I got through in four easy sessions. Being so short, I wondered whether the story would be lacking or the characters shallow, but happily neither was the case.

Seen entirely through the eyes of the central character, the story is coloured by his quirky and twisted view of the world. He felt like the kind of character you could root for �� unselfconscious, simple and naive, but his propensity to imagine people around him ‘red and open�� when they behave in a way he doesn’t like, sets the scene pretty early on! The Introvert (who remains nameless) appears to have a straightforward view of the world and is, in his own mind, good natured and reasonable. You’d believe that too if it wasn’t for the evidence presented to the contrary!

It’s difficult to say too much more without giving the story away, so I’ll just say this: The Introvert is an accomplished book that convincingly sucks you in to the point of view of a dangerous and bizarre personality. Brilliantly done - it’s a demonstration of first-rate characterisation.

This is an unbiased review written based on an ARC received via TBC.
]]> 28768119 275 E.C. Jarvis Sharn 4 The lead character developed appropriately as the story strode on, lurching from challenge to challenge, she became a heroine I could follow on further adventures. I could see a character triangle forming in future episodes, which put me in mind of the Stephanie Plum series (where the female lead has two men vying for attention yet are often out of reach) intermingling sexual desire and mortal peril by turn.
The plot was straightforward, the characters believable and the action gripping. The only failing for me was that the Steampunk magic of steam powered Victoriana gizmos, flamboyant costume and eccentric design didn’t shine out of the page as I’d hoped, although the basis was there. A shame, but I did very much enjoy the book as a whole and will look out for more from this author.
]]> 4.04 2015
author: E.C. Jarvis
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2017/02/05
date added: 2017/02/07
shelves:
review:
Now I do like a bit of Steampunk. Previous literary adventures into the genre have been in the safe hands of Robert Rankin, whose stylings are comedic and light with a unique turn of phrase. The synopsis for The Machine seemed an altogether darker proposition. Not normally a reader who goes for blood and guts, I was worried that I might find the promised violence distasteful and although I cringed at some of the knife-play it was altogether in keeping with the story. The characters have a rough time, but I was drawn into the action. A witness to their sometimes harrowing experiences, I felt suitably horrified by their oppressors and rooted for the protagonists�� success and justice.
The lead character developed appropriately as the story strode on, lurching from challenge to challenge, she became a heroine I could follow on further adventures. I could see a character triangle forming in future episodes, which put me in mind of the Stephanie Plum series (where the female lead has two men vying for attention yet are often out of reach) intermingling sexual desire and mortal peril by turn.
The plot was straightforward, the characters believable and the action gripping. The only failing for me was that the Steampunk magic of steam powered Victoriana gizmos, flamboyant costume and eccentric design didn’t shine out of the page as I’d hoped, although the basis was there. A shame, but I did very much enjoy the book as a whole and will look out for more from this author.

]]> 31622963
The second time was deliberate.

Now Paul Muchrone finds himself on the run with nobody to turn to except a nurse who has read one-too-many crime novels and a renegade copper with a penchant for violence. Together they must solve one of the most notorious crimes in Irish history��

…or else they’ll be history.]]> 399 Caimh McDonnell Sharn 4 4.00 2016
author: Caimh McDonnell
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2016/12/20
date added: 2016/12/20
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed this authors style and rolled along happily with the story. A jolly good read.
]]> 25486801
Kate Bennett, presenter of paranormal investigation cable TV show, Where the Dead Walk, isn't sure what she believes, other than she seems cursed to lose all those closest to her.

After investigating a neglected cliff-top house, empty for a decade because its "haunted", Kate is left convinced a spirit within holds the answers to a childhood she can't remember and an unimaginable crime.

What she can't know is that the house's owner, Sebastian Dahl, is searching for something too, and he intends to get it, whatever the cost.]]> 440 John Bowen Sharn 5 3.59 2014
author: John Bowen
name: Sharn
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2016/11/24
date added: 2016/11/24
shelves:
review:
An excellent debut novel. I was expecting to be scared, but it's so much more than spooky. Well thought out plot and vivid characters. Most definitely worthy of a sequel Mr Bowen :)
]]> 9361589
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.]]> 506 Erin Morgenstern Sharn 5 4.00 2011
author: Erin Morgenstern
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/11/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 37435 The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina--a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.]]> 302 Sue Monk Kidd 0142001740 Sharn 4 4.10 2001
author: Sue Monk Kidd
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2016/10/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 28418764
When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she produce sinister confections, including a witch’s gingerbread cottage, a living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes.

During her captivity, Maire is visited by Fyel, a ghostly being who is reluctant to reveal his connection to her. The more often they meet, the more her memories return, and she begins to piece together who and what she really is—as well as past mistakes that yield cosmic consequences.

From the author of The Paper Magician series comes a haunting and otherworldly tale of folly and consequence, forgiveness and redemption.]]> 306 Charlie N. Holmberg 1503990605 Sharn 4 3.71 2016
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Sharn
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2016/10/13
date added: 2016/10/13
shelves:
review:
Enjoyed the tale very much - fascinating characters that keep you hooked
]]> 25242169 352 Dawn French 0718159179 Sharn 3 3.10 2015
author: Dawn French
name: Sharn
average rating: 3.10
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2016/10/06
date added: 2016/10/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 17046608
But when his friend Donna calls with news that her son Kyle is in trouble, Edward leaves his comfort zone in Billings, Montana, and drives to visit them in Boise, where he discovers Kyle has morphed from a sweet kid into a sullen adolescent. Inspired by dreams of the past, Edward goes against his routine and decides to drive to a small town in Colorado where he once spent a summer with his father—bringing Kyle along as his road trip companion. The two argue about football and music along the way, and amid their misadventures, they meet an eccentric motel owner who just might be the love of Edward’s sheltered life—if only he can let her.

The highly anticipated follow up to Craig Lancaster's first novel, 600 Hours of Edward.]]> 320 Craig Lancaster 1611099056 Sharn 5 4.18 2013
author: Craig Lancaster
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2016/09/29
date added: 2016/09/29
shelves:
review:
Enjoyed living in Edwards world
]]> 22500611 New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to dazzle, captivate, haunt, and entertain with this third collection of short fiction following Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things--which includes a never-before published American Gods story, "Black Dog," written exclusively for this volume.

In this new anthology, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction--stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013--as well "Black Dog," a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection.

Trigger Warning explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Here is a rich cornucopia of horror and ghosts stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explore the realm of experience and emotion. In "Adventure Story"--a thematic companion to The Ocean at the End of the Lane--Gaiman ponders death and the way people take their stories with them when they die. His social media experience "A Calendar of Tales" are short takes inspired by replies to fan tweets about the months of the year--stories of pirates and the March winds, an igloo made of books, and a Mother's Day card that portends disturbances in the universe. Gaiman offers his own ingenious spin on Sherlock Holmes in his award-nominated mystery tale "The Case of Death and Honey". And "Click-Clack the Rattlebag" explains the creaks and clatter we hear when we're all alone in the darkness.

A sophisticated writer whose creative genius is unparalleled, Gaiman entrances with his literary alchemy, transporting us deep into the realm of imagination, where the fantastical becomes real and the everyday incandescent. Full of wonder and terror, surprises and amusements, Trigger Warning is a treasury of delights that engage the mind, stir the heart, and shake the soul from one of the most unique and popular literary artists of our day.]]> 368 Neil Gaiman 0062330292 Sharn 0 to-read 4.00 2015
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 975392 336 John O'Farrell 0552998036 Sharn 0 to-read 4.02 1998
author: John O'Farrell
name: Sharn
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>