Eve Koguce's Blog, page 22

Book review / Lord Have Mercy by H.M. Mills

Lord Have Mercy by H.M. Mills

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What an amazing adventure it has been exploring her dual nature together with Mercy!

“Lord Have Mercy” by H.M. Mills is a book that has everything to make you turn the pages. Iconic characters like angels, demons, and Lucifer himself open up from the angles you’ve never imagined them before. My favourite characters in the book are the Gargoyles. Those guys make an impressive set you wouldn’t really want to encounter but imagining them while reading was truly fascinating.

I’m not a huge fan of 17-year-old protagonists, but I guess it’s because often they act either if they were ten or thirty. Mercy acts exactly as a 17-year-old girl would in the situations she has to face. I really liked that. She is impulsive, she doesn’t think twice before she acts, and she is easily confused by those older and wiser, especially when they masterfully tag at Mercy’s most painful cords.

Reading this book was like travelling to Hell and back. Descriptions of Hell and its inhabitants were so vivid I almost felt those flames and Lucifer’s wrath burning me through.

H.M. Mills has created a set of bright, relatable characters, and the story arcs that weave their lives together are highly compelling. I’ll definitely read the second installment in the Mercy Aymes series.




View all my reviews

Book review / Escaping Love on Cobble Wynd by Anne Hutchins

Escaping Love on Cobble Wynd by Anne Hutchins

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


After reading "Escaping Love on Cobble Wynd" I'm definitely hooked and wishing to return to the picturesque cobbled street that leads to the secrets of different people's lives - the most fascinating secrets if you ask me. I'm glad that there are two more books set on Cobble Wynd.

The story of Barnabus has touched my heart, and I want to return to the town of Lillymouth and explore it through the eyes of Anne Hutchins created characters. Regency era has always been my favourite setting in literature, with its graceful manners, suppressed emotions, and things left untold.





View all my reviews

Book review / The Hidden Pocket by Ellen Khodakivska

The Hidden Pocket by Ellen Khodakivska

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“The Hidden Pocket” by Ellen Khodakivska is one of those stories that usually stay untold. While reading, I had a strong feeling that a door to a chamber of secrets has been opened specially for me, and once shared, those secrets would become a part of my own jewelry box for memories and impressions.

I’d call “The Hidden Pocket” the story of life, although it is undoubtedly a love story. But there is so much more to it than the story of how Matilda and Benjamin met, fell in love, and where their love has brought them. This is a story about choices that everyone makes and about what leads us to make certain decisions. This is also a story about family ties and how important it is to feel loved and valued by those who are the closest to you. I can say with absolute certainty that if you grow up surrounded by love, care, and kindness, it gives you a unique strength to overcome almost any obstacle, which life is generous at throwing at people.

The book made me think about those times when you meet a person, and you feel that there is a vast ocean of untold stories hidden in their memories. The stories that would make someone’s life brighter – would make someone think differently and maybe change their lives. So, I’m glad that the story of Matilda’s life was told by Ellen Khodakivska’s hand. It has made my life brighter, as it reminded me that in my life, I’ve made the right choices.





View all my reviews

Book review / A Consuming Love by Kelly Miller

A Consuming Love by Kelly Miller

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What an absolutely charming book! I finished reading it a few days ago, but a dreamy smile still appears on my face whenever I think about it.

To be honest, I was a little cautious to read one of my favourite book’s variations. I had a rather disappointing experience with reading “Sense and Sensibility” modern adaptation a few years ago, and since then I haven't risked reading anything similar. But Kelly Miller’s books kept teasing me with promises to transport me back to the world of balls, ladies in rustling skirts, and gallant gentlemen riding graceful horses. And “A Consuming Love” has given me all that and more.

I tend to get confused with the modern hectic lifestyle. I’ve always felt that I can’t keep up with it, at least if I want to stay true to myself. That is one of the reasons why Jane Austen’s novels are my personal pill I regularly take to cope with stress. In her novels, the time ticks in unison with my heartbeat. There is time for thinking and for unhurried contemplations. Walks in the fresh air, horse rides, long family dinners as opposed to our permanent rush hour and missed deadlines.

I loved the new angles and twists the author gave to the original novel. Every time I reread “Pride and Prejudice”, I think “what if”, and Kelly Miller provided my imagination with what it had craved for.

After reading “A Consuming Love” I can’t wait to read all of Kelly Miller’s regency romance novels.




View all my reviews

Book review /Body In The Waves by Kristina Gallo

Body In The Waves by Kristina Gallo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Deeply unsettling and shockingly direct “Body In The Waves” by Kristina Gallo tells a story of a girl, whose wrong choices led to more sinister consequences than memories of a few embarrassing episodes in high school.

Natalija is spending her vacation on the island to where people come with a single purpose: to party. All night long, drinking cocktails and hanging out on the beach. That’s what she wanted to do together with her boyfriend. But then a person from the past she would prefer to forget appears on the scene, and the party turns into a nightmare.

I liked that the author hasn’t tried to portray her main character as some kind of an angel. Natalija’s temper and her not always sound judgement of people and circumstances would probably lead someone to thinking that she is partly guilty in her misfortunes.

For some readers it might be too unsettling to read, since there are scenes of violence and abuse in the book. That being said, I strongly believe that such stories must be told without blurring the lines. Otherwise, it might seem that what happens to the victims is not as horrible as it really is.






View all my reviews

Book review / Josef The Writer's Cat by Ellen Khodakivska

Josef The Writer's Cat by Ellen Khodakivska

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What a lovely book! If you have a cat, this story will fill your heart with warmth. But if you don’t, you’ll immediately want to change it.

“Josef The Writer’s Cat” by Ellen Khodakivska is a book that any cat would dream to have written. The story is told from the perspective of Josef, the cat who’s been lucky to become a member of a writer’s family where everyone loves him.

Each cat is different. Each has its own personality. Each cat is unique for its masters. Ellen Khodakivska has managed to capture Josef’s personality and uniqueness. While I was reading, I remembered all the cats that honoured me with sharing their lives with me. I could talk about each of them for hours. At present, I’m blessed to live with two fantastic cats. Just like Josef, they both had an uncertain start in life, having been born in a place where a kitten’s life is worthless. My youngest kitten’s brothers and sisters weren’t as lucky as Honey, and – just like in the book! – she had witnessed how dangerous the crows can be.

I’d like to thank the author for the smile that hadn’t left my face the whole time I was reading about magnificent Josef. I also thought that he and my 7-year-old Peach would have a lot to discuss between themselves. I’m looking forward to reading the next chapters in Josef’s fluffy story.





View all my reviews

Book review / Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is not an easy task to write about your favourite books. Especially when a book has been your loyal friend for longer than the majority of your real friends. You get protective of that book, just like you would if you had to protect a person :)

Like the majority of legendary books, "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen is liked and hated in equal measure. Some find it boring because of the lack of action or female characters, who don't comply with a modern woman standards. Others adore it and reread it religiously even knowing every line almost by heart.

As you've already guessed, I'm from the second team.

I read "Pride and Prejudice" for the first time more than twenty years ago. It was one of few first Penguin paperbacks available in our bookstore. I searched Goodreads database to find that same one among hundreds of other editions.

Since then, I reread it almost every year. And the emotions the books evokes never change. I laugh every time I "see" Mr Bennet. One of the most remarkable book characters of all times! And I can't stop giggling when I "see" Mr Collins. Another excellent example of a perfect side character. And, of course, my heart fills with butterflies every time Lady Catherine comes to scold Elizabeth, although I know that the result she will achieve will be completely opposite to what she hoped for.

To put it into a modern book language, the world building in that book is absolutely amazing. Jane Austen had not only created a story, she had left us the history. How vividly we see the small world of a noble English lady! How perplexed we feel trying to step into her shoes - walks, balls, family meals, long visits to relatives and friends. How could they live like that? And not only live, but also write stories about their life - the life of the whole era - that are far better than any history book.



View all my reviews

Book review / Paper Castles by B. Fox

Paper Castles: A novel by B. Fox

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Paper Castles” by B. Fox is a book that leaves the readers with many thoughts after they turn the last page. In short, my kind of book.

The story follows the life of James Brooke. He is 28, he has an excellent diploma in Architecture, but he is jobless and has moved back to live with his father in his home town. His imagination is what keeps him from falling apart. But real life demands its due, and no matter how magical the images in one’s head are, one cannot escape it.

“Paper Castles” is an excellently written book. You literally get into James’ head. You hear his thoughts, you feel his pain, and you go through his struggles with him. I’ll be honest, I didn’t sympathise with him. His choices have led him to a deadend, and he is too concentrated on himself. Whom I did sympathise with is his father. Nowadays, somehow it turns out that if you are a parent, you automatically turn into a superhero completely devoted to the needs of you child. But parents still remain human beings. They aren’t always able to act as a superhero. I strongly believe that grown-up children should be more attentive to their parents.

I would recommend this book to all the thought-provoking contemporary reads lovers. If you like to read about different lives of ordinary people, to peer through the thick blanket of routine that often makes us forget that it’s not easy or even possible to overcome everything that life throws at us, simply because “everyone suffers” or “life can be like that”, then you’re in for a treat. “Paper Castles” is an excellent novel that will make you stop and think about life, your own and in general.




View all my reviews

Book review / I Should Have Worn a Curtain 2 by Samyra Alexander

I Should Have Worn A Curtain 2: A Novella by Samyra Alexander

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In “I Should Have Worn a Curtain 2” Samyra Alexander continues the story of Shaena, a young woman, who suffers from eating disorder.

What I especially liked about this book is that the author doesn’t try to make Shaena look perfect, while the whole world is against her. This is true, a lot of people deny things like depression, bulimia, anorexia, etc., proclaiming these problems to be illusionary and simply the consequences of a lack of willpower. But at the same time, some people tend to blame the world for their problems.

Samyra Alexander draws a truthful portrait of someone, who suffers from bulimia, with flaws, sometimes unfair judgements, as well as illogical actions.

I liked the way the author depicts the relationship between Shaena and her family. Every family has its ups and downs, but the most important thing is that these ties are not to be broken easily, and even after many years of misunderstandings they can be fixed.




View all my reviews

Book review / I Should Have Worn a Curtain by Samyra Alexander

I Should Have Worn A Curtain: A Novella by Samyra Alexander

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The author does an excellent job in drawing a bleak picture of a life of someone, who suffers from eating disorder. It’s probably difficult – if not completely impossible – for those, who never had similar experience – to fully understand that every aspect of a person’s life is affected by this condition.

Shaena is a young girl, whose life could be so much brighter and happier if she wasn’t confined in the walls that bulimia had built around her. Her friends are not real friends, but only colleagues she chats with during a lunch break. Her boyfriend is not a real boyfriend, but an ambitious man, who wants to build a career as a fitness specialist and uses Shaena as a project to achieve that goal. Her family is real, but due to what they had gone through, she’s not very close with them.

The novella “I Should Have Worn a Curtain” by Samyra Alexander opens up a door to a nightmarish room that has “bulimia” sign on it.

Shaena’s story continues in the book 2, which I also read. I would recommend both books to everyone, who wants to feel what it’s really like to suffer from eating disorder.




View all my reviews