Book Review #519 - Take the Reins (Canterwood Crest #1) by Jessica Burkhart

When Sasha Silver and her horse, Charm, arrive on the campus of the elite Canterwood Crest Academy, Sasha knows that she's in trouble. She's not exactly welcomed with open arms. One group of girls in particular is used to being the best, the brightest, and the prettiest on the team, and when Sasha shows her skills in the arena, the girls' claws come out. 

Sasha is determined to prove that she belongs at Canterwood. Will she rise to the occasion and make the advanced riding team by the end of her first semester? Or will the pressure send Sasha packing?

My Rating: 3.5/5

I received this book for review from Simon and Schuster Australia.

I was looking forward to reading this book not only because I have heard a lot of amazing things about this series but because I have a guilty pleasure for animal related literature. 

As this book is rated more as a children's book rather than a young adult book I was surprised how mature the protagonist Sasha was. 

There was a bit of a romantic element developing which I didn't expect from a children's book. That really added a whole other dimension to the story. 

I found the plot unoriginal but the dialogue was fresh and kept me interested throughout. 

I have ridden a horse probably 2-3 times in my life and so know next to nothing about riding. I liked how this book didn't confuse me with all the technical terms etc about horses but rather educated me.  

Book Review #518 - January Window by Philip Kerr

Scott Manson is team coach for London City football club. He's also their all-round fixer - he gets the lads in to training, and out of trouble, keeps the wags at bay and the press in his pocket. The players love him, the bosses trust him.

But now London City manager Joao Zarco is dead, killed at his team's beloved stadium at Silvertown Docks. Even Scott Manson can't smooth over murder... but can he catch the killer before he strikes again?

My Rating: 4.5/5

I received this book for review from HarperCollins Australia. 

What initially drew me to this book was the cover but once I discovered it was a murder mystery surrounding the inner world of premier league football I was completely sold as I am a massive sports fan. 

The sporting aspect was obviously my favourite element of the story as I loved how it combined real players, clubs, managers etc with the obvious fictional ones. 

I think if this had not been sports related I would not have liked it as much as I did as the whole mystery solving aspect was a little slow and definitely took a back seat to the football stuff. 

Whenever I visit a different city I always visit all the sporting stadiums so I really loved that this book was largely set in a stadium. 

I really enjoyed the behind the scenes parts of London City especially the relationships between the players, managers, coaches and owners. 

Book Review #517 - Shiver the Whole Night Through by Darragh McManus

After months of bullying and romantic heartbreak, seventeen-year-old Aidan Flood feels just about ready to end it all. But when he wakes up one morning to find that local beauty and town sweetheart Sláine McAuley actually has, he discovers a new sense of purpose, and becomes determined to find out what happened to her. The town is happy to put it down to suicide, but then one night Aidan gets a message, scratched in ice on his bedroom window: 'I didn't kill myself.' Who is contacting him? And if Sláine didn't end her own life... who did?

My Rating: 3/5 

I received this book for review from The Five Mile Press. 

This book is set in Ireland and so a lot of the characters had Irish names and whilst I just pronounced them my own way to save myself confusion I did appreciate the pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book. 

This book was rather slow and drawn out. At around 300 pages it could have perhaps been a little shorter in length. 

I live in one of the hottest places on Earth that rarely even gets rain so I have never experienced snow so I really enjoyed the way the author depicted the snow in a very descriptive manner.  

I would have liked there to have been more dialogue. There were long portions of this book that were simply Aidan's ramblings. 

The mystery element was the slowest to develop and I would have liked more suspense to go with it.