The Ice Twins by S.K Tremayne

Happy Friday to you all. Now I'm really looking forward to a hopefully relaxing weekend, and I have the whole weekend free from work. So I will start my weekend with some family time this evening and a glass of wine :) 

I have an awesome book tip for you today. My rating and thoughts are from the audiobook in Swedish.

Synopsis

A year after one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah Moorcraft move to the tiny Scottish island Angus inherited from his grandmother, hoping to put together the pieces of their shattered lives.

But when their surviving daughter, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity—that she, in fact, is Lydia—their world comes crashing down once again.

As winter encroaches, Angus is forced to travel away from the island for work, Sarah is feeling isolated, and Kirstie (or is it Lydia?) is growing more disturbed. When a violent storm leaves Sarah and her daughter stranded, Sarah finds herself tortured by the past—what really happened on that fateful day one of her daughters died?

Thoughts

It was awesome all the way through!  What I loved about this book is that it has all these different turns and with a surprising twist at the end. The Swedish narrator for this book did an amazing job, cause she really was a perfect fit for this kind of psychological and mysterious story. 

I wasn't bored at all I think when I was listening to it, so that is pretty positive :) 

It's a book I sure can recommend for everyone to read or listen to.

I give The Ice Twins 5 of 5 stars

5 disappointed books I read in 2017

I managed to read over 50 books, but a few times you just don't like what you read and you struggle through the book cause you want to finish it, or you just decide to put it back on the shelf.

A few times I picked books that really wasn't the right one for me. I'm pretty sure we all get influenced by other readers on Instagram, Youtube, blogs and perhaps Twitter. You see how many people like, so you are pretty sure you will like it and even get high expectations for the book as well because of  many other reviews for it.
But it doesn't turn out at all what you were hoping for.

I would like to share 5 disappointed books I read in 2017.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L James

I almost finished this book, but then I just was too tired of it as it was the same thing over and over again. It's about sex all the way. It was a little funny in the beginning, but it got tiring honestly. I did buy the second book with this one, but I haven't got to it yet and I'm not really sure I ever will. I have watched those two movies as well and I didn't enjoy them either. 

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Tylor

This was a very hyped book when it came out and I saw how everyone was posting about it and how they liked it. I truly love the US cover of this book which is blue and very pretty, so I thought I just had to have it on my shelf so I got it. 

It's a very gorgeous book to look at, but to read it was very difficult I must say. I started in August and read almost 200 pages I think, and still, I didn't get a grip on it. 

I thought I had chosen the wrong time to read it, that I wasn't in a mood for it. So I took a break from it, which turned out to be a long break. I picked it up last month again and wanted to continue, cause maybe I could start to understand the book now. But I was wrong, it was so hard to focus for me with this book. No idea why, but it was like nothing happened and I couldn't remember what I was reading. Another book I wasn't able to finish!

First We Were LV by Alexandra Sirbwy

I really liked the synopsis of this book when I read about it and I saw this book a lot on bookstagram, so I actually was really looking forward to reading it. I thought this could be a great YA book. But it fell flat for me, unfortunately. 

Turned out not to be the right pick for me, it was boring and I couldn't relate to anything and I guess I didn't get it at all :)

Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle

John Green was I very curious about before Christmas. I wanted to read a book by him and Let It Snow felt like a good choice at that time. It was new and I found it on Storytel (audiobook) and I gave it a shot. But yeah, I liked the first story, it was good. But was bored after a while during the second story and I wasn't able to finish this one. 

Sometimes I may need to just overcome those boring moments in a book and just keep going, cause I may miss out on something good. 

I didn't understand when I started this book that it was three totally different romance stories, so I was a little turned off when the story changed. I just wanted the first one to continue :)

A Court of a Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

I wish I could like it more than I do right now. I loved the first book A Court of Thorns and Roses, so I was disappointed that I didn't love this one. It's a popular book and a lot of readers think this one is the best. But I really can't understand it. I truly needed a small break from it, but I did finish it after awhile and I am glad I did :) I'm happy I gave the chance to finish it, cause it got better in the end and that made me feel better.
But I was disappointed that I only liked how it ended.
I haven't read the third book A Court of Wings and Ruin, but I will this year and soon is my plan. I just cross my fingers that I will like it better, I won't give up on the book series!

Have you read one of these or maybe all of them?

Weekend Question

Yesterday I came over this fun weekly question from the Swedish book blogger Mias bokhörna and thought it could be fun to participate in this :)

I've definitely noticed that more book bloggers are moving more and more to Instagram, just because it's easier to reach people with their posts and book reviews. I had another book blog before this one but made the choice to put it down and focused on sharing more reviews on Instagram than just post pictures of what I'm currently reading and so on. 

But after a little while, I realized that this won't work for me! 

My reviews got so briefly and only with my own thoughts on the book, cause it was difficult to write that much on Instagram. What the book was about and why maybe I didn't rate the book so high. In a blog post, it's easier to share in more details what I really feel about the book. 

Honestly, I don't read reviews on Instagram when people post long reviews on there. Instead, I look and like the picture and then I google the book instead :) But if the person has posted the review on their blog as well, I don't mind to check out the blog. 

I prefer to just use Instagram for the pictures and as a compliment for the blog. I decided to release this blog and be a book blogger again, so I can write more easy about books and in a book blog you can write about anything related to books. You know, it doesn't have to be just reviews :)

I am glad that there is still amazing book bloggers out there who keep creating content for us who like to read blog posts and want to keep book blogging alive!

Love, Life and the List - Kasie West

As I've been sick for a few days I have been able to read a little more. Yesterday I felt for a cute, warm and fuzzy read and a contemporary book seemed like a good choice. 

I have actually not read that many contemporary books, and as the fall and winter have been like all in for thrillers and crime I think it's time for some cute stories...right?! :)

Kasie West is a new author for me. Well, I knew about her and I've heard great things about her books but I've never read anything by her. So, I thought I should give her books a try :) I found Love, Life and the List on the Storytel app and decided yesterday to press PLAY and listen to it. 

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Abby Turner’s summer isn’t going the way she’d planned. She has a not-so-secret but definitely unrequited crush on her best friend, Cooper. She hasn’t been able to manage her mother’s growing issues with anxiety. And now she’s been rejected from an art show because her work “has no heart.” So when she gets another opportunity to show her paintings Abby isn’t going to take any chances.

Which is where the list comes in.
 
Abby gives herself one month to do ten things, ranging from face a fear (#3) to learn a stranger’s story (#5) to fall in love (#8). She knows that if she can complete the list she’ll become the kind of artist she’s always dreamed of being. But as the deadline approaches, Abby realizes that getting through the list isn’t as straightforward as it seems… and that maybe—just maybe—she can’t change her art if she isn’t first willing to change herself.

I was enjoying this book, so I finished by listening to it in one day. I am not used to listening to an audiobook in that short of time, but it was just a few hours long cause I could listen to it at the highest speed on the app without being too fast for me :) 

It's a cute book, but it was pretty predictable and how I predicted it to end...it did! I don't want to do a spoiler here, so I can't go into details about it. But I felt the focus was a little too much on other things than the things that I was hoping for, so that is why my rate isn't higher. But it was an easy book to listen to and loved the narrator Caitlyn Kelly. 

I give Love, Life and the List 3 of 5 stars. 

Do you have a favorite Kasie West book?

Follow Latte and a Book on Bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin