Books in Brief: Under the Skin, In the Unlikely Event, The Bridge Over the Drina and The Loney

 Source: Personal Copy

Under the Skin by Michel Faber

Five words from the blurb: hitchhiker, male, specimens, why, strange

There were some wonderfully creepy scenes in this book, but it failed to hold my attention throughout. It was repetitive in the middle section and unconvincing in the end – it seemed to rely on shock-value rather than skillful writing. I’m glad I’ve read Faber’s debut, but pleased his skill as a writer has improved with each further book he’s written.

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 Source: Free review copy received from publisher

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

Five words from the blurb: town, disaster, friendship, generations, changed

I have fond memories of reading Judy Blume as a teenager so was looking forward to trying her new book for adults. Unfortunately, due to my habit of not reading blurbs, I had no idea this book was about plane crashes. I read about 50 pages of good character development before discovering this problem and abandoning it – in an attempt to prevent my phobia of flying from worsening. I look forward to finding out what others think of this book as I’d love to know if the plot develops well. Unfortunately the subject matter just wasn’t for me.

DNF

 

 Source: Personal Copy

The Bridge Over the Drina by Ivo Andric

Ivo Andric received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961

Five words from the blurb: Balkan, history, war, generations, survive

The Bridge Over the Drina is a Bosnian classic, but it deserves to be a global one. The plot describes the history of a small Bosnian town by focusing on the events that happen on the stone bridge at it’s centre.  Some sections were a bit slow and there were points when I became bored by sheer number of battles that had taken place over the last 700 years, but that isn’t the author’s fault – Mankind should learn from the lessons of the past! If you’d like to know more about the history of the Balkans this is the book for you.

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 Source: Free review copy received from publisher

The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

Five words from the blurb: retreat, coast, hidden, priest, forget

The Loney is a slightly creepy mystery. It began brilliantly, with some fantastically atmospheric descriptions of the English countryside. The characterisation in the book was also excellent, but I’m afraid the plot flagged in several sections. The ending was almost enough to make up for this, but it was too little, too late. This is Gothic horror at its mildest!