REVIEW: Death of a Nightingale (Nina Borg #3)

From the Nordic noir duo who brought you The New York Times bestseller The Boy in the Suitcase comes a chilling new thriller with a mystery seventy-years in the making.

Nina. Natasha. Olga. Three women united by one terrifying secret. But only one of them has killed to keep it.

Natasha Doroshenko, a Ukrainian woman who has been convicted of the attempted murder of her Danish fiancé, escapes police custody on her way to an interrogation in Copenhagen's police headquarters. That night, the frozen, tortured body of Michael, the ex-fiancé, is found in a car, and the manhunt for Natasha escalates. It isn't the first time the young Ukrainian woman has lost a partner to violent ends: her first husband was also murdered, three years earlier in Kiev, and in the same manner: tortured to death in a car.
 
Danish Red Cross nurse Nina Borg has been following Natasha's case for several years now, since Natasha first took refuge at a crisis center where Nina works. Nina, who had tried to help Natasha leave her abusive fiancé more than once, just can't see the young Ukrainian mother as a vicious killer. But in her effort to protect Natasha's daughter and discover the truth, Nina realizes there is much she didn't know about this woman and her past. The mystery has long and bloody roots, going back to a terrible famine that devastated Stalinist Ukraine in 1934, when a ten-year-old girl with the voice of a nightingale sang her family into shallow graves.

----

Thank you to netgalley for allowing me to review this :D

Recently, I've really gotten into crime thrillers - and I discovered the Nina Borg series by Kaaberøl and Friis and Death of a Nightingale is the third book in these series. I actually read the past two previously a few months back, but since I was allowed to read this book as an arc, so I feel obliged to review it - not only to show gratitude to the authors for giving these arcs out, but because I truly did enjoy these books.

As I said previously, this book is the third book in the Nina Borg series. Set in Denmark, the Nina Borg series, follow the story of Nina Borg, a kind-hearted nurse who works with illegal immigrants and refugees and has a bad habit of being too emotionally involved/allowing her work to overlap with her personal life. The first book of these series involved a young Lithuanian boy being kidnapped in a suitcase, with the intention of using him as an organ donor while the second book explored the story of Roma boys who attracted the wrong kind of attention from the authorities. The second book of the Nina Borg series, Invisible Murder, was probably my favourite of the Nina Borg series but that's not to say that this book is not good. Quite the opposite, it is very, very good and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Death of a Nightingale opens with an  elderly woman who tells her son and grandchild a blood-curdling fable of a princess who pays a horrible price by trying to be better than her sister.  Like the other two books, Death of a Nightingale, has many perspectives. Natasha Doroshenko, a young Ukrainian mother, who was the sheltered and cosseted wife of a journalist, and it becomes evident that her husband was involved in a number of dodgy dealings which involved accepting money to hide or reveal other people's secrets. After her husband is found brutally murdered due to his involvement in blackmail, Natasha makes the conscious choice to flee Ukraine to Denmark, but her bad luck continues. She gets involved with a Danish man named Michael Vestegaard, who brutally abuses her but she is reluctant to speak out; believing that it was better to remain in Denmark than to be deported back to Ukraine. She is later sent to prison for attacking Michael, who is revealed to have pedophiliac leanings; she escapes from police custody, knowing that she'll be deported, and desperately tries to find her daughter before it is too late.

As the nurse of Katerina/Rina (Natasha's daughter), Nina is caught up in the investigation of Natasha Doroshenko who is not only wanted by the Danish authorities but by the Ukrainian authorities, who believe she is involved in the murder of her husband back home in Kiev. 

There are flashbacks to famine-stricken Ukraine during the 1930's under Stalin's rule, following the story of two sisters who become increasingly important to the story's plot. I didn't see the relevance in the story of the two sisters, until the very end - I actually so did not expect that twist but it ties everything up nicely, haha. We also see Nina's friend, Søren Kirkegaard (he makes his first appearance in the second book), who helps in the investigation of Natasha and her past in Ukraine, before she escaped to Denmark. The book isn't heavy on action, but I enjoyed it anyway - there is a lot of depth in the investigation and proceedings, which is worth more than dodging bullets, to me anyway.

I must admit, I found the story of Natasha and the two Ukrainian sisters more interesting than Nina's, but that is most likely because the authors are playing out Nina's story over a longer period of time. Personally, I thought Natasha was an interesting character, not likeable, but very intriguing, and it was thrilling watching her grow from an ignorant, sheltered seventeen-year-old bride from Donetsk (which is hardly the epicentre of glamour and sophistication) into a fierce, hardened survivor who is willing to go to any length to protect her daughter, Katerina. - and I hope Natasha appears in future books, she was interesting to read about.

The writing in this book is solid, which I enjoyed and considering it was translated from Danish to English - I must commend the translators for doing a superb job, nothing sounded clunky or out of place. I enjoyed learning about the two countries shown in this book; Ukraine and Denmark, as they weren't countries I really knew a lot about. Actually, the Nina Borg series tends to focus on two countries, Denmark and an Eastern European country, the first book was focused on Lithuania and the second was about Hungary, and I love how the authors integrate and weave the background content of these countries into the plot line, it adds depth to the story, and it allows me to learn more about these countries which is cool.

I don't know when the authors are planning on releasing a fourth book, but I eagerly anticipate it. 

RATING: 4/5 stars

REVIEW: Fire with Fire (Burn for Burn, #2)

When sweet revenge turns sour… Book two of a trilogy from New York Times, bestselling author Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn’t exactly go the way they’d hoped at the Homecoming Dance.

Not even close.

For now, it looks like they got away with it. All they have to do is move on and pick up the pieces, forget there ever was a pact. But it’s not easy, not when Reeve is still a total jerk and Rennie’s meaner than she ever was before.

And then there’s sweet little Mary…she knows there’s something seriously wrong with her. If she can’t control her anger, she’s sure that someone will get hurt even worse than Reeve was. Mary understands now that it’s not just that Reeve bullied her—it’s that he made her love him.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, burn for a burn. A broken heart for a broken heart. The girls are up to the task. They’ll make Reeve fall in love with Lillia and then they will crush him. It’s the only way he’ll learn.

It seems once a fire is lit, the only thing you can do is let it burn...

----

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EDELWEISS AND SIMON & SCHUSTER FOR PROVIDING ME WITH AN ARC. <3

You don't know how happy I was to land this ARC. I finished Burn for Burn a few weeks ago, and I was in AGONY when I finished reading it. The cliffhanger nearly freaking killed me; I was all like, "Omfg, is Reeve gonna die?" "What the hell is wrong with Mary?" "Are Lillia and Alex a thing now?"To answer your questions; no, Reeve isn't dead. You'll see what is wrong with Mary later. No, Lillia and Alex aren't a thing.

Fire with Fire picks up shortly after the disaster at the Homecoming dance, and Reeve is not dead but injured. This is more but somehow less than what the girls wanted; they never wanted Reeve to get injured, but they're still slightly unhappy because he's not kicked off the football team. The girls got away with what they did to him, but there's a lot of guilt going around. There's poor, slightly crazy Mary who was fucked by Reeve majorly, and now she knows there's something wrong with her and she's trying not to let it show. But she's still in love with Reeve, and that upsets her more than anything; that he was a total jerk to her, and she still loves him even after all this time. The girls concoct a plan to make Reeve fall in love with Lillia, with her possibly breaking his heart later on... an eye for an eye, and all that jazz. But things don't always quite go to plan...

Lillia is undoubtedly my favourite character in this book. I like the fact that she's Asian like me (and she doesn't fall into the stereotypical Asian category, and she's not just on the sidelines either so kudos!), she reminds me a lot of myself besides the whole Asian thing, and probably because she's in the midst of the action. She's the princess of Jar Island, yet she's also an outcast. Her friends, especially Rennie, are being bitches to her, she's confused about her feelings and she's haunted by her experience with the UMass boys. Kat is bold and as brassy as ever, but I love the fact that she's loyal to the people who are loyal to her. I can't say I like Mary very much to be honest; she comes across as a clingy, scared and weak little girl who needs protection and I feel like shaking her and telling her to loosen up - but then again, she undoubtedly had the worst experience of all of the three girls. But I love how the girls have their own distinct voices, that's not usually the case with co-authors and I devoured the story eagerly. Fire with Fire was fairly lengthy but I devoured it in one day, that's how good it was, I found it virtually impossible to put down.

This book is contemporary for the most part, until the very end where there's some weird shit going on from Mary. And maybe her Aunt Bette, she's obviously not quite all there. The thing with Mary was a bit confusing and I was all like, "WTF?!" but I have no doubt that my confusion would be all cleared up later in Ashes to Ashes (which comes out in 2014... omfg, that's ages away. TOO DAMN LONG...). Confusion aside, the ending was major. MAJOR, I TELL YOU. And it ended with a cliffhanger, again. Ugh, do you want me to die or something? I just want to see how things pan out, especially major gossip was supposed to go down before ahem.. that thing happened. But I loveeee how Lillia's story ended in this book, I am totally shipping her with that one boy she shouldn't have feelings for. I am so curious to know how the truth is gonna come out, and how certain people are gonna react to it... it's gotta come out soon, karma's slowly biting them on the ass.

These books are amazing; they're an easy read and they're fast and super enjoyable. I loved Fire with Fire, and it's gonna kill me waiting for the next one.

RATING: 4.5/5

REVIEW: The S-Word

First it was SLUT scribbled all over Lizzie Hart’s locker.

But one week after Lizzie kills herself, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie's looping scrawl.

Lizzie’s reputation is destroyed when she's caught in bed with her best friend’s boyfriend on prom night. With the whole school turned against her, and Angie not speaking to her, Lizzie takes her own life. But someone isn’t letting her go quietly. As graffiti and photocopies of Lizzie’s diary plaster the school, Angie begins a relentless investigation into who, exactly, made Lizzie feel she didn’t deserve to keep living. And while she claims she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, Angie's own anguish over abandoning her best friend will drive her deep into the dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull herself back out.

Debut author Chelsea Pitcher daringly depicts the harsh reality of modern high schools, where one bad decision can ruin a reputation, and one cruel word can ruin a life. Angie’s quest for the truth behind Lizzie’s suicide is addictive and thrilling, and her razor-sharp wit and fierce sleuthing skills makes her impossible not to root for—even when it becomes clear that both avenging Lizzie and avoiding self-destruction might not be possible.

-----

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for presenting me with the opportunity to receive an ARC of this book - it is very much appreciated. Thank you again :D

So, The S-Word was a major let down. The blurb sounded promising and the idea was good - it really had the potential to be a great story. It was full of awkward wording, forced dialogue and it was just something I couldn't enjoy and I struggled to get through the book - and I'm a fast reader. The idea had such great potential and it was one of the books I was most looking forward to receiving when I requested it on NetGalley but alas, it was a severe disappointment.

I didn't like this book at all because of how it was written. Nothing to do with the plot at all, I thought it was really interesting but it was ruined with the sloppy writing. The sentences felt awkward, forced and poorly constructed - it didn't quite have that flow. The narrator's voice (Angie) didn't feel right - her best friend snatched her man in front of her, and she actually seemed rather nonchalant about it when explaining to the audience about what happened. I don't know about you but if I found out that my boyfriend had been doing the dirty with my best friend, I would be pretty damn pissed. Angie seemed far too detached and it just seemed rather fake and not right for the situation. Lizzie's diary entries didn't match the voice of an older teenager either - it sounded like a pre-teen trying to sound older and far more sophisticated than they truly are. 

I got what Pitcher was trying to say about the double standards for boys and girls but it didn't quite have an impact - she told us, rather than showed us and overall, didn't quite touch on it enough for the message to sink in. But yeah, good message. Well received blah blah. Angie's investigation into the factors that caused Lizzie to drive herself to suicide was frankly, quite ridiculous, for a lack of a better word - it just seemed all rather amateurish/childlike. She came across like a five year old reading a spy book for the very first time and decided it'll be super fun to just go out there and solve a mystery. BAM. Yeah, that's what it felt like. 

There were also too many issues going on all at once, y'know? Okay, there's slut shaming going on. Yeah, that's bad. There's also a suicide. Yeah, that's bad too. There's bullying. Okay, that's bad as well. Toss that in with cross-dressing, homosexuality/bisexuality, sexual abuse, rape and it's just a huge WTF. They're all important issues on their own individually but the author just grabbed them all and tossed them in a soup pot all at once and it just becomes one confusing hot mess. There was just too much going in a super awkward, very confusing and disjointed plot to feel any actual feels, other than confusion.

I was looking forward to a thought-provoking book on bullying and reading a nice mystery novel that would keep me second-guessing and leaving me on tenterhooks long afterward I've finished it but nope, the conclusion was very obvious to me and so out of there, it was quite funny. If you want to be super confused and disappointed, this is the book for you.

RATING: 1/5

REVIEW: Dare You To (Pushing the Limits #2)

"I dare you..." 

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does.... 

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him. 

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

-------

Before I start this review, I just want to say HUGE thank you to Harlequin UK for giving me an arc of this book through netgalley, I totally wasn't expecting to get it so thank you again. You guys are very generous and I squealed upon seeing my request getting approved :) So without further ado, let the review begin.

“This overwhelming, encompassing feeling is love. It's not perfect and it's messy as hell. And it's exactly what I need.” 

EEP. SO MANY FEELS. Katie McGarry has done it yet again. Damn lady, you're quickly becoming one of my favourite authors of all time. She's gone ahead and created yet another emotional, unforgettable and gut-wrenching story between who utterly messed up yet absolutely perfect characters. 

We see Beth Risk a.k.a Skater Girl who is whisked away from her troubled world in Louisville and is sent to live in a small rural town with her uncle Scott, a former baseball player who played for the New York Yankees. Beth is dark. Spiky. Rude. Snappy. Bitchy. Condescending. Think of a small angry goth girl with tattoos, dyed black hair and a nose piercing. Yep, that's her. Ugh, I just loved Beth. She is brutally honest, to the point of where someone's feelings are hurt, swears a shit load and protective of her mother, despite her mother letting her down over and over again. Beth is a deeply misunderstood character who is quickly judged by most people in the small town of Groveton (think of Stepford wives, Sunday dinners, church committee meetings... yep, that's Groveton down pat) and quickly puts her defences up when it comes to meeting new people, not willing to risk getting hurt again due to an incident that happened when she was just a vulnerable fifteen year old.  She was frustrating at times with all the patronising remarks she made about Echo and how she was quick to judge Allison (admittedly Allison DID judge her as well), the fact that all of her decisions seemed to revolve around her deadbeat, heroin-addicted mother who isn't a healthy influence on her at all and how she's so unwilling of accepting trust for what it is. But she's damaged and all she needs is someone to take care of her, to be free of responsibility.

Enter the Taco Bell Boy, Ryan Stone. Ryan is your quintessential all-American boy jock who's destined to have a great baseball career and then settle in his McMansion with his pretty blonde wife and their 2.5 children frolicking in their yard with their pet dog. His parents are respected members of the community and his dad seems to be a dead cert for mayor of the town. All of this is a facade. His parents fight. His dad demands too much of him. His brother is the black (well, gay) sheep of the family and is no longer living with them. The author did a great job of demonstrating the inner turmoil in his life and I really appreciated that, he was my favourite character. Let me just say, I pretty much liked Ryan right from the start when we got that excerpt at the end of Pushing the Limits - he seemed like your average, flirty jock with a great sense of humour. My suspicions were right; he is conceited to a point and is your typical jock but he is a contrast of all sorts. He is also sweet, caring and has a great love for creative writing which was a breath of fresh air amongst all the one-dimensional jocks in Young Adult fiction. He knew what he wanted in his life, who he wanted in his life; there was no naffing about on his part and I liked that. Ryan helps Beth grow and develop as a person and helps her see the meaning of trust again and I found that incredibly sweet, how he was so willing to accept her, prickly demeanour and all.

“There are times when you stand on the cusp of moments so huge, you know you'll remember them forever. This is that moment for me and for Ryan.” 

I also loved Beth's uncle Scott. Scott is fairly young for an adult (he was twelve when Beth was born), grew up in a trailer park and messed around with trailer park girls before making it to the pros with the New York Yankees and ended up marrying a woman who was the exact opposite of the girls he used to hook up with. Despite Beth rebelling against him and him also ranting back at her in return, he was that tough yet loving authority figure that Beth had always needed and craved for and provides her with the kind of caring, familial love that she had always yearned for.

Damn, I gotta say I feel sorry for Isaiah. Dude was friendzoned majorly. Although I was rooting for Beth and Ryan the whole way right from the start, my heart went out for him when Beth rejected him. He deserves a girl that is in love with him and not just on a friendship level - but I didn't feel too badly seeing that there was a sequel about him called Crash into You. CANNOT WAIT. I'm sure he'd get his happy ending then. But I've got a long wait, seeing as this book isn't technically out yet. Damn.

Dare You To is a fantastic read with a badass chick who doesn't stand for bullshit and is chockfull of sexual tension and scenes that are sure to make you swoon. What more could you want?

RATING: 4.5/5 stars