Book Review: Heap House

The colder autumnal and winter months are perfect for spooky, dark and quirky reads; I've already read quite a few creepy books so far this month and this is one of them although even though it does have creepy elements, it's definitely more quirky, atmospheric and unusual - think Tim Burton.

I was very kindly sent *Heap House by Edward Carey (£7.99) by Hot Key Books which is the first book in the Iremonger trilogy. I adore the cover, it's so unusual and unique - it also looks quite gothic. The Hoy Key Books I have all have a pie chart style symbol on the back depicting the main themes and topics within the book which I think is a fantastic idea! For this book the themes are stated as friendship, gothic, revenge and escape.

The book follows the massive Iremonger family including Clod Iremonger who are all very eccentric. They've created a frankstein's monster of a house all full of the family and distant relatives, the house is pretty much a character of it's own...The majority of the family and plethora of distant relatives who act as servants, never leave the house as it's surrounded by the heaps which are gigantic, mountain like structures of rubbish. New servants are brought in every so often, including a curious girl called Lucy Pennant and she makes an unlikely and adorably cute friendship with Clod.

The Iremonger family are more than a little unusual and one of their main eccentricities are their birth objects; when an Iremonger is born, a member of the family gives them a 'birth object' which can be anything from a bath plug to a fireplace. Poor, sickly (but cute and delightful) Clod can hear birth objects and he knows that something is wrong, not just with the birth objects but the house in general and he endeavours to find out what has caused the disturbance and the odd peace the family have found for themselves in their own unique, topsy turvy world.

I love the writing style, it's incredibly easy and quick to read and I also love the illustrations throughout the book even though some are a little creepy to say the least. You get so many points of view from the family members and servants, each one with an illustration, so it can be a little confusing just because there are SO many characters but it is an unusual, essenctric and easy read that has such a fantastic quirky and victorian atmosphere. There are a few twists and turns all of which are a little predictable and I wasn't massively happy with the ending but I would definitely recommend it - I think it would be an incredible film, if done correctly and if Tim Burton directed it as this is definitely Tim Burtonesque already! I definitely want to carry on with the trilogy! Overall rating: ★★★★☆, 4/5.

Have you read anything from Edward Carey? What are you currently reading? 

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Book Review: With Malice

Mystery, thriller and YA books have become some of my favourites for this year and from the description, this book ticked all of my book loving boxes as it's a mystery YA book set partly in Italy and I LOVE Italy! Additionally it's a relatively short book and shorter books are great to read in between longer and more heavy going books.

I received *With Malice by Eileen Cook from the super super lovely people at Hot Key Books and I chose it because I'd heard great things about it from so many people on booktube; also the cover is really interesting and I obviously gravitate towards pretty and interesting looking books. It's 293 pages and on Amazon the genre is 'young adult' and 'action/adventure' and I'd definitely says it's a YA books but it's not really an action/adventure book - to me it is a YA psychological thriller/mystery.

The book follows Jill, she's woken up in hospital with no recollection of the past few weeks but what she does know is that something is very wrong and she hasn't been told the whole story and she doesn't even know the whole story herself. I don't really want to give anything away but it did remind me a little of the real crime case involving Meredith Kercher, so if you are familiar with that case then you will probably see some vague similarities.

I like the writing style and the inclusions of interviews with characters, transcripts and social media comments from various characters as it added an immersive element to the book. I got through the book in less than two days as it is an interesting and page turning read so I think it would be a great holiday or summer read. I did like a couple of the characters, especially Dr Weeks and Anna but eveytone else was annoying on some level and the way the lawyer, Jill's parents and others were to Jill was just so incredibly frustrating but I think it was written to be make you feel frustrated like Jill was rather than because of poor writing. I did have an issue with the ending which I think was a little rushed and wrapped up quite conveniently but it did leave questions unanswered. In summary, even though I did have issues with the book, I still think it's worth picking up as it's an interesting and entertaining book that kept me turning the pages to find out what happens. Overall rating: ★★★☆☆, 3.5/5.

Have you read this book? What have you been reading recently? 

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