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review 2020-06-22 13:04
Vanishing Bath, Peter & Ruth Coard
Vanishing Bath - Peter Coard,Ruth Coard

The 1960s-1970s were a disaster for cultural heritage in Bath. Not merely entire streets but whole neighbourhoods of Georgian through to Victorian architecture were demolished and redeveloped. It became known as The Sack of Bath. Not until the late 1970s did the tide turn back towards conservation and preservation. By that time huge quantities of buildings of significant architectural merit had been flattened. The motivation for all this destruction was allegedly the need for improved housing. It was cheaper to bulldoze and build new than to modernise terraces that were anything up to two centuries old. And indeed, something needed to be done - many of these terraces were suffering from damp as well as needing new plumbing and electrical wiring. Not a single one of the replacement buildings had half the architectural merit of its predecessor and, mysteriously, large areas were not replaced by housing of any kind. The Southgate area gained a horrible covered shopping precinct. Hamm Gardens got a giant multi-storey car-park that couldn't have been uglier if you were trying to make it so. Similarly with Corn Street and Avon Street.

 

Eventually it was realised that since the local wool trade died in the 18th Century, Bath has had no reason to exist outside of being a Tourist Mecca and giving posh people bragging rights about living in one of the famous up-market streets. (John wood the Elder created this out of nothing in the 2nd half of the 1700s.) Since then, the city's economy has risen and fallen consistently on how popular it is with tourists and rich residents. Needless to say, the 1960s-1970s were a hideous depression for Bath. Only when the clean up and conservation ethos re-established itself (around the time my family moved to the area) did fortunes improve. Since then, new developments have, despite often being labelled (usually fairly) "mediocre" and "insipid" been usually a vast improvement on anything that occurred post WWII and pre-1980. (A notable exception is the new bus station which is only marginally better than the atrocity it replaced.) Since then, the fortunes of the city have also been generally on the rise. People want to visit the amazing World Heritage Site now, whereas they mostly wanted to get the hell out of the soot-covered hell-hole of pre-1980.

 

Which brings me to the book. From the start of the Sack of Bath, many protested the enormous cultural loss. Some, unable to stop the loss, decided to at least try to preserve a record of the old city before it was too late to do even that. A campaign of photography and drawing was launched. The originals were curated by the old Bath Reference Library (now merged with the lending library). This book, which reproduces the majority of the drawings made during this effort, is therefore important - a term I do not bandy about lightly in case of books - as it represents the best and frequently only easily accessible witness of what we lost in those two decades of planning horror. And what a loss! I had no idea! Almost every building appearing in the book would be considered an untouchable masterpiece if it was standing in one of the towns or villages to the south west or north west of Bath. Only the proximity to so many internationally extraordinary streets and isolated buildings allowed them to be overshadowed and criminally under-appreciated by urban planners who caused more problems than they solved.

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review 2020-04-30 16:12
Die geheimnisvolle Treppe // The Vanishing Star!!!
Die geheimnisvolle Treppe - Maureen Johnson

german and english review

audible audiobook

spoilerfree

 

Inhalt: Willkommen zurück an der Ellingham Academy!
Endlich hat Stevie einen entscheidenden Hinweis auf den Schreiber des Erpresserbriefes gefunden, der sich hinter dem Namen Wahrhaftiger Lügner verbirgt. Aber nach dem tragischen Unfall eines Mitschülers nehmen ihre Eltern sie von der Schule. Stevie würde alles dafür tun, zur Ellingham Academy zurückzukehren und den Entführer von Alice zu finden. Selbst einen Deal mit dem Teufel eingehen – oder Davids Vater Edward King ...

Ein toter Star. Ein entführtes Mädchen. Eine verschwundene Mitschülerin.
Bei dem Versuch, die berühmte Ellingham-Affäre zu lösen, stößt Stevie Bell auf mehr Fragen als Antworten. Doch zunächst muss sie das Verschwinden ihrer Freundin Ellie aufklären. Gemeinsam mit David macht sie sich auf die Suche nach ihr und stößt dabei auf einen versteckten Gang im Internat. Welche Geheimnisse sind noch hinter den Mauern der Ellingham Academy verborgen?

 

Meine Bewertung: Oooh, ich bin so froh, dass ich doch zurück gekommen bin!!!

 

Ich war mir nicht sicher ob ich zu der Serie zurück gehe, es gab so viele Dinge die mich in dem ersten Buch gestört hatten aber letzendlich hat meine Neugier gesiegt und hier sind wir also...

 

Der zweite Band hat mir so viel besser gefallen als der erste Band. Wahrscheinlich weil hier jetzt wirklich von Stevie so viel mehr ermittelt wurde. Ich kann verstehen, dass wir im ersten Band einfach die Zeit gebraucht hatten um erstmal die Academy und auch die ganzen Mitschüler und alles kennenzulernen.

 

Gut, dass das jetzt alles aus dem Weg war und Stevie sich jetzt wirklich (abgesehen von ihrer Nebenmission in Sachen David), wirklich auf das Ermitteln konzentrieren konnte. Ich hatte das Gefühl, wir haben davon einfach diesmal so viel mehr bekommen. Es wurden sooo viele Forstschritte gemacht und ganz ehrlich hatte ich nicht erwartet, dass wir schon die ersten Antworten auf Fragen bekommen würden. AAAAH!!!!!

 

In diesem Band hat mich wirklich nur David genervt, doch ich habe gelernt ihn wunderbar auszublenden und die Bücher einfach ohne ihn zu genießen, denn genau das kann ich tun wenn er nicht da ist. Ooops!!!!

 

Dafür haben mir die anderen Charaktere einfach wieder unheimlich gut gefallen und uch die neuen Gesichter, die wir bekommen haben.

 

Jetzt bin ich doch wirklich total auf Band drei gespannt und kann es garnicht abwarten ihn in die Hände zu kriegen. PLOT TWIST, denn niemand, nicht mal ich, hab kommen sehen.

 

***

 

Summary: All Stevie Bell wanted was to find the key to the Ellingham mystery, but instead she found her classmate dead. And while she solved that murder, the crimes of the past are still waiting in the dark. Just as Stevie feels she’s on the cusp of putting it together, her parents pull her out of Ellingham academy.

For her own safety they say. She must move past this obsession with crime. Now that Stevie’s away from the school of topiaries and secret tunnels, and her strange and endearing friends, she begins to feel disconnected from the rest of the world. At least she won’t have to see David anymore. David, who she kissed. David, who lied to her about his identity—son of despised politician Edward King. Then King himself arrives at her house to offer a deal: He will bring Stevie back to Ellingham immediately. In return, she must play nice with David. King is in the midst of a campaign and can’t afford his son stirring up trouble. If Stevie’s at school, David will stay put.

The tantalizing riddles behind the Ellingham murders are still waiting to be unraveled, and Stevie knows she’s so close. But the path to the truth has more twists and turns than she can imagine—and moving forward involves hurting someone she cares for.

 

My review: Oooh, I'm so happy I actually came back to this story!!!

 

I wasn't really sure about going back to this series, there were just so many things in the first book that I didn't like but at the end of the day, curiousity got the best of me and here we are...

 

The second book was so much better than the first one. Mostly because Stevie actually got to investigate and find stuff out. I totally get that in the first book we had to get to know the academy and all the other studens and stuff.

 

Thank god that is out of the way and Stevie (aside from her side mission concerning David) she kann actually focus on figuring shit out. I just feel like we got so much more of that this time around. We actually got somewhere and to be honest I didn't expect that we would actually get some answers already. AAAAH!!!!!!

 

In this book the only thing that annoyed me was David, but I found away to just ignore him really well and enjoy the books without him, cause that's how I would enjoy the books even more, with him gone. Ooops!!!!

 

I really enjoyed the other characters just sooo much more, and really liked the new characters we got.

 

Now I'm actually really excited about the third book and can't wait to get my hands on it. PLOT TWIST that no one, not even I, saw coming.

 
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review 2020-01-06 00:14
Review: The Vanishing by Jayne Ann Krentz
The Vanishing - Jayne Ann Krentz

3.25 stars - Reviewed for Wit and Sin

 

Murder, mystery, psychics, auras, and a hint of romance make for a great combination in The Vanishing. Jayne Ann Krentz has kicked off her Fogg Lake series with a fast-paced, engaging story.

Decades ago, “The Incident” happened in Fogg Lake; an explosion in the caves that released gases and gave the residents and their decedents certain paranormal abilities. Catalina Lark grew up in Fogg Lake, but she and her best friend, Olivia, make their living as investigators in Seattle. When Olivia goes missing, Catalina learns that it’s due to a murder both witnessed in Fogg Lake when they were teenagers. The only person Catalina can trust to help her find her friend is Slater Arganbright, an agent from the secretive Foundation. Catalina and Slater have an instant connection and it doesn’t just come from them both having supernatural skills. They clicked perfectly, making it easy to fall into the rhythm of the story as they hunt kidnappers, killers, and unraveled a mystery that began before they were born.

The Vanishing moves at a quick clip and because it’s the first book in the series, Ms. Krentz throws out a lot of information. I won’t spoil the story by revealing anything, but there are mysterious organizations, multiple players with competing agendas, and quite a few point of view shifts, some of which will likely be important down the line in the series. Because of this, there’s a lot of exposition and I wish there had been more show than tell, especially near the end so the developments felt more organic. The world building and mystery are enough to keep the story going strong and Catalina and Slater are great central characters, so it also would have been nice to see their relationship develop over the course of the series. Instead the romance felt almost shoehorned in and was so rushed that it wasn’t quite believable at the end. This isn’t to say I didn’t like the book – I actually really enjoyed reading it and am looking forward to what happens next – but it was missing much-needed depth in some areas that would have made the story shine.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Source: witandsin.blogspot.com/2020/01/review-vanishing-by-jayne-ann-krentz.html
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review 2020-01-02 03:37
The Vanishing Season
The Vanishing Season: A Mystery - Joanna Schaffhausen
It’s that time of the year again, Ellery’s birthday is right around the corner. For Ellery, unfortunately, she suspects that again, this birthday will not be a time for celebration. It always began with her mail. Opening the envelope, Ellery knew the minute her eyes landed on the colorful front what she was holding. The greeting inside was just the beginning, its deception was just a part of the mystery that Ellery was a part of. Would this year be any different?
 
Ellery is a female officer who has moved into a small town where she is the only female on the payroll. Ellery believes that some murders have been committed yet there haven’t been any bodies recovered. She has been connecting the “dots” in a few cases and she believes that she’s uncovered a pattern. Now, Ellery is predicting the next murder. However, no one is listening to her. The real story is, Ellery is not telling her colleagues everything she knows about these cases and the clock is ticking. What are you going to do Ellery? You can’t delay your birthday.
 
With twists and turns, I enjoyed this griping mystery as Ellery works to uncover the pieces and get everyone on board. I enjoyed the small town of Woodbury, the main characters with their flaws and the character’s history. This was an entertaining, exciting book and Joanna Schaffhausen is an author that I look forward to reading in the future.
 
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

 

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review 2019-12-31 04:16
Ellery Hathaway #1
The Vanishing Season: A Mystery - Joanna Schaffhausen

The Vanishing Season is an impressive debut from Joanna Schaffhausen, and an equally impressive series start. All too often lately, I've been sucked in by a great prologue only to be let down by what follows, but that was not a problem at all with this book. The mystery is suspenseful and kept me on my toes, the procedural part of the story was interesting and thought-provoking, and the characters were terrific - even the ones I didn't like. Our main characters, Ellery and Reed are both likable and even though I've never been in either's shoes, they were still relatable. Ellery makes for a great protagonist. She's stubborn, determined, and will stop at nothing to solve this case even when no one else thinks there is a case. Does she always make the right decisions? Not even close, and she's also a bit broken by her past and keeping secrets that could come back to bite her. She's got plenty of reason to keep secrets, and who wouldn't messed up by what she's been through. She lived through a nightmare and is still pushing through the other side. Reed is equally likable and also a little broken. His story tugs at the heartstrings as he deals with things in his personal life while also trying to help Ellery. I really liked Reeds chapters and the way his mind worked as they raced to find a killer before someone else could be taken. The mystery is laid out very well, and the author does give us a pretty good red herring or two as the story progresses. I did guess the killer's identity, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the story, and I will say that the author had me second-guessing myself more than once. All in all, this is a great start to the series, and I can't wait to see more of these characters. 

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