Cover:

Auf dem Cover sehen wir den Hauptcast von ‚The 100‘ wie wir ihn aus der Serie kennen. Passend zum Thema Rebellion haben wir eine raue Umgebung im Hintergrund.

Meine Zusammenfassung und Meinung:

Zunächst einmal hatte ich nicht damit gerechnet, dass noch ein Band erscheint. Die Bücher unterscheiden sich außerdem stark von der Serie. Wer also erhofft, hier Details zur nächsten Staffel zu bekommen, liegt falsch. Im Buch leben auch noch einige Charaktere, die in der Serie bereits gestorben sind.

Gerade als alle denken, dass langsam Ruhe einkehrt und die Arkadia in Frieden leben können, nachdem sie sich endlich auf dem Planeten behaupten konnten, passiert das Undenkbare: Eine Art Sekte formt sich in ihrer Mitte. Jugendliche, die auf Streit aus sind und jeden auf ihrem Weg erbarmungslos bekämpfen, rotten sich zusammen. Plötzlich werden einige der 100 entführt und es gibt einige Leichen zu beerdigen. Eine aufregende Jagd beginnt, in der sich unsere Hauptcharaktere nicht immer einig sind, wie sie vorgehen sollen. Besonders Bellamy schlägt mal wieder andere Wege ein und es gibt Streit.

Es war wieder sehr spannend, ‚Die 100‘ zu lesen. Ich bin großer Fan der Serie und auch wenn die Bücher in eine ganz andere Richtung führen, macht es mir trotzdem Spaß, das ganze zu lesen. Bei jedem der Charaktere gibt es mal wieder eine stark Entwicklung. Frau Kass versteht sich darin, die Bücher flüssig und spannend zu gestalten, auch wenn dieser Band etwas kürzer ist als die vorherigen. Dieses Mal mache ich nicht den Fehler zu denken, dass es der letzte Band ist und freue mich auf den nächsten Teil, der, denke ich, irgendwann nächstes Jahr erscheinen wird.

Bewertung:

Für mich eine sehr spannende Fortsetzung abseits der Serie. 4 Sterne.

The Bellamy Bird is well and truly a Young Adult/Children's mystery adventure book.

The writing is simple and the mystery quite light-hearted in nature. I enjoyed the turn of events that occurred, but felt that the overall tone of the book, coupled with the writing style was much better suited to the younger audiences. Some Young Adult books are readily transferrable to adults, but I didn't find the same draw to this one as I have had with other YA books.

The main characters are two young children, Jamie and Frankie, male and female which means that the books is accessible for either gender, and their parents. Their parents (Nina and Tom) were strangely open to the 'bizarre', which felt a little odd to me, given they are parents, but had they not have been that open to the bizarre, the story would not have worked. So even though it didn't seem to fit for me, it was a necessity.

The mystery was quite well documented, the red herrings laid and the thief hiding in plain sight. I felt at times I might have been reading one of the older cosy mysteries, as there was hardly any 'negative' aspects to the theft. So, if you're an adult who enjoys light-hearted adventure mysteries akin to the Enid Blyton books (which I loved as a kid), or a parent of young kids, pick this one up and give it a try. Suitable for most youngsters.

A couple of things I noticed:
10% - I told you (you) has a much more fun childhood.
17% - ...who Tom co(u)ld have told her...

All I want for Christmas contains three short stories/novellas in vastly different locations, but all three set around Christmas time.

A Tuscan Christmas by Susanne Bellamy:
This story was my favourite of the three, it felt the most realistic, it had the least amount of problems in the story and the characters were great. The setting was lovely, even if it was a little cliche.

Only sweet on the sex-o-meter, this one would be suitable for most readers of romance. ★★★★

A Tropical Christmas by Nicole Flockton:
I really didn't like this one. It felt too unbelievable, too much in line with the sudden rage of massively rich, sinfully handsome man whisks the damsel in distress away from everyone and everything to screw her socks off.

I did like that Erica was a little fiery, not just a push over and one to bat her eyelids at Brandt like a bimbo, but it was lost in the complete unbelievability of the story. ★★

A Perfect Christmas by Dilys J Carnie:
I should have liked this one the most, set in Scotland, with a sexy Scot, named Callum, who worked hard for his money and prestigious job, mixed with a young woman, Skye, who seems to have her own head firmly planted upon her shoulders... alas this is where the goodness ended.

This story hid a multitude of editing and writing sins, so much so, I couldn't enjoy the sweet reunion romance they shared.

A few things I noticed:
79% - his jeans tightened against his fly? Um what? His erection pressed against his fly or his jeans tightened perhaps?
81% - ...we have to talk about (it);
89% - ...and the taste and (delete and) exploded...
90% - lashes to flutter close(d).
91% - assault her swollen (assault has very negative connotations do you want to use that in this context?)
92% - what about her busted ankle???
...her knowing with with (delete second with) each, (delete comma) penetration...
First she screams, then Callum swallows her groan.
Then he sucks on her tongue, yet she's still able to talk and demand he goes harder... WTF!?
"(Delete ")She nodded, "That was...
93% - ...that made her drew (draw) in her...
94% - what about her ankle?????????
95% - how does a zipper tighten on its own? I think you're inferring that his erection pressed against it!
99% - ...know that I was on (delete on) there on a scholarship?"

★★

Overall the collection was nice, but it wasn't anything too special. Susanne's story carries this collection.

There's an Irish hero in this Aussie romance and he's gorgeous. I'm keeping Matt ;)

Susanne Bellamy has a lovely readable style as the story zooms through a lot of emotional drama, both between Matt and Andrea, and between each of them and their families. A forced/fake engagement is one of my favourite romance tropes -- although I'm generally not a big fan of books where the main characters fib. A lot of misunderstandings and deceptions (for the best of reasons) have to be sorted out in a tangled plot that Susanne handles deftly.

The setting -- Melbourne -- shines. So if you're looking for an Australian romance with a city (and not rural) setting, this is the one!

*Disclosure: Susanne is a fellow Escape Publishing author, but I decided a while back that if I only reviewed books by people I didn't know (as in spend way too much time social media chatting with), I'd miss out on sharing a heap of great books.