Hello and welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup post: the last one in June. At the end of last week’s post, I said that my next book was by a new-to-me author. Oh, my memory is so awful! In fact I had already read a couple of books by her and really enjoyed them. Here is the latest…
The book was Reputation by Sarah Vaughan. This is the blurb:
“The bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal returns with a new psychological thriller about a politician whose less-than-perfect personal life is thrust into the spotlight when a body is discovered in her home.
As a politician, Emma has sacrificed a great deal for her career–including her marriage and her relationship with her daughter, Flora. A former teacher, she finds the glare of the spotlight unnerving, particularly when it leads to countless insults, threats, and trolling as she tries to work in the public eye. As a woman, she knows her reputation is worth its weight in gold, but as a politician, she discovers it only takes one slip-up to destroy it completely.
Fourteen-year-old Flora is learning the same hard lessons at school as she encounters heartless bullying. When another teenager takes her own life, Emma lobbies for a new law to protect women and girls from the effects of online abuse. Now, Emma and Flora find their personal lives uncomfortably intersected–but then the unthinkable happens: A man is found dead in Emma’s home, a man she had every reason to be afraid of and to want gone. Fighting to protect her reputation, and determined to protect her family at all costs, Emma is pushed to the limits as the worst happens and her life is torn apart.”
I really enjoyed reading this book and awarded it four stars on Goodreads. Here is my response from that website:
Reputation by Sarah VaughanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was an interesting psychological thriller with plenty of twists in the plot. Told from the point of view of a woman Labour MP, struggling to maintain her reputation amidst online abuse, sexist colleagues and personal issues. There are gripping court scenes and a plot that seems to curl back on itself several times. Just when the reader feels as if everything is coming to a suitable ending, our certainties are overturned!
Oh and it was interesting that some of the timeline dates corresponded to the real time that I was reading the book!
Recommended. This author is well worth reading.
View all my reviews
My next book was recommended to me by a dear friend. I am so glad that she did!
The recommended book, and series, was the Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. Let’s look at the blurb:
“Maia, the youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an “accident,” he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.
Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.
Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favour with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the spectre of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor.”
Once again, I urge you to read a range of reviews about any book that I mention on here. Anyway, this is mine:
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine AddisonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was recommended this book by a dear friend and I thank her for doing so. This was an interesting and absorbing read for me with a well-drawn main character. The story intrigued me with its tale of sudden elevation to a high position, lack of preparation, confusing rules and the difficulty of knowing who to trust.
Like other readers, I found the naming system very difficult to deal with and it did detract from the plot at times as I couldn’t always remember who was being written about! This was not helpful to the reader and so I removed one star.
I am, nevertheless, going straight on to read the second book!
View all my reviews
As you can read above, I have already moved on to the sequel, The Witness for the Dead, and have purchased the next book also: The Grief of Stones. Maybe I will have worked out the naming system by the end of the third book!
Well, that is all for this week. Happy Reading to you all!
Love and best wishes,
Anne
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The Librain
The Librain......retired 