A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

As Sure As The Sun is Anna McPartlin's third novel.  And I am only reading it now.  I don't know how this happened, but back when the library first got this novel, I never read it!  I couldn't believe it!  I've read all of McPartlin's other novels and reviewed them here on the blog.  If you want to read those reviews, you can click on the Anna McPartlin tag at the bottom of this post to find them. When Harri faints (again) the morning of her (second attempt at) wedding her fiance and love of her life, James, he leaves her because he can't deal.  Then Harri's parents reluctantly drop a bomb of a family secret tragedy on Harri and her twin brother, George: they're not her parents and George isn't her twin brother.  When George's twin sister died at birth, Harri was 'adopted' six weeks later.  By 'adopted', I mean, Harri's parents basically subbed in the younger baby girl for their own baby girl and, no, pretty sure this was...

Somewhere Inside of Happy is the seventh novel by Anna McPartlin (I think).  And I've read and reviewed almost all of her novels on the blog.  While this novel was a page turner and an engrossing read, it was missing the spark that some of her others possess.  This one was more of a slow burn in part because we know from the blurb on the back of the book that the main character's son goes missing and that something 'dreadful' happens to him.  So we have that hanging over our heads even before the book starts.  And the first chapter/epilogue of the book reveals that the son is indeed dead (spoiler alert?).  The majority of the book takes place in the past as we flashback to the hours leading up the son's disappearance and then takes us through the days of his disappearance as we hurtle to the inevitably bleak conclusion.  I was really dreading finding out how the son dies, and while it is incredibly tragic, heart breaking, and sad, it was not as bad/...

I have read every Anna McPartlin novel.  Or at least I think I have except for the most recent one released after The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes .  When I was perusing the blog for those reviews to link to, I couldn't find a review for As Sure As The Sun , and I don't remember the plot.  So I will have to investigate that one to make sure that I've read it.  I know I have read four other McPartlin novels: Pack Up the Moon , Apart from the Crowd , The Space Between Us , and   Alexandra, Gone because there are reviews for those on the blog.  Click on the book title to read the review.  And then go read the books if you haven't already.  Or read them again if you already have because they're that good.  I love McPartlin's novels and after I read Somewhere Inside of Happy , I will be all caught up with her novels.  I read on the author's Facebook page that there will be a follow up novel featuring the Hayes family either next year or the y...

The Space Between Us is the most recent title from Anna McPartlin; it was released in 2011 or 2012.  Her website hasn't been updated in ages and the new title isn't even included on her bibliography on the site.  I say all this because I'm wondering when she'll release a new title (and I'm suffering a little Anna McPartlin book withdrawal).  I bought a copy of this one off of eBay from a seller in the U.K.--I was desperate, okay?  It will soon be available to borrow from the library. The back cover blurb calls Lily's marriage "impossible" ...let's be real, people, and call things what they are because mislabeling the nature of the relationship between Lily and her husband, Declan, is dangerous.  It is abusive--always verbally, sometimes physically, and occasionally sexually--controlling, and isolating.  Lily has no friends and that's how Declan likes it.  Declan is the textbook example of abuser begetting abuser in an endless cycle across ...

I loved Pack Up The Moon the debut novel by Anna McPartlin, whose follow ups to this debut I have also read and reviewed for this blog.  In my review for Apart From The Crowd , which is the novel after this one but was written before Alexandra, Gone , which was the first McPartlin novel I read and reviewed, I thought that Apart was not as well written as Alexandra and that perhaps this reflected the novelist's growth as a writer between Apart and Alexandra .  But having read Pack Up and found it as well written and as good as Alexandra , I've now come to the conclusion that for whatever reason, there was just something a little off with the writing in Apart .  I loved Pack Up The Moon and I love Anna McPartlin--she has most definitely gained another fan.  I'll refrain from worrying about when her next novel will drop until after I've finished As Sure As The Sun which is the last McPartlin novel I haven't read. Have I said I loved this book?  Well, I di...

This is McPartlin's second novel after Pack Up The Moon (which I have not read yet); it is also the second McPartlin novel I've read.   Alexandra, Gone , the first one I read, is actually her fourth novel.  I can tell the difference between the two novels as far as writing craft goes, and Apart From The Crowd is slow getting started until it sets up its characters and its story.  The story takes a good hundred pages or so to get rolling, but once it goes the reader will be glad they hung in there because the sparks of sharp wit and vivid characterization that ran so thoroughly through Alexandra, Gone are present in this one.  Music plays an integral role in the characters' lives as it did to the plot in Alexandra, Gone . The novel alternates between the third person perspective of four characters: Penny, Ivan, and Mary, all Irish; and Sam, an American.  Each character has their own demons and past tragedies and misfortunes that need exorcising and that have...

This book has made me a fan of Anna McPartlin.  There's only one other title by McPartlin in the county library system, and after I've read that one I either have to track the others down through ILL or recommend her other titles be added to our library.  Unless I hate the one at home in which case I won't bother with the others.  McPartlin is an Irish writer; she lives in Ireland and her novels are set in Ireland.  In Ireland and the UK Alexandra, Gone was published as So What If I'm Broken and apparently, according to her website, McPartlin hated the latter title and much preferred the title under which the novel was published in the US.  I don't know that I hate the UK title, but the US title makes more sense.  Having read the novel, I'm not really sure the UK title fits the story and we all know how annoying it is when a title has no connection to the story--please see The Dead Travel Fast 's review from a couple weeks ago for a refresher. As girls ...