Book Review – Three Christmases

You know when you’ve read a good book and then have that desire for “a little bit more”  – the need to have a little peak into the future of the characters you’ve grown to love… well once in a while an author kindly pens us this little look and today’s review is one such book.

I reviewed the original book Things We Never Said by Nick Alexander and was thrilled when he released the sequel short Three Christmases at Christmas and I eagerly downloaded it, although I am sorry to say I actually forgot to read it until this weekend!

Blurb: This is a sequel to Things We Never Said, a feel-good, short-story-length (52 printed pages) glimpse into the future for all those readers who have been begging to know what happens next.

Following the death of Catherine, husband Sean, daughter April, and best friend Maggie start to move on with their lives.
Discover what the next three years hold in store for all the characters you came to love in Things We Never Said.

Rating:  5/5

My thoughts:  This is a satisfying short glimpse into the lives of the characters we loved in the original novel and, as the title suggests, it takes place over three separate Christmases. So what happened next? Did Sean and Maggie finally get together, how has life turned out for April… well, of course, I’m not going to tell you as that would be an ultimate spoiler – all I can say is, read it for yourself – you wont be disappointed!

Book Review – World Circus

Another sunny weekend means only one thing – time to relax and read. Which now means time to share with you all my thoughts on the book I have just finished.

World Circus by Charles W Jones

This is the third, and final, instalment of the Circus World Trilogy and I have reviewed the first two parts: Book one Circus Tarot and Book Two Page of Buckets

Blurb: For the final installment of the Circus Tarot Trilogy as well a tie in with Hydrangeas on the Lanai (Charles W. Jones), inspired by Clive Barker’s Weaveworld, Charles brings World Circus. Bizarre events won’t allow Susie to return to World Circus, and she discovers at the same time, she is no longer Page of Buckets, leaving her with the question of “who am I?” Each time she closes her eyes to sleep, she learns more and more of how the strange world and its inhabitants were created. An unsettling vision of a massacre leaves her shaken, leading her to the woman who created the Circus Tarot.

 

Rating:  4/5

My thoughts:  So at last the trilogy draws to a close and piece by piece we learn the origins of this strange world.

Time has passed and Susie learns that her role in the circus is about to change, she just doesn’t know who she is to become and the truth is revealed slowly through a series of strange, and often disturbing dreams.

I must admit that I didn’t quite enjoy this book as much the previous two but that said it was still a well crafted tale and it was satisfying to discover where this strange world originated. The flipping between the different times took a little getting used to but that became easier the more you read.

All in all a pleasing ending to a strange and imaginative series that might make you look at clowns a little differently – unless, that is, you are already afraid of them 🙂