Sunday 14 June 2015

My Favourite Standalones

Hello,

Today I want to share with you a few of my absolute favourite standalones. In my opinion, these are all worth a five-out-of-five-star rating. All the stars! All the joy! All the best!

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Wow, oh, wow. I recently read this and it is possibly my favourite book ever! The world inside the story was easy to picture; I felt like I was peering over the narrators' shoulders all the time. The story is told by three women that we learn have connected lives as the events unfold. The protagonist, Rachel, is the main narrator and she is 'The Girl on the Train'. Every morning and evening during the week she commutes to London and while doing so she always pays particular attention to a certain house she passes. 

Overall reading experience: I had a hard time putting this one down. 

The Drowning of Arthur Braxton by Caroline Smailes

I've actually done a review on this one which you can read at your leisure by clicking on any part of this sentence, go on, enjoy. Anyway, this is one of those books that I really cannot compare with another. It was fantastic! This is an urban fairytale about a teenage boy who hides in an Edwardian bath house where things aren't all as they seem. Again, this one has a few narrators, but each voice has a different style and sometimes even format. 

Overall reading experience: I could quite easily read this over and over again. 


The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

The thing I love most about this is that you are told that the narrator's brother is dead as soon as he introduces him. But what you don't know is how his brother died. Nicely played, author, nicely played. It's written as if you are experiencing the main character's thought process. If he wants to think it, you read it. If he doesn't, you don't. The whole story feels very real rather than a work of fiction. 

Overall reading experience: I loved the characters and felt extremely involved with the story throughout. 


What's your favourite standalone?

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