Book Review: The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

Title: The Disappearing Act

Author: Catherine Steadman

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Adult Fiction, Thriller

Pages: 320

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Year Published: 2021

Format: Audiobook

"A woman has gone missing

But did she ever really exist?

Mia Eliot has travelled from London to LA for pilot season. This is her big chance to make it as an actor in Hollywood, and she is ready to do whatever it takes. At an audition she meets Emily, and what starts as a simple favour takes a dark turn when Emily goes missing and Mia is the last person to see her.

Then a woman turns up, claiming to be Emily, but she is nothing like Mia remembers. Why would someone pretend to be Emily? Starting to question her own sanity, she goes on a desperate and dangerous search for answers, knowing something is very, very wrong.

In an industry where everything is about creating illusions, how do you know what is real? And how much would you risk to find out?"

My Rating: 3/5

This was a fun thriller. I liked the idea of having a disappearance in the middle of Hollywood where nothing is as it seems. In a city with just a ton of people trying to make it and people who are desperate it does add to the creepy factor. I did love the different layers of media placed throughout. Enjoyable but overall I don't think that this will remain in my memory.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

Title: Small Great Things

Author: Jodi Picoult

Series/Standalone: Ruth Jefferson (Book #1)

Genre: Adult Fiction, Contemporary

Pages: 480

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Year Published: 2016

Format: Audiobook

"Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse at a Connecticut hospital with more than twenty years' experience. During her shift, Ruth begins a routine checkup on a newborn, only to be told a few minutes later that she's been reassigned to another patient. The parents are white supremacists and don't want Ruth, who is African American, to touch their child. The hospital complies with their request, but the next day, the baby goes into cardiac distress while Ruth is alone in the nursery. Does she obey orders or does she intervene?

Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy's counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family- especially her teenage son- as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other's trust, and come to see that they've been taught their whole lives about others- and themselves- might be wrong.

With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice and compassion- and doesn't offer easy answers. Small Great Things is a remarkable achievement from a writer at the top of her game."

My Rating: 4.5/5

I'm going to start this review by saying that this is not written by a black author. I think that is an important note to make and that is why it was docked one point. Not because I don't think that people can't write from other perspectives rather than their own, but I think that it could be offensive to those in the black community.  I do think that this book was very interestingly written from the perspectives of Ruth (a black labour and delivery nurse), Turk (a white supremacist) and Kennedy (a white public defender) and how their lives combine and their views on the world morph. It brings up the subject of not being able to see the white supremacy culture that is present in our day to day lives when you have the privilege of not having to take notice of it. I do think that the ending statements were vital to the enjoyment of this book. The author took time to do research, speak to those who have had the experience where she had not and had input from the black community to be sure that she was capturing the story to the best of her ability.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

Title: Interview With the Vampire
Author: Anne Rice
Series/Standalone: The Vampire Chronicles (Book #1)
Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Classic
Pages: 353
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year Published: 1976
Format: Audiobook (Own It)

"Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, showing and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing forces story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the sense. It is novel only Anne Rice could write."

My Rating: 1.5/5

I know that this is a lot of people's favourite series and I can honestly say, I don't think I get it. Maybe someone could let me know if they are all written in the same fashion and same format. Because I'd be willing to continue if I knew next books in the series would be different but at this point, I just don't really care. I was intrigued by the idea of different kinds of vampires and vampire children but then it just seemed to drag to me. I did care about some of the characters in the story, and the atmospheric writing was beautiful, but at this point, I just don't think that I will continue the series.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny