Gemma

I had a lot of fun reading If I Disappaear. It starts rather abruptly following Sera as she is already most of the way to the ranch the book is set on and explains the reasoning behind her choice to come and check on her favourite podcaster. I think this opening scene could have done with a bit more set up as I found it to be fairly unbelievable. Otherwise, the plot moves fast and kept me engaged. I liked the unreliable characters and how it kept me guessing thoughout the book.

The exposition style re-write of the ???final??? reveal was not my cup of tea. I think it would have been a stronger ending if the twist had been incorporated into the narrative rather than feel like I was reading it removed from the story.

Sera was missing something to make her stand out as a character. I felt like we were missing some backstory or character building moments to understand her decisions. I also thought the sudden inclusion of the anti-men narrative was so randomly placed in to the story especially since Sera???s closest friends from her backstory are both men.

The premise of the sisters hunting for their mother was dropped fairly quickly into the novel and wasn???t picked back up until the end of the book. While it was the instigating force of the plot, it wasn???t the driving force and for much of the book we are simply following the lives of these siblings. As a result, I wasn???t as interested in the middle of the book where we change focus.

I thought the assault plot line came out of nowhere, but I really did not like the inclusion of the speculative element. Characters from history appear and talk to our characters briefly, appearing a few times. It???s not too often, so if its not an element you enjoy you can quite easily move past it. In fact, I didn???t even realise that was what was happening at first. If it had been a bigger element of the plot I think it would have worked well but in the end I thought it was just a bit ill-fitting.

This book had great writing, and I enjoyed the characters. I just think there were too many elements half committed to and if there had been a bigger focus on just a couple the book would have worked better for me. As it is the book felt like it was missing an identity.

A quick read, very informative and gave a good solid timeline and basic understanding. I feel more prepared to go on to read more of the books I've got waiting on my shelves that cover related topics.

As my first book in my 2021 non-fiction reading challenge, The Impossible State felt at times like an impossible challenge. It was randomly selected for me by the tbr game I am playing each month and it has been high up on my priority list of physically owned non fiction.

In The Impossible State, seasoned international-policy expert and lauded scholar Victor Cha pulls back the curtain on provocative, isolationist North Korea, providing our best look yet at its history and the rise of the Kim family dynasty and the obsessive personality cult that empowers them. Cha illuminates the repressive regime???s complex economy and culture, its appalling record of human rights abuses, and its belligerent relationship with the United States, and analyzes the regime???s major security issues???from the seemingly endless war with its southern neighbor to its frightening nuclear ambitions???all in light of the destabilizing effects of Kim Jong-il???s death and the transition of power to his unpredictable heir.Ultimately, this engagingly written, authoritative, and highly accessible history warns of a regime that might be closer to its end than many might think???a political collapse for which America and its allies may be woefully unprepared.

The Impossible State

The first recorded trade between the two Koreas was in November 1988, in the form of a forty-kilogram (90-lb) box of clams that arrived in Pusan. The next was a shipment of 612 pieces of Korean artwork that arrived in Pusan on January 1989.

I have seen a lot of hype surrounding Jane Harper???s previous books, particularly The Dry. I knew that I should check them out as I enjoy a good mystery and all the reviews I had seen where full of praise. I decided to try out the latest release on Netgalley and I am so glad I did. Spoiler alert: a lot more praise coming from me.

Coming home dredges up deeply buried secrets???

Kieran Elliott???s life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences. The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called home.

Kieran???s parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn. When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away???

Kieran hoped the numbness would set in soon. The ocean???s icy burn usually mellowed into something more neutral, but as the minutes ticked by he still felt cold. He Braced himself as a fresh wave broke against his skin. The water wasn???t even too bad, he told himself. Not at the tail end of the summer with the afternoon sun doing its best to take the edge off. Definitely goosebumps rather than the hypothermia. Kieran knew he had personally described water far colder than this as ???nice???. Only ever here in Tasmania, though, where sea temperatures surrounding the small island were relative.???

But no, Kieran was serious. Because all he could think of was Finn???s warning. If you???re in here at high tide, you are not coming out.

A more literary science fiction novel about what happens when 90% of the population is suddenly unable to sleep.

Beautifully written, it reads like a myth. I adored the two main characters.