Author: realmrsb

Review – Odriel’s Heirs

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Title: Odriel’s Heirs

Author: Hayley Reese Chow

Book Blurb from Amazon: As the Dragon Heir, seventeen-year-old Kaia inherited the power of flame to protect her homeland from a godlike necromancer’s undead army. But after centuries of peace, the necromancer has faded to myth, and the Dragon Heir is feared by the people. Persecuted and cast out, Kaia struggles to embrace and control her seemingly useless gift while confined to her family’s farm.

My thoughts: Well, this book has a LOT going on.

Our Main character is Kaia Dashul, a young women of almost 18 who as the eldest child in the family is the heir to a specific set of skills.

Kaia has a twin brother (while he is not part of the inheritance, he does have a part in the story) and other younger siblings.

This book is aimed at Young adult readers, and I can see someone who already established a good relationship with reading really enjoying it.

Hayley has built the world in the book really well, and just when you think you know where its going something happens to keep you on your toes.

The book covers themes like:

War

Feminism

Suicide

Family

Friendship.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the follow up to this book.

I received and advanced review copy of this book and am leaving my review honestly and voluntarily.

Where to buy:

Amazon. (this is an affiliate link)

Another Mrs B Book Review – Dietvale

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Title: Dietvale

Author: Andrene low

Publisher: Squabbling Sparrow Press

Release Date. 30th September 2020

Book Blurb: Marilyn is ready to drop the weight and stop looking like a ‘before’ photo. So when her good-for-nothing husband kicks the bucket during divorce proceedings, she thinks the perfect place to blow his dough is at a secluded health retreat.

But more frightening than low-carb and bikinis is the sinister force on the other side of the high fences. One that has dark cravings of its own…

Trigger warnings: Novel contains torture and rape, with retaliation both swift and brutal.

What do I reckon?  Horror of this level isn’t usually a genre I like to read.   I was offered an ARC of this book and boy it came into my life at just the right time.  Personally I was in a bit of a low space and honestly there’s nothing like some blood and guts and good old fashioned revenge to escape into.

Buy this book if you’re into, gore, fantastic scenery, unusual urges & spirituality.

Andrene weaves a great story and all of the horror is completely in keeping with the story.

Disclosure: I was given an advanced reader copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

You can buy the book through this link or approach your local bookstore and see if they have it or can order it in for you.

Another Mrs B book Review. – Tree of Strangers

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Title: Tree of Strangers

Author: Barbara Sumner

Publisher: Massey University Press

Release Date: September 10th 2020

A bit about the book from Amazon: Barbara Sumner grew up in a family filled with secrets and lies. At twenty-three she decided she had to find her mother. Remarkable, moving, beautifully written, Tree of Strangers is a ripping account of a search for identity in a country governed by adoption laws that deny the rights of the adopted person.

My thoughts:  I loved this book.  I can hear you asking now, “Hey Mrs B, what’s to love about forced adoption?”   We all know the answer is there’s nothing to love about that.  What I loved is the way Barbara spoke her truth and explained her life in terms I could understand.

In my own parenting journey of raising 2 children with special needs I am realizing very quickly there are some parts of my parenting where I have no agency.  At the end of the day though, I get to go home and hug my babies.

In this modern world how is it acceptable to take children away from the arms that should be holding them?

If you’re reading this and thinking “Hang on Mrs B, what about the mothers who….”   My answer is buy this book and read it.

Where to buy

Approach your local book store and see if they stock it or ask them to.

You can also get it from amazon, link below.

Radio Ireland – Another Mrs B book review

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Lets start with the ending.  Is that allowed in the world of book reviews? I guess it doesn’t matter.  I can be a literary rebel. 

The ending of this book is a big one.  It’s been a while since I’ve been stunned at the actions of the main character. After a few days to think about it the ending was right.  There are other ways the author could have gone with it. It wouldn’t have been the same.

Our main character Brendan is at a bit of a crossroads.  He finds himself in an ok(ish) job, no relationship and his father has recently died.  Without any close family nearby, he moves from his hometown in America to his ancestral home of Ireland. 

Brendan has never been to Ireland but from the stories told to him as a child by his father, it almost feels like home. 

The other big draw card is his best friend Rory.  Rory has offered him the job of a lifetime.  Co DJ (with Rory) on a morning radio show.   In short things for Brendan are looking up.

Then he arrives in Ireland………

There’s no Rory.  In fact no one knows where he is.

Suddenly, he’s hosting the radio show with a man called Eamonn.  I’ll keep the origins of Eamonn a secret in this review. 

Between the show with Eamonn, looking for Rory,  and exploring all the places his father grew up has Brendan got time to find love? Does he find Rory? What does he find out about his father?

Honestly, you’ll have to read the book to find out.

I was given the book by the author Kevin MaHon in exchange for an honest review.  As a rating I give this book a solid 4/5 stars.

If you would like to read the book, you can find it here:

https://www.amazon.com/shop/therealmrsbrady?listId=1FVZ80VAWHTKZ&ref=cm_sw_em_r_inf_list_own_therealmrsbrady_dp_uGz11XHvDnsWc

So what’s the deal with Covid-19

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Well I’m not a Dr, a microbiologist or anything to do with virus control at all. Honestly I think the best thing we can do at times like this is follow the advice of the professionals.

Here are a couple of links from people who know a bit more than me:

https://covid19.govt.nz/

https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus

One thing I can say with a lot of certainty is I’m incredibly grateful for the teachers at Reubens school for helping to prep him about the virus. Also due to his learning difference he does not fit a lot of the online curriculum so his teacher was pre prepared for arranging activities for him to do at home. He’s had very little worries or questions about what’s happening.

Nina is handling things in her stride. The lockdown did happen in the same week that she had extra hours approved at kindergarten. So I really wont know myself when school starts again.

So going forward whats the deal for Mrs B? With Mr B at home and the kids at home too it sounds crazy but I’m going to try and blog a bit more.

Reader I can hear you saying I had time to blog when everyone was at work, school and kindy! As a family we are making time each day for Mr B to work, and Reuben to do some school work. So I’ve been making deliberate time to put pen to paper so to speak. I have a good backlog of book reviews I will post on Facebook. It really saves a lot of clicking for everyone if you can see them in one tidy space eh?

I hope this post finds you well and hopefully will chat with you all again soon 🙂

So what’s new Mrs B?

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Well here’s a rundown:

I survived the school holidays! Two weeks with both kids at home and even a couple of outings.

200 days without alcohol! I’m pretty please with that, I’ve a wee way to go as I am still having vitamin B shots and want to give them the best chance of working. I’m truly feeling a lot better. I still face situations where I feel like diving into a glass of wine, but you know what? I’m finding it much easier to get through them sober.

I went on a course! I did a course run by Altogether Autism. It was called “Kids do well if they can.” It was based on some of the research by Dr Ross Greene. His book The Explosive Child looks interesting and has some good ideas. If you want to find out more about it you can find the book on my affiliate link here: https://amzn.to/2MV0upF

A Policeman told me off! I was speeding. I avoided a ticket but was sternly told off. Reuben recounted the story later by saying “mummy got chased by the police”

I opened a shop! Check out my Amazon store over here. Many many thanks to the person that bought a book. You can check out my store here: https://www.amazon.com/shop/therealmrsbrady

I read lots of books! I have more than 5 book reviews to write, they’ll be coming soon.

I collected too many tin tiles! When Countdown supermarket started their latest promotion I thought it would be great to collect the tiles for Reuben and Nina. So I put the word out among some friends and now we have been inundated. You might see more posts featuring them soon.

I start using too many exclamation marks! I’ve no excuse!

Fly Like A Bird. Another Mrs B book review.

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The main character Ivy Taylor has been raised all her life by her grandmother, Violet. As Ivy grows up we learn about her extended family (2 Uncles and 2 cousins) her friends and the relationship she has with her grandmother.

They live in a small town in Iowa called Coffey. The timeline of the book covers 1959 – 1986.

As Ivy grows she learns her grandmother might be keeping some secrets about what happened to her parents.

The author does not dwell on the every day ins and outs of life in a small town. The author also ties up all story lines of the many characters, which I liked.

I would say this book is a coming of age tale as well as a mystery. There are some scenes of domestic violence and discussion of murder. It was all within context of the story so it wasn’t much of an issue.

I also think this book could have had a little more romance in it.

All in all a good read and I give it 4/5 stars.

I received this book from netgalley and I am giving this review voluntarily.

Entanglement – review.

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I will admit to being a bit sceptical at first, comparing this author to Douglas Adams is a big statement!  I must say it was a wonderful comparison!

This book is suited to anyone who is interested in sci-fi or something quirky.   The characters are all likable and the author captures their personalities very well.

This book is not in the “leave your brain at home” category.   The story line and points of view switch between the main characters quite regularly so you need to be engaged to remember what’s going on.  This wasn’t too difficult for my tired brain as I was enjoying it so much and wanted to see what happened next.

The continuing themes of cake, bricks, and moles added an extra something too.

I understand the Author is working on a follow up to this book and I cannot wait to read it.

In the mean time, if you would like to purchase this book you can through my affiliate link here: https://amzn.to/2JJj03o

I received this book from Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I gave this book a 5 star rating on Netgalley and Amazon.

The light in the hallway. – Another Mrs B book review.

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Author: Amanda Prowse

Release date: 11th November 2019

This is a book about love, grief, friendship, growing up and even parenting, And you know what? The main character is a man!

This book focuses on Nick, Eric and Alex. They’ve been best friends for years. Throughout the book there are flashbacks to their childhood where they enjoy an incredible summer.

The “present day” finds one of the characters going through the loss of his wife.

I loved this book and the way the author was able to write from the point of view of Nick. I definitely recommend buying this book when it’s released on the 11th of November.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.