Instagram story viewer> @robreview.s> Posts
RobReviews...(@robreview.s)'s profile avatar HD Profile

RobReviews...

@robreview.s

460
followers
506
following
A place for book reviews and films.
πŸ“– Current read - 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King
πŸ“š 48/50
POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED
Download All
Thought I would jump in on the fun with the Meet Me In Fives. Here are some of my favourite books, films, music and TV series. Are there any you love as well? Probably should have done a five favourite destinations, given the background photos of me on my most recent travels in Edinburgh, Uzbekistan, Istanbul and Egypt... #bookstagrammer #booksta #meetmeinfives #films #music by @robreview.s
27
3 months ago
Download
🌍 Reading the World! 🌍 A couple of years back I wanted to be more intentional with my reading and break away from just reading authors from the UK and US and so started my journey. My stats as it stands: Countries Read: 19 Different Number of Authors: 27 All book covers with stars on, are those I highly recommend (4.5-5 stars). I will check in, in around six months, so that I can look at my progress. Other than a reading goal (book total) have you set yourself any long term challenges? #bookstagram #booksta #readingchallenge #readingtheworld #booksintranslation by @robreview.s
19
6 months ago
Download
Hello! I thought the best way of introducing myself and my page would be to share with you some of my favourite books of all time! I try and read through a broad range of genres, so as not to get fatigued and fall into a slump. The five books on this list cover historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi and literary fiction, which on the whole covers the breadth of genres I read. Have you read any of these and would you rate them as highly as myself? I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please let me know! #Bookstagram #bookish #historicalfiction #fantasy #scifi by @robreview.s
17
7 months ago
Download
🌟 🌟 Book Review 🌟 🌟 The Lamb by Lucy Rose I've started spooky season with a bang, with Lucy Rose's debut novel the Lamb. The novel is set in a rural community in England, where an eleven year old girl (Margot) and her mother prey on those lost and lonely travellers passing through the woods they live in. Their relationship; whilst at times can be fractured, they provide the necessary support for one another. This is until a woman appears on their doorstep and changes everything. The story is told from Margot's perspective and due to her naïvety of the world and limited lived experience, it allows for a dark fairytale style narrative to form. This novel isn't for the faint of heart, as the descriptions of preparing human flesh can be stomach turning and the violence is pretty full on. Rose uses cannibalism as a metaphor for all consuming love and grief very well and subsequently builds tension and claustrophobia throughout the novel. Whilst this is the main theme explored here, the coming of age narrative with that of girl hood and parenthood provide something else for the reader to chew over. There are moments where the novel becomes a little repetitive and could have been tightened up a touch more, but overall this is a wonderfully atmospheric, visceral story that consumed my attention. #horror #bookrecommendations #booksta #bookstagram #litfic by @robreview.s
10
3 days ago
Download
πŸŽ₯ 🎞 What's the best film you saw last month? 🎞 πŸŽ₯ Here's my film wrap-up for everything viewed in September and what an absolute banger of a month! It's so hard to narrow down a top three from this, but I will try! I'll start off with an honourable mention, by saying that The Voice of Hind Rajab is a must watch, given what we are witnessing in Gaza. It's absolutely devastating and this one story is truly eye opening. It's impossible to rate and it would be a disservice to do so. Top three time! 3) The Sixth Sense - cue shocked faces, yes this is the first time I've seen it. What a wonderful ghost story! Without doubt the best I've seen Bruce Willis act, but Osment absolutely shines here! That twist was so obvious, but so well done that I was genuinely surprised. 2) Ninjababy - described as The Worst Person In The World's rebellious younger sister had me intrigued. It's about a young woman who gets pregnant, but actively doesn't want it. It's refreshing to see this portrayed in film. The animation and humour make for a quirky film, yet never downplays the seriousness of the subject matter. 1) Obsession - We've all seen/read pieces of media with wishes gone awry, but this very much taps into the zeitgeist of male loneliness and desperation to feel and be loved. This is built on atmosphere, as the dread that perhaps the film, as it's built upon with real Nikki's autonomy is violated more and more knowingly, in an incredibly horrific situation. Inde Navarette's performance is absolutely sensational and well worth watching, just to experience that. #films #filmcommunity #movielover #filmrecommendations #movies by @robreview.s
7
6 days ago
Download
🌟 🌟 Book Review 🌟 🌟 May We Feed The King by Rebecca Perry Out of all of the books nominated for the Booker Prize this year, this was the one that piqued my interest the most, as a bit of a history nut. The book is split into two narratives, the first being from a curator, who dresses rooms to imitate what we would have seen from rooms in a given period. The second is the monarch that the curator has discovered and has subsequently become intrigued by. As the curator dives into the archives; to meticulously recreate scenes her monarch could have seen, we see the life of a reluctant king, who wears that responsibility loosely. His lack of desire to grasp kingship frustrates his Chief Advisor and opens himself up for ridicule, with rumours of incompetence, cuckolding and worse being spread. I found the novel to be incredibly cleverly done and made me question how we interpret history and what can we say for sure actually happened during the life of someone. Whilst the final part of the curator's narrative emphasises analysis of sources and what information we can interpret from them, the King's story only highlights this. There are multiple parts of his story that are viewed from various people and the use of peeping through gaps in doors/windows etc. only highlights the glimpse of history that we know and see and the conclusions drawn from these fleeting glances. The novel is told in very short, sharp chapters that are written in a very precise way. I found that with the King's part, I was very much an observer and was distanced from the action. It's very deliberately done, but equally there wasn't too much to latch onto. It's clear that Perry has a background in poetry, as there are turns of phrases and styling that prove that here. Overall, this is one of those novels that I completely respect what it's achieved, but don't fully love the final result. #Bookstagram #bookreview #bookerprize #litfic #historicalfiction by @robreview.s
5
7 days ago
Download
🌟 🌟 Book Review 🌟 🌟 Exit Party by Emily St John Mandel This was my most anticipated release of the year and this absolutely delivered! I will say, whilst this is completely its own story, I would recommend reading The Singer's Gun first, so as not to spoil that novel and is the most overtly linked of all of the Mandelverse novels. Ari, who has just been released from prison after 18 years, enters an America that is splintering into individual country and/or city states. The curfew in LA has been lifted; Ari, along with her flat mate decide to attend a party to celebrate this event. However, nothing is as it seems, as doppelgangers appear and the host apparently disappears into thin air, throwing confusion into a turbulent time. As time progresses, the US falls further into civil war and society disintegrates around her, Ari strives to find purpose and meaning in her life, whilst also trying to make sense of the people she knows, but also the same people, who once inhabited an alternative reality. On the flip side, the alternative world that's in question, is an authoritarian regime, where government surveillance keeps everyone in check. Mandel expertly examines the similarities and differences between these two political structures. At its heart though, is a very human story of how much our circumstances impact who we are and how much of who we are follows us. This novel is bristling with ideas and questions about society and human nature, but at the same time brings a melancholy in its quiet storytelling. I will no doubt pick up on even more on this novel, when I see Mandel in conversation next week. #bookreview #sciencefiction #litfic #exitparty #bookstagram by @robreview.s
15
10 days ago
Download
I've been thinking about what I'd like to get to before the year is out. I've decided that I'd like to complete and continue on with a number of series I've got on the go. The second is that I want to have a couple of spooky reads for the upcoming month. The rest on here have been languishing on my TBR for a long while and it's high time I get to them! I do read around 4-5 books a month, so this will be on the edge of probability, but I know what I'm like and I'll get distracted by something else on my TBR πŸ˜…. If I don't get to all of these, I won't be too disheartened. πŸ’­Have you planned out what you're going to read for the rest of the year? What do you have on that list? #flatlay #tbrpile #Bookstagram #bookstagrammer #ebooks by @robreview.s
11
14 days ago
Download
🌟 🌟 Book Review 🌟 🌟 Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead Ray Carney thought he'd retired from being a fence and was now on the straight and narrow with his furniture store. However, when his daughter wants Jackson 5 tickets, he hits up a crooked cop, Munsun; whom he had dealings with previously. Munsun's requests become ever more dodgy and before Carney knows it, he is back in the game. The novel is told in three separate parts over a five year period from 1971 through to 1976. As we see a Harlem and New York city on its knees, we experience an ever increasingly violent city, which in turn becomes a character in and of itself. It's populated by enigmatic and vivid characters grinding their way through the desperate situations they end up in. In the three parts we witness police corruption, the splintering of the civil rights movement in ever more violent ways, the Blaxploitation movement and how the criminal underbelly of the city is never too far away from those in power. Without a doubt, this is a gripping novel that has a lot to say about Harlem and New York in the 70s and balances the grittiness with some real moments of humour. Whilst all three sections of the novel have a distinct storyline running through them, the nature of the novel makes things a little repetitive and so certain scenes have a bit less of an impact than perhaps intended. Regardless, I'm very much looking forward to final novel of the trilogy and seeing the New York of the 80s and the ramifications of what has happened to Carney and his life. #bookreview #Bookstagram #crimefiction #historicalfiction #bookrecommendations by @robreview.s
3
16 days ago
Download
Some of these will be seen as hot takes, but if you love these books/series I do understand why and I don't want to be misinterpreted as disliking/hating them. It's just that they didn't quite work out for me. #booksta #Bookstagram #fantasybooks #historicalfiction #literaryfiction by @robreview.s
12
20 days ago
Download
🌟 🌟 Book Review 🌟 🌟 The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson In this novel, Laura Shepherd-Robinson serves us up another deliciously twisting mystery, set in 18th century London. Hannah Cole has just found out that her husband Jonas has been murdered on a street robbery. She has been left to run the confectionary shop they owned on her own, with her suppliers and local gossips conspiring to try and close down the business. All the while, questions hang over what happened to her husband and who the culprit is. Faced with Henry Fielding and the law questioning her alibies, her back is against the wall, but in steps William Devereux who believes in her and her story. He introduces her to a new concept called iced cream, which quickly becomes talk of the town. However, is everything as it seems with the friendship she is developing with him? The novel is told from both Hannah and William's perspectives, which is a great way for the reader to see both sides of the events. Shepherd-Robinson is able to masterfully weave the mystery throughout and constantly makes you guess the true intentions of both characters. Each character is extremely well realised and even the minor ones stand out. As always, the atmosphere and historical detail are so vivid in the imagination that it helps you get swept up in the story, whilst also making it feel like it could have happened. It's safe to say that I absolutely devoured this one! #historicalfiction #Bookstagram #bookreview #bookrecommendations #mystery by @robreview.s
2
23 days ago
Download
🌟 🌟 Book Review 🌟 🌟 Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy It's not often that I turn to thrillers when it comes to my reading, but given the hype around this, I was kind of swept up by it. Whilst I don't regret my time spent reading it and I did on the whole enjoy it, however did find it to be frustrating. A woman mysteriously lands shipwrecked on an island and a family save her. They are the sole occupants here and as the story moves on, neither party are what they seem initially. It's told from all five of the characters' points of view and it works to a degree, given the nature of the story. I'll start with the positives and what really worked for me. The first is actually what took me by surprise the most and that's the prose. McConaghy can flip between really gorgeous passages describing the nature around and is able to pull you in with an atmosphere of claustrophobia and anxiousness, but at the same time there are the occasional pulsating sequences. There's a scene about whales jumping that will stay in my mind for a while. The second is the thematic work, as it's so much more than just about climate change, but also about grief, family and parenthood. All of this provides real food for thought. My frustration lies in how the mystery aspect was devised, as it relies heavily on the miscommunication trope and in this instance feels completely paper thin. Without it, there's obviously no story, so you either need to suspend your disbelief or you're taken out of the story, which is what happened to me. The other issue is that a nine year old having an encyclopaedic knowledge of plants and animals is pretty unrealistic, but that's more of a minor quibble than a major issue. I'd be interested to see what McConaghy writes next, as I do feel this could have been an excellent story, but the execution wasn't there for me personally. #wilddarkshore #Bookstagram #literaryfiction #mystery #bookreview by @robreview.s
2
a month ago
Download
×

Download all media on this page

Photos Videos
back to up