Tag Archives: review

Thriller author Mark Tilbury reviews ‘Stones in the Road’

I’m delighted to share the latest review of Stones in the Road: Poems of Grief and Growth

Mark Tilbury writes:

This collection of poems is Casey’s journey through difficult periods of grief.

Putting words down on paper can help in many situations, and here trying to cope with her loss, Casey is eloquent and honest. Her emotions fill the pages, and at times it is quite difficult to read. There are a range of emotions. Grief, anger, but at times also some hope that life can become more manageable again.

I believe that this collection of poetry could be a useful support for people in similar places of loss and grief. I’ve seen other accounts of illness and grief written as biographies and aimed at people going through the same things. They are selling well are getting their cause more exposure. I hope this book can do the same.

Mark Tilbury is a thriller and mystery writer, who blogs regularly at his website http://www.marktilbury.com. His début novel, The Revelation Room is available now. Further details can be found on his website.

Advertisement

Latest review of Stones in the Road

My inbox has been full of surprises over the last couple of days. In March I submitted a Review Request to The Online Book Club so that they could take a look over Stones in the Road  and potentially help me reach a new audience. 

I wasn’t sure how long this would take, especially seeing as I could not provide any traditional purchase outlets. I informed the owner of the site about this, and he assured me that I would be fine. I duly submitted my book information without purchase links as he suggested. It wasn’t long before a reviewer expressed an interest, and today the review was posted on the website. 

3/4* – not too shabby, in my opinion. 

If you’re interested, you can check out the review here

Remember that you can still purchase Stones in the Road from the Publications link above. Just £1.50 a copy, with all proceeds going to METAvivor. If you’ve read the book and enjoyed it, you can also add it to your Goodreads library. 

Thank you for your support. 

Reading illness and romance – Me Without You

Hi, friends.

I was making notes on my reading as early as July, in preparation for the blog that I didn’t know would exist. Seems to have been serendipitous that my transformation occurred when it did. Having read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, and very much enjoyed it, I had high expectations of Rimmer’s book. What follows is a brief review and analysis I wrote in July.

I found Me Without You in my Kindle recommendations on Tuesday, and by Friday, I was devastated by the ending. I don’t usually read romance, which this was being marketed as, but immediately grew to like the principal characters.

I find this text interesting because the reader is encouraged from the outset to warm to the individual cast in a secondary role. Although it is Callum we meet first, his girlfriend Lilah (to give her proper name Saoirse ‘Seersha’ Delilah Macdonald) takes centre stage.

The story is then communicated through two perspectives. We learn more of Callum through his reflections on Lilah (an interesting choice of name on Rimmer’s part, as it is unusual for a playful character to be named in such a way.) Hindu theology refers to the lila or play, of the gods, into whose hands the fictional Lilah is thrust by a diagnosis of Huntington’s Disease.

Due to an experimental medical procedure, she was asymptomatic for five years. However, just as she is realising the depth of her affection for Callum, she relapses.

Rimmer skilfully delivers a body blow with the expected-unexpected heartbreaking ending. Novels which confront the taboo of euthanasia are far from new, but it is rare that they are so well executed. Rimmer weaves her characters so skilfully that a bond is unavoidable, and that is after all what we seek as readers. We wish to be drawn into the narrative in such a way that the book is more than a mere object, a portal to the world of these characters.

If you’re interested in being drawn into the world of Callum Roberts and Lilah MacDonald, Me Without You is available from Amazon in both physical and ebook formats.

As ever, if you’re reading, please come back and let me know what you think!

image