Book reviews Archives - Luke’s Blog

02Mar 2025 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel book review

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel was my December follower book of the month. So, many people thought it good enough that I should read it in 2024 but what did I end of thinking about it? Well, if you watch my quick video review of it, you can see I didn't think too much about it. This article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. Sea of Tranquility's story follows multiple characters, including a 20th-century exile, a 22nd-century author, and a time traveller investigating an anomaly that links them all. It's got some underlying…

23Feb 2025 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

The Twelve Murders of Christmas by Sarah Dunnakey book review

Book reviews, Crime, Mystery

Sarah Dunnakey's The Twelve Murders of Christmas is a festive murder mystery with a unique twist: it incorporates puzzles for the reader to solve. Despite its unique twist, the plot itself didn't really me very engaged and the puzzles require a lot of concentration and back and forth to work out. This article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. Set in Yorkshire, The Twelve Murders of Christmas invites you to unravel the mysterious death of Edward Luddenham, which occurred one Christmas Eve. A year after his death, twelve individuals gather at his manor for the reading…

16Feb 2025 by Luke Harkness 1 Comment

Happy Bloody Christmas by Jo Middleton book review

Book reviews, Crime, Mystery

Happy Bloody Christmas was one of the most pleasant surprises I had in all of 2024. I was asked if I'd like to receive this book by the publisher and accepted as Christmas was coming up at the time and I thought it would be nice to have something festive to read. Little did I know I was going to read one of the most enjoyable books I'd read all year! This article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. Happy Bloody Christmas tells the story of Anna Johnson who wakes up after a Christmas party with…

09Feb 2025 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle book review

Book reviews, Contemporary Fiction

The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle is a book that I picked it up as part of my follower book picks and I'm so glad I did - because it's a book I've ended up absolutely loving! This article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. The book obviously focuses on the character of Albert Entwistle who is a quiet, single older man who works at the post office. One day he's given a letter by HR informing him that he has been asked to take compulsory retirement (not a real thing) and thus he begins to…

26Jan 2025 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah book review

Book reviews, Historical Fiction

Kristin Hannah is an author who whenever you mention her name, receives a lot of positive comments. If I post about her on socials or mention her in videos, people come flooding to gush about her array of fantastic books. The Nightingale is one of the books brought up quite regularly as one of hers I should definitely read. So when I kindly received this in the post as a gift from a follower, I was very excited to pick it up. This article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. The Nightingale focuses on the story…

20Jan 2025 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson book review

Book reviews

If anyone ever asks me who my favourite author is, I more often than not tell them Brandon Sanderson simply because I don’t think I’ve ever read a book by him that I didn’t enjoy. This article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product Rhythm of War is the fourth and penultimate book in the initial phase of the Stormlight Archive. And, unfortunately, despite still my admiration for his ability to carry such a huge world and cast of characters, there was something about Rhythm of War that didn’t feel quite peak Sanderson for me. So Rhythm…

19Jan 2025 by Luke Harkness 2 Comments

The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune book review

Book reviews, Fantasy

The House on the Cerulean Sea is a book that's been on my radar for a very long time. Following a lot of people who talk books, this is one that has been doing the rounds for quite some time. So when one of my followers on Tik Tok very kindly sent this to me via my Amazon wish list, I was incredibly excited to quickly jump into it and see what all the hype was about. This article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product Despite the hype, I actually had very little idea what The…

17Jan 2025 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch book review

Book reviews, Sci-Fi

Dark Matter is a book that seemed right up my street and Blake Crouch has quite a few books that I knew I wanted to start getting my teeth into at some point. So when Martin who follows me on Tik Tok very kindly surprised me by buying me a copy from my Amazon wish list, I knew I wanted to prioritise it as a read. Shortly after I received it, I was going on holiday so there was no better time to pick it up and read it than when I'd just be laying around on a beach or by a pool for the majority of the day! This article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive…

04Jan 2025 by Luke Harkness No Comments

The Less Year by C.K. Oldfield book review

Book reviews, Sci-Fi

The Less Year was kindly sent to be by an Instagram follower who said they were partway through the series and really loving it and wanted me to give it a go! It's a story set around a post-apocalyptic world where the world has essentially crumbled and humanity is left a shell of what it once was. Every 20 years or so, a year comes along called a "Less Year" where trade is prohibited and so people must survive in whatever way they can. This article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. Our story focuses on…

02Jan 2025 by Luke Harkness No Comments

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro book review

Book reviews, Sci-Fi

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro is a book I picked up for numerous reasons - the front cover intrigued me, I'd seen it doing the rounds online at some point and it was on my dad's bookshelf so an easy one to pick up - just to name a few. Therefore, I went into it completely blind with no idea what to expect in terms of characters, pacing or plot. I've come out of it with more of an idea but still a little confused. This article contains affiliate links. This means if you choose to purchase any products via the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the product. Klara…

Category: Book reviews