Initial Thoughts

  The Secret History Review By Sithmi Donna Tartt truly has a way with words. Like Richard says, “a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs” is what creates the imagery in this book. Everything, down to details of the fabric and colour of leaves is described in the utmost beautiful way. Its gorgeous and you can envision it all unravel in front of your eyes. Narrated by Richard Papen, we are introduced head-first into the cause of this story, a death of a friend. Quickly, we learn of our narrator’s past and his desire to enter the elite Greek class led by the illustrious professor Julian Morrow, and his elusively poised students, Henry Winter, Edmund (Bunny) Corcoran, Francis Abernathy and the twins, Charles and Camilla Macaulay. We are emerged in the story, going from his entry to the course to and induction of the students. We learn of their behaviours as 28 year old Richard tells us his story as he reminisces his otherworldly college experience. Tartt’s writing style is d

Gone Girl Review By Sithmi This was a twist in the tale. You have your usual story, the whodunits where the woman is missing/dead and the husband is the prime suspect. But guess what? There’s more to it darling. This well executed thriller with two POVs that had me wondering if this is where it ends in the last few chapters, because every line was a dangling hanger and I was quickly turning the pages to see if there was more. Amazing Amy, our female protagonist, has gone missing, and left behind in the married couple’s house and perfect set of clues, besides the couple’s usual anniversary scavenger hunt clues. The clues seem to indicate more than just a disappearance. It indicates a murder. Enter Nick, the husband and our male protagonist, who just walked back into a mess and has the unfortunate lack of facial expressions, because now he can’t he even show his shock and misery. Nor can he show the confusion of the clues left by his wife for their annual anniversary hunt. Gillia

The Kremlin's Candidate Review By Sithmi I invested a month into this 460 page book, reading it slowly so I don’t reach the end, because I did not want to know how it ends. But by then end of August, I finished the book and it took me a few days to recover. I cannot spoil anything but let me just say, Jason Matthews, that was quite cruel and smart and required. Don’t go jumping into conclusions just yet though. The Kremlin Candidate, the third and final book of the Red Sparrow series, was a wild goose chase, quite literally, because a mole was in their midst, inside CIA. And this mole was going to be so high up, they would get to know DIVA’s real name, Dominika Egorova, the current Chief of Line KR, the counterintelligence section in the SVR. And that could never happen. Because that would mean losing the best Russian agent actively operating in Moscow for more than seven years now. Also the love of Nathaniel Nash’s life. The officer handling this agent, who hopes she would defec

Palace of Treason Review By Sithmi In the return of the beloved Dominika Egorova and Nathaniel Nash, we find that our Russian agent, code named DIVA, has a horrible superior. Alexei Zyuganov, the Chief of Line KR, the counterintelligence department in Russia, is a rotten little dwarf with dark eyes who wants to see Dominika fail publicly. And it seems he was going to stop at nothing to make sure of it. It goes to show that Russia truly will backstab their own if it means they as individuals will win. So the story is set to show that it’s a fight to showcase their strengths, and their devout loyalty to the Rhodina , Motherland, between Colonel Egorova and Chief Zyuganov as each of them develop their own agents on foreign soil. But moreover, it’s a fight to win the favour of the reclusive President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. In the middle of this fight, we discover a new mole appears inside the CIA, providing the Russians and Alexei with great intel. Slowly it becomes apparent to the

Red Sparrow Review By Sithmi At the beginning, I had no idea what was going on. I had jumped smack dab into the middle of a secret battle. To be honest, it took me three chapters maximum to find my bearings. But after that, it was a game of traitors, betrayals and secrets all under wraps and deceiving appearances. Right away we are introduced to two of our main characters, Nathaniel Nash, a young case officer handling his Russian agent MARBLE in the quiet streets of Moscow. MARBLE is the chief of the Americas Department in the SVR, which gives him access to documents and as a long run agent, he has become a legend. The story continues to introduce the other main character, Dominika Egorova, our real focus, a ballerina in her 20s. But in an unfortunate accident, she breaks her leg and has to diminish her dancing career dreams and instead work for her uncle Ivan Vanya Egorov since she has nowhere else to go and needs the job to pay the medical care for her mother. Under the impression sh

Let It Snow Review By Sithmi Three stories. One Christmas. The Jubilee Express  by Maureen Johnson This short story was really funny and sweet in its strange humorous way. Jubilee's parents are in jail, for being part of the Flobie Five. And so our main character of this story is stuck in Gracetown in the snow with 14 cheerleaders. She finds her escape with Stuart Weintraub as he invites her to his house to spend the night. Along the way her love life is once more questioned and hilariously they're plunged chest deep into an icy lake. A trek later, she's wrapped well in warm clothing and blankets. There are several funny moments in the story as it hurtles Jubilee into several uncomfortable and strange situations. How she easily adapts I find amazing. From train rides with cheerleaders to Tinfoil Guy to frozen lake to Stuart's mom. Despite all that, she keeps hoping things will be okay, mostly depending on her overachieving boyfriend Noah, who is cons