Initial Thoughts

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...

Come Find Me Review By Sithmi blurb After surviving an infamous family tragedy, sixteen-year-old Kennedy Jones has made it her mission to keep her brother's search through the cosmos alive. B ut then something disturbs the frequency on his radio telescope–a pattern registering where no signal should transmit. In a neighboring county, seventeen-year-old Nolan Chandler is determined to find out what really happened to his brother, who disappeared the day after Nolan had an eerie premonition. There hasn’t been a single lead for two years, until Nolan picks up an odd signal–a pattern coming from his brother’s bedroom.  Drawn together by these  strange signals–and their family tragedies–Kennedy and Nolan search for the origin of the mysterious frequency. But the more they uncover, the more they believe that everything’s connected–even their pasts–as it appears the signal is meant for them alone, sharing a message that only they can understand. Is something coming for them...

The Fault In Our Stars Review By Sithmi Despite the tumour-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten. Once I read this book the second time only did I really understand it. Of course I read it under the recommendation of my friends who loved the books by John Green. I was hooked too. It was romantic and sad. But after a few years and a short reread I realised it was slightly overrated and John Green writes books about really smart people. Don’t worry I have nothing against John Green, in fact I really like him. His books, I have come to find are unique in its own way. Hence TFIOS as fans would call it, is special and a start to a new YA romance genre; medical mishaps. (I just coined it now.) It may or may not be true, but...

The Girl On The Train Review By Sithmi Every day the same. Until today. Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She's even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of those houses. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy. But then she sees something shocking, and in one moment everything changes. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she's only watched from afar. Now they'll see: she's much more than just a girl on the train... To be frank, the story was depressing. Thankfully only at the start. It took me one week to get to the 3rd chapter and only then did momentum increase in this book, only then did I finally start getting involved. Before that I felt like an outsider getting a peek of a sad, drunk, unemployed, divorced woman with issues of letting go. Since I’m being honest, I didn...

There's Someone Inside Your House Review By Sithmi Over a year after her parents sent her away from Hawaii to live with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska, Makani Young is still adjusting to her new life. She's made a small group of close friends and even flirted with romance, but her past in Hawaii is still hard to forget. And then . . . one by one the students of her new high school begin to die in a series of gruesome murders. Makani doesn't know who's next on the list. Between this, and a secret scorching relationship with the school weirdo, this school year may turn out to be one to die for . . . literally. The book is a great thriller. There is suspense that keeps you guessing. What was different about this from other thrillers I have read was that, they reveal the killer. And yet the story hasn’t even reached its climax. The book starts off with an eerie odd sentence that immediately has conspiracies swirling. The author, Stephanie Perkins, has...