Book Review: The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

Acclaimed actress Laurel Smitham has returned home to say goodbye to her dying mother, and in turn will solve the mystery that started in 1961, when she saw her mother kill a man. She begins to pry into her mother’s past, trying to link what she knows about her mother to what other people are telling her. She finds that the pieces don’t fit together, that it seems that people are describing two very different women. The author takes the reader on a journey through time, seamlessly integrating the present with the past. In wartime London where the threats of air raids are always a present thought, the reader meets Dorothy (Dolly), who would later become Laurel’s mother, and who dreams of a life bigger than the idyllic farm life she has known. Taking a job as a companion for a wealthy woman is the first step Dolly takes to secure that ‘better life’ for herself and Jimmy, the man she believes she is destined to spend her life with. Her dreams are filled with the belief that she will inherit her employer’s wealth, and that she is friends with the woman across the street, Vivien. When it becomes obvious that Dolly’s dreams and hopes will not come true, she seeks out revenge against those that she believes have wronged her, blocking the fortune that she believed was hers. With the help of the reluctant Jimmy, she sets her scheme into motion to blackmail Vivien, who she believes has been at the root of all her disappointments, however, her vision of Vivien and the truth are, as Jimmy (and later, Laurel) discovers, to be quite different. The book explores the lives of the three key female characters Laurel, Dolly and Vivien, and showcases how these three character are tied together on one final night at the height of World War 2, and dips in and out of the character’s lives until the final revelations are made.

Book Review: Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter

At sixteen, Alice (Ali) Bell hasn't had the easiest life. Her father keeps the family under tight control, claiming that invisible monsters are coming after them, every night.

On the night of her sixteenth birthday, a horrible car accident claims the lives of Ali's father, mother and younger sister, Emma. After the funerals, Ali is taken in by her well-meaning grandparents and starts a new life at Asher High. She reunites with Kat, an energetic girl she met while recovering from the accident, who is keeping secrets of her own.

Ali's desire for a normal life is disrupted the first time that she sees Cole, and has a vision linking them romantically. She is drawn to him, wanting to uncover the mystery of his frequent bruises.

In the attempt to uncover the mysteries in her life, Ali is confronted with a truth that she never expected. Her father was right, zombies are real and Cole and his friends have chosen to fight them. After Ali makes it clear that she isn't easily scared off, Cole gives her a choice. She can join them in the fight against zombies or go back to her normal life.

Ali makes her choice and in that moment, she becomes a Slayer. The first thing she learns is that fighting zombies is a lot more complicated than she realised. She trains alongside Cole and the other Slayers, while trying to piece together clues that her sister's spirit is leaving for her, telling her that someone is coming for her.

Alice in Zombieland is young adult fiction that doesn't hold back on anything, from the violence of zombie fighting action or the emotional responses from the characters.

This is book one of three in the White Rabbit Chronicles, and is well worth the read.

Rating 3.5/5