600 Hours of Edward, by Craig Lancaster

600 Hours of Edward

What can I say about this book, except that it was a very quick read. It was a quick read because it was very, very, very repetitive.

Let me back track. This story was about a man named Edward, who has Asperger's. I have read a few books and seen a few movies and shows about Asperger's and I understand that most people with Asperger's live in their own worlds, depend on familiarity and routine, but I felt that Lancaster took the most least imaginative way of portraying this. Every chapter consisted of one day, and every chapter started the same; him waking up, "completing his data", and so on. Not gonna lie, I skimmed probably 70% of this book because it was all the same, and even when it was a little bit different, it didn't change or help the story in any way.

All in all this book was a flop and a waste of time for me. I am glad it only took me one afternoon and half an evening to read, because if it took anymore I don't think I would have made it.

=-/

The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale, Oliver Potzsch

This was the long awaited sequel to The Hangman's Daughter (which I STILL think was poorly named..the sequel is no different...) and it really wasn't long awaited because I really had no idea it had come out! BUT I   was pretty excited to download it to my kindle and start reading it right away!! We start off about a year (give or take) after the first book ended. Magdelena and Simon are still a couple, as starcrossed couple, but a couple nonetheless, and the Hangman (Jakob) is still hangin' people. There is a mysterious murder of a monk and Simon calls in Jakob to take a look at the and both decide that this gluttonous monk did not just overindulge for the last time, but was in fact poisoned. Some seedy characters dressed as monks that have been hanging around the town are very suspicious, and some robbers have been terrorizing the trading roads. So there is a LOT going on in this story, but it is not all always in the front line. In someway, somehow most everything is connected in one way or the other. The mystery itself is intriguing. Very Illuminati/Knights of Templar stuff going on. At times I feel like some of the story lines (especially with some of the townspeople or even with Kuisl) seem a little more strained than it did in the first book, but it was still an overall good read! I would recommend it for sure if you liked the first one! Having read the first book, however, is not necessary in understanding all the goes on in this sequel. Some of the relationships obviously go back to the first book, but there is always a little summary between them to remind/catch the reader up!

Defending Jacob, William Landay

Man. Talk about a book with a twist at the end. I never saw it coming! This was a pretty typical court room drama, but it was a good one. I like court room books, but I don't have that much experience in them. Most of the court room books I have read have been Jodi Picoult books. Maybe a few other ones, but most just the Picoult books. Anyways. The book at times was a little hard to follow, but that was mostly because of the BIG twist at the end. So without giving it away.........

Andy Barber is a DA in a small town, and a horrendous murder happens at his sons school. He takes the case (as any DA would do for a  high profile case would do), but is then forced off the case when his 15 year old son Jacob is implicated. During some of the book, you are following transcripts from the court and those move into Andy's narrative of the case and how he sees it, and how others perceive him. You see his whole family change and fall apart and rebuild, yet they are never the same.

That's a small summary of the book, without giving much away. This is one of those books that once you know the twist, once you close the book, re-reading it would never be the same. Sure, you might catch a few nuances you hadn't noticed the first time around, and you would probably be able to follow everything to the T, BUUUUUT, it's like the Sixth Sense, once you know, you know, and you don't need to read it again.

Anyways....I really liked this book, except the portrayal of the teens in the story. It was very sterotypical teenage "talk". All the teens said "like" every other word and relied on social media to be heard and as a scapegoat. Landay painted Jacob as a troubled teen (and honestly, what teen isn't  troubled...) which I guess would explain his introverted-ness and general aloofness, but I still feel like all the kids portrayed in the book were very silly. Other than that, I enjoyed the book, the twist, the topic, and the way things were explored and explained. I highly recommend this book for its content and also for it being a pretty quick read. I really couldn't put it down, especially towards the end as (semi-spoiler!!!) everything unraveled! I was on the edge of my seat, and when I closed the book, all I could say was "Damn...damn...."

So pick this up and give it a read and let me know what you think!!!!!!!!!