Phoenix Island - John Dixon

Title: Phoenix Island
Author: John Dixon
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 320
Date read: October, 2014


"Phoenix Island" is the first book in a series. Carl Freeman - orphan who's been sent from foster home to foster home - is charged with assult for defending a weaker classmate against bullies, and is given the choice: Go to jail, or go to Phoenix Island until he's 18.

Figuring nothing could be worse than jail, he chooses Phoenix Island... only to discover that everything is not as it seems.

This is "Unwind" meets "Lord of the Flies" with a dash of "Battle Royale" thrown in for good measure. For most of the book I had no idea what was going to happen next, or how on earth John Dixon would manage to resolve this in a satisfying way... especially as the number of remaining pages grew smaller and smaller.

Most of the book was absolutely fascinating, and I grew increasingly intrigued by the events on Phoenix Island, and Carl's chances there. However, the shades of "Unwind" (by Neal Shusterman) that I spotted in the book made me rather uneasy, and I wondered just how open an ending the book would have.

Fortunately not as much as I had feared. Enough that I've subtracted a star for it, but not so much that I wouldn't be keen to read the next book too, once it is published.

The Orchid House - Lucinda Riley

Title: The Orchid House
Author: Lucinda Riley
Genre: WW2
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 523
Date read: October 2014

As a child Julia Forrester spent many idyllic hours in the hothouse of Wharton Park estate, where her grandfather tended the exotic flowers. So when a family tragedy strikes, Julia returns to the tranquility of Wharton Park and its hothouse. Recently inherited by charismatic Kit Crawford, the estate is undergoing renovation. This leads to the discovery of an old diary, prompting the pair to seek out Julia's grandmother to learn the truth behind a love affair that almost destroyed Wharton Park. Julia is taken back to the 1940s where the fortunes of young couple Olivia and Harry Crawford will have terrible consequences on generations to come. For as war breaks out Olivia and Harry are cruelly separated


A must-read for anybody who enjoys intriguing family secrets. I was very pleasantly surprised by it, and quickly swept up into the events of the book. I really came to care about the characters and was interested in what would happen next.

I read this in translation which usually isn't my first choice, but I almost forgot it was a translation! The language flowed beautifully, and I never mentally translated it back into English, which is otherwise often the case.

Riley did throw one loop at the reader that I think she would have been better off just leaving alone. It had no real purpose and seemed forced.

So because of that, I've subtracted a single star. But 4 still remains because of the general delightfulness of the book :)