alex Maywood novel book review Archives

“If you want to live a life you’ve never lived, you have to do things you’ve never done before” – Jen Sincero, success coach, author of You Are a Badass.

I don’t remember exactly where I heard about this book. It must have been recommended to me, or that I must have read somewhere that a lot of bloggers have read it, raved about it, or got inspired by it. I also seem to remember seeing a pile of it at Urban Outfitters looking like it’s the must-read of the moment. Regardless of how I’ve come to know about the book sassily entitled as You Are a Badass, I knew it got me curious and I had to read it at some point in time. Since I love listening to audiobooks while doing my daily activities, I decided to listen to this book via Audible. If you’ve read my previous book reviews, you’d know that I’m not a big fan of self-help books, not because I don’t need help, lol, it’s just that I’m quite picky about them. I gave this book a chance because it seems to be just everywhere, and it looks really interesting.

The Audible version of this book is read by the author herself, Ms. Jen Sincero. I liked the way she narrated the book. It was fast-paced and her tone of voice was very engaging. The book or audiobook itself is really all about improving oneself or life and on how to be awesome. As blissful and at times shallow that word may be, the author emphasizes for us to recognize that it’s very important to feel good about ourselves. Immediately you could tell that this book is all about self-positivity and self-affirmation, though I must admit that learning to be awesome can be quite a lot especially in today’s day and age.

This book tells no-nonsense advice about achieving your best potential and living the life you’ve always wanted. Which means, being the “you” you’ve always wanted to be. It gives a lot of words of encouragement on following your dreams by getting things done and not sabotaging yourself. It’s like motivating yourself to act and hit the ground running while also loving and believing in who you are. In other words, this is a book not just for the go-getters but also for those who tend to procrastinate and want some push with practical advice and positive affirmation. Think Sophia Amoruso of Nasty Gal with her Girlboss vibe, and you can already imagine what listening to this book must be like.

While I find this book to be encouraging and motivating at the same time, especially when the author talked about following your dreams and understanding your limitations, as well as accepting the things that cannot be changed, or in how you can react to the things/situations that you can’t control, I feel like there are some parts of the book that I couldn’t understand. The author talked about source energy and the universe, and that just seemed a little too farfetched for me, but it didn’t bother me much. I’d like to think that I am more pragmatic in that sense, but perhaps I just didn’t listen to her explanation enough about these things because I was doing some chores while listening to the book. 🙂

Since this book has a very modern voice/approach, expect to hear or read some swear words from the author, which honestly is not really a big deal for me. As for the condescending/arrogant tone that the author gives off with some of her advice, (mentioned by some readers) well, there is definitely a feisty tone to them, and at times they kinda sounded tough, but there is some humor to them as well. So, I just took the positive vibes/advice that I could get out of this book and decided not to judge on the questionable ones. I definitely think that the author should have delved more on some pointers on how to be awesome, and not just on encouraging and motivating the readers to get up and get going.

Bottom line, I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked it because of its tell-it-like-it-is approach to motivation, but I also wish that it should have been more open-minded to every individual’s specific situations and daily struggles. But anyhow, the next time you’re feeling low, or you’re feeling like you’re under the weather and needs an extra push or a shot of motivation, you may want to consider adding this book to your list of pick-me-up items to buy.

This book is currently available in Amazon

The Audible version is available HERE

Lip Gloss is from Cle de Peau
Fragrance is from Viktor & Rolf’s Magic Collection – Sparkling Secret, available HERE and reviewed HERE

Have you read this book before? Did you like it?

“Everyone who lives at 23 Beulah Grove has a secret”.

Hi Bookworms! here’s a bone-chilling novel that I recently finished, it’s called “The Killer Next Door” by Alex Marwood. Yes, the title is as intriguing and gruesome as the story. It circles around the lives of the six residents, namely;

Cher: A teenage runaway with attitude issues.

Vesta: An elderly woman who seems to have lived in the boarding house for forever and has monetary issues.

Collette: The main character who’s running away from someone or something, and whose real name is Lisa.

Hossein: A middle eastern refugee who just wants to forget.

Gerard: A recluse and a former music teacher.

Thomas. Another oddball who also likes to keep to himself and is currently occupying the attic.

Together with their creepy landlord Roy Preece, this is a story of a harrowing life in the city of London, where the residents live in a Victorian-style but dilapidated boarding house. All of them have secrets to hide, and all of them seem to be running away from their sordid past. Preferring to forget and remain incognito. Most of the time, they like to keep to themselves and are always wary.

The residents seem to enjoy the anonymity that the building has offered, yet things aren’t always what they seem. There will be a terrible accident that will unite them together, and one of them is hiding a very deep dark secret. Much darker than what each of them already have. This is a tale of life, secrets, friendships, love, reality, wickedness, obsession and murder. This aint’ a tale for the faint of heart, not even for someone with a weak stomach. The details of the story are lurid, grotesque and almost scary.

Even though the story was intriguing and had a pretty satisfying ending with a good twist, this was a slow read for me. I like the whole concept of the story but it transitions from one event to another very slowly. The audiobook was the same, even though I kinda like the reader because she has different voices for each character. Yet still, the book was told in the third person being from the point of view of each character, and I still find that to be kinda hard to connect. Just not a fan of the third person narration, and it was also hard to follow as to who was who in the story. The first half was quite monotonous and the story starts to take hold almost at the end of the book. There’s few twists, but they weren’t so mind-bending. Some arguments were already expected and the overall pace of the book could need a little more push.

Overall, the book is riveting enough and the author truly captures the thoughts and struggles of each character while depicting the plot as realistic as can be. A good series adaptation would be great. I heard James Franco might be starring on it. I really hope so.

Have you read this book?

To purchase this book on paperback, click HERE.

To read via kindle, click HERE.

To listen to this novel via audible, click HERE.

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Reviews and Other Stuff

alex Maywood novel book review

You Are a Badass Book/Audiobook Review

Alex Marwood’s “The Killer Next Door” Book Review

reviewsandotherstuff