Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic Review

Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the R.M.S. Titanic 

Iain Reading

Rating (out of 5): 5

Genre: Young Adult Adventure/Mystery

Release Date: February 16, 2014

Series: Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency
Series Number: 4

Profanity: Mild

Violence:Mild

Sexual Content: None

Age Recommendation: 16 +
Book Website: http://kittyhawkworld.com/

About the Author:

Iain Reading is passionate about Root Beer, music, and writing. He is Canadian, but currently resides in the Netherlands working for the United Nations.

Iain has published 4 books in the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series (Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold, Kitty Hawk and the Hunt for Hemingway's Ghost, Kitty Hawk and the Icelandic Intrigue, and Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic). He is currently working on the 5^th book in the series. For more information, go to http://www.kittyhawkworld.com/.  

Iain is also the author of The Wizards of Waterfire Series. The first book in the series The Guild of the Wizards of Waterfire was published in April 2014.

Connect with Iain on Twitter and Goodreads.

 Summary: 

Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic is the thrillingly cryptic fourth installment of the exciting Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency Series featuring the intrepid teenage seaplane pilot Kitty Hawk and her various adventures of mystery and intrigue as she follows in the footsteps of Amelia Earhart on an epic flight around the world. This fourth book in the series brings Kitty to the emerald hills of Ireland where she meets a handsome stranger and is quickly swept up in a perplexing hundred-year-old family treasure hunt involving secret codes and puzzling clues that lead her on a fast-paced adventure that carries her from Dublin to London - from the decks of the ill-fated ocean liner Titanic to the temples of ancient Egypt and the streets of Jack the Ripper - until she finally unlocks the mystery and discovers the long-hidden treasure. Much like the earlier books in this series, Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic is a perfect book to fire the imaginations of armchair detectives of all ages. Filled with fascinating and highly Google-able locations and history the reader will find themselves immersed in brand new worlds that are brought to life before their very eyes as Kitty Hawk experiences the stories and history of a doomed ocean liner and unravels the Tragedy of the RMS Titanic.

Review:

Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the R.M.S. Titanic is the first Kitty Hawk book that I’ve read. Even though it’s the fourth in the series I had no trouble getting into this book and falling in love with Kitty and the story.

At the start of the book Kitty Hawk finds herself in Ireland promoting  the sushi shop that is funding her adventure around the world. She is quickly swept up in a story of tragedy, mystery, and adventure when she is approached by the handsome Andrew after the promotion.  This adventure deals with the tragedy of the Titanic and I enjoyed all of the code-breaking, break-in's and general detectivness of the whole thing.

Kitty’s adventurous spirit and love for trivia drew me to her immediately and her tendency to over worry about situations made her feel very real to me since I tend to do the same thing. I also really liked Richard. His quest to find out the truth about his ancestor and his willingness to do anything to find out the truth impressed me. The other characters in the book were also all very enjoyable and each stood out in their own way. 

The trivia and code-breaking in this book really stood out to me. I found myself eagerly trying to figure out what each clue meant and I even took time out of reading to look over many of the detailed pictures in the story to try and figure out what the different symbols and numbers meant. I figured out a few of them while others had me as stumped as Kitty often found herself being. As for the trivia, I feel like I learned so much from this book, and not just trivia about the Titanic. I was treated to information on planes, Egyptian hieroglyphics, England’s history, and much more. I never felt like I was being lectured and I really enjoyed the bit after the story with further information on much of the trivia discussed in the book.

Overall I really enjoyed reading Kitty Hawk and the Tragedy of the R.M.S. Titanic and I'm eager to read more adventures with this spunky and fun character. This book would be great for any fans of mystery, history, adventure, and general fun.

Note: I received an electronic copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my fair and honest opinion which I have stated above. 

~Dawn 

 

Suspicion Book Review

Suspicion

Alexandra Monir

Rating (out of 5): 4.5

Genre: Young Adult Romance/Mystery

Release Date: December 9, 2014

Series: n/a

Profanity: Mild

Violence: None

Sexual Content: None 

Age Recommendation: 14 +

Author Website: http://www.alexandramonir.com/




Summary:

“There’s something hidden in the maze.”

Seventeen-year-old Imogen Rockford has never forgotten the last words her father said to her, before the blazing fire that consumed him, her mother, and the gardens of her family’s English country manor.

For seven years, images of her parents’ death have haunted Imogen’s dreams. In an effort to escape the past, she leaves Rockford Manor and moves to New York City with her new guardians. But some attachments prove impossible to shake—including her love for her handsome neighbor Sebastian Stanhope.

Then a life-altering letter arrives that forces Imogen to return to the manor in England, where she quickly learns that dark secrets lurk behind Rockford’s aristocratic exterior. At their center is Imogen herself—and Sebastian, the boy she never stopped loving.

Combining spine-tingling mystery, romance, and unforgettable characters, Suspicion is an action-packed thrill ride.

Review:

Just the title, Suspicion makes you begin to wonder about this book. It manages to mix mystery, romance, and magic into a delightful, fascinating, and sometimes chilling young adult novel. I found myself drawn into the mystery of this book from the first page, and subsequent pages only served in increase my interest until I found myself at the end of the book delighted with what I had just read.

Imogen Rockford is the heir to something almost every young girl dreams of at some point, a dukedom, or in Imogen's case the title of Duchess. But with that appointment everything changes for Imogen, she's suddenly the only one left of her family facing not only the responsibility of being a duchess, but she's also thrown headlong into a mystery who's truth can only be reviled as she delves deeper into her families history.

As I read this book I found myself distrusting almost every character. I, like Imogen, wasn't sure who could be trusted and who was hiding something deeper. Alexandra Monir does a great job of building suspense through the story, filling the pages with ghostly apparitions and more questions than answers. I really felt like I was taking this journey with Imogen as she struggled to find her way to the bottom of things.

The mystery was probably my favorite part about this book, who was Imogen's late relative Lady Beatrice? What really happened to Lucia? What was with Sebastian and what did all of this have to do with Imogen's strange powers? I found myself questioning everything, eagerly reading through the book in order to find out the truth behind it all.

As things began to play out in the book I was shocked and surprised often to my delight. Characters that I had pegged as obviously untrustworthy were suddenly thrust into new light and secrets that I hadn't even begun to think of were reveled. The story reached a feverish pace when we returned to where the story had stopped at the beginning (due to a flashback) and I couldn't stop myself from reading to the end.

While I was pleased with how things turned out I was also a little disappointed, by the end of the book my questions had been answered, I was just left feeling a little flat. I had really been hoping that the truth behind Imogen's ancestor along with Imogen's powers herself would have been given more focus than it received. I was very intrigued by it all, and it seemed to be an important part of the overall story that I had been expecting there to be a bigger picture with it.

The only other thing that really bothered me about this book was the overwhelming amounts of description that were done. It felt like everything that could be described was described. I can understand the desire to paint elaborate pictures of beautiful English manors and gardens but there comes a point when the reader doesn't want to read anymore description and just wants to move on to the story. I came to this point numerous times while reading this book. This is not to say that I didn't like some of the descriptions, they just felt overwhelming. Nothing throws me out of a book like too much description, it makes me stop and have to re-adjust my mind's eye to fit the exact image that I have been given instead of allowing me to fill in the blanks where the author has generously left them.

Overall this book was a wonderful read and I'd love to see a sequel, the book wrapped up cleanly enough but I'd still like to see more. Imogen was an interesting character and I can see a lot more being done with her and her friends and family. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery, romance, or even a story with a little magic to it.

Note: I received an electronic copy of this book from Netgalley for my fair and honest review which I have stated above.

~Dawn