Month: August 2017
Ocean Dreams – POEM
Like a rock out of its place
The waves of life
Tossed her back and forth
Hitting obstacles, cracking open
And then moving on
Until one day she landed here
Embraced by the mountain
So stable and predictable
The waves still came
But in the crevice she found
Comfort in rolling around
It felt safe to stay there
As the waves washed over her
Again and again
The mountain and her got
Shaped into something new
A collective shape of comfort.
She rolled deeper as her edges and cracks
Smoothed over and the crevice
It grew deeper and deeper
But where she first found comfort
Turned into darkness
As she rolled into him
Herself eroded away
Into an unfamiliar shape
The crevice got so deep that she
Could no longer see the light over the edges
The cracks that should have defined her
Was scrubbed away
And the perfectly smooth and polished shape
Was one she she couldn’t recognise
She ached for skipping across the water
To once again be a part of
The unpredictable roll of the ocean
She wanted to be tossed around and hit sharp edges
Crack open again and see what was inside
Learn about her very center
But time had rolled her out of water’s reach now
And so she waits
For the wanderer that will one day
Catch a glimpse of a smooth rock
Unable to resist
To pick it up and send it flying
On the ripples of waves
To the next unknown adventure.
***
©Christina de Vries
Never Know – POEM
There was a genuine fear
Of the unknown
He pushed with one hand
And held tight with the other
Afraid to miss out
Too scared to give in
He wanted answers
That no one could give
He wanted promises
Where none could be made
She kissed the hand
That held on
Opened up his fingers
And slipped away
When he wasn’t looking
All that was left
Was her whispered words
Now you will never know
**
©Christina de Vries
Fellside by M.R. Carey – BOOK REVIEW
I listened to Fellside on Audible
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: April 7th, 2016
Pages: 496 (hardback)
Audiobook length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
Synopsis by the publisher:
Jess Moulson is convicted of murder. But it’s a murder she can’t remember committing. Nothing is quite clear from the drug-fuelled night when a blaze set in Jess’ apartment killed the little boy upstairs. But when the media brands her a child killer, she starts to believe it herself.
Now she’s on her way to Fellside, the biggest, most formidable women’s prison in Europe, standing in the bleak Yorkshire moors.
But Jess won’t be alone in her prison cell. Lurking in the shadows is an unexpected visitor…the ghost of the 10-year-old boy she killed. He says he needs her help – and he won’t take no for an answer.
The Review
"This ghost story is one that stands out from a lot of other ghost stories I've
read, just like The Girl with All the Gifts stands out from a lot of other
zombie stories. It's a thrilling ride that had me curious and wondering."
Back in 2015 I read The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey and I fell in love with the story and the writing style. So when I heard about Fellside coming out, I knew I had to pick that up as well. And even though I had it on my radar way before it was actually published, it took me way longer to get to it than planned. Better late than never, right?
Going into this novel I wasn’t really sure what to expect. It’s listed as a thriller, but the synopsis mentioned the ghost of a boy, so the appearance of something paranormal was very likely. Just the way I like it!
The writing style of Fellside was every bit as good as The Girl with All the Gifts. It’s a completely different kind of story, but the way that M.R. Carey gives insight into the minds of his characters really makes them come alive. And even though there were quite a lot of characters throughout the story, I never found myself confused as it shifted between them.
One of the things that I thought was brilliant about this story, was the fact that there were no saints here. This is a story set in a prison, and even though you have characters you like and ones that you’ll find outright horrendous, none of them are completely innocent. All the drama and corruption inside the Fellside prison adds another layer of depth to the story.
Jess was a character it took me a while to really feel connected to, but once the reader gets under her skin, she’s quite an interesting character indeed.
I thought the paranormal elements in Fellside were executed very well and made it easy to visualise what was going on. It’s not just a paranormal thriller, there’s a bit of mystery in there as well!
Fellside held quite a steady pace for most of the story, and after a while it really did escalate. The ending as well was very satisfying and not what I expected.
This ghost story is one that stands out from a lot of other ghost stories I’ve read, just like The Girl with All the Gifts stands out from a lot of other zombie stories. It’s a thrilling ride that had me curious and wondering.
A really enjoyable read, and I can’t wait to see what M.R. Carey comes up with next!
Do you want to make up your own opinion about the book? Click on the Bookdepository or Amazon logo below to go and get your own copy!
**If you buy via my affiliate links, I get a small commission**
We did our first livestream EVER!
I’ve been curious about livestreaming on YouTube for a while now, and then when I visited a fellow YouTuber here on Saturday we ended up just jumping into it!
Nothing made ready, but was meant just as a trial run. We expected it to last for about 5 minutes and we ended up sitting there for an hour! It was a very interesting and new way to interact, and I look forward to trying it again soon!
If you want to take a peak into the livestream that I did with Leif Nygaard, you can see it here:
Loving our newbie awkwardness! Haha!
Big thank you to Leif for having me on his channel, and I look forward to the next one!
Christina de Vries 