Aotea College

98,070 pages read and 4,947 team points

Team members

Anna G

11,972 pts

(8,229 pages read)

The Silent Bride

By Shalini Boland

4 stars

Ooooo I quite liked this. I was kept guessing all the way through who the devious hypnotist was.
Cemetery Lake

By Paul Cleve

3 stars

3.5 Man the guys life is totally falling apart!
The House in the Cerulean Sea

By TJ Klune

5 stars

Very timely themes in this book that would behove many of the men in power around the world to read. It celebrates the diversity of the human race and the importance of finding our place in this world, surrounded by people who love and support us. It reminds us to be brave when we see division and inequity and to speak out against it. Everyone deserves to feel loved and valued - a really beautiful book.
Broken Country

By Clare Leslie Hall

5 stars

Set in the 1950's and 60's in a small English town - it follows the story of Beth. In the very first chapter, we are aware that something has happened that someone is trying to cover up, and it is not until the very end that the whole story unravels. A beautiful story of how messy life can be, and how different kinds of love powerful interact in this complex, mystery novel.
Project Hail Mary

By Andy Weir

5 stars

Oh, I love love loved this book. Junior High Science teacher, space travel, world-ending apocalypse on the way and a madcap plan to save the world, overseen by some mysterious woman who seems to have the backing and immunity of all nations and world powers/organisations. A funny, beautifully written story with science woven into every page but still accessible for all. Tissues definitely needed.
Wild Dark Shore

By Charlotte McConaghy

3 stars

I think this is like a 3.5...This book urked me initially as each chapter is told from a different persons perspective and there are 5 main characters. The book is set on Shearwater Island, an island between Tasmania and Antarctica which is largely a research spot and houses 20 - 40 researchers at a time. It also holds, in a cave in the permafrost, a seed store - safeguarding all the seeds known to man to prevent extinction. There is also a family - one dad and three children on the island, as the caretakers living in the lighthouse. A body washes up on the island of a woman, who miraculously survives, but how did she get here? Why is she here? What are the family hiding? Where did the researchers go? The last 15% of the book was great - loved it and it is a telling reflection of the world we live in that this island was not safe...as the seas rise, the fires run hot, and the earth supports a human population at the loss of biodiversity. I have been thinking about this book a lot since I finished it - so maybe it is a 4.
True Colours

By Kristin Hannah

4 stars

A great story of three sisters who each face their own trials and tribulations, yet through it all, support one another. Yes, they fight, disagree and stop talking to each other, but they eventually reconcile and form a united front in the face of murder, racism and a father who hasn't recovered from the loss of his wife.
The housemaid is watching

By Freida McFadden

3 stars

A decade or so after the last book, Millie is now married with kids and moving into the suburbs to start giving her kids a better life. Life is never as quiet and sedate in the suburbs as the tree-lined cul-de-sacs would imply.... Still a good read but not as good as the previous two.
The housemaid's secret

By Freida McFadden

4 stars

The follow-up from the first book - not as good, but still good. Millie is now working for a CEO and his wife in their penthouse apartment...still a few good twists, but a bit more predictable. Still a good, easy read.
The housemaid

By Freida McFadden

5 stars

I bloody loved this thriller - Millie is hired as a maid in a house, where she is grateful for the job, having recently been released from prison. Things are never as they appear. With twists and turns aplenty, it was a quick read that kept me wanting more.
Not the faintest trace

By Wendy M. Wilson

3 stars

Set in NZ during the 1870s after the Taranaki land wars, 2 men go missing from a Scandinavian settlement, and a private investigator (ex-soldier) goes hunting for answers. It was an interesting setting - Manawatu and Woodville, having spent a lot of time around here, but it just felt a bit off in the way some Māori were portrayed.
It takes Tea to Tango

By Melissa Crosby

4 stars

A cute easy read about finding love once you are over 40. Set in the Wairarapa
Atmosphere

By Taylor Jenkins Reid

4 stars

4.5 Loved the story of women fighting for their chance to go to space, having to prove that they were just as good as men in a world made by white men for white men. Amidst the race to be a woman in space is the story of a woman being an amazing aunt and falling in love with another female astronaut - something that potentially could get them kicked out of NASA's space program as deviants. As someone who also looked up at the stars and wanted to be an astronaut, who saw Challenger explode as a 12-year-old, space still holds the allure, the challenge and the mystery/science. A great read.
A Tattooed Heart

By Deborah Challinor

4 stars

Last book in the series that really wrapped it all up, with some more mystery, murder, surprising developments and at the heart of it - 3 women that had forged a friendship in the most trying conditions and that continued to support each other as life improved for them all.
Girl of Shadows

By Deborah Challinor

4 stars

The third instalment in this series sees the three girls continue to build their lives in Australia, while earning money to pay their blackmailer, battling with mental health, alcoholism, and not get caught breaking the law.
The Silk Thief

By Deborah Challinor

4 stars

The second book in the series tells the story of the three survivors being placed in work for either 7 or 14 years, with the threat of having to return to the female factory if they misbehave. Murder, heartache, blackmail and friendship
Behind the Sun

By Deborah Challindor

4 stars

First book in a series, and I really enjoyed it. Set in the 1820s in London, it tells the story of 4 young women who, through some ill-advised choices, end up in Newgate Gaol and are sentenced to 7 - 14 years in the new colony in Australia. This book tells the story of their journey via boat to Sydney and the initial start of their life in Australia.
Before you knew my name

By Jacqueline Bublitz

2 stars

2.5 I just couldn't get into this book. I really struggled with the narration coming from the voice of the murdered girl... The synopsis sounded good - small town girl with a rough upbringing going to make a new start in NYC at the same time as a girl from Australia also moves to NYC to start anew, and how their lives/stories intersect in the search to solve the murder, but only the last quarter of the book really engaged me.
The Frozen River

By Ariel Lawhon

5 stars

Gripping from start to finish. Loved living in the late 1700s through Martha's eyes
Everything is beautiful and everything hurts

By Josie Shapiro

4 stars
A Different kind of Power

By Jacinda Ardern

5 stars

Enjoyed reading about the person behind the title
The Women of Arlington Hall

By Jane Healey

4 stars

Great little novel about the women who worked to break the KGB code book after WW2

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Aotea College

98,070 pages read and 4,947 team points

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