This was just not for me. Struggled to get into it and sadly DNF. Two stars based on what I had read

Omg......... this book was amazing I flew threw the pages with Olympic speed I was hooked from the very first page. I found it full of twists and turns threw out and it kept me on the edge of my seat all the way threw  I would defiantly recommend this book if you like a good book to keep you reading threw the night hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did

Nora is the perennial outsider. She looks different to everyone else due to her indigenous Canadian heritage, she is an alcoholic, and she is suffering from PTSD. She’s a character we shouldn’t like or empathise with but, because of her irreverent nature and feistiness, I ended up liking her attitude. Because she has a gift for telling when someone is lying, she is working at a private detective firm. When her daughter goes missing sixteen years after she gave her up for adoption, Nora starts to look for her, examining her daughter’s adopted family and her friends. It soon becomes clear that someone else is also watching her daughter’s adopted family and Nora uncovers secrets about her own past. The writing is often more comical than in other crime thrillers but I enjoyed the book. I especially liked Kamal’s descriptions of both urban and rural Vancouver as she invokes its stunning beauty as well as its seediness in certain places.

I enjoyed this book although I did find it quite slow in places. I found the character of Nora very interesting and complex but just couldn't quite warm to her. That being said, I still find myself interested in her story and will be reading the sequel.

Nicely written crime book with really good points but sadly a lot of plot flaws that i just found way to noticeable to be able to overlook them and with that didn't love it.
Still a very good thriller overall!

This is the first installment in a new series about PI assistent Nora Watts. While the mystery in this book was interesting enough, the main focus is always on Nora. We learn about her strengths, but mostly her weaknesses: Nora is a very troubled woman with a tragic past in more than one way. However, sometimes I wished the focus would have switched back to the mystery and concentrated on that for a little while longer. As it was, I got the impression the whole 'case' was just made up (and unbelievably so - it felt too constructed at times) to present a stage for introducing Nora. While that is not a bad purpose for a first part in a series, for me it was just too much to take in, and I wished the author had held some details back for the sequel. Overall, an interesting thriller, but nothing I will remember at the end of the year.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

This was a good book. I was instantly drawn to Nora; she was so damaged and flawed but, like her, I couldn't help but want to solve this mystery. A call in the middle of the night, no good ever comes from that, but a call to help find a lost girl, a girl that as it turns out is the child you gave up for adoption, who could have ever imagined how much that call would change Nora's life.

Vancouver was a great backdrop for this book, gritty and beautiful at the same time. Nora isn't much into trusting people and as you learn her story, you can definitely see why, she has little reason to. From her traumatic childhood to whatever led to her being pregnant and giving up the child, she had a tough life. The supporting characters in this story are all well written but this is all about Nora. Lots of twists and turns and plenty of action.

I will definitely check out more books from this author, especially if there is another Nora book.

Nora Watts is a plain, middle-aged woman that lives in a basement with her dog. Through observation, she has a skill where she can tell when someone is lying. She gets a phone call where the man on the other end says her daughter is missing. The daughter she gave up for adoption fifteen years ago. As she follows the trail of her daughter's whereabouts her past comes back to haunt her.

The story was well written. It was action packed but at times I thought it was a little slow. Great character development especially the protagonist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for supplying me a copy of Sheena Kamal's "Eyes Like Mine" in exchange for an honest review.

Nora is an investigator that lives in the basement of the two men she works for. Nora is complicated ! She receives a call from a couple asking her to help them find their daughter, her daughter she gave up for adoption 15 years ago . This book is filled with violence , sexual abuse and betrayal . I lost interest in the beginning but finished the book . Thanks to Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for the e-book in exchange for my honest review .

“It's late. The phone rings.
The man on the other end says his daughter is missing.
Your daughter.
The baby you gave away over fifteen years ago.
What do you do?”

The description above really intrigued me and I had to read this book.
Whilst needing to search for her daughter this brings Nora Watts into contact with a past that she's spent years trying to forget. It's a fraught journey of deception and violence and Nora shows incredible strength through the book.
Some people have said they could not connect with Nora and I can understand why, but after what she’s been through I think we need to make some allowances for her!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Couldn’t get into this one and I thought maybe it was because I wasn’t in the right mood. I started it several times and it just didn’t pull me in. Oh well, you can’t win them all. I appreciate the chance!

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.
3.5*

Nora works as an investigator for two men and lives unofficially in their basement with her dog Whisper. Nora has struggled significantly with addiction after an extremely troubled childhood.

She receives a phone call from a couple asking for her help in locating their runaway daughter Bonnie. Why Nora? Because Bonnie is the child she gave up for adoption 15 years ago.

This is a story of sexual abuse, neglect, violence, betrayal but ultimately about strength of character to rise above all of it and live a life. I loved the setting of this book having lived In BC for fourteen years. There were some instances of unbelievability in the plot especially towards the end but overall an enjoyable book.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy in exchange for a review!

Wow does not even come close to being the right word to describe this book about Nora and her forced confrontation with the past she has worked to forget. Thankfully this is the first book in a series because I loved the author’s writing!

Bonnier Zaffre Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Eyes Like Mine. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Nora Watts has tried to put her life back together the best that she can after a brutal attack. A recovering alcoholic living secretly in the basement of her office building, Nora has been using her abilities as an investigator to help her boss. When a phone call from the last person she expected rocks Nora to the core, will she be able to keep herself on the right path to help someone from her past?

As far as characterization goes, Nora Watts is a well developed characters with visible flaws and gritty determination. The flaws with the book have to do with the plot itself, as there were many points within the story that seemed to exist only to move the book along. I found it hard to believe that Nora's assault, and the subsequent circumstances that resulted from it, would not happened in that manner. Eyes Like Mine lost some steam in the middle of the book, which resulted in a loss of interest on my part. Overall, Nora was the only reason why I kept reading, as I did find her interesting. Readers who like character driven stories may find Eyes Like Mine to their liking.

I honestly could tell by the writing of the first 2 chapters that it wouldn't be a good fit for our box and had to put it down. I may read it again in the future!

The story goes something like this, a phone call about a missing child, who has eyes like the protagonist, Nora. And that starts the ball rolling with the past and present clashing up with Nora right in the middle of it.
The author, Sheena Kamal has walked the off-beaten path where main character is a recovering alcoholic investigator, who keeps falling off the bandwagon. She is so non-descriptive that throughout the book, I searched for her facets, to understand her better. The only person who wholeheartedly loved her was her dog cum partner, Whisper. They make such an unlikely likable combination.
The book works only because of the raw grittiness of the protagonist, she is everything never seen in a main character, but she is everything seen in a woman who has touched the murky depths of the abyss, yet has risen up only by the sheer strength of her will power. She just refuses to curl away and give up.
The main character, Nora is fascinating, I could almost never take my eyes off her. The other characters, too drift in and out of the story, and they do a fairly decent job. But Nora outshines them all by being so ordinary both in description and thoughts but extraordinary in her determination.
There are a few niggles, I took 4 days to finish this book, and that is because the tension is not well maintained in the book. Every time there is an interesting occurrence, instead of completing that sequence, the author goes into detailed background explanation. That dilutes the whole pumped up curiosity. At one point I switched over to another novel. At others, I was left screaming - get to the point. Soon I learnt to skip over the explanation and get to the main story.
The plot line is fantastic, filled with missing daughter, medical mystery, a beaten-up protagonist, powerful villains, murder, abuse, investigation and a wonderful dog and partner, Whisper. But the delivery could have been way better. Still it does make good reading for a debut.
This book embodies a real truth, a mother's love for her child, arises from the soul, even if that child has been unwanted and given away.
The womb, the heart, and the blood speaks when actions do not...

Every now and then a character captures your attention so fully that they feel like real life people and evoke a fervent prayer to the literary gods that the author will write a sequel – and another one, and another one! For me, Nora Watts was that protagonist – she was so compelling and intriguing that she instantly swept me up into her world and kept me enthralled. Nora may initially seem like your classical flawed character with the obligatory traumatic childhood having shaped her adult self, but she has a few additional features that make her stand out from the fray. Firstly, she can tell a liar as soon as the other person opens their mouth. Secondly, she has an irresistible sense of self-deprecating humour that had me laughing out loud in what was otherwise a rather dark and disturbing story – she is so astute in her observations! And whilst hse admits embracing her role as an outsider, she is also a badass – in a humble, invisible sort of way, but she is not one to give up easily, especially when it comes to righting an injustice. Even though she may not always seem likeable, I simply adored her. She would of course not appreciate the sentiment, preferring to keep herself to herself with the equally irresistible Whisper by her side.

Kamal does such a brilliant job with her characterisations – even now I can clearly see the cast of Eyes Like Mine clearly in front of my eyes, as if I had met them all personally. In her author’s notes she says: “I learned how important it is to have compelling characters, raise the stakes and to take risks.” She has certainly achieved all of that. The characters, the sense of time and place, the atmosphere of the seedier side of Vancouver and Vancouver Island were so well executed that the story played out movie-like in my mind until I could not tear myself away even for the most essential of needs. And what a story it was! A dark, disturbing thrill ride that had my hackles rise on quite a few occasions as Nora put herself in the firing line. There was both mystery and suspense as well as action, a balance that is tricky to achieve but was perfectly done here. Nora’s antisocial tendencies and her ability to stay under the radar created the type of tense, claustrophobic atmosphere I simply love in a good mystery. Even the few tiny moments of having to suspend disbelief did not mar the pleasure, and everyone who knows me will know I’m usually not very good at that.

If you’re looking for two-dimensional cardboard cut-out characters in a run-of-the-mill mystery that has been done a thousand times before, do not read this book, because it is quite unique and the characters pack punch. There are many themes running through this book that make it relevant: childhood trauma, abuse, adoption, alcoholism, homelessness, racism just to mention a few. It is confronting at times, disturbing for most of the time, and just very very good. I was ecstatic to read that the author is working on a sequel. I will most definitely pick that one up, too! Very highly recommended to all lovers of the genre.

A tortured heroine - and who can blame her? A (previous) life style that ended in an horrendous attack, and, from which, whilst clearly still suffering from PTSD, she has gradually put together a new life. And has some hope for her future. Until her past re-surfaces in a most awful manner.
A gripping story that you need to read through to the end. Quickly. And an anti-heroine, who does have friends that you root for all the way and wish for her a better life than fate has given her so far. Immersive story-telling.

3.5 stars

Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Setting: Vancouver, Canada
Writing style: 3.75/5

A woman who’s mentally on autopilot deviates from her daily monotonous routine in search of a daughter long since removed from her thoughts. Her daughter’s unknown whereabouts lead Nora Watts on a high-speed journey that realigns her with the shadowy faces of her past. This unrelenting search for the truth propels Nora down a rabbit hole full of corruption in high and low places.

This book is a raw and gritty piece featuring a jaded heroine who’s lived a hard life! Having been abandoned by her mother and placed in a foster home after her father’s death, Nora felt like she didn’t fit in anywhere. Add to that the sexual trauma she’d experienced as a young woman and her ongoing substance abuse struggles, Nora appeared very cold and clinical at first. I warmed up to her eventually.

◈ There were some heartfelt and poignant bits in Nora’s thoughts:

What I loved about singing the blues is that it cuts straight to the heart of a thing. You come naked with your soul lying carved open and exposed on the slab or you don’t come at all. Give it real or keep it to yourself.

◈ But it was the relationship between Nora and her four-legged companion, Whisper, that made me enjoy this story most. Some of her thoughts about Whisper?

The only downside to Whisper is that she is sex-crazed, even though the doctor at the veterinary clinic down the road assures me that she has been spayed. She is part hound, part wolf, and all nymphomaniac. Matted fur aside, I can tell from her excellent physical condition that she was once well taken care of, but I imagine that her slutty ways got her kicked out of a good home. She will gleefully hump anything that sniffs at her for longer than five seconds. She regrets it afterward and spends the following week in a depressed slump. After the hormonal high comes the self-loathing. I don’t get mad at her, because I’ve been there.

◈ The author touched on a vast array of topics within this story: loneliness, mixed-race heritage, racism, and betrayal. I liked how realistic the characters were, but there were some pieces of the story (at the end) that slanted more towards the improbable aspect. I’m also intrigued about what role Jon Brazuca will play in the upcoming sequel and how he will fit into Nora’s life, if at all. In sum, I enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more of this author’s work.

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to have read this interesting read. I love reading books with a strong female character, and then she also kicks arse! Great read and recommended.