Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars 

This opens with a baby being abducted on Mother's Day before moving 20 years later where we follow four women: Edith, who has been put in a care home by the daughter she has a tense relationship with; Clio, Edith's daughter; Patience, a teenage girl working at the care home whole Edith befriends; and Frankie, a prison librarian searching for her estranged daughter.

I thought that the characters were reasonably well-written though their voices blended a little at points. Also with 4 POVs it did get a little convoluted at times but I did enjoy how it unfolded and the reveal did surprise me.

Steff Out x 

People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

2/5 stars

Emmy is a a super successful famous Instamum who tells it like it is. Her author husband - a one-hit-wonder - knows that it's all bullshit. Then there's the woman who who wants to destroy it all, like Emmy destroyed her family...

I feel like this book tried but ultimately fell short. It tried to be a thriller but it wasn't thrilling enough. It tried to be a criticism on social media fakeness but it didn't go far enough or scathing enough.

The characters were awful, the pacing was not great and the ending fell very flat for me.

Steff Out x

Wrong Way Summer by Heidi Lang

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

Wrong Way Summer is a middle grade novel that follows Claire and her dad and her little brother as they join the hashtag vanlife!

Claire's dad loves stories, even more so since her mum left but this is a new one, a convoluted story about an ancestor, some cows and a princess told while on a mystery road trip in a tatty converted van.

This was a cute story and I liked how Claire developed and learned to appreciate the van but I would have liked a little more depth and for Claire to push for the truth from her dad sooner.

Steff Out x

We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune

 

Ebook with thanks to NetGalley and Tor/Pan Macmillan.

5/5 stars

A slightly belated review since I read this in January but also shockingly ahead of schedule for me considering this isn't released until April.

At 176 pages this is a novella rather than a novel but though short it packs a lot of impact.

The world is ending in a few days. A massive black hole is sucking everything up, most of the planets have been destroyed and once it comes for the moon humanity is done for.

Don and Rodney are an old married couple driving from Maine to Washington State to do something important (and heartbreaking once revealed) before it's too late. On the way they meet a variety of people: crazy bad, crazy good, dangerous crazy and queer kin.

This is a simple book but it has so much emotional depth and characterisation and it is beautiful.

Stef Out x

The Family by Louise Jensen

 

Paperback read but ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

2/5 stars

Laura is in strife. Her husband died in an accident 6 weeks ago and the life insurance is refusing to pay out until the inquest is complete. She's lost her business and her home looks set to follow. Her daughter, Tilly, is barely speaking to her and her brother in law and his wife can't or won't help.

A chance meeting with a woman named Saffron leads Laura and Tilly to move onto the vegetable farm commune where she lives. Alex, the leader is immediately enthralling but is all as it seems?

I feel like this book seriously overcomplicated things and several things could have been removed or streamlined. The ending was also very vague and none of the characters were likable.

Steff Out x

The Best Things by Mel Giedroyc

 

Paperback read but ebook previously provided by NetGalley.

3/5 stars

Sally Parker lives a rich privileged life in a big house. She doesn't need to work thanks to Frank's hedge fund manager job. She has a cook/cleaner and a nanny for her kids who are probably too old to need one (the youngest is 11). But then the market crashes or something and bailiffs end up at the door of the home that apparently they don't even own.

I do want to say I did enjoy Mel's writing style and will definitely read more by her but for me this book wasn't it.

I get that it's a rich folks world but none of the characters are likable. I expected from the blurb to see them losing everything quicker and see more of them rebuilding but we didn't really see any of that.

It also felt like there were too many loosen threads. What was the deal with the Dr? I wanted the full scoop on Mikey and her mate, it also didn't go deep enough on Frank's issues with his parents, in fact we don't know there is an issue until the last few chapters. Characters felt hollow. Cleo is stupid, vapid and only cares about Love Island. Stephen is the greedy gamer who develops an interest in cooking out of nowhere.

CW: fatphobia

Steff Out x

This Ends in Embers by Kamilah Cole

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

The First Empyrean Iya is now holding Reeve's body hostage and Faron has chosen to go with him to try and save Reeve and find out what his plan is. Elara is trying to come up with ideas to get her sister back.

I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy one as much as the first. It felt very repetitive in places with the constant training, mind control, pass out/become injured etc. Also Faron's constant "I caused this, I'm a terrible person" monologues got a little wearing.

The last quarter and particularly the ending felt very rushed. The last battle was written in a very manic way and needed a bit of clarity and room to breathe. I did appreciate that it didn't shy away from the realities of war and the fact that even when it's over it might not be over.

Also for a duology I've seen on multiple lists for sapphic books the relationship very much takes a back seat and I did want more. Also some clear asexual/demisexual rep but it would have been nice for there to have been more of a conversation about it.

Steff Out x