So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

4/5 stars

San Irie is currently at peace following war with Langley. Faron is the Childe Empyrean, someone who can channel the powers of the Gods. San Irie's success in the war was down to her. She and her sister Elara were also responsible for finding the rightful Queen.

Now several years later tensions are rising. People don't trust such a young Queen, Faron is fed up with the pressure of being the Childe Empyrean, Elara wants to become a Drake Pilot and their friend Reeve is constantly being judged for being a traitor to his own people - his father is the Langlish ruler - and not fitting in with his white skin.

This was slow starting and I did want more history on the war, the land etc. It could almost have done with being a trilogy with book 1 covering the first war and then a time jump to the events of this book. I was into it by about a quarter of the way through.

I liked how it was dual narration between Faron and Elara, getting their different perspectives on things, especially when they were in different places. I liked that they were a lot different in personality as well.

I was definitely intrigued by the plot and I could feel the impending sense of doom throughout which I appreciated and I look forward to seeing how it all pans out.

Steff Out x

Contracts and Cats by Toni Binns

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

5/5 stars

Sable is applying for what looks like her dream job. A live-in job at a local bookshop where she must also take care of The Cat. After a successful interview with the current caretaker Sable accepts the job, once she does the reality of the role becomes more obvious... For the next year she cannot leave the premises at all.

It turns out that there is plenty to keep her busy though since this is actually a magical bookshop and it... Travels to best meet it's customers needs. One of these customers leaves something behind, something he shouldn't have had in the first place. A baby dragon!

I love this book! It was long (526 pages according to StoryGraph) but it didn't feel it. I flew through it. I loved the characters and their diversity and the fact that we got passages from the point of view of The Cat. The writing flowed and the plot was engaging and easy to read and everything felt seamless. I even enjoyed the mundane day to day life bits of breakfast and coffee. I'm really looking forward to the next book!

Steff Out x

A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

Past and present collide as Nadine organises her mother's 60th birthday party. It's also the 30th anniversary of her discovering her 15-year-old aunt Colleen's dead body at a previous birthday party.

Nadine has recently recovered from a broken hip and subsequent infection, she also has to cope with her ex-fling - and her husband's best friend - coming to the party with his new wife who has recently had a baby, her daughter's best friend is in a coma in hospital following an overdose and a journalist keeps sniffing around her famous author mother.

This was an interesting concept, told over the course of one day with a variety of characters although we lacked the time to get to know all of them effectively. Certain plot threads were mentioned and then discarded, there was indication that Nadine's own accident wasn't an accident but then that was abandoned. There wasn't really enough time to cover everything and then the ending was very abrupt with no resolution.

Steff Out x

Thick Witch Travels by Lizzy Ives

 

Ebook with great thanks to Sword and Rose press and the author.

5/5 stars

You may recall last year I read book 1 of this series? Trilogy? I think it's a trilogy... Fat Witch Summer which I loved.

Book 2 picks up a year later, the Gift system has been dismantled thanks to Thrash and her coven but familiars keep approaching Thrash, everyone's unsettled and they just need a break.

Now Thrash, Cresca, Em and Saki are heading out on a gap year to travel Europa finished off with an apprenticeship Thrash arranged at Wainwood Academy under famed architect Fernicus Wainwood. Right from the start the four all seem to have different ideas about the trip and Thrash worried they might be growing apart but then a familiar asks for their help...

I LOVE these books, the characters are so well-written and 3D. They all have distinct voices and personalities. As a fat person I relate to Thrash's struggles to buy off the rack, especially when thrifting or at boutiques (that adjustment wand sounds amazing though!). I loved the ace rep.

The story is complex and layered but still easy to follow and the danger towards the characters feels real. I loved the expansion of the world and the magic system, everything is so well thought out and I'm really looking forward to the future and seeing where these characters end up.

Steff Out x

The Dog Share by Fiona Gibson

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

4/5 stars

Suzy's partner Paul decides on a whim to buy a Whiskey distillery that they visited on holiday on a small Scottish island. 2 years later Paul has vanished and the distillery is close to going bust. Suzy equally on a whim but for the right reasons decides to go it alone and try to save it.

On a visit to the island Suzy comes across a lost terrier that she names Scout. Trying to find his origins she connects with local Cara who has just had to put her own dog to sleep. Suzy eventually decides to keep Scout, a new mascot for a new life.

Ricky's dad was the former head distiller and Ricky and his son Arthur are visiting for Easter to try and cheer up grandad following the loss of his dog not so long ago. Suzy tries to get Harry re-involved with the distillery but he's reluctant until Ricky and Arthur have a chance meeting with Scout on the beach.

This was super cute, I loved the variety of characters and the way everyone's paths crossed and how one dog can affect so many people.

The writing style was easy and engaging but there were frequent time jumps (two weeks later, two months later etc) which were a little annoying. There were a couple of plot threads that felt incomplete by the end which was a little bit frustrating but I still really enjoyed it.

Steff Out x

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

Grady Green is an author. He has just phoned his wife, Abby, with news of being a New York Times bestseller when she stops the car saying she sees someone in the road. The call goes silent and when Grady goes to investigate Abby has vanished!

A year later Grady is a broken man living in a cheap hotel and with a writing advance needing to be paid back (he only wrote one book of a two book deal) his debts are accumulating. But then his agent Kitty - Abby's godmother - phones. She needs him to write a new book and she's got just the place he can use, the cabin used by a now deceased author on the isolated island of Amberley off the coast of Scotland.

The island when Grady arrives is a very strange place. A tiny community of 25, phones that don't work, or do they? No consistent schedule to be able to leave the island. Odd looks and comments and for Grady the delivery of some of Abby's old newspaper articles possibly referencing people on the island.

This started off interestingly but it took a lot of time to get anywhere. The pacing struggled. There's only so many paranoid hallucinations someone can take before thinking just get on with the plot! The last quarter where we get all the reveals felt crowded and muddy. There were moments one character mentioned that earlier in the book seemed to belong to another character. Some stuff seemed a bit out of the blue and unbelievable. And then that ending!?!? What was that??? I hated the lack of clarity there.

Steff Out x

Eight Pieces of Silva by Patrice Lawrence

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

Becks's mum and Silva's dad have just got married and gone on their dream honeymoon. Silva at 18 is supposed to be the responsible adult looking after 16 year old Becks but then Silva doesn't come home after waving the parents off.

Becks's cat Azog decides to poop in Silva's room and while cleaning it up Becks finds a bunch of receipts for random items, the earliest dated has a handwritten message on it expressing romantic interest. Further investigation reveals other strange items: a crappy wig, fairground token, medal, locker key and a football related newspaper article.

So I loved Becks. Black, out and proud lesbian, Marvel and Tolkien obsessive (her cat's name even comes from the Hobbit movies). Also China - I wish we could have had more of her. Raych was interesting but we didn't know her enough to care about what happened

But Silva. Silva pissed me off in short. She's supposedly so fragile following her mum's death from cancer but it's not like she was a little kid (I can't recall if the amount of time was specified), enough time has passed for her dad to feel comfortable remarrying. Also her blind obsession frustrated me to no end. You are 28 yet you are acting like a child!

The ending was also very abrupt like the author didn't want to go over a certain word count.

Steff Out x

Day of the Accident by Nuala Ellwood

 

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

4/5 stars

Content warnings: child death, suicide plus attempts, eating disorder, grief.

Maggie has just woken up from a coma to be told that her daughter Elspeth has drowned and her husband Sean has left. Maggie's injuries tell the police that she tried to stop the car going into the river but what caused the accident? Maggie has lost her memories of the day. Then she's told that due to her husband leaving she now has no home or belongings and very little money of her own.

This was a gripping, fast-paced novel with nice short chapters. Some of the chapters were separated by letters from an unnamed child in some kind of children's home situation. You might have guesses as to who this child is but you are probably wrong because that particular reveal comes quite late.

The only thing I didn't like was that the whole situation between Maggie and her husband is very brushed over and I feel like it needed more page time.

Steff Out x

The Villa by Jess Ryder

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

3 years ago Dani, Aoife, Tiff, Beth and Celine came to Villa Floriana in Marbella for Aoife's hen party. Aoife was killed in a suspected burglary gone wrong. Dani was never convinced by this story so she's brought the other hens back to the villa to try and figure out the truth.

Told in dual timeline of then and now and from the perspectives of the 4 surviving hens. Tiff and Beth are Aoife's childhood best friends, Dani is her adulthood best friend who was leading her astray - according to Tiff - and Celine is someone she worked with who technically wasn't supposed to be there due to some "mix-up" of a 6 person villa being booked as opposed to a group-friendly hotel.

I liked the mystery surrounding what happened and the gradual reveal of the events but apart from Dani the characters are mostly unlikable in their secret bitchy-ness. Are you people her friends or not? Also the reveal was a letdown and in my feeling not really believable. There were also some other plot points that were introduced so late that they may as well not have been there, it's like the author was just trying to add extra tension instead of working with what she already had.

Steff Out x

Isle of Ever by Jen Calonita

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

4/5 stars

12 year old Everly "Benny" Benedict is living with her mum in a tiny flat worrying about how they're going to afford the rent and whether they'll have to move again when a lawyer shows up.

Benny's great great grandmother (not sure how many greats) has left a letter addressed specifically to her. She will inherit Evelyn Terry's estate and accompanying vineyard and her fortune but only if she completes her game by the 12th June.

Told in dual timeline between Benny's search in the present day and Evelyn's journal in 1835 when the area was plagued by Pertussis known as The Cough. I really enjoyed the concept for this and I liked the characters although despite them being described as Benny's age Zara and Ryan read as a little older and understandably due to the journal format we didn't learn a lot about the historical characters.

The pacing was a little uneven, slow in parts, fast in others. The explanation for Benny specifically being addressed could have come a little earlier and there was a particular troublesome family that were mentioned but that didn't come to anything at this point. A cliffhanger ending which certainly entices you to pick up the next book and I'll certainly keep my eye out for it.

Steff Out x

See the Stars by Eleanor Ray

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

5/5 stars

Alice is an astronomer. Previously she was studying for her masters degree but left it suddenly and joined the world of finance in the city. As a kid she loved nothing more than stargazing with her beloved grandpa until his descent into dementia and rambles about a comet no-one else could see.

Following a collapse at work and the diagnosis of a mini-stroke Alice goes home to Yorkshire to recuperate, re-discovering her grandpa's logbooks in the process and maybe he wasn't wrong about the comet? Along the way she reconnects with her teenage crush Matt, through his nerdy, autistic nephew Berti. I loved Berti as a character and his autism is obvious to me but unfortunately never named on page which is my only slight bugbear with this novel

Told in dual timeline between Alice's time as a child and her university journey and present day this is an emotional, engaging story and I didn't find the space stuff too complicated or overwhelming in the way it was written. The characters were all well-written and easy to connect to. I was hoping for a certain outcome and I was not disappointed but no spoilers here of course.

Steff Out x

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey

 

3/5 stars

I'm going to call this one of the most disappointing books I've read. The title implies some kind of X-Men style abilities and the blurb gives nothing away apart from a comment about "I don't bite". The reality is much more different.

We open at a facility where a young girl, Melanie, is waiting in her cell to be strapped into a wheelchair and taken to the classroom for lessons, hoping it's with her favourite teacher Miss Helen Justineau. One day two of her classmates disappear, then Helen is told off for showing Melanie affection, then Melanie herself is taken to scientist Dr Caroline Caldwell. But before Dr Caldwell can do what she plans the base is attacked and the three escape with Sergeant Parks and young soldier Gallagher.

What follows is basically a road trip. There are hairy moments along the way and a couple of losses (no spoilers here) and then after an information reveal it basically just ends. There's no clarity on what happens next.

The writing style was engaging on the whole but there's a lack of world-building. It's set in post-apocalyptic Britain, long enough ago that the young soldier is confused by the sight of a broken down bus. I would have liked more information on the start of this whole thing. There's another group of people seen at one point and are considered a great threat but then aren't seen again. It would have been nice to have had more information on them. Who are they? What is their goal?

Also unrelated to the plot etc but apparently there is a film adaptation of this book - script written by the author - and Helen in the book is described solidly as black, the word mahogany is used specifically, yet the film cast the very white Gemma Arterton 🤨😒

Steff Out x

Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan

 

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

3/5 stars

CW: animal abuse and suicide

Detective Alec Nichols has been summoned to a very unusual crime. The discovery of sixteen severed horse's heads partially buried in a field. Alec calls in Veterinary Forensics expert Cooper Allen to assist with the investigation.

Soon blackmail, hidden anthrax, family secrets and more abused animals are revealed.

This book does not go where you expect it. I really enjoyed the writing style but it felt like the author lost track of his plot and didn't know where the story was going. Several threads were abandoned, the ending wasn't exactly explained and also made no sense.

Steff Out x

The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything by Kara Gnodde

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

2/5 stars

CW: suicide

Mimi lives with her brother, accomplished mathematician Art, but she's feeling lonely. Art comes up with an algorithm to get her the best result on a dating app, both of which are soon forgotten when she meets Frank at a mathematics awards that Art has dragged her to. To Mimi Frank seems perfect, Art is not so sure.

This was very slow going and the plot feels thin. Apart from the relationship drama Art is working on some kind of famous maths problem which if proven could cause a lot of trouble and then there's the trauma around their parents deaths.

There are points where not a lot seems to happen and I almost DNFd several times. I kind of wish I had because the overall pay off is not there. I just found this book underwhelming overall.

Steff Out x

A Serial Killer's Guide to Marriage by Asia Mackay

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

4/5 stars

Haze and her husband Fox were a serial killer team murdering bad men across Europe. They have very opposite backgrounds, Haze is a Brit, grew up in care under multiple abusive foster families. Fox is American, born into privilege until his parents discovered his first kill and exiled him to England.

Both agreed to retire when they had daughter Bibi but Haze in particular is struggling. She's mostly a stay at home mum - she's also a successful artist but her main inspiration was their kills - which leaves her time to dwell. Fox seems to be having a successful business career but both are hiding things.

I loved the characters and I thought it was brilliantly written but I do wish it had come to that big climax a little bit sooner. I certainly hope that there's a sequel though!

Steff Out x

What July Knew by Emily Koch

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

Despite giving them the same rating I did prefer this to Keep Him Close and I think the author does better at these domestic sort of stories than thrillers.

July is 10 years old, as far as she knows her mother died in a car crash when she was 2, she knows very little about her and if she asks her dad too many questions he'll teach her a Lesson but then July's teacher sets their summer homework as a report on someone they know and July decides to use it to try and get some more information about her mother.

This was definitely well-written, everything felt very realistic and I liked the descriptions and the characters were all well-defined but my biggest issue was the pacing. So much of the important plot happens in the last quarter or so, there needed to be more in the earlier stages where the story felt quite flat. We also don't get much of an end past a character writing a letter which tells us a few important things.

I also want to make a specific comment about how much I loved the growth of July and her stepsister Sylvie's relationship from playground rivals that couldn't be seen together to what happened at the end was a beautiful arc.

Steff Out x

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

Set in some kind of future vaguely post-apocalyptic Scotland where poverty is rife and magic exists. 14-year-old Ropa is a ghostalker, delivering messages from the dead to the living for cash when a particular ghost asks for help finding her missing son Ropa ends up caught up in something new and dangerous...

I liked the characters in this, Ropa was sharp and witty and her interactions with her gran and her sister Izwi were lovely, her best friend Jomo was lovely, a real loyal to the end type, and new friend Priya was a firecracker. A wheelchair user but it definitely does not hold her back!

I also thought elements of the story were good, the talking to ghosts and the library in particular but there was a mention of fae which seemed very out of nowhere and the overall pacing wasn't brilliant. Also I understand this is the first in a series but the ending was very abrupt.

Steff Out x

Keep Him Close by Emily Koch

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

2/5 stars

Alice's son Lou has just died following a night out. Indigo's son Kane has confessed to killing him but is that the truth?

Alice finds herself getting close to Indigo, first by accident when she visits the library where Alice works but then she deliberately orchestrates further meetings. Indigo herself refuses to believe her boy has done wrong, is she right or is she blinded by a mother's love?

I kept reading because I wanted to know the truth. Neither of our main female characters are particularly likable, Alice is cold and judgemental and Indigo is fussy and obsessed with everything containing radiation. The plot is thin and weak and everything takes way too long to be resolved and when it is it makes the ending weak.

Steff Out x 

The Memory Wood by Sam Lloyd

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars

This is told in 3-way narration between Elissa who has been kidnapped from her chess tournament, Mairead the detective looking for her who has been having troubles of her own, and Elijah the mystery boy who visits Elissa but is unwilling or unable to help her.

This was an interesting novel and an intriguing concept but I think the execution was lacking slightly. It felt like the reveal and the full story behind it were kind of rushed and glossed over. The ending was very rushed as well.

Steff Out x

Alchemy and a Cup of Tea by Rebecca Thorne

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

5/5 stars

The book opens with Reyna, who has been acting as Queen for several months at this point, being kidnapped. When Kianthe finds out she is naturally in a panic and immediately flies to the rescue but Reyna being Reyna doesn't entirely need rescuing and as a matter of fact she's also discovered the work of a rogue alchemist.

In the meantime tourists are invading Tawney and the pair are struggling with the fact that they may have to close their shop to save the town.

Along the way we solve the mystery of the missing dragon egg and Serena is trying to plan her proposal to Bonnie.

This was the fourth and final book in the Tomes and Tea quartet and I am so sad that it's over 😭 I love these books, the characters, the way they're written all just get me. I definitely plan to read anything else the author writes!

Steff Out x

The Island by C.L. Taylor

 

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

4/5 stars 

6 teenagers are on holiday with their families. Their parents met while pregnant and the holidays have become an annual tradition each year. This year's coincides with Jefferson's birthday and his dad has organised an extra expedition: a week on a tropical island unaccompanied by the adults.

Things start off well enough but then their guide dies of a stroke and the teens are stranded. Twins Milo and Mia, Jefferson, Danny and girlfriend Honor and Jessie who is struggling following a traumatic incident. The group discusses phobias on their first night and then those phobias start appearing...

This was super tense and definitely kept me guessing but the initial idea of them going on yearly holidays because their parents were pregnant together was a little weak. The characters weren't super likable but we also didn't learn a lot about them.

Steff Out x

My Three Dogs by W. Bruce Cameron

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

5/5 stars

Liam and Sabrina have a happy life with their two dogs, Riggs and Luna, or so Liam thinks but when he brings home puppy Archie - rescuing him from a bad situation - it suddenly reveals that there are cracks in their relationship. Sabrina moves out for a break. Several days later Liam has come to his senses, he's spoken to Sabrina and they're planning to meet up where he wants to propose but before that happens he's in a car accident.

Liam's brother Brad takes over, tells Sabrina that Liam is dead and takes the dogs to a shelter where they are all eventually adopted separately to mixed success but Riggs in particular wants to reunite his pack.

At less than 300 pages this is a short novel, maybe a little too short in that we don't properly get to know our human characters but who cares when we are so perfectly in the heads of our canine characters and I love all three of them and never want them to come to harm! I especially loved the epilogue!

Steff Out x 

Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

2/5 stars

Josephine Morrow is Girl One of Nine. She was the first to be born as part of Dr Joseph Bellanger's experiments with parthogenesis or solo birth. Her mother, Margaret, and the other mothers all lived with Joseph at a place known as the Homestead until a fire claimed the lives of Joseph and the youngest child, Fiona.

Now years later Josie, following in Joseph's footsteps and studying reproductive science, is semi-estranged from her mother but then she hears of an incident. Margaret's house has burned down and she is missing. Josie finds a notebook that implies Margaret was more interested in the others than she let on so with the help of journalist, Tom, whom Margaret contacted, Josie sets out to find her.

The concept of this was so interesting although I didn't really understand the choice of the time period chosen (the births took place in the late 70s and the story is set in the 90s) but the execution was such a letdown. The whole story is tell tell tell. Each vital bit of information is given by another character telling a story. There is very little show. Also the ending??? What the hell was that??? To put it bluntly there was no ending. It just stopped.

Steff Out x 

The Death Sculptor by Chris Carter

 

4/5 stars

Detective Robert Hunter is part of an elite murder investigation team in LA when he gets a call one day about a grisly murder. A district attorney has been killed despite being terminally ill and weeks from death. Yet this isn't an ordinary murder. He has been brutalised with limbs chopped off and used to make a grotesque sculpture, but what does it mean?

This was a gripping, fast-paced novel and the characters were interesting but I did have issues. The author was obsessed with describing everyone... Well everyone female. I don't care if the female bartender has a messy bun, or that the random in the bar has obviously artificial breasts, or that the victim's daughter is five foot five. None of this is relevant to the plot.

My other big issue was the plotting itself. The killer reveal was suitably tense but it did raise questions about things that happened earlier in the novel. There was a scene where the killer poses as a certain trade but I can't imagine it panning out as is but no disguise was ever mentioned.

Elements read as a debut novel rather than the author's fourth but I did enjoy it and seeing how things unfolded and the clues revealing themselves.

Steff Out x

Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

5/5 stars

The prequel to Legends and Lattes showing orc Viv's early life at the beginning of her mercenary career.

Viv's enthusiasm to get the job done maybe without thinking too much about it leads to her getting a nasty leg injury which results in her group leaving her to recover in Murk, a dismal little seaside town.

On her explorations Viv comes across Fern and her dilapidated inherited bookshop. Fern loves the place but customers are very thin on the ground and Viv takes it upon herself to help once Fern's book recommendation inspires her that is...

An excellent and diverse cast of characters: Viv is an orc, Fern is a rattkin, we also have a dwarf, a gnome and some other beings. Each character is written so well with a distinct personality and I loved the way they all came together.

If I had one criticism it's that the "big finale" took a while to come and was over a little too quickly. I also wanted more of the end!

Steff Out x

So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

4/5 stars

Four best friends meet up for a baby shower on the hottest day of the year, a baby shower that ends in a horrific fire.

Charlotte who is struggling with infertility has organised the shower for Nicki who is hating being the centre of attention, especially considering one of the guests Charlotte invited for her... Lauren has already had her baby and is secretly struggling following a traumatic birth and Steffi is happily child free by choice and her career is taking off. Everyone has their secrets and tensions are simmering.

I really enjoyed the writing style of this and the way everything was revealed slowly but it frustrated me that these women have been best friends since university yet they don't talk properly about anything. The characters were really well developed but I did want more from the ending.

Steff Out x 

Tea You at the Altar by Rebecca Thorne

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

5/5 stars

Book 3 in the Tomes and Tea quartet and Kianthe and Reyna are deep into wedding planning when news arrives from tyrannical Queen Tillaine's spymaster Locke. She has a secret half sister who could be eligible for the throne! He also knows where she is and plans are afoot to bring her to town. But things are never that easy...

I love these books, I love this world, the writing style is nice and easy to follow but doesn't talk down to the reader. The representation is impeccable, we have our lead lesbians, we have characters who are bi or gay, one of our new characters in this edition is AroAce, we have multiple non-binary characters (would like a bit more pronoun variety, someone using neo-pronouns for example) including that rarity of an AMAB non-binary character - so many people just see non-binary as woman-lite so I was glad to see Rebecca bucking that trend. The characters are all so well-written and have distinct personalities and I love the secondary (tertiary?) plot with the dragons!

I'm looking forward to book 4 but I'm also sad that it'll be the last one but rest assured I'll look forward to reading whatever else Rebecca writes in the future!

Steff Out x 

Girl A by Abigail Dean

 

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

3/5 stars

I initially rated this at 4 stars but then reevaluated and edited it to 3 stars after reading some reviews on Goodreads. I guess I got caught up in the drama and was looking through rose-tinted glasses but reading other reviews (not always recommended) helped me see more clearly.

Girl A is Lex Gracie. She escaped her house of horrors aged 15. She and her siblings were starved and chained by their Father. Their Mother did nothing to help. Now Mother has died and Lex wants to turn their old house into a community centre but she needs her siblings signatures.

So when I first finished it I was caught up in how compelling the story and the writing were and how everything just flowed. Abigail Dean has a very easy, readable writing style.

But after some thought I realised there are just too many plot holes. Ethan's involvement, Gabriel's sight, the full story of the cake, the end of Lex's relationship (apparently fertility related but never explained), everyone's reluctance for her to attend the wedding. The twist was a little obvious and then that ending?? Very abrupt, very confusing.

This book frustrated me on the whole because I can see the potential it had to be so much better.

Steff Out x 

After Life by Gayle Forman

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

3/5 stars 

It's a normal day when Amber cycles home until she walks into the house and her mother screams at her. Because Amber died 7 years ago yet somehow she's back and everything has changed.

This was a really interesting look at how grief affects people and how far-reaching it can be and how many people one death can connect. Told in multiple POV from the many people Amber's death has affected.

I really liked the concept and the way the characters were written even if I wasn't fond of the character themself - Casey was a good example for this, she wasn't a likable person but she felt real.

There were also a couple of side plots that I didn't quite understand the point of or where they came frome. One was an incident when Amber was a child and the other was the breakdown of Amber's mum and aunt's relationship, that was never really explained. I think on the whole it could have done with being a little longer to round some of this stuff out.

Steff Out x 

The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune

 

Hardback bought by myself but ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

5/5 stars

Nate has lost his parents in a murder/suicide. Not that he's had much to do with them since they basically disowned him for being gay. Now he's also lost his job so he decides to use his only inheritance from his parents - his dad's truck and their holiday cabin in the mountains - and get away for a while.

When he gets there however he finds the cabin occupied by a giant hulking army guy and a little girl around 9 years old. Alex, who prefers to shoot first and ask questions later, and Artemis Darth Vader, who is not quite normal, however she is obsessed with western novels and bacon.

Yet another stunning novel by TJ. Tightly plotted with characters that are so easy to love and to root for and yet another brilliant example of found family! This was so visually written I can imagine being a fantastic movie, hey Hollywood can you get on that?

Steff Out x 

The Word Trove by Elias Vorpahl

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

4/5 stars 

This was a super short, super sweet little novel. It's set in the world of Language where words live. We follow a young Word who doesn't know it's meaning, once it is spoken it loses it's memory and it needs to find itself by travelling through the world of Language.

Along the way it meets some interesting characters like Mad and his hare friends - easy to see the inspiration for that scene - and some old forgotten words like Looking-glass and Wherefore.

I will say that I thought the Word was going to be something different but I still found the ending satisfying. It was also interesting to read the translator's notes at the end (the original book was written in German) and how some sections had to be changed to still make sense in English.

Steff Out x 

Fig Swims the World by Lou Abercrombie

 

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

4/5 stars

Fig Fitzherbert is a worrier. Her life is ruled by anxiety not helped by her controlling overbearing mother, known as Mubla. Mubla is constantly setting her goals and resolutions to complete and has a lot of rules.

Mubla's latest resolution is acting classes culminating in a stage role but the thought of speaking in public makes Fig throw up. She decides to set her own resolution! To swim the world! 20 open-water swims across 6 continents. There's just one snag - she can't swim yet!

I really enjoyed this and I really admired Fig's gumption and refusal to give up on her goal. I do think especially at the beginning Fig was a little blind to her privilege but she did realise and I appreciated how she got along mostly on her own.

I do wish there had been more of a confrontation with Mubla and the ending was very abrupt.

Steff Out x 

The Warehouse by Rob Hart

Ebook previously provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

2/5 stars

Set in a non-specified but possibly not too distant future where Cloud *cough*Amazon*cough* is everything. They have squashed small businesses and are pretty much the only option. MotherCloud is where people live and work in various departments from picking to security to medical care.

We follow Gibson, the founder of Cloud, terminally ill and set to announce his replacement, Paxton a former prison guard whose small business was killed by Cloud and Zinnia who has her own agenda.

So I knew early on that this book wasn't going to be gripping enough to be a four star rating because the nature of their jobs - Paxton as security and Zinnia as a picker - was very monotonous and the narrative deliberately played on that monotony but I was feeling a 3 star for a good long while until the last quarter or so. Not a lot happened and then everything happened very quickly without warning, there were elements that could have been taken further, the "big reveal" was underwhelming, we never learn Zinnia's motivation and the ending was very abrupt.

Steff Out x

Everything is Beautiful by Eleanor Ray

 

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

5/5 stars

This was a sad yet hopeful book and beautifully written.

In no uncertain terms Amy is a hoarder. Specific items - green wine bottles, mugs, clocks, ashtrays, cookbooks, ceramic birds, plant pots/vases and newspapers. All items relating to specific moments in her relationship with the man she planned to marry, until the day he and her best friend disappeared without a trace, presumably together.

The book follows a dual timeline of now and then with each then section headed with the item it relates to. In the present day Amy is dealing with an interfering neighbour who is obsessed with her hoard being dangerous. Then a new family move in next door which changes everything.

This was really sensitively written, especially around the hoard and how much Amy clearly cares for her belongings. The word hoard is only used once so as not to stigmatise things further. The mystery of Tim and Chantel's disappearance added an intriguing extra layer.

Steff Out x