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

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