A retelling of the Demeter and Persephone myth, brought up to date with opioids for pomegranate seeds.
Eighteen year old Cory is wondering what to do A retelling of the Demeter and Persephone myth, brought up to date with opioids for pomegranate seeds.
Eighteen year old Cory is wondering what to do with her life when the middle-aged CEO of a pharmaceutical company makes her an offer. which comes with a non disclosure agreement. With Cory seemingly vanished from the face of the Earth, her mother, Emer, sets out to find her.
The novel is told from the perspectives of the daughter and her mother. While Cory's narrative is vibrant and highly believable, that of her mother, in particular her role as the head of an agricultural organisation, doesn't ring true.
Captivating from the first page and holds the attention for the first two-thirds of the book. Sadly, the last third falters, and the menace slackens. before arriving at a satisfying resolution.
My thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK for the ARC....more
Lucy has a strained relationship with teenage daughter Eden. But when Eden is saved from drowning, Lucy hopes to reconnect with her. As Eden recovers,Lucy has a strained relationship with teenage daughter Eden. But when Eden is saved from drowning, Lucy hopes to reconnect with her. As Eden recovers, she says she is Eli, her twin who was never born.
On the theme of identity, this novel delves into vanishing twin syndrome.
Many readers will re-live the pain of parenting a teen. Many more will smile with recognition at the ‘only half there’ conversations Lucy has with friend Bex ever distracted by her own young children.
Compelling, assured writing and a well plotted, pacey debut.
My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC....more
This book can’t decide what it wants to be. The blurb promotes it for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, which does it no favours. It comes acrThis book can’t decide what it wants to be. The blurb promotes it for fans of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, which does it no favours. It comes across more as a Malory Towers for adults.
It is slow paced and over long. The character motivation is muddled and an overreliance on foreshadowing doesn’t pay off.
In Cali, Colombia, young Claudia watches her family fall apart.
Quintana has an accessible writing style, but the narrator's voice is too knowing for aIn Cali, Colombia, young Claudia watches her family fall apart.
Quintana has an accessible writing style, but the narrator's voice is too knowing for a child. Also, contrary to the book cover blurb, Abyss doesn't give a strong sense of place.
Annie Ernaux’s journal of her 18-month affair with a younger, married Russian diplomat.
Powerful writing, loaded with raw emotion. The memoir evokes thAnnie Ernaux’s journal of her 18-month affair with a younger, married Russian diplomat.
Powerful writing, loaded with raw emotion. The memoir evokes the dizzying highs and lows of passion, an all-encompassing madness bringing the author’s writing career to a halt, and in which other women and even the lover’s compatriots are objects of extreme jealousy. A passion interspersed increasingly with the agonies of waiting for the lover to come to her.
Despite the ‘madness’ the author remains painfully self-aware, able to analyse her willingness to do anything, anytime for her lover, and to continue in a relationship when its end is too apparent....more
In a world long-since ravaged by environmental catastrophe, a young doctor arrives at a remote northern chateau to investigateInnovative Gothic horror
In a world long-since ravaged by environmental catastrophe, a young doctor arrives at a remote northern chateau to investigate the death of a colleague.
Leech is an extraordinary hybrid of Frankenstein, The Thing and Aliya Whiteley. Ennes is a skilled worldbuilder and manages the ambitious plot with aplomb.
My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC. ...more
With the assistance of ghost writer Ida Partenza, Wall Street financier Andrew Revel sets out to re-write his life story in rebuttal of a bestselling With the assistance of ghost writer Ida Partenza, Wall Street financier Andrew Revel sets out to re-write his life story in rebuttal of a bestselling novel modelled on him. Set in the lead up to – and fall out from – the Great Depression.
Trust explores unreliable narration and the mythologisation of formative moments in history.
The novel is composed of four parts, told in distinct writing styles. Part I, Bonds, is the bestseller long since fallen from popularity, that so irks Revel. Part II forms Revel’s autobiographical notes. Parts III and IV focus on Ida.
Highly ambitious, skilfully executed, but shoots itself in the foot. In the first half, Diaz is a little too successful in styling the writing as unfashionable/poorly written. The characters are flat and lack emotional depth. Ida’s story brings a welcome change of energy, and truly engages the reader, but doesn’t come soon enough to rescue the whole.
My thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC....more
Book blurbs, how to write them, and how we read them.
The title - and the book's blurb - doesn't quite fit. Yes, this book concerns itself with the shoBook blurbs, how to write them, and how we read them.
The title - and the book's blurb - doesn't quite fit. Yes, this book concerns itself with the short summary - the blurb - on the back of a book jacket used to sell the book. But it is so much more than that.
Copywriter of hundreds of books, Wilder explores the less is more principle in writing, plus the history of publishing, gender politics in language, implications of typeface and design in different markets, how we read, cliche, punctuation, and so much more.
Many books concerns themselves with how to write and literary theory. Blurb your Enthusiasm combines the two elements into something new, illustrating the whole with fresh and apposite examples....more
After several failed rounds of IVF, Scottie ups sticks to a remote Scottish island where she discovers her past.
A triple narrative weaves together preAfter several failed rounds of IVF, Scottie ups sticks to a remote Scottish island where she discovers her past.
A triple narrative weaves together present-day Scottie, her young self as adopted Charlotte, and the folkloric Thordis.
This is an important novel about infertility, by an author childless not by choice. Told for two out of the three narratives in the first person, it only partly succeeds in developing the main character. Perhaps a case of being too close to the subject? Secondary characters get little more than a sketch. This said, husband, Jasminder, is a saint.
Most books with an infertile woman character paint an unhinged child-snatching, witch. Kirby addresses this issue head-on in the third narrative of Thordis. Initially surfacing only in Scottie’s dreams, the narrative takes on more substance the closer Scottie comes to discovering her origins.
In avoiding the cliché of drawing the unwillingly childless woman as the lunatic villain of the piece., Kirby's approach is refreshing. It is to be hoped The Hollow Sea will lay the witch to rest....more
Anna Wintour's iconic climb to the top of fashion media.
Odell weaves a good narrative, but has she gathered together the most balanced interviews to uAnna Wintour's iconic climb to the top of fashion media.
Odell weaves a good narrative, but has she gathered together the most balanced interviews to uncover her subject? A dramatic introduction leaves the reader wanting more. Then various vox pops only scratch the lens of Wintour's trademark sunglasses.
Some interesting cultural history of the sixties, seventies and eighties. Much irritating drawing attention to Wintour's English accent (the author is American).
The audio version is an easy listen.
My thanks to W F Howes and NetGalley for the audio-ARC....more
If you want to learn more than mere cultivation of the plants you grow, this book will clue you in on how they are constructed, and how they develop, If you want to learn more than mere cultivation of the plants you grow, this book will clue you in on how they are constructed, and how they develop, survive and reproduce, Ultimately, Botany for Gardeners gives you a better appreciation for plants.
This fourth edition brings Botany for Gardeners bang up to date.
Concise and accessible, with clear illustrations and full colour photographs, and a glossary of terms.
Suitable for the layperson, as well as students in further and higher education....more
A look at the world through other species' eyes/nose/ears/tongue/skin...
An Immense World concerns itself with umwelt, the way other creatures experienA look at the world through other species' eyes/nose/ears/tongue/skin...
An Immense World concerns itself with umwelt, the way other creatures experience their environment. Each chapter takes a different sense, then expands it to illustrate the myriad ways in which organisms have adapted to survive in their habitat.
Science journalist Ed Yong's research is all-encompassing. and demonstrates his enthusiasm for the subject. He takes pains to include the history of our understanding of the senses, with the inference being there is still much to learn.
Just amazing. A book to come back to time and again.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC....more
It is 1747 and Coroner Titus Cragg is called to the gruesome murder scene of a family who belonged to a religious cult. Soon, another body is uncovereIt is 1747 and Coroner Titus Cragg is called to the gruesome murder scene of a family who belonged to a religious cult. Soon, another body is uncovered.
Blake weaves an intricate plot, with plenty of red herrings. His research is thorough. Real characters from history mix with the fictional. However, the novel would not suffer from the loss of some of its cast.
Dialogue imparts information, without illustrating the characters. Several scenes are used to set the reader in time, but fail to move the plot forward.
My thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for the ARC....more
Wasps get a bad rap. Often considered a nuisance, the sight of a wasp nearby frequently sends people into a panic. Entomologist Seirian Sumner is an eWasps get a bad rap. Often considered a nuisance, the sight of a wasp nearby frequently sends people into a panic. Entomologist Seirian Sumner is an expert in social wasps. In Endless Forms, she makes it her mission to turn the public's aversion for wasps into awe.
The author's enthusiasm is infectious, her writing accessible, and the wealth of fascinating information on the evolution, variety and benefits of wasps is sure to make a convert out of many a reader.
With thanks to NetGalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for the ARC....more
Teenager Mungo, with an alcoholic mother and gangland brother, must find his own way in post-Thatcher Glasgow.
On themes of Touching, vivid and brutal.
Teenager Mungo, with an alcoholic mother and gangland brother, must find his own way in post-Thatcher Glasgow.
On themes of toxic masculinity, social inequality, homophobia, alcoholism and sectarianism.
Stuart’s second published novel was written before his Man Booker-winning debut, Shuggie Bain, was released. Young Mungo is not a sequel, yet the central characters in both are of a type, the timeline follows directly on from one to the other, and they are set in impoverished districts of Glasgow. Inevitably, the similarities lead to comparisons. Both have saint-named characters, Agnes and Mungo, whose lives mimic those of their namesake in some way. Stuart’s skill as a writer is exemplified by his use of imagery, particularly where it relates to the saints – a nominative determinism of sorts, to underpin key moments in the narrative. Both novels capture the sensory and emotional worlds, as well as dialogue, with razor-sharp precision. However, where I couldn’t put down Shuggie Bain, I found I had to do so with Young Mungo on several occasions, just because it is so grim (and Shuggie Bain is hardly a bowl of cherries).
Ultimately, the similarities marred my enjoyment of this novel. Let’s hope the third novel breaks from Glasgow tenements and alcoholic mothers.
I listened to the audio edition, superbly narrated by Chris Reilly.
With thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for the audio ARC....more
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