Tag: own voices

“Chinglish” by Sue Cheung

~ Lucy ~ Leave a comment

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Thanks to Penguin Random House UK Children’s for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

When I requested this book, I thought it was for older teens but I think it’s probably aimed more at the younger teen/tween audience – think Jacqueline Wilson age group. The story follows Jo, a young British Chinese girl growing up in the 1980s. As an 80s kid myself, a lot of Jo’s experiences really clicked with me and there are some real laugh out loud moments, particularly in the first part of the book. The text is interspersed with Cheung’s illustrations which are quirky and fun and really enhance the narrative.

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“Girl, Serpent, Thorn” by Melissa Bashardoust

~ Lucy ~ Leave a comment

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Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

. So Girl, Serpent, Thorn sounded rather interesting despite the fact I’ve gone off YA a bit recently or maybe I’ve become a bit more picky about what I want to read when I don’t have nearly as much time to read as I used to. What piqued my interest in this book was it was clear that it was set in a slightly different world to most of the young adult fantasy settings that are usually a riff on Western European countries. I haven’t come across many Persian inspired settings before, so I was looking forward to seeing a Persian inspired story by an own voices author.

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“The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead

~ Lucy ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to Little Brown and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m usually pretty chill when it comes to reading negative reviews of books I really liked, different strokes for different folks and all that, but this is one of those books that I got annoyed reading any negative reviews for. Sometimes a book comes along that is just so important and expertly written that people who didn’t like it probably need their head examined.

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“Gods of Jade and Shadow” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

~ Lucy ~ 1 Comment

Thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I reaaaaaally loved this one. Mayan Mythology, the Jazz Age and a plucky heroine? Yes please. I’m slightly miffed I’ve never come across this author before though. I assumed this was a debut but I went to look at her Goodreads author page and she’s written loads! Publishers, can we have more money pumped into promoting authors like this please?

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“The Far Field” by Madhuri Vijay

~ Lucy ~ 1 Comment

Thanks to Grove Press and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Shalini, a young woman from Bangalore, goes on a journey to a remote mountain village in Kashmir to try and track down a mysterious man from her family’s past. Whilst living there, Shalini experiences the past and current impacts of Kashmiri politics and conflict and uncovers the connection these have with her past, and her complex relationship with her deceased mother.

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“Manchester Happened” by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

~ Lucy ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to Oneworld and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not usually a huge reader of short stories but this sounded interesting. A collection of Own Voices short stories from the perspective of Ugandan migrants? Yup, sounds great. The glowing praise the author has received piqued my interest too.

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