Tag: review

‘The Women of Troy’ by Pat Barker

~ Lucy ~ Leave a comment

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

‘The Women of Troy’ is a direct sequel to Barker’s 2018 ‘The Silence of the Girls’. Euripides’ ‘Trojan Women’ is probably my favourite Greek tragedy, so I was slightly miffed that Briseis is again the main character and narrator of this story seeing as she isn’t in the ‘original’. I guess I don’t find Briseis the most compelling character that the book could have focused on, but I imagine Barker wanted to continue where she started so here we are.

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“The Ice House” by Tim Clare

~ Lucy ~ 2 Comments

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

I’ve been in a real reading slump recently unfortunately and am horribly behind on my reading schedule. I’ve been working till 10-11pm every night the past few weeks and there’s not a lot of brain space left for reading. The joys of teaching…

Anyhoo, onto my (short, sorry) review.

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“The Dollmaker” by Nina Allan

~ Lucy ~ Leave a comment

 

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

What a wonderfully strange and unusual novel.

Ostensibly this novel is about a dollmaker called Andrew and his pen pal Bamber. Andrew is on a cross country journey to meet with her after many years of correspondence. Sounds simple enough right? Wrong. So very wrong.

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“Shadow of the Fox” by Julie Kagawa

~ Lucy ~ 1 Comment

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Thanks to HQ Young Adult and Netgalley for providing me with a Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. 

This is the second Japanese inspired YA I’ve read recently after Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean. I’ve held a lifelong personal interest in Japanese mythology and legends and for anyone who shares this interest, you’ll know one of the coolest aspects of Japanese mythology are Yokai. Yokai are supernatural monsters, ghosts and demons and there is a whole fascinating world of these to explore. My personal favourite is the Kasa-obake, a one-eyed umbrella that hops around on one leg. Yup.

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“The Island of Sea Women” by Lisa See

~ Lucy ~ Leave a comment

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Thanks to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read a number of Lisa See’s books in the past so was excited to see that she has written a new novel. This story follows Young-Sook and Mi-Ja, two Haenyeo, Korean women who harvest the sea floor by free diving. I was familiar with real life Haenyeo stories beforehand and it was great to see a novel written about these fascinating women. The book is written from Young-Sook’s perspective and follows her life as a young girl in the 1940s through to 2008. The book flashes back and forward through time to allow the mysteries of the past to unfold. 

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“Enchantée” by Gita Trelease

~ Lucy ~ Leave a comment

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

So first of all, a confession. I am obsessed with the French Revolution. I collect books about this period of history including some really rare out of print French books. I even have a book written by Marie Antoinette’s hairdresser printed in the 1800s. I say this not to boast, but to highlight how much of a big deal this period is to me.

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“Fierce Fragile Hearts” by Sara Barnard

~ Lucy ~ 1 Comment

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Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with an Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read some very disappointing contemporary YA novels lately, but I knew from the start that this book was going to be different. I haven’t read the author’s previous novel which concerns some of the same characters, but I don’t feel like I had to in order to appreciate this one. Continue reading ““Fierce Fragile Hearts” by Sara Barnard” →

“Notes to Self” by Emilie Pine

~ Lucy ~ Leave a comment

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

I actually finished this book a few weeks ago but felt I needed some time to ruminate about it before writing my review. This book deals with some really tough subjects and issues that have also affected me. It’s raw, unflinchingly honest and personal and I think many other women will feel the same affinity with the author whilst reading it. Continue reading ““Notes to Self” by Emilie Pine” →

“The Twisted Tree” by Rachel Burge

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

This short novel has an interesting premise, Martha, a seventeen year old girl can sense emotions and memories just by touching people’s clothing. Different clothing evokes different feelings and Martha developed this unusual ability after losing her eye falling from the eponymous Twisted Tree at her grandmother’s house. Already we can see some allusions to one-eyed Odin and Norse mythology is strongly interwoven throughout this story. Continue reading ““The Twisted Tree” by Rachel Burge” →