Tag: book review

June book reviews

With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for advance review copies of these novels in exchange for an honest review.

We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter *****

Published 19 June 2025.

Well, this was one of those crime thrillers I could not put down. I sat for hours to finish it, while other things went on around me, because it was so compelling.

In small town America on the night of the fourth of July, policewoman Emmy is so wrapped up in her own domestic issues that she brushes off an approach by her best friend’s moody teenage daughter, Madison. This split second decision comes to haunt her when Madison is abducted. Thus begins a race against time to find the missing teenager and her friend.

Throw into the mix Emmy’s beloved father as the sheriff, some shady men hiding in plain sight and a visit to the town by a woman who had long since abandoned the community, only to become a top profiler for the FBI, then you have a recipe for success.

I won’t go into the plot for fear of spoilers but, believe me, if you like a fast-paced crime thriller, with plenty of layers, then this is it.

A brilliant read but not for the faint hearted.

Death and Other Occupational Hazards by Veronika Dapunt ***

Published 10 April 2025.

When Death decides to take a break, she becomes a human on earth, and becomes involved in trying to solve the mystery around a number of Unplanned Deaths and, ultimately, locked in a battle to save her sister, Life.

A very clever premise and concept and written with warmth and humour. An unusual novel – adventure, fantasy, comedy and a splash of romance – in the vein of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens. It is most enjoyable and would make an incredible serial. It reminded me of Time Bandits, the film by Terry Gilliam, and I kept visualising the Boss as Ralph Richardson playing the Supreme Being.

It was well written, and pacy, but I became rather confused and/or ‘so what?’ around halfway in. Still, a poignant finish and the novel raised some fundamental, existential questions.

The Rest of our Lives by Ben Markovits ***

Published 27 March 2025.

This was beautifully written, a road trip of sorts by a middle-aged man at a crossroads in his life after his daughter goes to university. Does he go back home, to the wife who betrayed him years ago and with whom he’s stayed married, or does he just keep driving? It’s no spoiler alert to say he keeps on driving – but does he make the best of things with his wife?

The writing style was like someone speaking to a friend, telling them a story, and was very readable and relateable.

Things happen on the trip, as he meets family and friends along the way.
The ending was inconclusive for me, and I felt a bit frustrated and cheated by it, so am giving it three stars.

May book reviews

I’m a reviewer for NetGalley, which means I get to read books before they are published, in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve had some great ones (and not so great ones) lately. My happy genres are crime thrillers, literary fiction, coming-of-age novels (particularly those set in small communities) and heartwarming fiction.

My reviews are posted to Goodreads.

Here’s three stonkingly good books I read earlier.

By Your Side by Ruth Jones *****

Published 22 May 2025.

Linda Standish has worked for her local council in Inverness for years and is in the little-known lost heirs department. Her job is to find out what she can about the deceased and track down their relatives, tying up loose ends and bringing things together in a tidy fashion.

Linda is now in her mid-fifties and the department is facing a shake-up. In her last ‘case’ before taking redundancy, Linda finds herself on a tiny island, investigating the life of Levi Norman, a hermit of a man no-one knows very much about.

This was my first Ruth Jones novel – I love her screenwriting and also her television roles (especially Nessa in Gavin & Stacey), so was pleased to be sent this book from NetGalley and the publishers.

I was not disappointed.

By Your Side is a lovely, easy read, with lots of humour, heart and warmth, and holds its head higher above its women’s commercial fiction competitors by really getting to the kernel of characters and taking the reader with them, laughing with them, crying with them, and wanting to find out what happens.

The dual narrative between Linda in the present and Levi and his family in the past works very well, with the reader quite comfortable in both time zones. It’s pacy, funny and would make a great Sunday everning television series, with Ruth (obviously) taking the role of Linda.

Highly recommended.

A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan *****

Expected publication 24 June 2025.

In New Zealand in 1985, 10-year-old Alix and her 15=year-old sister, Vanessa, go on a sun-baked holiday with their mother and father, staying in a bungalow not far from the beach and a brackish lagoon.

When Alix meets a boy, Kahu, about her own age, they set out to solve the mystery of a young girl who disappeared two years earlier. At the same time. Vanessa meets a dubious friend, Crystal, who she knows from school.

Set over a few weeks of Antipodean summer, this debut novel is a coming-of-age story meets suspenseful thriller, the first part more the former and the second part more the latter.

This beautiful family on the surface is one that is full of secrets and domestic dissatisfaction, as the reader soon establishes through Alix’s narration. Jennifer Trevelyan captures beautifully the child’s confusion and sense of bewilderment at not just what is happening but at life in general. There are so many things that Alix does not understand or appreciate their significance.

A Beautiful Family is an extraordinary novel, written in the first person, past tense from Alix’s viewpoint, and with a linear narrative. This makes a refreshing change from so many modern novels featuring multiple narrators, flashbacks and the present tense.

Alix is an unlikely heroine but smart, funny and endearing. I found the novel completely absoring and could not put it down.

The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North *****

Published 13 May 2025.

Daniel Garvie was just a child when he saw a little boy at a service station with a terrifying stranger who turns out to be a serial killer known as The Pied Piper. The encounter has always haunted Dan, who is now a criminal psychiatrist working with imprisoned murderers.

When he receives the news that his father has apparently committed suicide, he goes back to the island where he was brought up. He finds himself caught in a race against time in pursuit of the truth.

The Man Made of Smoke is an incredible, horrible thriller. I had me on the edge of my seat with filmic moments that made me shudder.

Weaving the story through multiple viewpoints, Alex North pulls off a masterpiece in the crime/horror/thriller genre.

Pacy, insightful, frightening, atmospheric, very well written and a great denouement I did not anticipate.

I have no hesitation in giving five stars to The Man Made of Smoke. A terrific read if you like this sort of thing – which I do.

Book reviews #2

Apologies, I haven’t blogged for ages as publicising Bridport Literary Festival and involvement in ongoing projects with Windrose Rural Media Trust have been keeping me busy.

BridLit is over now – a great success, hurrah! – while my work with Windrose, a registered charity, is opening up into new pastures.

I realise I haven’t posted any book reviews since August, which is remiss of me because it’s not as if I haven’t found the time to read.

So here are some novels I’d like to recommend.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

*****

First published 31 March, 2022.

I came late to the Lessons in Chemistry party but I loved everything about this novel.

An inspiring, hopeful narrative with meaning and feminist optimism, laugh out loud moments and the most wonderful characters to root for in 1960s America.
I borrowed the book from a friend and had only a short time in which to read it. But it didn’t matter, I was hooked from start to finish.

A brilliantly clever debut, easy to read and very memorable.

Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin

*****

Expected publication 11 February, 2025.

What an extraordinary novel! I found it to be beautifully written, very witty and unusual in its second person telling (such a difficult perspective to pull off, but Alice Franklin does it superbly) of the story of a young child growing up in a suburban household in south east England. It seemed very American to me at times, in its use of language and experimentation, which gave gravitas to this coming-of-age story about a little girl who feels different. It was incredibly moving and warm, I was hooked.

As I fell into the story, I wondered where on earth it was going to go, so when I reached the part of ‘Little Alien’s’obsession for and pursuit of the truth behind the Voynich manuscript, a 15th century codex of uknown origin (which I’d never heard of), it took me into an entirely unexpected realm altogether.

Tender, insightful and funny – and hugely original.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this novel. It’s one I won’t forget in a hurry.

The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr

****

Expected publication 6 February, 2025.

When a baby is found by the sea in Donegal, on the north west coast of Ireland, the child is taken in by a young fisherman and his wife. They adopt the boy, call him Brendan and bring him up alongside their small son, Declan. The story follows Brendan and Declan’s stories and that of their parents, set against the brooding backdrop of a landscape almost cut off from the rest of the world. As the children grow up, what emerges is one of those quiet and satisfying tales of family life – with joy and heartbreak, conflicts and misunderstandings – told from the various viewpoints of the characters through an eavesdropping voice of a villager acting as a narrator.

An astonishing debut, haunting and gentle, with well-drawn characters and atmosphere to make the reader feel part of the community in which Brenda and Declan are growing up,

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for an advance reader copy of this novel.

That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz by Malachy Tallack

***

Published 24 October 24.

The novel starts off in 1957 with Sonny, a young man from Shetland, working on a whaling ship in the South Atlantic. We move on to the present day to his son, Jack, now in his early 60s, and flit back and forwards to Jack’s life now and his formative years with his father, Sonny, and mother, Kathleen, in the house on Shetland where he was brought up and still lives. Jack is obsessed with country music and the chapters are interspersed with his handwritten songs.

This is a quiet, thoughtful, beautifully written literary novel, where not much happens but with a haunting, evocative depth to it that is hard to explain or define but leaves the reader wistful and contemplative.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel.

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

*****

First published 10 September 10.

Only Elizabeth Strout can write a slow-paced novel about the quiet minutiae of everyday life in a small town where nothing much happens (except everything does,) to such great effect. I had this book on my ‘to be read’ pile for a while, savouring just seeing it there and knowing the pleasure I would get from devouring it a month or so down the line. Her books don’t ever have much of a plot, but the depth of emotions and feelings she is able to convey by just a character’s look or nod of the head is astounding.

In Tell Me Everything, the familiar characters of Lucy Barton and an elderly Olive Kitteridge feature strongly in the cast, which is led by nice Bob Burgess, who comes to realise that he is in love with his dear friend, Lucy. This is a novel about family, relationships, friendships, misunderstandings, brutality and the things that might have been.

For me, nothing Strout writes will ever top the wonderful Olive Kitteridge, whiich is one of my favourite books. But Tell Me Everything comes very close. There is something about her measured, sometimes old fashioned style of writing which I absolutely adore.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book.

What we’re reading and watching

Books

With all the rain we’ve had, the door on the village telephone box library is jammed shut.

Luckily, I have a number of great books on my Kindle still to read, thanks to NetGalley, which provides advance reader copies of digital books in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve just finished reading The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. It’s not out yet – I had a review copy – but it’s such a compelling novel.

I’m generally a low scorer (something has to be pretty amazing for me to award it five out of five) but I gave the book four stars on Goodreads.

Here’s my review :

This is an astonishing debut. Time travel, romance, comedy and thriller, all beautifully constructed and written with literary flair.
In the near future, the unnamed protagonist works as a civil servant for The Ministry of Time in London as a ‘bridge’ between her world and her charge, a naval officer from the 19th century who history says disappeared in the frozen north, with the rest of the ill-fated crew. The plot follows the twists and turns of their relationship with each other, with authority, their pasts, presents and future and the wider world.
This was a compelling, easy read with much humour and pathos. Can see it making a great film or television series.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this novel.

Lo and behold, the novel is being made into a television serial.

Imagine what it must feel like to have your work adapted for the small and big screens. It’s happening to someone I know who worked at the Dorset Echo the same time as I did, albeit in different offices. It must be incredible, if a little scary, to see someone else nurturing your ‘baby’ for a different medium and audience.

Joanna Quinn’s The Whalebone Theatre, a family epic, coming-of-age novel and wartime thriller set in Dorset and France, is to get the television treatment. I loved the novel and gave it five stars.

I’m about to start reading Andrew McMillan’s Pity and The Women by Kristin Hannah.

Television

We’re still plodding through Blue Bloods (CBS), the multi-season police drama with Tom Selleck heading a family of New York cops embroiled in crime and political intrigue. It’s an easy series to watch, with self-contained episodes and likeable, hardworking characters, and nothing too taxing for an addled brain to take in late in the evening.

We’ve just started True Detective (Amazon Prime), a crime and mystery drama which is providing to be uncomfortable and brutal viewing. The jury is still out on this one. Maybe I need to get past season one. I’m done with stories that feature hideous crimes with women as victims.

There are times when our preferred viewing is just not compatible. Mr Grigg is currently watching Masters of the Air (Apple TV), an American war drama mini-series, and I’m watching Daisy Jones and the Six (Amazon Prime), which charts the rise and fall of a fictional 1970s rock band not dissimilar to Fleetwood Mac.

I wasn’t keen on the book but I’m enjoying the show, particularly the gorgeous Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. She’s mesmerising.

Films lined up to watch include Saltburn (Amazon Prime), which I’m plucking up the courage to see after hearing someone talk about it in the pub, and One Love, the biopic of Bob Marley, in cinemas now, which looks amazing.