Review of "All the Light we Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

People always seem to remember where they were when they found out an important event had happened: were you on the toilet when you found out about the birth of a royal Prince? Or at a fancy dinner when 9/11 happened? I'll always remember what I was reading when this year's terror attacks on Paris occurred: this book. As Paris was reeling from the aftermath of a bombing in 2015, I was reading about the terror of Parisians during World War Two, when the threat of a German bombing could very much become a reality. It was then that I realised how terribly little we've learnt in the last 70 years. Violence answers nothing and we often fail to think of the extent of the terror it induces, which is why I think it is so important that Doerr's female protagonist is blind. Anyone would be absolutely terrified if their world was under threat from war, and I mean this in the strongest sense of the word, but just imagine the dear you would be ensconced in if your world was being attacked and you were clueless to the visible effects of it.  

Marie Laure is a young girl when her eyesight deteriorates to the extent that she becomes entirely blind. Determined to allow his daughter to have some independence and quality of life,  her papa creates an accurate wooden model of the part of Paris they live in for her that they study together so that she can begin to navigate the streets. He is the keyholder and locksmith for the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, a place which is rumoured to hold a cursed diamond, one so unique that few have set eyes on it. When Paris begins to come under threat during the war, Papa realises that it is no longer safe for him and Marie Laure to remain there, and they must flee. But the curator of the museum has realised this too, and sends out three replicas of the priceless diamond, as well as a real one with his most trusted employees. No man knows whether he has the real one, but if he has, trouble may befall him ....

Meanwhile in Germany, orphaned Werner is beginning to see the effects of the changing times. A boy with a keen interest in mechanics, he becomes a whizz with radios, only to have the number of broadcasts available seriously lessened due to censorship. When his sister Jutta starts listening to prohibited frequencies he smashes the radio he created for them, causing an unshakeable rift in their sibling bond. Soon Werner's skill means he must go away to a school for gifted boys, but when he gets there he realises it perhaps is not so much of a godsend as he originally thought. Boys are pitted against one another, and to be the weakest one could mean death. Werner must balance his time between learning greater mechanical skill for radio repair and trying to survive the brutal physical challenges he is faced with. But what is the point of these tests? is it something a whole lot more sinister than he'd ever hoped?

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x

Review of "A Spool of Blue Thread" by Anne Tyler

Even the very title of this novel screams that it is quintessentially American. Set deep in the heart of the country, the key protagonist Abby is a mother first, a wife second, and a money maker last. This book is almost what I would call a reverse bildungsroman (if such a thing exists): we start off with a retired Abby who still struggles to understand her problem child Denny, and then we move back to how she met her husband Red, and even further back in time to how his parents met. Eventually the reader learns that out of happiness, happiness does not always emerge, and out of unhappiness it is possible to find joy. 

Denny has always been a problem child, yet in spite of that. or perhaps because of it, he's always been Abby's favourite. But what happens when a problem child grows up and becomes a problem adult? Does it get any easier for a mother? And what about the rest of her children? Abby is mother to Jeannie, Amanda, Denny and Stem, as well as grandmother to numerous children, and loves being the centre of their little community, as well as the fact that they all live nearby. 

Unfortunately, Abby is starting to age, and as the family gather closer together, we find otu everyone's real intentions with being part of the family, and their true colours are displayed. But when we delve deeper into Abby's memory we learn that perhaps even seemingly the closest of families can be worlds apart.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x

Review of "The Deathsniffer's Assistant" by Kate McIntyre

I haven't read a fantasy novel in YEARS, and this was definitely a good'un to return to the genre with. The trick with fantasy novels is to make them believable, and I think if the author doubts themself, or the story they are writing in it's potential veracity, then the story is lost to the world of poor quality fantasy novels (of which there are many). However, MycIntyre makes it possible for readers to utterly immerse themselves in the world of The Deathsniffer's Assistant with her excellent prose and manifold plot streams. If you've ever read any of Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy, I would say that this is probably a read for you. Mixing darkness with love, honour and a little bit of social scheming, The Deathsniffer's Assistant is definitely going on my list as a 2015 must-read.

Chris didn't choose to be his younger sister's guardian, but after the incident at the Floating Castle left them orphaned he had no choice. Now, a few years on the family inheritance is starting to run dry and Chris must find a job to support himself and Rosemary. However, when he was categorized, as all young men and women are, he was designated to become a simple wordweaver: something that is hardly highly regarded, or highly paid for that matter. The only job he can get is with a Deathsniffer. Although Truthsniffers in their own right are a decent sort of folk, one that specialises in death, and more so, proclaims that they are a Deathsniffer is bound to be a little ... repellant. But, faced with either working for the Deathsniffer or ending up in abject poverty, Chris must join forces with this individual and seek the murderer of a member of the old blood: Duke Val Darens. 

However, perhaps there are darker forces at work even than the person who so brutally killed the Duke and defaced his dead body. Rosemary's secret wizardly binding skills have been kept hidden for years by Chris, but with the creatures starting to break loose from their binds, causing damage and turmoil everywhere, perhaps it will be harder to keep her safe than he'd ever thought ...

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x

Review of "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

The last few books I've read have been a bit disappointing, so I was overjoyed when I started this. The quality of writing and content was absolutely astounding. Being a bit of a grammar nerd, usually I come across what I call "clumpy" sentences, or phrases that just sound wrong and make me cringe a little, but I found reading this utterly smooth and joyful. The message was also really important: it was all about a little girl learning how hard it was to grow up in a world so utterly biased, and how confusing it can be for a child to begin to learn the implications of race in a world where nothing is fair.

Lily needs to get away from her father T Ray. After the death of her mother (which Lily berates herself for causing), T Ray and one of the coloured fruit pickers from the farm, Rosaleen, who becomes Lily's replacement mother, are the only people Lily's got in the world. Or so she thinks. When Rosaleen goes to put her name down for a vote and is racially abused by some men she reacts aggressively, landing herself a place in the local prison. Due to the racial nature of her attack, she is beaten so badly she is sent to hospital, where Lily breaks her out of.

On the run, they go to the only other place in the world Lily can imagine: the town her mother inscribed on the back of a black Madonna - one of only three of her mother's items that Lily owns. There her and Rosaleen are kindly taken in by three coloured sisters: May, June and August. Although a little skeptical about housing a white girl at first, the sister's start to deal with the racial issues inside and outside of their home all under the guidance of their black Madonna statue. Will this idyll be a haven for Lily and Rosaleen, or will it end in tragedy?

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x

Review of "A Year in the Life of a Playground Mother"

I like to think that I can pick up any book and immerse myself in it's world, and this is the last one in a while that I've actually felt oddly excluded from. I'm not a mother, and don't understand the politics of the playground, so all of the jokes about the clique of playground mothers, donned the "playground mafia", etc didn't go over my head - believe me, I've met mothers who insist that their little darling is a perfect beam of sunshine - but rather simply weren't funny to me. Plus, I was bothered by the fact that this book's plot was exactly what it said on the tin, as it were: it simply went through a year in the life of a playground mother. Each chapter was a month, and each month described this mother's activities: which mothers she was friends with, who her children were friends with, and who was having an affair in the village. In short, half of the book was occupied with the narrator complaining about selfish mothers who formed cliques and sought gossip about one another, and the other half was occupied with the narrator doing exactly that.

Rachel Young moves away from the suburbs to the country in the hope of being released from the grip of a playground mafia. These are the women who inspect other children's reading levels to ensure that their own child is best of the best. BUT this village turns out to be filled with even more odd characters than her home town. From Camilla, who often forgets she has a daughter as well as a son and a multitude of coats in her wardrobe, roving-eye Rupert, Mr F.P (Frisky Pensioner), and more, Rachel's life is going to be anything but peaceful for the next year.

Have you read it? What did you think? 

Steph x

Review of "The Lie" by C. L. Taylor

2015 has been a year of thrillers for me. Not typically a genre I go for, my eyes have been opened to the intensity and mystery they ensconce. This book seemed to have been on a couple of book bloggers' creepy Halloween books to read lists, so I thought it was worth a go. However, i have to say I was largely disappointed. Have you ever read a book where it's felt like the author almost made an amazing book and it's super frustrating because they hadn't quite achieved it?! This was one of those for me: I think it needed about another 100 pages or so to explain some backstory. There were half-explanations of all of the main characters' back stories, but not enough to make them interesting or explain their actions. This is not to say that the book was without merit however, it was dark and downright scary at points. So, if you want something that will make you question every bump in the night or weird coincidence, give this a shot!

Jane, or Emma as she used to be known, just wants a normal life, and to leave her past behind her. Settled down in a new relationship (which bears its own challenges) and working in her dream job at an animal rescue centre, she thinks she's finally nailed it. That is until someone sends something to her addressed to her old name, and a mysterious message stating "Daisy is not dead" appears on the website of the animal rehabilitation centre she works at. 

Five years before, Emma and her three best friends Leanne, Al and Daisy take the trip of a lifetime to Nepal to escape the woes of their mundane post-university lives. However, once they enter a retreat up in the Nepalese mountains things go a bit haywire. Things start getting weird up there: the girls are forced to turn against one another, encouraged to have sex with the men at the retreat no strings attached, and people start to go missing ... What will Emma do when the girl she thought would have her back forever, Daisy starts to change, and leave Emma behind? Is Emma imagining the subtle threat at Ekantra Yata, or is there something a lot more sinister going on than the brochure suggested?

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x

Review of "Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli

Recently I've been getting more and more interested in YA fiction, especially as it's been so long since I've read any and have done a degree in English Lit during that period! Simon vs the Homosapiens agenda really opened my eyes to ways in which the genre has transformed. Although it's only been three or four years since I've read any, Albertalli's novel opened my eyes to ways in which difficult issues are now being tackled. I don't remember ever having read a YA novel in which the protagonist, whose point of view the novel is written from was openly gay (at least to the reader!). I was incredibly pleased to see the uncomfortable issue of how and when to come out dealt with head on, without the importance of this to a young person being overlooked. All in all I think it was an incredibly interesting text, especially with the parallel plot lines between the "real" world, and Simon's online relationship with Blue. 

Simon's your typical teenager: desperate to get away from his parents' smothering questions, keen to make new friends, and more importantly, ready to start a relationship. However, Simon's recently realised that it is boys he likes, which in his mind causes a whole host of problems. Especially when you bring Blue into the equation. Blue is Simon's (or Jacques, his online alias') emailing penpal, who goes to the same school, but is keen to keep his identity a secret. The pair fall for each other over email, but like most teenagers are far too shy to bring this relationship to light. Simon begins to see potential Blues everywhere he looks, but soon other aspects of his life catch up to him. The drama play, his friends' arguments and his sister's mysterious disappearances all have him on edge and distracted. In the end, will everything turn out right?

Have you read it? What did you think?

Steph x