Review of 'The Tattooist of Auschwitz' by Heather Morris

The Tattooist of Auschwitz almost became a full on trend of reading earlier this year (not quite at Eleanor Oliphant levels, but it seemed to be everywhere I looked). I'm so glad I read this slightly before the hype because I had no expectations from the book, and I do really think it's better to go in to reading like that.

The book is based on a true story, one that Lale Sokolov told as an elderly man to the author. I have been informed by the Auschwitz society that the tale depicted in the book about what Auschwitz was like is not very accurate, but I don't think this detracts from the fact that it is still a beautiful story.

A Slovakian Jew, our protagonist Lale Sokolov, was imprisoned in Auschwitz-Birkenau in the Second World War. The struggles he faces almost lead to his death, until it's noticed that he can speak several languages. Instead of being confined to the pile of bodies Lale witnesses every day, he becomes the Tattoowierer; the man who must tattoo the men, women and children entering the camps.

The book tells the story of Lale's love for Gita, a woman he meets when tattooing her arm. Using his privileged position to secure extra food, money and even jewels, Lale is determined to keep Gita safe in the monstrous environment they are imprisoned in. Every day could be their last.

This was one of my favourite books I read right at the end of 2018 (I know, I'm upsettingly behind on reviews). It's the first adult novel I've read about the Second World War that really delves into the emotive side of the atrocities people faced rather than looking at stats and figures. In a world that seems to be more and more filled with hate by the day, I don't think we can stress enough the importance of a book that helps you to empathise with minorities. 

I can't think of another book that I've read about concentration camps that discusses life after them. As I've mentioned that this is Lale's story, there's not really a need for a spoiler alert that he survived the war. A fair chunk of the novel is him trying to find Gita again, and learning how to live a life outside of the camps. This kind of trauma isn't something I've considered enough, and I think it's so important that Morris included it.

I've given this 5 stars, and I'd recommend it to everyone interested in historical novels as well as general adult fiction.

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Review of 'A History of Loneliness' by John Boyne

I grew up in a strictly Catholic household, descended from an Irish grandfather who himself would have uttered the words in the picture above. My Catholic roots are something that I question time and time again - do I still believe in any of it? Do I miss the community? Am I going to hell for turning my back on (most of) the teachings I grew up with? 

The one thing I rarely question is the idea of abuse in the church. Since the wave of stories coming out in the news about abusive priests living under the Pope's watch, any mention of this religious background now comes with a disturbing and insensitive 'did you get touched by a priest?'. The answer is no, but that's not the case for everyone, and it honestly wounds me so much that this is the case.

I promise this lil life story is relevant to the book. 

A History of Loneliness is told by Father Odran, a priest living in Ireland in the wake of the big reveal that the Church had been concealing abusers. Odran himself is not an abusive man; he takes care of the library at a Catholic boys' school, and offers advice if the boys come to him. He keeps himself to himself and that's the way he likes it. Until the Dean moves him to a parish his old seminary training pal used to be at.

Odran is forced to question his own upbringing, and the abuse and trauma he faced as a child. He's forced to question whether he really had a calling at all, or whether the celibacy of priesthood was a way to keep himself safe. Most importantly, he's forced to question the integrity of the institution he believed in, and those with any power working within it.

John Boyne is an author that I love more and more every time I read one of his books. This is the third one I've got stuck into (after The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and The House of Special Purpose). Each one has made me cry. 

This book forced me to face some very uncomfortable truths. Growing up in a Catholic environment, the idea of sexual abuse from the institution wasn't something I ever really came across, and it's not something I've looked into in great detail. It hurt more than I expected to start to understand the manipulation and the evil within a place that is supposed to be wholly good. But sometimes we need to be forced to squirm and to understand things we don't want to listen to because it's easier not to. This was such an important read, and I would highly recommend it.

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Review of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed child playscript' by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

I spent the longest time deliberating over whether I actually wanted to read this if I'm honest. There was the moral dilemma of reading something that undoubtedly gives money to J K Rowling (it's not written by her, no matter how large the publishers write her name on the cover to dupe people into thinking it is), as well as all the warnings I'd had about the fact that it ruins your childhood memories of the books. 

Thankfully I find a charity shop copy (ticking off point one), and I re-read the books about a year ago and realised how actually not-so-great Ron and Dumbledore are (ticking off point two).

'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' takes place where the epilogue for HP and the Deathly Hallows leaves off, i.e. with Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, their pals and Draco all saying goodbye to their children as they board the Hogwarts Express. 

Albus, Harry's son, is sorted into Slytherin when he arrives, becoming the first Potter to do so, and soon becomes unlikely friends with Scorpius (Malfoy's son). Harry's scar starts to hurt and, fearing that Voldemort is back, insists that the boys are kept apart. Albus and his relationship is on the rocks, and when Albus hears Amos Diggory (Cedrig's dad) asking Harry to use the Ministry's Time Turner to save his child, Albus decides fixing this is the way into everyone's good books.

Albus and Scorpius decide to go back to the Triwizard tournament challenges to ensure that Cedric does not touch the portkey trophy, but everything goes horrifyingly wrong. Scorpius in launched back into a world where Voldemort never died, meaning that Albus wasn't born. The pair end up back further in time under threat by 'Delphi Diggory' who turns out to be someone they never thought existed. It's down to them to make sure that the events at Godric Hollow follow the same route as they did way back when Harry was a baby.

I genuinely really enjoyed this, despite all of the warnings I was given. It was a chance to explore the magical world of Harry Potter further, and I'd love to have the opportunity to see the stage show one day. Having said that, I didn't like all of the characters' trajectories from when they left Hogwarts (although there's always going to be some of us that don't like whatever gets put out). I would have LOVED to see a relationship between Albus and Scorpius, and I can see why so many people have shipped them as being a sort of couple in the book. I'm waiting for the day when J K Rowling comes out and says that they are definitely 100% gay because at least it'll be more believable than Dumbledore *sips tea*.

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Review of 'Mrs Dalloway' by Virginia Woolf

I've been meaning to read some Virginia Woolf for the longest time, and whilst a number of her books line my shelves I've always been way too intimidated (and kinda scared of disappointment) to pick one up until now. 

Much like Ian McEwan's Saturday, (though a LOT better in my opinion), Mrs Dalloway takes place over the course of a singular day. Clarissa Dalloway, our main character, is planning a house party and wanders around preparing things for it, reminiscing over her youth. She considers her choice to wed the 'safe option' rather than pursue a relationship with the slightly wild (and more sexy) Peter Walsh. The novel culminates in the party, at which a friend's suicide is announced, and Clarissa wonders if he made a better decision than the one she took to stay alive.

Laying out the plot like that, it all seems a little dull, but for a novel of its time (published in 1925, the same year as The Great Gatsby), it really is something. One of the most shocking bits for me was the hint at Clarissa's bisexuality. As well as mentioning that Peter Walsh was an option to her, she looks back fondly on a kiss with Sally Seton, who she declared as being obviously not an option. The kiss was the happiest moment in her life. I've tried to rack my brains and I can't think of another book that I've come across older than this where a more-than-friends relationship between women is mentioned without it being used in a 'God will smite you' manner. 

The other issue discussed is shell shock and the PTSD surrounding that. Not only is this explored in some depth, but it's done in a caring way. It actually shed a whole lot of light for me on the impact of 'shell shock' and what those words actually mean. The book discusses how hard it is to integrate with society post-war.

I really can see why a lot of people love Woolf and I feel like reading this might just be the start of a full on love affair with her work. If you've got a favourite novel of hers please pass on recommendations!

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Review of 'Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl' by Tracy Quan

Today is a day for endless cups of tea because wow the need for caffeine is real. But, I'm here and still catching up on 2018 reads, edging closer and closer to finally being able to review things straight after I finish them (the idea at this point seems absolutely unattainable, but it'll happen). 

The life of a call girl in literature is, in my opinion, explored in a way that's both not very thorough and also, probably not very accurate. Call girls tend to be used as a foil to highlight certain aspects of someone else's character (e.g. making us realise a guy is a cheat on his wife), or they turn up as a murder victim. But there aren't many occasions where the main character in a book is a call girl, or at least, I haven't come across it very often.

Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl is written by Tracy Quan, an ex-call girl turned novelist, who uses her experiences to really tackle stereotypes around sex work. The main character of the book, Nancy Chan, is a prostitute who largely has sex with older gentlemen. She's reached a stage in her career where things are a little easier money-wise, but as she's getting older she's starting to face the idea of a future away from sex work. There's one other driving force for this: her fiancee Matt who has no idea what her real job is.

I found it pretty hard to engage with this book, and from the reviews I've read of it, it seems as though a lot of other people feel the same. The language is quite cold and distant, where it would work so well as a book filled with emotion. The stories she tells offer an interesting insight into life as a call girl, but don't delve into her feelings about it. 

A good portion of the book is based around her lying to her fiancee about what she does, and it's not told in a way that's justified: the protagonist knows that what she's doing is wrong, but she's stringing this poor guy along leading a double life. The ending is also very abrupt: we never find out what happens with her deciding whether or not to tell him, and it all just tails off randomly.

I'm giving this three stars because it did offer an interesting insight into life as a call girl, told by someone who knows what she's talking about, but the whole idea of a plot or any kind of narrative flow seems to have been a bit lost along the way.

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Review of 'Spark' by Alice Broadway

A few months ago I plunged into Ink, the first in a soon-to-be trilogy by Alice Broadway. As soon as I finished it, I downloaded Spark to my kindle because THE ENDING. I needed to find out what happened asap.

Review of 'The One We Fell in Love With' by Paige Toon

I've said it before, but I'll say it again now, chick lit is my guilty pleasure. It was something that I gave up reading entirely when I was studying English at uni because wow the judgement would have been extreme, but as soon as I finished my degree it's all I read for months.

Now it's something that I love to dip in and out of. There's something so comforting about the format of it, where you know things will (99% of the time) end up right in the end, and sometimes I really need that rose-tinted look into the world. 

The One we fell in love with is Angus, the classic boy-next-door who moves in to the house next to three identical 17-year-old triplets. Who are stereotypically beautiful: slim, blonde haired, and green-eyed. What a day for him! 

However, although the triplets may look the same, they're all so very different, and problems really start for their hormone-filled teen years when all three of them fall in love with him. The book starts when Phoebe (the most conventionally attractive of the three, personality-wise) is about to get married to Angus. She saw him first, and that was that. 

The book explores how loving the same person changes the relationships between the sisters, and what happens when the adult sisters find each others' diaries ... 

I really didn't like the whole premise of the book if I'm honest, and I think it feels fairly clear to the reader that the author is churning out a book every year. The idea that three sisters with very different personalities could all fall in love with the same guy just completely turned me off from the book because 1.) would that really ever happen? and 2.) you wouldn't just allow the first one he met to have 'dibs' on him. The whole book is based around this idea that Angus met Phoebe first and ended up with her (when they weren't the best match) and not one of the other two because of that, and I just? Is that really how things happen? Did no one step in to tell him he had the wrong girl?

I will say that the writing was good and the novel got better as it went along, and there were some parts I genuinely enjoyed. It was also a nice quick read, so it's not something I regret reading, and I'll be trying another one of the author's books to see if this just had a bit of a strange premise, as it's what really put me off!

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