Book blog
4 star 6.5/10
I’m big fan of Margaret at Wood and grab this book when it became available on prime reading
This is a short story which looks at a group of older female authors who historically have felt of their number was treated badly by a group of male authors.
The old ladies get together to discuss how they would wreak their revenge.
This is a clever story with an interesting twist at the end and an enjoyable read. Much recommended it to all Margaret Atwood lovers
4 star 6.5/10
I enjoyed the book which tells us the story of the German invasion of Austria and then Paris in an unusual way. At the start of the story we meet a young Jewish boy who wakes up one day to find that his families music shop and the flat where they are living above it are burning. Simultaneously the story splits into two parallel universes. In one universe, the young boy survives the fire, only to have his parents die and for him to be adopted into a Nazi following family. In this reality his name is changed to hands and he becomes a member of the Nazi party and is involved in the extermination of the Jewish population of Paris.
In the other reality his parents are saved and managed to escape to Paris which is soon occupied by the Germans.
In both realities, the young boy is in love with the same woman the Sophie Strom of the title and this ties the two stories together.
Both fashions of the young boy are aware of the other and see their life in the form of dreams. This allows them to have some warning of some of the notable events in the story and thus they are able to influence each other lives.
I love the concept of the story, although I did a little complicated towards the end of the book. I found the magical reality believable and it allows the author to approach the issue of whether your upbringing can influence how you turn out as an adult as the boy starts in the same position pretends up into very different places in his life.
The story is fast moving and interesting. I’ve read a lot of books at this time of the world history but this one is quite unique because of its alternative worlds. There were times when I didn’t quite believe the characters reactions to their life in particular and it quite hard to believe that the version of the boy turned out to be a Nazi and so hateful so easily.
The author has a clear easily read prose style and the book was an enjoyable read.
I read an early copy of the novel on the NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 2nd of May 2024 by Faber and Faber Ltd.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK Goodreads and my book blog bionicsarahsbooks.WordPress.com.
After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK
5 star 8/10
This is a truly lovely book. It had me right from the beginning with a first chapter that hinted that further fun and games were to come and the story provided exactly that . when I posted that I was enjoying reading this book in the sunshine. in my garden, I had a lot of my friends commenting that it was an appropriate title for a novel for me to be reading the cheek of them!.
The story tells of a group of elderly Londoners who meet in a newly started senior citizen social club. Instead of settling for jigsaws and Macrae plant holder making the characters have other ideas they start with cocktails in the way that they mean to go on! When the social club is threatened with closure because of. the building falling down the members of the senior citizen social club together with the antenatal class and alcoholics anonymous who also meet in the Centre get together to plan ways to save the centre.
Right from the start we hear that one of the members potentially is hiding from the police and gradually we hear more and more about this as we read. I loved this prologue it was a great teaser.
There’s a whole host of charming eccentric British characters in this novel which is particularly proudly British. There’s a yarn bomber a shoplifter and a menopausal woman struggling with her symptoms. and her unthankful husband who is having an extra marital affair.
The author has a delightful relaxing flowing prose style you really tumble into this book and it gives you a big hug . I’ve not read any of her previous novels but will now put them on my to be read by as I enjoyed this one so much.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a primarily relationship based novel. If you enjoyed the recent novels the list of suspicious things by Jennie Godfrey or goodbye Birdie Greenwing by Erika Waller I think you enjoy this book too
I copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 20th of July 2024 by random house UK Transworld publishers.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK Goodreads and my book blog bionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK
4 stars 7/10
I very much enjoyed this authors book Cuddy which was I think on the booker long list last year and therefore when this book appeared on appeared on NetGalley UK went to the top of my to be read list
The novel tells the story of an American elderly man who in his youth released two singles of soul music. In America these were lost to history but because of the persistence of the northern soul dance scene in the UK, his remained popular here. He is invited over to the UK to winter time, Scarborough a northern British seaside town to sing his songs for the first time in many decades.
The novel looks at loneliness following the death of a loved one in this situation after a long life together lead character he loses his loved wife. He is at Sea and metaphorically in this novel as he arrives still reeling from the death of his wife and suffering from withdrawal symptoms having left his painkillers on the aeroplane by accident.
The description of withdrawal symptoms was visceral and so real.
The novel has a gritty messy very real feel to it. We get to know more about the lead character and also one of the women who has been instrumental in bringing him over to the UK.
The setting in a northern seaside town at Winter time adds to the claustrophobic, gloomy feel and is extremely atmospheric. Whilst the main characters are American, this novel is entirely British in its feel and setting. I particularly loved the description of the seagull and its malevolence anyone who has seen the behaviour of feral Seaside seagulls will recognise this description perfectly.
The author has a flowing easily read writing style and the novel was a joy to Read.
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 1st of August 2024 by Bloomsbury publishing plc.
This will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads and my book blog bionic SarahS books.wordpress.com.
After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK
4 star 7/10
The girl with the loading voice is one of the last books I read before I started writing book reviews I enjoyed that book and love this way the way this book carries on from where the last book finished so we discover more about the main characters in the first book
I particularly liked the way the lead adult character writes to her lover letters even after he died it was a very clever way of telling us more of her backstory.
The story starts immediately the previous book finishes and we discover the Young woman Adumni seemingly saved from her servitude and about to start school at the age of 14. unfortunately things are not as smooth sailing as it looks like and the story progresses with her being taken back to her village of origin where a ceremony is due to take place accusing her of murder.
The setting of most of this novel is back in the home village and is extremely atmospheric
The novel covers lots of big issues such as illegitimate birth ,genital mutilation and early marriage of African girls as well as effects of climate warming and deforestation with subtlety so that you don’t feel you’re being preached at
The author has a clear easily red flat flowing pros style and I found the novel an easy relaxing read
The author has the skill to describe her characters very well and the way that they behave in the unusual circumstances they find themselvesin seems entirely real
I originally copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 8th of August 2024 by Hodder and Stoughton.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, and my book blogbionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com.
After publication it will also be on Amazon UK
5 star 8/10
I loved this novel which tells the story of rural Irish life over a few months from the point of view of a large group of the areas inhabitants. The characters of these people are defined precisely and beautifully and feel like real people
The author has a beautiful poetic way of writing and the language lilts off the page in its beautiful Irishness
The novel had me in tears pretty near the start and on several occasions throughout the novel. The tears were off recognition and of empathy with the people that we meet.
The casual criminality of the population juxtaposed with the organised criminality of the drug dealers was noted throughout
There’s something timeless about the story take a few modern technologies out and it could’ve been written at any time in history
The author is an expert storyteller. I love the way the unexploded bomb took its place both at the start and the end of the story.
This novel reads like an Irish Shuggie Bain but by Douglas Stewart, if you like that British sure you like this same way you’re going to love this
I had forgotten that I had read one of the authors previous books from a low and quiet sea which was longlisted for the Booker prize in 2018 and didn’t enjoy it .After reading this book however and enjoying it so much I will definitely be putting some of his other books my to be read pile. He may be my new favourite author I would g be surprised if this one is nominated for A Booker prize
The book is published in the UK on the 15th of August 2024 by random house UK Transworld publishers.
I read an early copy on the NetGalley UK. This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads and my book blog bionicsarahsbooks.WordPress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon.uk
4 star 6.5/ 10
I enjoy a dystopian novel and miss this one when it was first published Amazon however had other ideas and advertised it to me this weekend at a reduced price . It was just I wanted to read so I purchased it.
This is the story of an American couple and what happens to them when there is a worldwide power outage following a terrorist cyber attack. The episode seems entirely possible and the story is realistic. Having lived through the pandemic since this book was published I was intrigued to see how similar the initial days of this , episode was on the lives of city dwellers initially communities getting together and combining resources in a holiday like fashion
The book is set in Washington during the winter and the significance of having no heating and being extremely cold inside buildings added extra element to the story. The way that civilisation deteriorates is perhaps rather quicker than I would expect it would happen in real life but as the family , run out of food and start to starve things become more extreme
This is a primarily journey based novel characterisations Ants very strong and I found a little bit difficult to identify with any of the characters. The other has a clear easily read prose style I read the book in one sitting it was very enjoyable
I would recommend this novel for that anyone who likes realistic dystopian novel
This will appear on Goodreads and my book blog bionicsarah.WordPress.com Anne And Amazon UK
4 star 7/10
My first impressions of this novel was that it was Immediately witty and fast moving it had my attention from the start I was expecting more of a black box style sci-fi story but what this book actually is is more of a character lead story about a woman’s insecurities and the historical causes for these
In the story an unhappily married woman discovers that her husband has bought home a sex doll that also has AI built into it and can communicate. Her reaction to this is to move the doll into her house and interact with it in a generally non-sexual fashion,
We learn that her marriage has been loveless and sexless for sometime as she talks with her friends and colleagues at the school where she works more of her own history is gradually revealed to us
I loved it when she buys the doll some shoes the size smaller than she wears herself and then uses her joint credit card to purchase them. This passive aggressive action did make me smile with recognition.
The novel is quite lighthearted to begin with, but it does go into quite a dark place as we discover the story of her youth The novel deals with historical child sexual abuse sensitively in an accomplished fashion never diminishing the significance of these events in the young woman’s life
The main character is a teacher and the sections when she is at work and interacting with the children and other staff members are particularly realistic I wondered if the author had been a teacher
The author has a flowing easily read prose style and I read the book in one sitting enjoying it very much
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is published in the UK on the 23rd of May 2024 by Bloomsbury publishing plc.
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, and my book blog bionicSarahSbooks.wordpress.com . After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.
4 star 6.5/10
An interesting concept for a journey based Story young girl finding a magic ball, which unfortunately causes her to develop a medical problem, which forces her to move constantly to prevent her becoming unwell and dying. She is forced from childhood to move house constantly every few days and spend her life crossing the world because of this.
The novel has an Arabian nights feel to it, an exotic fairytale which mixes magic and reality effortlessly for the most part.
There were some elements that I found less successful in particular the sections where she discovers secret hidden libraries seemed almost to come from another novel altogether I couldn’t really see what they added to the story. These sections were incredibly visual and described very well and felt that they would be something that would become across very nicely on a film or television series. However, I did wonder what the need for these libraries was really and I wanted to rush past these parts back into her exciting life as she travelled.
I did find some of the time changes between chapters, a little bit confusing
This is a primarily journey based novel. the characters themselves are less well developed than I usually prefer.
The author has a clear easily read writing style. The book was an enjoyable read.
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK the book is published in the UK on the 4th of July 2024 by random house UK, vintage
This will appear on NetGalley, Goodreads and my book blog bionicSarahsbookswordpress.com after publication it will also appear on Amazon UK
4 star 7.5/10
The Amendments of the title refer to times when Irish law was changed to alter the rights of women to access reproductive care and abortion . The story is loosely woven around these time periods when these rights were at risk in Ireland. The story looks at a family of women over three time periods.. Initially because there were.
a lot of characters I found myself a bit confused at times . Once I realise that they were all related it was easier to follow the novel when it switched between time periods.
I loved the fact we know from the start one of the characters is gay and watch as she comes to terms with this first trying heterosexual sex with its risks before finally coming out to her family.
I had never heard of the religious group.“La obra de las hagarenos “ before reading this novel. This is a Catholic women’s group originally started in Spain before spreading to other Catholic countries like Ireland the group I space in someway similar to the U.K.’s boys brigade but much strictly religiously with very uptight misogynistic views of sexuality
The abortion and women’s rights issues are dealt with sensitively and particularly well in this book
The potions of the novel that I enjoyed the most where focusing on her time at university as a medical student
This novel is very firmly set in Ireland There were a few things that were specific to Irish life that I could’ve done with a footnote for and had to google such as GAA an Irish athletics Association
The author has a flowing lyrical writing style, which was a pleasure to read. she is very good at describing personal characteristics and the development of her characters through the novel felt real and believable. These were all real people that you could recognise amongst your own friendship group.
I read a copy of the novel on NetGalley UK, the book is published in the UK on the 18th of April 2024 by Pan McMillan/Picador
This will appear on Amazon UK, NetGalley UK, Goodreads and my book blog bionicSarahSbookswordpress.com
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