Beth

I loved that this book wasn't romanticised and didn't have a straightforward pleasant ending. I loved the honest and raw portrayal of Christopher a 15 year old boy with autism. I think this book gives such a good insight into the point of view of someone living with autism and how they see the world. All the mathematics in this book went over my head obviously but nonetheless I found Chris such an endearing character and I found the other characters faults and issues really intriguing and gripping. A classic that I think any reader can get a lot from reading. A very heartfelt story and Christopher is a one of a kind character and the unsung hero of the novel. A deeply captivating story about human nature and identity.

This book was heartbreaking,heartwarming, inspiring, poignant and utterly beautiful. On a unbearably hot summers day, I was utterly gripped by this story and I finished it in one sitting. This book is so important and really does give you food for thought on the matter of life and death. Paul Kalanithi was an inspirational and beautiful soul and this book is a testament to his hardworking and dignified spirit as a doctor and then as a patient with terminal cancer. I also loved the Epilogue by his wife Lucy which must have took so much courage on her behalf but which gave such a lovely and heartfelt complimentary aside to this novel. This novel really allows you to step inside the humanity of another person at their most fragile period in life. This was just such a striking and beautiful memoir and I urge everyone who cares about human goodness to read this book. It is a weeper of a book but Lucy summarises beautifully in her Epilogue the core of Paul's story which is that ‘what happened to Paul was tragic but he was not a tragedy'. Simply stunning.

I was unfortunately a little disappointed with this novel. I don't usually read much high fantasy or magical realism and I tried to read this as it is highly regarded and full of magical realism. I found the world building pretty strong and it made me want to try more magical realism in the future. However this story I felt became really dragged out. I didn't connect with many of the characters and I know that in terms of fantasy, world building takes precedent over character development but I didn't end up connecting with the main character and so the magical elements fell flat and I didn't feel the impending danger as emotionally as I should have done. Also I felt that there were too many magical things just thrown into the mix to move the plot forward like the walking dead, water sprites, a bear demon and a wind figure that is death and the terrible battle at the end just left me feeling meh instead of heartbroken as I was meant to feel. So overall a great idea and a good writer but a middle of the road reading experience for me.

I think this book gave an interesting take on where the trajectory of your life would take you if you knew the exact date you were going to die. This story follows four siblings who live in America, who visit a fortune teller in their youth who tells them the day they are going to die. From there the story follows each of the siblings individual lives till they die. I loved that each of the four siblings took very different paths in life and had very different stories to tell. My favourite stories to listen to (audiobook) was Simon and Clara's as they were the most intense and passionate but I also enjoyed listening to Daniel and Varias stories as well. I also loved the host of minor characters in this novel such as Gurdy(the mother), Ruby (Clara's daughter), Robert (Simons BF) and Luke (Varia's son). I think the story posed some interesting thoughts on destiny and mortality and I found I got so much out of the book by listening to it on audiobook. I would recommend this book to most contemporary literature fans.

I know some found faults with Lullaby and I do agree it isn't a faultless novel. However I found it a gripping and well executed whydunnit with a dark ‘The Virgin Suicides' vibes. I found the depth to Louise's character that included : loneliness, financial vulnerability, maternal frustration and mental health conditions, fascinating and it allowed me to find the plot dense and ambiguous instead of rather cliched which I really appreciated about the novel. I found the musings on women's balance between home maker and career woman and the guilt Myriam feels for returning to work really intriguing and powerful in this book. There were only a few nitpick issues I had with the structure and form of the novel but I think that is down to the translation from the French. Overall I think it had a thriller vibe while still being a much deeper literary read about relationships, loneliness and poverty. I fell in love with this dark story from the first 20 pages. It satisfies all my love for dark and psychologically gripping plots and so I have unashamedly given it a 5 star rating as it gave me an extremely pleasurable reading experience. I would happily try any work by the author in the future.

This book is a perfect example of rating a book a five star even though you found the reading experience disturbing and painful. This book is beautifully written and Deborah Smith's translation is stunning. However the subject matter is deeply disturbing, dark and haunting. This book deals with mental illness, dark dreams, physical and mental abuse and anorexia and a plethora of many other difficult subject matters and the book remains terribly heartbreaking until the very end. This book will upset and haunt me for a long time after finishing it. Nevertheless, I think this book is so powerful and the plot and the characters are so strong. In under 200 pages this book has made me feel a rollacoaster of emotions for all the characters and at many instances this book made me conflicted over who I sympathised with more and to me that makes this book a five star read. I was engrossed in a rather morbid way throughout the plot. I think the structure of the novel was handled so well so that the plot never got too tedious and you never lost the integrity of the tone of the novel. A world class piece of literature to me that certainly deserved the man booker prize award. I certainly will be reading more of Han Kang's works!

I would rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I really loved the complexity of the three way relationship between Ellis and Annie and Micheal. I loved that sexuality in this book as well as friendship and loss and grief were all explored fluidly and with sincerity. I found the ending just a little contrived and so it didn't give me the emotive ending I was looking for, however I cannot take umbrage with Sarah Winman for that. Over all I found the book beautiful. I loved all elements of it, including the parts set in France which is a compliment to Winman's writing as usually I find holiday segments in other books rather trying and tedious. I loved the fact that the revelations surrounding Micheal and Annie weren't forced or over-romanticised and that Sarah Winman trusted you as a reader to connect the dots and the memories in a way you saw fit without forcing you to feel a certain way by making a memory obvious in terms of the characters emotions at the time or in hindsight which some authors do. Overall an incredibly impressive novel and a story very character driven with loveable and fascinating characters to dive into and connect with. Also for a 200 page book it delivers so much richness in plot and character development without losing its integrity. A talent which some authors don't have the restraint or experience to accomplish. So well done Sarah Winman!

This book was such a pleasure to re read. This is the first book in the series since my re reading began that I had forgotten every little that happened and the logistics of the characters and the plot advancement. That for me was so lovely because it allowed me to fall in love with this story all over again, as if for the first time. As Lupin is one of my all time favourite characters and Sirius as well, it is always so nice to have the reveal of those characters as decent in this book. And this is the first book we start to understand more about the character of Severus and as he is also one of my all time favourite characters, I find his development in this book really important. I also enjoyed that this book allows the characters of Harry and his friends to evolve and grow up. I enjoyed that the danger in this book gets more complicated and that the lessons and the stakes are starting to get higher from this book onwards. This book is a beloved classic of mine and I can't wait to continue on with the series!

I had to DNF this book at around the 400 page mark. I will explain further in my May Wrap Up Video.

I loved this second Harry Potter book just as much as the first. When I was younger this was one of my favourite Harry Potter films and re reading it brought back all the nostalgia. I feel that because this second book is very similar in tone as the first and it is the last book where Harry and his friends remain somewhat innocent and the nostalgia and warmth of the Hogwarts school is retained, I think it's only fair that this second book gets the same rating as the first. A fully delightful re read of book number two!

A perfect guilty pleasure read. This book has a fairytale structure. It has drama. It has debauchery. It has romance. It is an absolute pleasure to read and it is a book that can be devoured in one sitting and like a particularly good glass of red wine or a sumptuous cream cake can make you want to sigh with satisfaction. Some parts of the book certainly reflect the time period it was written in (a pre war London) but the juicy scandalous lives of the liberated women Miss Durbarry and Miss LaFosse's make this book so compelling and indulgent. A fantastic book. The original and superior first ever rom/chick lit style book. I loved it and I think you will be hard pressed to disagree with me!

Another 4.5 read for me. This book is just as much fun as the first book. I loved that this book really allowed the reader to connect more with Doris and her family and friends. The plot was just as comedic as the first book as well as being a thicker, juicier plot to follow. I just love Doris and it has been just such a pleasure to read. I really enjoy Heathcote's writing style and I raced through this book as fast as the first. I would recommend this series to anyone who is a fan of light funny reads. This is the first time I have read humour in a book and it has really resonated with me and made me laugh out loud. Bravo Charles. I am now a super fan of Doris and the clan. To all of Booktube, please go pick up a copy and join the team with me!!

A very high 4 and a half stars read for me. I adored Doris. This book is just so clever and witty I was blown away by it. Charles Heathcote has such a sharp mind and this novel was reminiscent of great comedic works by great northern comedians such as Peter Kay and Victoria Wood. He gets extra brownie points from me for calling a cup of tea a brew in this book as well! I loved Harold and Doris's relationship. I loved the dichotomy of Doris's character. I loved the colloquial dialect of Harold's monologues. It was just so well fleshed out and laugh out loud funny. Well done Charles! And I am so excited to be diving into Indisputably Doris this afternoon. I would recommend this book to anyone and I think Charles really represented the elderly community well in this novel.

This second book in the Sherlock Holmes collection is incredibly similar in structure, writing style and execution to a study in scarlett. Watson's unfaltering admiration and praise for Sherlock Holmes grew more tiresome to read in this book as it was very repetitive and hyperbolic and after hearing him sing his praises in the first book it was a sentiment as a reader that we were already well aware of. Overall however Sherlock Holmes is a guilty pleasure read and I love hearing Stephen Fry narrate the story. Sherlock Holmes stories are fantastic and although rather far fetched they are always a pleasure escapism read. This book while similar to the first was equally as much fun to read.

This is a very informative non fiction novel on the adolescent brain. However it is academic in tone and it discusses and references an exhaustive list of clinical studies and trials which makes the reading experience a trifle tedious. Listening to this on audiobook also was difficult as at points I got distracted and lost the thread. Overall an interesting book that is up to date on research and had some fascinating truths to express around adolescent and adult brains and brain development.

Between a 3.5/4 out of 5 star reads. I was intrigued by the two different paths that Irina's life could end up. Some elements of the alternative lives I didn't feel were realistic but overall I felt Shriver creates realistic, raw and honest alternative lives for Irina. Some mirroring of scenarios and repeated sentences within the text was rather tedious but overall I was emotionally engaged with Irina's story and her romantic engagements to both Ramsey and Lawrence. This book could have been slightly shorter and I think the structure of this novel is limited as a style. However I think the characters will stay with me long after finishing this book and I will mull over which path she should have chosen for some time to come. And doesn't that say all it needs to about Shriver's skill as a writer?

I respected this book much more than I enjoyed it. I think the experimental form and style of this novel ( a semi novel/ semi essay) was very impressive and I was really interested in the exploration of a mother's deeper relationship to her child. I just felt this novel was very melancholic and it gave me a very anxious and claustrophobic reading experience. The fragmented nature of this novel and the occasional peppering of medical science cases and people of interest often left me distant from the more structured novel elements of the plot. Heavily philosophical musings in the book I found myself skimming over as unfortunately they didn't arrest my attention. I found the points raised in this novel fascinating but in a novel form I couldn't connect with the more abstract thought. Greengrass is a very talented writer and this novel deserves to be on the baileys short list. The issues I had with this book were down to my reader preferences and the fact I enjoy more character centric plots as oppose to form or plot driven novels. That is why taking my readers experience into account my personal choice of a star rating is 3.5 stars. However for those who are fascinated by the abstract this novel could certainly be your cup of tea!

This was an enjoyable and fast paced read. This book made me really intrigued about the real Agnes and about Icelandic culture and sagas. I enjoyed this book and it's exploration of historical fiction but also the subjective nature of truth. I invested in the characters and I found Agnes's character multi layered and intriguing. Even unlikeable characters were presented with a depth that I really enjoyed. I will certainly read Hannah Kent's other book and Hannah Kent can certainly write. I would recommend this book to any fans of historical fiction or those who enjoy reading about Icelandic culture and it's bitter landscape!

I've unfortunately had to DNF this book. I expected this to have some interesting true case stories or anecdotes. However in reality this book describes the process of criminal law in cripplingly tedious detail. It was very hard to follow and enjoy on audiobook. And after listening to this audio book for four hours and not enjoying it, I decided that enough was enough unfortunately!

I know this will be a very controversial review. I really did want to enjoy this book. However upon finishing it I feel very underwhelmed. Over a year ago I finished the reluctant fundamentalist and really enjoyed it but I had many issues with this book. I hated the writing style of this book. It made the reading experience pretty tedious. I hated the bits when the perspective would sporadically shift to some random person in a random location for a page and then go back to the main narrative. It made the feeling of certain chapters jarring and the shift was irrelevant to the wider plot. I wasn't invested in the relationship between Nadia and Saeed and so moments that were meant to be heartwarming and/or heartbreaking lacked sincerity for me. I think Mohsin Hamid can certainly write and some interesting points were raised in this book about emigration and identity. However I wasn't overly convinced about the device of the doors and so this book can only receive a run of the mill 3 out of 5 stars from me.

This is the first book this year that has had me so deeply conflicted. Things I liked in this book I really loved and bits I didn't enjoy in this book, I passionately disliked. It is so difficult to summarise my feelings on this book here. I will be doing a video on my channel soon to better unpick my thoughts on this book. In simple terms however I loved the relationship between Raymond and Eleanor but I struggled to warm to Eleanor's character overall and I found the book (good days and bad days) as two separately constructed books that were pushed together and lacked a fluidity. I got no sense of suspension or anticipation for the action that would happen in the book and I found Eleanor's crush implausible and it ruined other elements of the book. For now I will give the book between 3 and 3 and a half stars and discuss it in more depth with you soon on my channel!

This was a slow burn read for me. After reading the first few chapters I wasn't sure whether I was going to love it as much as everyone else had seemed to. However as I got immersed in the story, I became really impressed by how Celeste Ng wrote atmosphere and loneliness into this story. I found the struggle of identity for all the siblings fascinating. I loved the bits from James perspective on race and his anxieties for his mixed race children. James and Marilyn's overbearing expectations of Lydia and their neglect of their other two children was super interesting to me also. I also loved the development of Jack's character within the book. I found the why done it element over the who done it, so gripping within this book. While I had doubts about Hannah's perceptiveness of all the other characters. By the end I was fully invested in the story. I loved that you were given the time to understand and connect with all the characters and were exposed to their faults and inner motives during the time scale of the novel. A novel I would recommend to fans of thriller novels but also for readers who are looking for a contemporary read that deals with relevant topics of race and family dynamics. A high 4 star read for me.

Shirley Jackson is a very talented writer. I personally had a frustrating reading experience as Jackson's endings are typically very open and ambiguous. However she has a talent for making an ordinary story take on a creepier undertone. The last story Nightmare is by far the strongest story and the one I enjoyed the most. Nightmare has the most similarities to The Lottery in its structure and execution. I am left intrigued more than ever about Jackson's works after reading this book and I am hoping to turn to her novels next, very soon. A 3 star read for me.

I loved this story. The plot follows a couple who own a bar on the outskirts of a deadbeat town. The story follows their relationship to each other as well as their relationships with the locals who frequent the bar. However everything gets turned upside down in their little world when Arlene turns up asking after a Jack. Things further complicate when Franky returns to town. The last time he left the town was years ago over rather suspicious circumstances. This book dives deep into the inner psyches and motivations of all the different characters. Juicy and subtle revelations occur throughout the progression of this novel. It's a story that will stay with you long after you finish. A book I would recommend to fans of revolutionary road or fans of character driven plots. An effortless 5 star read for me.

While I really enjoyed Tessa Hadley's writing. I found that each story was set up for a reveal or a plot twist that never happened. Therefore my reading experience of this short story collection was rather flat. I was unfortunately disappointed with the collection as a whole. Hadley seems to be a very competent writer and maybe I should read her novels next to appreciate her style better. Overall the collection as a whole was too subtle for me and the endings seemed to dissolve of the page with no rounding up of the story. A rather average 3 out of 5 star reads for me I am afraid.