Zoe Adams

What an unexpected joy this book was! I absolutely loved this book. The characters were brilliant, and it was such a heart-warming story without being remotely cheesy. I'm definitely finding that Kingsolver's earlier books are far better than her more recent.

I LOVED how to build a boat. But this books just did not work for me. I still don't really ‘get' it. What was it about? Why was it written? I'm not entirely sure. Feeney writes beautifully, but I felt this just lost its way - perhaps even from the start.

This was SO terrible, I couldn't stop reading it! It's also proven to me that every one of this author's books is just a variation on the same completely unbelievable tale. It's a cop-out writing thrillers that centre around the acts of complete psychopaths. It's so much more engaging and relatable where you can almost understand how someone could commit the ‘awful' acts in question. In books like this, it's just completely ridiculous.

3.75 stars. So, this book was not at all what the blurb suggested. But I really enjoyed the exploration of ‘love in all its forms'. I think the author slightly overdid the challenge to heteronormativity (i.e it isn't necessary to challenge EVERY SINGLE relationship or gender norm ALL THE TIME , in almost EVERY SENTENCE), but I did really enjoy the characterisation and overall exploration of friendship and love.

I've given this 4 stars - but I felt the last part was quite weak, and I was tempted to lower it to 3.75. Overall, however, this was a very interesting novel that explored a number of complex political issues behind the lens of a family saga. It was a pleasant surprise, with some interesting points of view presented.

This was such a beautifully crafted novel. I found it devastatingly moving. I always think there are two categories of novels, the plot-driven and the character-driven. But this is neither. It is that rare novel where the writing is everything. Mercier weaved a lyrical web that keeps you engaged even thought not much ‘happens'. I'm so glad I read this.

I wish I didn't recognise so much of the way Cambridge is portrayed in this book.... but apart from that, this was just pretentious twaddle.

Fredrik Backman's books are always very hit and miss for me. They're either brilliant, or absolutely awful - there is no middle-ground. This one is definitely in the former category. It was just so beautifully, so moving - and so funny . It was such a lovely reflection on the nature and value of friendship - but also, of art. I think this one is definitely the author's best so far.

This was my kind of rom-com. The romance is meaningful, sweet - and the characters genuine and real. The male lead was someone who you could genuinely fall in love with, rather than an a generic cultural stereotype. I also like that Monaghan doesn't fall into the trap that many authors of rom-coms do of objectifying the male characters and using awful, immature, slang terms to describe them ‘ fit, hot, sexy etc'. It was all very realistic and very moving.

3.75/4 stars. While the blurb foregrounds the love story, this is really a story of domestic abuse - written with nuance and sensitivity. Having said this, it was the love story that made this book so compelling, and I loved the way in which Jen and Emily's relationship evolved throughout their lives, while they kept missing ‘their time'. It was beautiful but also very realistic.

I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I don't actually know what the ‘point' of the book was, but I just loved the portrayal of a ‘normal' relationship. I thought the author did an excellent job of portraying the complexities of modern parenthood - the joy and gratitude combined with subtle resentment and overwhelm. My only gripe was the author's evident Tory sentiments and hostility to Corbyn.

2.75 stars. This was fine. It was readable. But that's about all I can say. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was just dull. It was obvious from the outset who had killed Isla, and this just meant that the whole book was predictable.

3.75/4 stars. I loved the first in the series, but this one was even better. The first book read more like a series of episodes, but this was much more a cohesive story. The characters are brilliant, and I love how multi-dimensional the exploration and subtle critique of prevailing gender and class-based norms. There's also a good amount of historical detail - cleverly inter-woven into the sort rather than thrust in your face.

4.25 stars. TJR is back! This has to be my favourite TKR book to-date. I'm so glad to see she's gone back to her pre-Malibu Rising Days. I liked Malibu Rising and Carrie Soto, but they lacked the depth of her earlier books. But Atmosphere is just brilliant. I SHOULD have hated this - and yet, I loved every second. And TJR managed something few authors do - making me feel as involved in a homosexual relationship as I would a heterosexual one. Too often books about the former seem to assume that it's enough that the character are both gay to explain why the are attracted to each other, making their relationship completely unmoving and unrelatable. But the relationship in Atmosphere is so real and believable, and so moving. And I loved the relationship between Vanessa and Frances and how that evolved too. What a wonderful book.

This was another great book by Kathleen Grissom. It was very different from the Kitchen House, but just as enjoyable. I love that the characters are all flawed, but ultimately good - and how they grow through out the story. I also loved revisiting characters from the Kitchen House too.

3.75 stars. I haven't genuinely laughed at a novel in ages. I've thoroughly enjoyed the first two Bridget Jones' and am so glad I tried the books.

3.75 stars. I can't believe how good this was! I know it's a bit dated now, and I also know that it has since been allowed to fuel diet culture, but actually, it is entirely self-mocking. Fielding writes in full knowledge that the obsession with diet and body size/shape is ridiculous, and everything is deliciously tongue-in-cheek. I thought this was a great example of ‘chick-lit' done well, and am so so glad I read it.

4.25 stars. I cannot understand the negative reviews. I have read so many awful novels about Antebellum America that focuses on the lives of slaves and their relationships with their owner-families, and all of them have fallen rather flat. But this was so well-written, traumatising but also heart-warming - such a wonderful book.

3.75 stars. What a lot of fun this book was! There are a lot of books about women who were ‘ahead of their time', mostly engaging as amateur sleuths, refusing societal norms while also taking on male ‘roles' in fiction. But this one was well done, the characters were believable, and the humour was dry and enjoyable.

I should have learned my lesson from animals - massively promoted by Dolly Alderton, I found the latter shallow and naive, and Slags was no different. The 15 year old and 40 year old version of Sarah were equally as irritating. The author seemed to want to make a load of different unconnected political points about being a woman in contemporary society, but every point was shallow, and under-developed. It wasn't unreadable, but it also wasn't ‘good' writing, or remotely insightful.

4.5 stars. I always forget just how good this book is. The later books are generally my favourite as they are more mature and have greater depth, but this one is just so clever.

Just as good second time round!

This book does not deserve the rave reviews. While I hate this adjective, it was ‘amateur'. It was derivative, lacked nuance, and while it was readable, lacked depth and maturity. The writing was clunky, and the characters were all caricatures.

This was disappointing. It was fairly un-original, the characters were under-developed, and it was very predictable and quite slow.

I absolutely love this series. I love the original Chronicles, but the Chronicles stories are even better. Anthony Part I was my favourite, followed shortly by Harriet's story, but this was still excellent. The historical detail is great, and the characters are just so wonderful.