Sophie

DNF @ 24%. I didn’t like the tone of writing from the start as it’s very clear that the author is a true crime fanatic, but it got too much for me when the author writes about “three college girls” were “all slain in the same house” in “Northern Idaho University”, a blatant reference to the Idaho murders in late 2022. To copy a real life crime with real life victims for the basis of the main plot of a fiction book is awful taste. This is really gross and everything that’s wrong with the true crime world. The book felt a bit icky anyways, but this decided it for me.

I can’t remember the last time I read a book this fast. Whenever I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about when I could next read it. I already know I’m gonna be processing it for a few days! What an insane debut from Caro Claire Burke. I did think the overarching message was spelled out a bit too much (i.e. a cabin named ‘the manosphere’) and I would have liked if the satire was deeper and if the reader had been allowed to come to those conclusions with less hand holding. I also feel a bit silly for not realising the plot twist! I remember briefly thinking that the olden days characters didn’t speak how I’d have imagined, and there were some things they referenced (pancakes and syrup?) that didn’t add up but I thought maybe I just wasn’t giving the 1800s enough credit! Then as I was reading the scenes with older Clementine, I remembered a few things such as how Natalie and Caleb had chosen the name Mary when she was pregnant but I never connected the dots, or how Natalie said the two neighbour boys had familiar eyes. Most glaringly, Caleb was just Old Caleb. Overall fantastic read. Can’t wait to debrief at bookclubbbb <3

An excellent snapshot of this period in Irish history. Was really interesting to reflect back on the Repeal movement and the art and writings that propelled it forward.

It was definitely interesting to read this during a heatwave!! I liked some elements of this book such as the parts about the Nordic countries which brought me a lot of nostalgia for the semester I spent in Sweden. I also really enjoyed how much Gaelic lore is in it, which I hadn’t expected. However, I did find it a bit repetitive and wishy washy.

cried on the bus <3

”When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to say something”

Definitely the most powerful Eddie Flynn book I’ve read yet, though I’ve still a few to catch up on. I thoroughly enjoyed this!!!! Keep em coming Steve