The Cut Throat Trial by The Secret Barrister writing as S J Fleet - Review

 

I was intrigued to read this book because I know the Secret Barrister from social media and thought their first book would be good. However it really didn't live up to the hype and I wouldn't try hard to read anything else by the same author. It needed a much better edit and it was confusing in parts. I also thought there were far too many points of view which I do kind of understand as a narrative device, because it's a criminal case, but it's annoying to read.

So early in the hours of New Year's Day 2024, the body of a 70 something year old man is found on the streets. He has been stabbed by an illegal knife - a zombie knife - and two youths were arrested at the scene and one was found really close by at the same time too. The three young lads are all saying that the other ones did it. There are text conversations between two of them where they talk about bashing a random person until they're dead. The prosecution has a lot of evidence - blood all over the accused, the knife, and text messages saying this was the kind of thing they might be in to. The prosecutor, Aliyah, has a lot to prove - she fucked up an earlier case and needs to repair her reputation. 

Parts of the novel are from her point of view. Parts are from the points of view of two of the accused lads. They both have had difficult lives and it wouldn't be hard to believe that they are cold killers. There's also the point of view of one of their defence lawyers, because she also has a personal interest in the case.

I really struggled with this book as I said, and can only give it three out of five. 

Tart by Becki Jayne Crossley - Review

I got this book on Netgalley because I liked the sound of it, so thank you very much to Bloomsbury Publishing for granting me access to it. I was provided with an electronic copy of this book for review purposes, but was not otherwised compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

It felt like a really long time since I had read a good YA book, especially one set in the UK, so I was keen to get stuck into this. It is set in a small town in the UK and I could picture it perfectly. 

Libby is in her first year of sixth form when a video of her kissing another boy goes viral amongst her school friends. This would be bad enough, but it happens on the same night that her boyfriend Dan gets knocked down by a car  and is in a coma. He is yet to wake up weeks, months later, and no one knows what will happen to him. Libby is ostracised and left friendless. But there's a new girl in the area - Neha. She is from a bigger area and she's proudly out and queer; she has a gaggle of queer friends that she misses dreadfully now she's had to move. She and Libby get close and Libby begins to question her feelings for Neha - but of course there is the question of Dan still. But there are a lot of secrets and explanations rattling around this book, which I felt were revealed really well. 

I really liked the book and would definitely read something else by the same author. I liked the queer representations and the queer joy that was really gentle - like Libby and her new friends visiting a cafe that they liked. I'm giving this four out of five. 

This book is out now for purchase. 

Given Vol 3 by Natsuki Kizu

 

Absolutely forever ago my friend Chloe lent me all the volumes of this graphic novel, which is based on a band called Given who in the first book haven't even met and who throughout the series get closer. I found them all after my move and am really trying to make my way through them mostly so I can have them back to Chloe. I've had them way too long! 

In this book Uenoyama realises he's in love with Mafuyu and they kiss each other just before the band plays their first live gig. But Uenoyama doesn't say anything to Mafuyu so they're just both confused Jaruki has a massive crush on Akhiko, but Akhiko is seeing someone else so that's really confusing too. These boys are just all useless and need to chat.

This review just doesn't need to be that long. I enjoyed the progession of the story. I liked the artwork, as previously. I'm giving this four out of five. I'm writing this in mid December, I wonder if I could get to the rest of the series soon? 

The Protest by Rob Rinder - Review

As you know from previous reviews I'm sure, I've read all of Rob Rinder's books and I actually quite rate them as far as books written by celebrities go. I've been waiting for this for months and it finally came through on my hold at the library. I guess a lot of others wanted to read it too! 

We're back with barrister Adam Green. He's got two cases to sort out. In the first one, a protestor called Lexi is arrested on the charge of murder. She's a protestor, a little bit like one from Just Stop Oil, and she throws paint or something at this world famous artist, Max something, who is at a very fancy exhibition of his work. But there's cyanide in the paint and Max dies. Lexi is immediately arrested because everyone saw her do it, but she is insistent that she didn't mean to kill him. She was protesting, yes, but nothing more. Adam believes her, so he and the solicitor he is working under must investigate her claims. Adam doesn't like Lexy and she doesn't endear herself to the reader, either, but he wants justice for her. At the root of it Adam is a fundamentally decent  fellow who wants the best for his clients. 

Meanwhile, he is defending a soldier over the death of a fellow soldier in the last days of a conflict, something like conflict in Iraq or something like that. In this, Adam is defending in barracks not in a court, and I think the jury is made up of soldiers too. As I remember, it was easy to feel sorry for all sides here, and it was interesting to see Adam in a different setting.

As with previous books, there wasn't a lot of Adam's personal life shown. There seemed to be fewer phone calls with his mother. I would like more of a look at his personal life in the future - and maybe a significant other for him! - and I will of course I'll read the next one when it's out. I'm giving this three and a half out of five. It did drag a bit for me - I think there was a bit in the middle that was a bit woolley - but overall I enjoyed it. 

The Other Woman by Tania Tay - Review

I had picked this book up at the library a couple of weeks before I went on holiday, and then thought that I should take it with me and get it read. It was the fourth book I read on holiday and I ended up finishing it on the plane home. I didn't like it much which I found a shame because I often like this kind of psychological drama. I felt like it didn't quite reach the levels I would have liked it to. The characters weren't all that brilliantly drawn, and they were cliched in parts. It annoyed me. I am glad I had a long plane ride where I could just sit and read because otherwise I think this would have festered and dragged. 

Anyway, the book is about Jade. She is thirty something, married, with three children. On the surface her life looks perfect; her children are well behaved, her husband Sam is handsome and works hard, they are rich, blah blah blah. Jade's relationship with her mum is strained because Jade is Chinese and she has never really lived up to her parents' expectations. Plus. Sam's work is keeping him busy and he seems to be pulling away from her. She is worried about a young woman who works in his office. The children are also pulling away from her as they need her less. 

So, when Christina gets in touch with Jade on Instagram, Jade is thrilled. She and Christina went to university together years and years ago, but then Christina left without any word, and Jade wasn't sure what had happened. Christina qualified as a doctor and has just moved from Scotland back to London. The two women meet and eventually Christina meets the children and Sam, who all love her, of course. Then it turns out she isn't getting on with her mother so she ends up staying with Jade and co. Jade feels pushed out of her own life.... 

This had so much promise but it just didn't live up to it. Nothing happened for the first third of the book, and a lot of stuff felt crammed into the third third. There was a hint of suspense that I liked towards the end but it just wasn't worth the pay off in the end. I'm giving it three out of five, really a two and a half out of five. 

Double Booked by Lily Lindon - Review

 

I picked this book up earlier in the year somewhere or other, because I was really intrigued by the blurb and thought it sounded great. I took it away on holiday to Greece with me thinking it would be perfect holiday reading. I ended up really not liking it. I made my way through it and then left it on the bookshelf in the hotel because I knew I wouldn't read it again. I saw a woman I had spoken to briefly had picked it up and I wanted to say 'This isn't representative of what I usually read! It isn't very good!' but I didn't. I can't really say why it wasn't my thing. I do think it skews a lot younger than it is. Georgina is 26 but it reads more like Young Adult than fiction for adults. 

Anyway yes the protagonist is Georgina, known as Gina to her friends. She lives with her boyfriend, Doug, who she met at university seven years ago and started a relationship with. They have a boring, uber scheduled life. This is partly due to Gina's past because of some trauma she lived through, which she got through by setting strict routines. But it's also partly because Doug is just really extremely boring. Gina's best friend Soph is a vlogger and influencer who is Black and a lesbian. She drags Gina out to a gay bar one night where Gina meets Kit, who is in a really cool band called Phase. Gina ends up joining the band as their drummer. The others just assume that she is gay like them and she just doesn't .......bother telling them otherwise? It's really annoying because if she just spoke up it would be fine. But I guess part of the problem is that Gina realises she has a crush on Kit. She starts to unpack her bisexuality. I absolutely didn't have a problem with this - it happens to tons of people and I did quite like the way she did this.

But, what I didn't like was the way that George - as the band calls her - starts to change herself to make herself seem queerer and to 'fit in' more. She cuts her hair, she starts to wear flannel shirts and Doc Marten boots and like, I get that, I'm here for people exploring themselves, but it just seemed so trite? It really annoyed me. Plus Gina is lying to her boyfriend which annoyed me, and people should just sit down and talk to each other. 

I also really didn't like how Soph reacted to her friend coming out. They needed a better chat about it at the end of the book but again that didn't happen. I understood why Sophie felt a bit threatened and a bit annoyed but again like - don't we welcome people into the queer community? I would if it was a friend of mine. 

I'm apparently still angry about this book even though it's two months since I read it by the time I'm writing this! I'm giving this two out of five and I definitely wouldn't read anything else by the author. I really hope that the woman who picked this up enjoyed it more than I did! 

Shake Hands Forever by Ruth Rendell - Review

I haven't read much by Ruth Rendell before, but I know my mum really rates her. I haven't read any of the Inspector Wexford novels before but this one had ended up in my posession and I found it when we unpacked the books. It's an original from 1976, it's very battered and worn and I love it. It's only a small book so when Lee and I went to Greece I took it with us as it didn't weigh very much. I ended up really liking it and asked my mum if she had any more for me to borrow, and she found one. Maybe I'll save that for Christmas, love a murder mystery at Christmas! I'll also have to keep an eye out for these in charity shops and so on. 

So, Robert Hathall picks up his cold, disapproving mother from the station and takes her home for the weekend. He is married to his second wife, Angela, who is a little younger than him. When they get to the house though, they find Angela strangled to death in the bedroom. The house has been cleaned meticulously, except for a handprint near the body. There's a distinctive scar on the handprint and they reckon it belonged to a woman (not sure how they knew this but the answer is probably well, it was the 1970s). There are a number of suspects for the murder, including Robert himself, and his ex wife. 

Robert seems a bit unpeturbed by the death of his wife and doesn't cooperate with Wexford as he's investigating. He left his first wife for Angela and owed her a lot of money, which has meant he and Angela have had to downsize. He is estranged from his daughter. Robert has an alibi though and so does his ex. 

Eventually Wexford is warned off the investigation and it is declared closed. But he can't stop thinking about it and knows there was something odd about the case. He annoys his seniors by keeping on thinking about it, and eventually he does get to the bottom of it. I loved the mystery and thought it was really good! I also really liked looking at a crime novel from before forensics were so advanced. It felt like proper old fashioned policing! I'm giving this four out of five. It was perfect to read lying round the pool in Greece!