The Darkness Within by Graeme Hampton Blog Tour & Review

 

Hi there! I am absolutely thrilled to welcome you today to my blog for my stop in the tour for The Darkness Within by Graeme Hampton. If you haven't been here, please do look around cos I like to read and review crime novels. 

I haven't heard of Hampton before, but when I read the synopsis of the book I was intrigued so jumped at the chance to join this tour. Having read the book, I bought each of the previous ones in the series because I liked the detectives a lot and wanted to see what else they've done. I'll keep a look out for future books too. This book can be read a standalone, though - there's not much looking back over previous cases. 

Matt Denning is our DI, and he's in his thirties and is a graduate who has been fast tracked through the police to his current role. He is married to Sarah, who is an investment banker. He is a DI in the Metropolitan Police. One of his underlings is Molly Fisher, who I think is a DC. The two of them are the main characters, but there are of course other detectives around. Plus there's a lot of friction between Denning and his superiors, which I liked. 

So the story. First of all, a man is found murdered in a grotty flat on a run down estate. It turns out he is an ex copper who was estranged from his family. Then, a man is found badly beaten up outside his house and is identified as mild mannered academic Dr Cairns. It soon becomes clear that the man lying in the bed is not him - so who's posing as Cairns? Are the attack and the murder linked, and how does career criminal made good Alfie Kane factor into this? 

I liked the story a lot, I thought it was compelling and I wanted both Denning and Molly to succeed. I liked the look back into historic cases; it seems like this is something that is often in the news and which some crime writers have started to use in their books. Like I said, I liked this book enough to buy the others; this is a writer I'll be watching!

The Books of 2020 - Round Up

How many books read in 2020?

95. I realised in December that I wasn't going to make 100, which I'd have liked to do, but I'm still pleased with 95, especially given everything that was going on in 2020. I actually had less time to read - if I was in the house, I often used to go downstairs at lunchtime and read for an hour or more then. But Lee is working in our living room now, so I tend to stay upstairs in our attic room all day so that I don't disturb him. That's cute down on my reading time.

I've set my target as 80 books for 2021, we'll see how I go! 

How many were on paper and how many electronic?
I read 50 paperbacks, which is my preferred method of reading books. I read 9 hardbacks - I find them hard to hold in bed, but I do have some beautiful hardbacks so I try to read them. I read 36 eBooks, which were mostly from Netgalley or blog tours. 

Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio?
I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but let's see... 3! I read They Them Their by Eris Young, Gears for Queers by Abi Melton and Lilith Cooper, and Shut Down Strangers (anthology) about Bruce Springsteen. 

Male/Female authors?
I read 17 books by men, which is up on previous years, but I read more crime novels and they tended to be more split 50/50 between men and women. I read a few anthologies which had authors of all genders, and I read two books by people I know to be non binary - They Them Their and Gears for Queers, as mentioned above (Lilith is non binary).  

Most books by a single author?
I read two books by Elly Griffiths and two books by Nell Pattison and I do believe they are the only authors I repeated in the year. 

Favourite book(s) read?
Ones that have stuck with me are With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen, Unicorn by Amrou Al-Kadhi, The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, Dark Matter by Michelle Paver, and Boy Parts by Eliza Clark.  

Least favourite?
I didn't enjoy a couple of the anthologies I read and skipped stuff. 

Oldest book read?
Almost everything I read was written after 2010, except for one book in 2007 and the oldest, which was Queenie by Alice Munro, published in 1998. Wow, that surprises me. 

Newest?
The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths I reckon, which isn't out yet. 

Longest book title?
It must be Gracie Fanshaw & the Mysterious Guest 

Shortest title?
Toffee by Sarah Crossan

How many re-reads?
I reread Mistletoe & Murder by Robin Stevens, which is my favourite of the Detective Society novels. 

Any in translation?
Not to my knowledge. 

How many of this year's books were from the library?
Five. It's usually more, but well, it's not like I was in the library weekly like I would be normally!

The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg

Where did I get it? I bought it off eBay and I now can't remember why. I'm sure I'd seen someone recommend it, and eBay had it cheapest. I have heard of the author before but hadn't read anything by him. 

What's it about? Max and Jordan meet one summer and fall in love. 

Max is on the baseball team, and is only out as gay to his bro friends, Zay-Rod and Betts (plus his parents). The three of them are total bros, always ragging on each other and taking nothing seriously. Max stays out too late one night just before the beginning of the book, so his mum threatens that he has to go and work with her for the summer. But then he happens upon Jordan and his mum on Jordan's dad's food truck, Coq au Vinny, and witnesses Lydia having a total meltdown. But Max can cook, and Lydia ends up giving him a job on the truck. 

Jordan's dad died a few years ago, and since then Lydia has struggled with her gambling addiction and with keeping the family afloat. They owe five thousand dollars in back mortgage, and Jordan hopes that through the food truck he can earn enough to pay it. But, he can't cook. And the first few times he and Max go out, they completely mess up the food. But then he and Max start working together to serve decent food and drinks, and money starts coming in. 

Max fancies Jordan the first time they meet - he thinks Jordan is cute, and delicate looking. They're pretty opposite people but Jordan starts coming out of his shell a bit. Jordan has two friends, whose names I've totally forgotten, whoops, but he's getting a bit sick of being the campy, bitchy friend. The girls are often completely horrible to him, but they do come through in the end.

Most of this book is a sweet, fun, summer romance type, where they do things like stay up all night and make out, but there's also a couple of serious storylines too, both of which I loved. Max's first sexual experience - the night he got in trouble for - was not a positive one, and I loved the way the book dealt with this, with Max's feelings, and the aftermath. Likewise, Jordan's mum is really struggling, and I liked how this was dealt with too.

This was a perfect book for my last book of 2020 as I absolutely loved it. I would definitely read something else by the author. I liked both Max and Jordan and I liked how they grew as people throughout the book, both separately and together. 

What age range is it for? 15+ I think due to mature themes 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Yep, of course! I like how Max and Jordan both knew they were gay, and were proud of that, before they got together. 

Are any main characters people of colour? Yes, Max is half Mexican, his mum is from Mexico. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? I'm going to give a trigger warning for stuff around Lydia's gambling addiction 

Is there any sex stuff? Yes, and again a trigger warning for sexual assault. 

Are drugs mentioned or used? No I don't think so 

Is there any talk of death? A little bit around Jordan's dad, but it's not too explicit 

Are there swear words? Not many, if at all 

 

What criticisms do I have? Almost none! I loved it! 

Would I recommend the book? Yep, for sure 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? I knew I wanted to get to it quickly and I wanted something I could finish before the new year! 

 

What do I think of the cover? It's cute, although it doesn't give much away. 

 

What other books is it like? I felt it was like an m/m version of The Summer of Jordi Perez. 

How many stars? Five out of five 

 

Where is the book going now? I'll keep it! It's a welcome addition to my LGBTQ+ shelf 

Silent Night by Nell Pattison - Review

As soon as I'd read The Silent House by Nell Pattison I pre-ordered the next in the series, Silent Night. I had enjoyed the first one so thought I'd give the second a go, too. Having read the second, I've already pre-ordered the third, because I think this one was even better than the first! The writing issues that I found in the first book weren't at all present in the second. It felt like a much better written book which let the story shine. 

The main character in the book is Paige. She grew up as the only hearing person in a Deaf family. Her parents are now dead which only leaves her and her sister, Anna, who is now living with her. Paige works as a sign language interpretor between the police and D/deaf people, and she is now seeing Max, who she met during the course of the last book. 

She gets called by the police to go to Normanby Hall, not too far from her home in Scunthorpe. There, five residential teenagers from a local school for D/deaf pupils have been on a weekend trip. But one of them, Leon, is missing, and the headteacher, Steve, is found murdered on the grounds. It looks very much like Leon did it and then scarpered, but his friends aren't sure that can have happened. They're keeping secrets, as are each of the teachers in the school. 

Then, it turns out that Paige's abusive ex boyfriend, Mike, also works at the school. He's determined to speak to Paige, but Paige definitely wants to avoid him and isn't thrilled about talking to him. The story of what happened with him comes out over the book, which I found compelling and a good look into her character and past. 

I generally felt like this book flowed a lot better and was really good; I'd recommend it! I would have liked a little bit more of DI Singh, because I love the sexual tension between him and Paige, but I'm just being picky! 

The Night Hawks by Elly Griffiths - Review

Happy New Year! I'm writing this review in the middle of December, but I'll do a round up of my 2020 books in the next few posts. I'm so glad to see the back of 2020, as I'm sure many people are. 

Anyway, you know I'm a huge fan of Elly Griffiths, having read all her books and having even met her a couple of years ago! I love it when a new Ruth Galloway book is on its way. I requested this one on Netgalley, so thank you very much to Quercus Books for granting me access. 

So, it's 2019 and Ruth is back in Norfolk with Kate and Flint in the tiny cottage on the coast. She is now head of archaeology at the university, and has hired a man called David Brown to take her place as a lecturer. I feel like Ruth is in a really good place in this book. She's still in love with Nelson - she even thinks of him as the love of her life quite far on in the book - but she's accepted he's still with Michelle and seems pretty happy with herself mostly. Kate is in her last year of junior school; I liked the bits with Kate a lot. 

So, first of all a body washes up on the shore near Sheringham. At first the police think he may be a refugee that has died, but it turns out he's a local. Then a local police officer dies, seemingly at random. And then two people are found dead in their remote farmhouse. They are Dr Douglas Noakes and his wife, Linda. At first, it looks like a murder suicide - it looks like Douglas killed Linda and then himself. But the gun is in his right hand, and Dr Noakes was left handed. 

The Noakes' children, Chloe and Paul, are somewhat undisturbed by their parents' deaths. They speak of abuse in their children and how they both hated the farm. There are rumours of a devil black dog who roams the area, the Black Shuck. There is also possibly a body in the garden of the farmhouse, so Ruth and her colleague Ted are called in to investigate. 

She also ends up excavating the Bronze Age body of a man, possibly a priest. Someone else ends up dead - I really felt the body count in this book was high! - and the police are convinced that all the modern deaths are related. 

There's enough of Ruth living her life, which I love to read. Her relationship with her new colleague David is a little fractious, and I did not trust him one bit. There's not a lot of Nelson's personal life, but enough. I loved the ending in this way. I enjoyed the bits with Cathbad too, he is so weird but lovely. If anything I just wanted more from the book, I wanted to see why things had happened and what had happened in the past. It could have been twice as long and then maybe I'd have declared it perfect!

As it is, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked the local folklore aspects, as usual, and I liked the genuinely scary parts towards the end. I do still wonder how/if/when Elly will finish this series, but I'm excited to see where she goes next... 

Nothing Ever Happens Here by Sarah Hagger-Holt

Where did I get it? I bought it. I was talking to my friend Lucinda about books with queer parents, especially books set in the UK, and she suggested this one. I bought it on eBay I think, it's brand new though. 

What's it about? Izzy is twelve years old and is just starting Year 8. She lives in a little town in Suffolk, with her parents, her elder sister Megan, and her younger brother Jamie. She is best friends with a girl called Grace, and at school the two of them are really into drama and have tried out for parts in this term's musical, Guys and Dolls. 

A few weeks into the term, Izzy's parents tell the family that Izzy's Dad is trans. She has been going to a support group for a few months and now wants to live openly as a woman. Each of the children reacts differently, and there's a lot of finding out things about Danielle, and about how to refer to her, and about what she's been through to get to this point. 

Izzy is quite scared about people at school finding out, though. She thinks she'll be the topic of conversation forever if it happens, and she already gets bullied a bit by a girl called Mia. 

As the term goes on, Izzy finds out lots of things about herself and about her parents and her family. I loved Izzy, she's a great main character and I was on her side the whole way. I liked her friendship with Grace; it felt very natural with its ups and downs. Being twelve is hard anyway! 

What age range is it for? Eleven onwards, I think 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Obviously! There are some other trans people in the book, which I really liked. 

Are any main characters people of colour? It's not said, but I think Grace is black. I'm saying this because her surname is Okafor, which is a Nigerian surname. I can't be sure, unless I missed something. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? No 

Is there any sex stuff? No 

Are drugs mentioned or used? No 

Is there any talk of death? No 

Are there swear words? No 

 

What criticisms do I have? Gosh, none. I loved this book. 

Would I recommend the book? Yes a hundred percent. 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? It was down the side of the bed, which seems to be how I choose my books these days! 

 

What do I think of the cover? I like it, it puts a spotlight on Izzy's house 

 

What other books is it like? It reminded me of The Last Days of Archie Maxwell by Annabel Pitcher, although Archie's dad is gay not trans 

How many stars? Ten out of ten 

 

Where is the book going now? I'll keep it!

Ana on the Edge by A J Sass - Review

Where did I get it? I had it preordered because I had seen hype about it on Twitter and wanted to read it! It arrived and I picked it up quite quickly because I was desperate to read it. 

What's it about? It's about a nonbinary kid called Ana, and at the end of the book she is still using the pronouns 'she', so that's what I will use for this review. Of course, in Ana's future she may choose a different name or different pronouns or both, and that's fine. And also of course, she may be nonbinary and use the pronouns she/her/hers, because that's fine too. But I just want to explain why I'm using those pronouns. 

So, Ana is a champion figure skater. She's twelve, she lives with her mom in San Francisco in a studio flat. Her mother works full time and tutors in the evenings and at the weekends to be able to afford Ana's skating, plus all the things like costumes, clothes, trips and so on. Ana's best friend is Tamar, who is a synchronised skater. Their coach is called Alex. 

Alex is about to move rinks to one in Oakland, so it's decided that over the summer, Ana will skate there with him. She'll go every weekday with Faith and Hope, who she knows vaguely, and she'll skate there and work on her new programme for the next year of skating. In return for free lessons, she'll work as an ice assistant with kids who are learning to skate. One week, there, she meets Hayden. Hayden at first assumes she's a boy, and Ana doesn't correct him. 

The two start a friendship, and Ana realises that 'girl' maybe doesn't describe how she feels. She starts to pull away from Tamar. She works with a new choreographer, Miss Lydia, on a dance, and gets a new costume. Both these things scream 'girl', but again, Ana doesn't feel like that. She really wants to live her truth, but is scared of doing that.

I loved this book for many reasons, especially because I felt it dealt sensitively with Ana's identity and how she finds her truth. I also like that it showed a poor family. Ana and her mom live in a studio apartment and share bunk beds; Ana's dad isn't around. I liked how their money situation was handled. I also really liked the look at competitive figure skating, which is something I find interesting!

What age range is it for? It's middle grade, so I'd say anywhere from a mature nine year old upwards. 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Yes! Obviously! It's a broad spectrum. I loved how Ana discovered things about herself, and how she learnt about being nonbinary. 

Are any main characters people of colour? Yes, Ana and her mother are Chinese-American. Ana's mom came from Hawai'i originally, as did Ana's dad. Ana's dad was Jewish, so Ana and her mom sometimes go to temple too. Ana is expecting to have a bat mitzah and there's a lovely bit where she wonders what that might look like for her as a nonbinary person. (I am SURE there are Jewish nonbinary kids who have had a mitzvah!) 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? No. 

Is there any sex stuff? No, and there's a refreshing lack of focus on bodies at all (which is good when you're dealing with LITERAL CHILDREN). 

Are drugs mentioned or used? No 

Is there any talk of death? No 

Are there swear words? No, and actually this is done really well. For instance, Tamar says things like 'flipping' and 'hecka', which I thought suited her perfectly and were really good ways of not having kids swear. At one point she does swear, and the narration says something like "Tamar says a word that would get me grounded for a month" which is SO GOOD. 

 

What criticisms do I have? None, this is so close to being a perfect book. A J Sass is an author that I will definitely be keeping an eye one. 

Would I recommend the book? Yes! A hundred percent! Especially for kids around Ana's age, but really for everyone. 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? I just really wanted to! 

 

What do I think of the cover? I like it, it shows Ana in a costume she feels comfortable in. 

 

What other books is it like? It is comparable to Rick by Alex Gino, which is also great. 

How many stars? Five out of five. Loved it! 

 

Where is the book going now? Oh I'm definitely keeping it! What's next, A J?