The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood - Review

This book was on my wish list, although I can't remember why, but one of my Secret Santas sent me it for Christmas and I was pleased to get it and be reminded that I wanted to read it! I picked it up at the beginning of January which I realise is a common refrain at the moment because I am desperately trying to read all my Christmas books. It's a noble effort - let's see if I manage it this year when I never normally do. 

So this book has two time periods, now and twenty five years ago. Twenty five years ago there are two eleven year old girls. One of them, Bel, is from a well to do family, being brought up in luxury by her mum and stepdad. She has a little sister. They have horses, etc, all of that. The other girl, Jade, is from a rough family. Her dad owns a pig farm. She has several siblings, some of whom are petty criminals. The two girls do not know each other, but on one hot summer day they meet up while bored and by the end of the day they are charged with the murder of a little girl, Chloe. She ends up left with them and over the course of flashbacks dotted throughout the book we read what happened to her. 

In the now period, the two girls are both rehabilitated and released from prison. They are each thirty six years old and obviously do not know where the other is or what happened to her. Kirsty is a journalist living in London. She has two children, Sophie and Luke. Her husband is currently unemployed so that is putting a strain on the relationship while Kirsty is trying to keep the family afloat. Kirsty is doing really well in life but obviously she keeps her secret from everyone in her life. 

Meanwhile Amber lives in Kent. She is a cleaner at a funfair. It's a dull job but she's manager and she's good at it and takes pride in her work. She lives with Vic, who works on the amusements at the fair. He's very good looking and a bit of a flash boy; all the girls fancy him and Amber isn't really sure why he's with her. Their house is well cared for and loved. Amber's colleague, Jackie, moves in with the two of them because she's basically being stalked by her ex, who is creepy. But Amber starts to distrust Jackie. 

Then Amber finds a dead body in the house of mirrors at the funfair, which is currently out of bounds. Police make connections with the murders of some young women previously, and begin to think they have a serial strangler on their hands. Kirsty, in her job as a journalist, ends up travelling to Kent to report on the story. She meets Amber and recognises her, making her tumble back twenty five years to that fateful day. But then someone else clearly knows who both women are, and their lives are in danger. 

To begin with it's not clear which girl is which, which I found interesting and intriguing. I am interested in ideas around justice and rehabilitation so I found that part interesting too. Both girls were let down by their caretakers and their childhoods, and it is obvious that Chloe's death wasn't premeditated in any way. Both women are strong survivors and it's hard to not root for the both of them. 

I did find there was a lot of fatphobia when describing some characters, which I found unnecessary and unnecessarily cruel. It seemed like lazy writing. I also think there were a few inconsistencies in the plot which should have been caught. One of them was that Chloe was six at the beginning but then four? It annoyed me. 

But overall I did like the book and am giving it four out of five. It is very intriguing and kept me reading. 

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata - Review

I can't even remember where I first heard about this book, but it was a while ago, and I feel like a lot of the bookstagrammers I follow have read it. I added it to my wishlist ages ago and one of my Secret Santas this year sent it to me. I'm really glad they picked it for me; I do keep my wishlist up to date and I'm glad I left this on it for so long because I really enjoyed it and liked reading it. I would read something else by the same author, for sure. 

So Keiko is thirty six years old and she lives by herself in a studio apartment. She works in a convenience store. She has worked there since she was eighteen. She really likes the routine of it, she likes knowing what she should be doing, she likes working out what the weather will mean for what they will sell. She has known since childhood that she is 'strange', so she learns social mores and ways of being from her coworkers. A lot of them are young, student types, and those her age tend to be management. Her parents wish she would get a 'real' job or at least settle down, but she's happy in her lane. 

She is close to her sister, who has just had a baby, and some of her sister's friends. One day she mentions a coworker, Shiraha, to them, and they are overjoyed for her, thinking she's finally met someone. Shiraha needs somewhere to stay after getting fired, and so Keiko invites him to stay with her. Keiko's life is changed but not necessarily for the better... 

I think Keiko is definitely autistic, and I think someone needs to diagnose her maybe and get her some support. I read a negative review of this book which said it was poking fun at autistic people but I really don't agree with that at all. I think Keiko is unapologetically herself and gets even more comfortable with that towards the end of the book. There's a lot about society's expectations of her as a woman nearing forty but I think it's fair to say that she just doesn't care. She's happy with her life and that's fine. 

I'm giving this four out five. I liked it a lot and would recommend it. 

Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel - Review

We've been packing up some of my books recently and I came across this, Hilary Mantel's autobiography. Now I've never actually read any of her novels, Tudor or otherwise, but of course I know of her, and this must have intrigued me enough to pick it up in a charity shop or something. My interest was piqued again so I read it.

And it is marvellous! It is such a good memoir and I would recommend it whether you're a fan of hers or not. A lot of it is given over to her childhood in Hadfield in Derbyshire, a place that I sometimes drive through and know. I didn't realise she was northern! Her family was a bit complicated with aunts and grandparents nearby; the young Helen split her time between a few houses. Her mother started an affair with a man called Jack and he lived in their house with both parents still there. He eventually moved the family out to Cheshire and Hilary never saw her father again. 

There's also a lot given to her second home in Norfolk and how it was a place of refuge for her for quite a long time. She was married young, and later divorced and then remarried the same man. She talks about her university life and the poverty that she and her husband had to face while young and it was a very good portrayal of humdrum life in the 1970s. I liked the stuff around the second home. Hilary seemed to feel almost guilty that she had made enough money to be able to do this. 

But the part of the memoir that resonated the most for me was Hilary's telling of her struggle with endometriosis. It is something that I myself have suffered with and am only 'cured' now thanks to a hormonal IUD. Endo has left me in pain a lot and disabled by it, and it means I wasn't able to have kids. This was the same for Hilary. She talks about sub standard medical care and about being hospitalised in a maternity ward (which would be my idea of hell). It was written to beautifully and so tragically. If you have suffered with anything similar (adenomyosis [which I also have] is equally shit) I would really really recommend it. 

I love life writing and whenever I read something like this it makes me want to write my own memoir for real. I'm giving it five out of five. 

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie - Review

At the end of December this book was just 99p on Kindle so I bought it because I thought it would be good reading for the very end of the year, as all the short stories in it are set in the winter. Plus we were away for New Year and you know me, I like to be reading something on my Kindle when I'm away because it just makes it easier. So I started this just before the New Year and finished it on the 2nd of January. 

Some of the stories are Poirot and a couple are Miss Marple, so that was nice too, to be back in familiar ground. The first story, The Chocolate Box, is one that I recently saw the TV adaptation of, so it was nice to read the story too. I liked all the mysteries and worked a couple of them out, which made me happy. It's Agatha at her best, and I really liked the collection. I'm giving it four out of five. 

Book Quiz 2024

How many books read in 2024?

110. I know the graphic above says 109 and I cannot for the life of me work out which one I didn't record on Goodreads, but I know my paper records are right! 

How many were on paper and how many electronic?

I think I've read approx sixty in paperback, fifteen hardbacks, thirty electronic books, by which I mean read in the Kindle app on my tablet, and I listened to five audiobooks. 

Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio?

I think I read only eight non fiction books. That's just who I am as a person. Non fiction has to be a subject I'm interested in for me to even give it a go, even though I read a lot of different genres of fiction. 

Male/Female authors?

I think I read about twenty three books either by men solely or co authored by men, and a couple by non binary authors. The rest were all - as far as I know - women 

Most books by a single author?

I read a lot of Val McDermid in 2024, and enjoyed each of them! 

Favourite book(s) read?

I really liked Wild Strawberries by Angela Thirkell and am really glad to have found her. I also liked Jean Ure, who I discovered after a friend sent me one of her books 

Least favourite?

The Four by Ellie Keel for sure, I really didn't think it was worth finishing in a lot of ways

Oldest book read?

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F Scott Fitzgerald, which was published in 1925. I listened to it on audiobook and liked it 

Newest?

A couple of the netgalley books I read aren't published until 2025 so let's say one of those: Making A Killing by Cara Hunter

Longest book title?

I'm not adding letters up so let's say something different to Benjamin Button and say The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon by Safinah Danish Elahi. Or Confessions of A Forty Something Fuck Up by Alexandra Potter

Shortest title?

Keedie by Elle Nichol I think 

How many re-reads?

I so rarely reread because there are just so many books waiting in the world to be read! But I had read both stories in Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell before so I guess technically that was a reread. 

Any in translation?

As far as I know none of them were translated. 

How many of this year's books were from the library?

Fewer than the year before I think, as I've been trying to make a dent in my huge TBR pile (shelves full). Reading back over my notes, I think it's twelve, but it feels a lot less! 

Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell - Review

This was one of the books that I got in a Secret Santa I did in 2024 and you know me, I always TRY to read all the books I've been given as gifts soon after Christmas. Sometimes I'm more successful than in other years! But I do always try! So I picked this up soon after Christmas, because it is a winter themed book, so it fitted in well. 

It's actually got two short stories in it, both of which I've read before, although not in one volume before. But I hadn't read either of them for ages so I knew I didn't mind rereading them. I haven't read Rainbow Rowell in absolutely forever but I've always liked her books. 

The first story, Midnights, is about two friends who spend a few New Year's Eves together and who seem to nearly be about to kiss when something happens and then don't. It's a cute story and I liked how Mags fell a little bit more in love with Noel each time. I liked how they came together even after they had come back from their first year in college, too. 

The second story is one of my faves that Rainbow has ever written, because I too am a huge Star Wars fan. Elena goes to camp out outside a movie theatre waiting for The Force Awakens to come out, she imagines that there'll be loads of people and she'll make friends forever and have tons of fun. However, when she arrives, there's just two people in front of her. There's Troy, a middle aged man who is deeply into Star Wars and cosplay and such as the like - he camped out for the prequels, too. Then there's Gabe, who is about Elena's age but who absolutely doesn't want to talk to her. Or anyone. Elena's mum thinks she's absolutely loopy for wanting to camp out in the cold and keeps driving by, but Elena is determined to see it out. This story is a love letter to fandoms and the things we do for the franchises we love. I would recommend it.

I loved this short little book and it was the perfect book to end 2024 on. Four out of five. 

The Examiner by Janice Hallett - Review

You know me, I love Janice Hallett and find her a really interesting author because she never writes books just in straightforward prose and I am so intrigued to read what she will do next because she always surprises me! This book is told through forum messages, text messages, and emails. I love how as a reader you kind of have to fill in the gaps because there's so much you aren't told. 

The protagonists of the book are many. There are six students, who are all starting an MA course in Multimedia Arts or something like that. It's a new degree course and their tutor, Gela, is keen to get funding for future years, so she needs this year to go perfectly. There are three examiners, too. One of them, Ben, sends all the included info to the others. He thinks that one of the students has gone missing, and is possibly in danger, and he wants their opinion on what has happened. This is stated clearly at the beginning of the book, so the reader knows what they need to look out for. 

The six students are a bit of a motley crew. The youngest is Jem, who is only about twenty two and is freshly out of her BA art degree. She has a lot of enthusiasm but is also quite nosy and often private messages others on the course. Her closest friend is Patrick, who is about sixty, and who owns an art supply shop and has been persuaded into doing the course. There is Alison, who was an emerging artist about ten years ago and is seriously the 'face' of the course - it seems like Gela is using her to get brownie points and lets her get away with a lot. There's another woman and two other men; all with different levels of artistic talent and experience. 

Jem soons starts picking faults in her fellow students, but the reader sort of understands why. Everyone tries to placate her and sort of babies her, but they also seem to want her to just stop, too. As the months go on all the students do their assignments - the reader gets to read the tutor's review of them - and then are told that their final project will be to work together on a huge installation for a client. 

I liked the book but I'm not entirely convinced about the pay off at the end. For that I'm giving this four out of five instead of five.