The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell - Review

I love to read Lisa Jewell's books as I know they're always a decent and compelling read. I have had this one on my kindle for a while and picked it up towards the end of September. It was very compelling and I would really recommend it. 

The novel has two parts to it. In the first part, it is the spring of 2017. Kim, aged only about forty, is babysitting for her grandson, who is only a year old. Her daughter, Tallulah, is a teenaged mum but has taken to it brilliantly. She has gone back to college and made some friends there. She loves being a mum. Her baby's dad, Zac (maybe Zack, I can't remember, it's a few weeks since I read it), has been living with Kim, Tallulah, the baby and Kim's son too and has been doing well at fatherhood. Basically, Kim knows they're young but isn't worried. They go out on a date night and it late comes to light that Kim discovered an engagement ring and thinks that Zac was about to propose to Tallulah. 

When she wakes up at 4.30am though, Tallulah and Zac aren't back. Kim thinks this is really out of character and throughout the next day she makes her rounds, trying to find them. Zac's parents are really unconcerned; they're pretty disengaged from their son's life and reckon he'll turn up sooner or later. Kim discovers that the kids were in the local pub the previous night and were seen with some people that Tallulah was at college with, including a girl called Scarlett. She lives in a mansion just through the woods from the village, so Kim heads there. 

Scarlett and her mum are there and say that Tallulah and Zac were there, but aren't anymore. They rang for a taxi in the early hours and headed off. Kim reports the two missing but the trail goes cold. No one knows what happened to the two teenagers on that night. Kim is left bringing up her grandson. 

In the other part of the book Sophie is just about to move to the village where Kim lives, nearly eighteen months after the teenagers went missing. There is a school in the village for like rich kids who have been kicked out of other schools. Scarlett used to be a pupil there before she had been to college with Tallulah. Sophie's boyfriend has just been made principal there, and the job comes with a house on the grounds. Sophie is a writer so can work from anywhere, so she moves with her boyfriend. The house is idyllic and she is keen to settle in and get some writing done. She writes crime novels; she's very popular in like Denmark but not so much in England. 

Only a few days after moving in, Sophie discovers a sign just outside her back garden, just into the woods, saying 'dig here'. She does, and she discovers the engagement ring that Zac had. She doesn't know the story of what happened though, so she starts to do some investigation. Clearly someone around knows more than they're letting on...

I liked both the women and their stories, and how they intersected. I liked the culmination of the book although it did stretch believability a bit. In all I'm giving it four out of five and am glad I read it when I did! 

The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey - Review

My friend Katie recommended this book to me, saying that it has ties to the Yorkshire Ripper case and that I would like it. Both of our mums grew up in West Yorkshire when the Ripper was active; they were in their teens and twenties when he was active and it must have been terrifying. Don't forget also that these women had also been young children when the Moors Murderers were discovered, also very close to where they were living. I honestly think that these events had a lot of influence on our mothers and plenty more from the area, which influenced how they parented us. I would love someone to do some research on this actually!

Anyway, the book. At the beginning is a paragraph from Jennie Godfrey explaining that her dad knew Peter Sutcliffe and that this had a big impact on her as a young child. I think that the fact Jennie lived through it did show itself in the book in a negative way, which I'll explain. 

The book is set in 1979 and the main character is Miv. She is twelve. She lives with her parents. Her dad works for a haulage company. Her mum is unwell and hasn't spoken in months. Sometimes she is well enough to come downstairs and sit watching the telly, but often she's in bed. Miv's aunt, whose name I forget, but who is a very buttoned up human with a lot of opinions on life, has come to look after the family while Miv's mother can't. These days we would understand that she is suffering from some kind of mental health collapse or PTSD but obviously it's the late 70s so it's not as understood. 

Miv's best friend is called Sharon. She lives with her parents and is quite spoilt by her mum. Miv absolutely loves Sharon's mum and likes going round there, and the mum is very kind towards her too. The two girls are interested in the Ripper case and when they hear one of the police involved say that he is 'somebody's husband, somebody's son' they decide to do their own investigations. 

They start off by looking at the new owner of their corner shop, Mr Bashir. In Miv's corner of West Yorkshire, Pakistani immigrants were thin on the ground. Omar has been widowed and has moved out of Bradford with his son Ishtiaq, who is subjected to racist bullying at school and otherwise. Mr Bashir does have a couple of things that the police posit the Ripper has, so he goes on the list. He and Ishtiaq get friendly with the girls, though, and I loved this part of the book. 

They also suspect a teacher of theirs, and some other men. They do end up uncovering some genuine villainy, including some perpetrated by a local vicar. But otherwise they're kind of meddling in everything and annoying people. Sharon begins to get tired of the 'game' and she's growing closer to Ishtiaq; she's further along in puberty than Miv and is beginning to get tired of childish things like Holly Hobby. Things that Miv still really likes! 

In general, I liked Miv and I liked her family set up, but I thought the book fell a lot flat. I felt there were a lot of bits where Jennie was telling the reader the story of the Ripper, to get you caught up in case you didn't know it. I'm guessing she used a lot of her own story and memories in these parts, but it's too cold and not 'showing' enough of the story to the reader. Ultimately this put me off the book and I can only give it three stars. I messaged Katie saying I hadn't really liked it and she said her mum felt the same. Mine quite liked it, though, so it's a mixed bag of reviews! 

He Loves Me (Not) by Maire Zepf - Review and Blog Tour

Hello and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for He Loves Me (Not) by Maire Zepf. It is a pleasure to welcome you here. Please do click around to read some of my other reviews. I was provided with an electronic copy of this book for review purposes but was not otherwise compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

I love a novel in verse, as you know, and have read a bunch in the past ten years. So when I saw this blog tour I immediately signed up for it. This book was originally published in Irish but is being published soon in English, and it's very worth it. I recommend it. 

The first protagonist is Daisy. She is best friends with Erin and she lives with her mum, Fiona, who she calls Stone Age Mum. She and Erin are kind of outsiders at school; they get comments from more popular girls that they have never had boyfriends etc. They're fifteen but they're both a bit young for their age. Erin is one of four kids and Daisy is a bit jealous of her big family. 

Then Daisy gets a message one night from a boy called Shay. He's a bit older than her and they start a back and forth relationship. In verse, it moves very quickly - all too soon Shay is calling himself Daisy's boyfriend. She is glued to her phone which annoys her mother and starts to estrange Erin from their friendship. Daisy thinks that Erin just doesn't understand and she starts to see herself as a bit above Erin I think. The two have a massive falling out and then Daisy goes to meet Shay...

The second half of the book is told from Erin's point of view. I'm not giving any spoilers but I liked her part too. The book is emotional and oh so realistic. I grew up on the internet in the late 90s and early 00s and you just didn't know who you were talking to! It's scary to think that teens these days don't know either.

I would definitely read something else by Maire and am giving this four out of five. 

Another Man's Poison by Ann Cleeves - Review

I picked this book up in a charity shop a couple of months ago I think, and picked it up in early September. I knew it was one of Ann's older series, but I haven't read any of them, so I was intrigued to get into this. I think that her writing and her series have improved over the last couple of decades as I don't believe her earlier writing stands up to her current writing. It's not to say that this book is bad, because it isn't, but I think it was just a bit 'cosy' which isn't really my kind of thing. 

It's part of the George and Molly Palmer-Jones series. They are a married couple, George is a keen bird watcher and also solves mysteries, clearly. In this book, he and Molly are on their way somewhere and they decide to stop off at the house belonging to her elderly aunt, Ursula. When they get there, they find her dead body. 

Ursula lives on a huge estate owned by a man called Marcus Grenville who is a politician hoping to rise to the top. He wants Ursula out of her cottage so that he can convert it into a holiday cottage, but she has refused to move and she obviously has tenants rights. Then she discovers that he has been using illegal bait on his land which has killed a rare bird of prey and also her beloved cats. She marches into his house where he is having a dinner party and accuses him of using the illegal bait. And the next day she is dead, which is a little bit too coincidental for Molly, who starts investigating her aunt's death immediately.

Grenville is a typical lord of the manor, used to throwing his weight and money around to get what he wants. He has a wife - Olivia maybe? - who is a recluse and who never leaves the manor house. He has two grown up children. His daughter is a bit fragile, she had a breakdown and she now does pottery and lives with her husband. His son - James, maybe, it's a while since I read this - is very much in his father's shadow but eager to take over the running of the estate. At the dinner party that Ursula interrupted he had brought his girlfriend, Emma, to meet the family. She isn't used to their world - she's a nursery nurse - but she's nice enough. 

There are so many secrets in this book and I thought the mystery got lost a bit. Plus as I say Ann has really bettered her writing over the past thirty years so this didn't thrill me, but I'm giving it a solid three out of five. 

Hard Place by Gab Torr - Review

I can't remember where I heard of this book, I probably saw someone I follow on Instagram reading it. I requested it at the library and when it came in I took it away for the weekend with me. However it took me ages to read because it was SUCH a slog. I really didn't like it at all. 

Billy is a twenty something and she's a lesbian and she has been in a relationship with a girl called Rose, who breaks up with her on the beginning of the novel. Rose has sort of controlled Billy for years, leaving Billy to barely make a decision by herself. But now she has to move out and she doesn't have anywhere to go. She had an abusive childhood and her addict mother has died. Billy was mostly raised by her grandad, who still lives in his bungalow by the sea. She has a strained relationship with him although it's not exactly spelt out why. I think he finds her sexuality hard but the book doesn't really expound on it. Anyway Billy doesn't want to go back to her seaside childhood home so she has to trawl through roommate ads. 

She answers one placed by Sid, who is non binary, and Rhoda, a cis lesbian. They are loud and unapologetically queer and talk a lot about taking accountability and holding space for each other in their communal flat. Sid works in mental health care and Rhoda is kind of between jobs, propped up by her parents. Her parents also happen to own the flat that they all live in which is very yikes and which is never really unpacked. 

They have a ton of friends and they get Billy involved in their clique but she's just kind of - removed? Apathetic? From her own life and her new life. I just didn't get her at all. I didn't get the book. Maybe I am just too much of an older queer to understand what Gen Z are doing. But I DO have polyamorous friends, I do believe in accountability and making space for each other, but I don't think the book DID that. I think it skirted with the concepts but just didn't get there. Billy almost becomes self aware but then she doesn't. I found it just so annoying and sadly I can't recommend the book. I wouldn't read anything else by the same author unless someone REALLY sold it to me. I am giving the book two out of five. 

Not Going to Plan by Tia Fisher - Review

 

My friend Jane, who is a school librarian - shout out to all school librarians! - visited me in August and we were talking about the state of UK Young Adult contemporary fiction, which is one of my favourite types of YA fiction. I really feel like contemporary YA has dropped off in the past decade or so and specifically over the past six years. Everything in YA seems to be fantasy or romance, neither of which I'm massively keen on. I was complaining and Jane told me to check out Tia Fisher. So I looked on my library system and this was available, so I requested it. When it came in I took it on a weekend away and read it really quickly. 

It is a book told in verse from two points of view. It's similar to other books told in verse, and I really liked using that form to tell a story like this. 

The first point of view is Marnie's. She has been thrown out of her private boarding school and has to go to the local comprehensive to get her GCSEs done. The only spare seat in the classroom is next to Zed, who is a loner and a nerd and who absolutely doesn't want to talk to her. But they do form an unlikely friendship and Zed starts tutoring Marnie in Physics. She is very arty and wants to do Art at college but she needs her other grades to be high enough too. 

She makes Zed go to a party and while she's there she has sex with a boy who pretends to wear a condom. This is called stealthing and it is SEXUAL ASSAULT. It is coercing sex under false pretences and it is NOT right. I want to be SO clear about that. Marnie does eventually realise what exactly has happened to her IS assault, IS rape, and so on. She gets help.

She ends up pregnant and she ends up getting an abortion. I was SO pleased to see an actual medical abortion written about on page. She takes meds and yes it isn't pleasant, but Marnie gets through it. She is a fighter, I really liked her. She makes Zed be friends with her and she also makes some other friends whose names I've forgotten but I really liked the little gang they had forged together. 

Meanwhile Zed. He's harder to get a read on but I did like him. He definitely read as autistic to me, as does his mother. His mum is a single mum and got pregnant via a donor, so it is just her and Zed. He's very set in his ways and he thinks he's fine being a loner at school, but he realises that actually, maybe making friends and being a bit bolder isn't a bad thing. 

I loved how this explored sexual consent and abortion. Tia Fisher clearly did her research and I think it's a really powerful book. I definitely want to read something else by her! I'm giving this four out of five. 

The Names by Florence Knapp - Review

My friend Stacey raved about this book so I requested it at the library and I had to wait a while because it was in hot demand, but eventually it came to me and I read it at the end of August. It's mid October now though and I'm only just getting round to reviewing it. I'm so far behind but trying SO hard to get caught up because I keep forgetting the details of books and it's incredibly irritating. I am relying on google!

Anyway! This book is about Cora, a mum with two children. In the autumn of 1987, she sets out after the notorious hurricane to register the birth of her six week old son. In a Sliding Doors kind of way, in each reality she chooses a different name and we get to see what happens to the family in each one. We catch up with the family every seven years until almost the present day, when that baby is now an adult. Cora is married to Gordon, he is the father of her children, and he is abusive towards her. He is a GP after failing to become a surgeon like his dad, and he's got a massive chip on his shoulder about it. Maia, their little girl, is old enough to realise what her dad is like.

In the first reality, Cora names the baby Bear, at Maia's suggestion. He becomes that cuddly bear when he is seven. At that time, Gordon is in prison for murdering a man who came to Cora's rescue on the night that she told Gordon that she had named the baby Bear. Cora and the children have escaped from his clutches and are rebuilding their lives. Maia is very protective of her baby brother but life still has its tragedies. Maia is left with PTSD from her dad. 

In the second reality, Cora names the baby Julian, which is her choice. I don't want to give spoilers for this reality because it was so shocking to read and I want every reader to have that experience too. I loved the ending of Julian's arc. No more from me! Read the book!

In the third reality, the baby is named Gordon, after his father. He is very much moulded in his image and is nearly as cruel as his father. Cora is still married to him and in his clutches and the abuse to which she is subjected is horrific. By the end she is not allowed a key to her own house, is not allowed out without Gordon being there. She is an old lady and still suffering. Maia tries desperately to get her mother free. Gordon Jr has had his problems but there is light at the end of this arc.

I loved Cora and Maia and the baby in each story. Cora and Maia are easy to sympathise with and I loved the triad that the three had. Gordon is incredibly easy to believe - you know people ARE as abusive as that. He is AWFUL, but so well written. A very good villain to hate. 

It is a really interesting concept and I think Florence Knapp did brilliantly. What impact would a small and yet huge decision like this make to your life? It's fascinating to think about. My only criticism is that sometimes I found it hard to remember what that particular iteration of the baby had been doing last time. It would have been easier to read if you read all of Bear's story first, then all of Julian's, and then all of Gordon's, rather than going B/J/G/B/J/G etc. But that might just be me! I really liked the book and will definitely look out for Florence's next book. In all I am giving this four out of five.