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. 

Sisters... No Way by Siobhan Parkinson - Review and Blog Tour

Hello and welcome to my stop on the tour for Sisters... No Way! by Siobhan Parkinson. It is a pleasure to welcome you here! Please do have a click around and read some of my other reviews. I love contemporary Young Adult literature and read quite a bit of it, so I was thrilled to sign up for this tour.

This book is actually thirty years old and is being reissued. It was first published in 1995. So I kept that in mind when I was reading it, but I don't think it showed itself too much. Of course the girls didn't have phones of their own, and their phones are corded and in the hallway and shared between the family, but otherwise the girls' problems are universal, as are their interests. They like boys and bands and they worry about school and so on. So it definitely stand the test of time!

You can read either half of the book first. I started with Cindy. The book is a vague retelling of Cinderella which Siobhan explains at the beginning of the book. So Cindy is Cinderella. Her mum has very recently died at the beginning - like literally only six weeks before the start of the book. It is told in her diary entries, as is Ashling's part. This gives the reader a really close reading of the book and makes you really empathise with each of the girls. Cindy has just lost her mum and she is of course grieving horribly. She and her dad are learning to be just the two of them, but it's difficult. 

She's having problems at school and she gets sent to the guidance counsellor, Margaret Magee. All the girls think she's a bit wet so Cindy has no time for her, but then her father gets involved and all too soon, Richard and Margaret are dating. Cindy is NOT happy - and I can't blame her because she has only just lost her mother. She acts out a bit and over the summer it seems like the two have split up, but then Margaret is pregnant so the two families will HAVE to merge and learn how to get along.

Cindy is close to her friend Lisa, and her aunt, Richard's sister. She is disabled, in a way that I thought was really well written and well done. Cindy meets a boy and I liked this cute bit too! She deserved some happiness. I liked Cindy a lot and sympathised a lot with her.

I was intrigued to start Ashling's point of view. She is a bit older than Cindy and lives with her mum, Margaret, and sister, Alva. Their parents are divorced and their dad is a bit useless. They have a little half brother but they're not really close to him. Ashling is fiercely protective of her younger sister. She has a boyfriend, Bob, but she comes to realise that the two of them aren't really compatible. She and her sister and mother have got a good rhythm going as a family, and Ashling really doesn't want Cindy and Richard to mess things up! But through her point of view you understand why certains things happen and see different parts of the girls' lives which makes them much more than the wet weekends Cindy thinks they are. I liked Ashling, she's spunky. 

In all I'm giving the book four out of five as I really liked it and was happy to join in the tour. I would definitely read something else by Siobhan soon! 

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch - Review

My friend Helen sent me this book as she had read it and thought I would like it. It was nice to get a little care package from her! 

I really love how this book looks really like the novellas I've read by other authors including Claire Keegan, they're really well designed little books and are so nice to read. I definitely keep my eyes out for these when I'm browing in bookshops, in Waterstones especially. I am grateful to whoever is publishing these! 

The book is about a woman, Maggie, and her mother, Dawn. In 2022, Maggie is an adult, forty something, with children of her own. She is dealing with her elderly father; there is a gap where her mother should be, where her mother has never been. He has got a medical diagnosis that he hasn't yet shared with her and he never speaks of her mother. Then Maggie discovers a letter which reveals a lot about her childhood and about what happened to Dawn. 

Dawn was a young mum in 1982 and not exactly happily married but really it seems like she is just bored. Maggie is a small child and her dad, whose name I forget, is just off to work every day and providing for the family. He doesn't have a lot of time for Dawn, for sure. Then Dawn meets Hazel and they start to fall in love. Dawn leaves the family but in 1980s Britain this meant that she no longer had access to her daughter. Lesbians were considered perverts and she wasn't awarded any custody of her daughter. Instead she had to disappear, although she did send letters to Maggie...

Apparently, the phrases used in the courtroom scenes in the book were taken from actual court proceedings that happened to women who were in relationships with other women and who were trying to fight for custody of their children. That shocked and appalled me because there are questions like 'Has your child seen you having sex with your girlfriend?' and 'What kind of sex toys have you used with your girlfriend?'. It is shocking! I'm so glad things have come on a long way in the forty years since this time. There are tons of families with two mums or two dads or whatever, and I'm glad that is becoming more and more acceptable. But I also like being taught things about queer history that I didn't know.

I liked Maggie as a character but I loved Dawn. It was so easy to understand her point of view; I really liked her. I would definitely read something else by Claire Lynch, and I am giving this four out of five. 

The Killing Time by Elly Griffiths - Review

Elly Griffiths is back! Wooo! This is the second book in her new series about a secret time travelling police team, starring Ali Dawson as the lead detective. I enjoyed the first book a lot so as soon as it was out, I got this. I really liked it. Even though I was suspicious of the premise before the first book, it soon won me over because Elly's writing is so warm and fun that you just get dragged along.

We meet the team when they are banned from doing time travel, because their science girl, Seraphina Jones, is stuck in the 1850s due to happenings in the first book. Ali is depressed and the other science person is working hard to get Jones back, but currently, nothing doing. Ali gets a visit from a distraught mother whose son has taken his own life. She tells Ali that he was under the influence of a spiritualist type of person called Barry Power. 

Starting to investigate Power, Ali and her colleague go to one of his shows. There, Power tells her that he is in touch with Jones. Ali is obviously peturbed by this. Later that night she realises her cat, Terry, has gone missing and she asks the science guy (whose name has left my head, sorry) to help her go back in time to make sure he doesn't go missing. However, something goes wrong, and Ali ends up back in the 1850s. 

I loved the story and was totally wrapped up in it again. There's less of Ali's son Finn which I thought was a shame because I liked him in the first book, but I just loved it. I'm giving it five out of five and I just can't wait for the next one! 

The Haven by Fiona Neill - Review

I got this on Netgalley way back in 2024 but only just got to reading it, for which I am really sorry as I really liked it. Thank you to Michael Joseph and Penguin Random House for granting me access to the book. 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. 

Cass, aged sixteen, wakes up with injuries, but isn't sure where she is or what has happened. Then she realises she's in The Haven. It's an off grid intentional community where Cass' family has been living for the past few months. She can't remember everything but she thinks she has done something terrible. 

It all started at Cass' younger sister's birthday party. Matilda (I think, it's a couple of months since I read this book so the details may be wrong) is about seven and there were family and friends around, including Cass' dad's new friend, Mo. He had recently been travelling and he kept talking about the place he lived, The Haven. Cass' dad loves the idea, but her mum is more uncertain. Cass' aunt thinks it's a loopy idea, and Cass and her older brother, Josh (I think), are aghast at the idea of living off grid. 

However, the family moves there. They have a van which ends up crashing but they do manage to get there eventually. There are a bunch of people already there including a few younger people like Cass and her siblings. Mo isn't there to begin with but he's been texting Cass and wants them to be together. He's grooming her, definitely, it's really gross. The people already there don't want Cass and her family to be there so they're angry with Mo in his absence. She does make friends with some of the teen girls who are there, but there's something weird and cultic going on with them too (which I didn't totally understand by the end, but there was are).

When Cass wakes up the place is destroyed. There was tension with people living across the lake, where everyone in The Haven was forbidden to go. Cass needs to work quickly to save her family and herself.

I generally liked the book and am giving it four stars out of five. I think it was a compelling Young Adult novel, with a lot of intrigue and mystery. 

Barrowbeck by Andrew Michael Hurley - Review

I saw this book recommended somewhere and thought it sounded really interesting so I requested it at the library. I've been using my library a lot this year, it's much better than buying books and my library system has the vast majority of the books I've wanted. I run a craft club in my local library on Monday mornings so pick up books then and the librarians know me well.

This book is set in Barrowbeck, a fictional town on the Yorkshire/Lancashire border. Now I don't know if you've ever been to towns on those borders, but they are hinterlands, somehow neither one thing nor another. often quite remote and isolated. So I could well imagine the setting! The book follows the town from its very earliest foundations until a post apocalyptic future. 

The first people in the area are Ancient Celts, driven out of Wales. They make deals with the local gods in order to settle in the area but are servants of the supernatural forces there. This motif carries throughout the whole novel. We pop into the town every couple of centuries or so and meet the locals. To begin with there's a lot of witchcraft and so on but then Christianity takes over. There's a childless couple who do a deal with the devil in order to have a baby. There's a progressive clergyman who has impoverished children from Barnsley and Huddersfield visit. There's World War One and there's a doctor who knows her husband is having an affair. It's a series of vignettes and I thought it worked really well. 

The final part is set in the near future when the town has been flooded and is no longer habitable. I found this spookiest of all because it was just so believable. 

I haven't read anything by Andrew Michael Hurley before but I know people raved about The Loney so maybe I will read that soon. I really wanted Lee to read this so he bought it to read on his tablet. In all I'm giving this five out of five because I thought it was brilliant.