Cuckoo by Keren David - Review

Where did I get it? It was one of the first books I ever got on Netgalley, but it has shamefully taken me until now to read it. Many thanks go to Little Brown Books for letting me read it, though. 

What's it about? Jake is sixteen and an actor. He's been on Market Square, a popular soap, until a few months ago, when his character, Riley Elliott, was sent upstairs and not seen again. Jake has been auditioning for other parts but it's so far come to nothing. His dad, Neil, is determined to sort out what is happening with Riley and whether Jake will reprise the role, only Jake's agency isn't being very helpful. The family is running out of money and Jake is getting stressed about life. Add in that his brother is nonverbal and autistic and the family have to move makes Jake want to leave home, so he ends up staying with friends for a while. 

The book isn't told in a straightforward narrative like this, though. It's told as scripts of web episodes that Jake has made and put on to the internet. For some reason, Market Square has been cancelled, and people are blaming Jake for it. He's attempting to get his side of the story across by having some parts where he just talks to the camera, and other parts where he gets some of his fellow actors to act the parts of his parents, brother, friends. 

It's not the most in depth book, because it is told through scripts and web episodes, but I thought it was a unique way to tell a story and quite interesting. I felt bad for Jake and I wanted to know what had happened and how he would tell the story. I liked the inclusion of viewers' comments too, it showed how a lot of them just wanted the gossip and didn't care what had happened to Jake. 

What age range is it for? 14+ 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Yes 

Are any main characters people of colour? Yes 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Yes, as the above too, but none of these stories are told in much depth. They are there, though. 

Is there any sex stuff? No 

Are drugs mentioned or used? No 

Is there any talk of death? I don't think so. 

Are there swear words? No. 

What criticisms do I have? Not many, really. I liked the format. It was a cute book to read on holiday. 

Would I recommend the book? Yes if you're a fan of the author. 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? I was scrolling for ages through the books on my Kindle app and I saw it and remembered I had wanted to read it. 

What do I think of the cover? It's very colourful and eye catching, so I like it. 

What other books is it like? Gosh, I can't think of any. 

How many stars? Seven out of ten. 

Cuckoo was published in August 2016. I was given a free electronic copy of the novel but was not compensated in any other way for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Tree Surgery for Beginners by Parick Gale - Review

I picked this book up after I'd been to see Patrick in Sheffield as I wanted to read more of his stuff. I've loved the books of his I've read before, but this one didn't wow me on the same level. It took me nearly a week to read it, which is so slow for me especially as it's not even three hundred pages long.

So, the book is about a man called Lawrence. Somewhat of a loner as a kid, he has grown up to be a tree surgeon. He is the only child of a widowed mother, Dora. They live in Gloucestershire, although Dora is American. She came over when he was small, and then her brother Darius followed and is a father figure for Lawrence.

Lawrence is married to Bonnie, the daughter of a client of his. She is kind of way out of his league, but the two of them seem to have an okay marriage. They have a little girl, Lucy, who is three or four.

Lawrence and Bonnie have a fight after Lawrence accuses her of having an affair with an architect friend of hers, Craig. Bonnie falls and bangs her head. She then takes off with Lucy and her faqther, who has never liked Lawrence, registers her as a missing person. A body is then found in nearby woods, and Lawrence comes under suspicion.

Okay, so the book seemed to be going one way, only then the body isn't Bonnie, and Lawrence is released. He then ends up accompanying Darius on a cruise on the SS Paulina. Darius is a bridge expert and is there to teach others how to play. On the cruise, the two f them get close to brother and sister Reuben and Bee. Lawrence begins to enjoy himself despite himself, but makes plans to leave the cruise in Miami to go to Chicago to see Lucy. He also starts an affair with the ship's singer, Lala.

Things go awry for, like, the next two hundred pages. There's all kinds of weird happenings and coincidences and nothing ends up like you think. The narrative swaps places a few times which I found strange. I'm giving this four out of five but really it's more of a three and a half. Odd. Odd book.

Trip to Sylvia Plath's Grave

Last month I was in Todmorden overnight with friends and on the Sunday we went to Hebden Bridge to look at all the lovely shops there. I had been reminded in the morning that it was Sylvia Plath's birthday, and I know that she is buried in Heptonstall, just above Hebden Bridge, in the graveyard of what was Ted Hughes' family church. The couple lived there for a time, I think. I am a big fan of Plath's work, so I suggested to my friends that we went to find her grave.

I know plenty of people who have visited Plath's grave but I've never done it myself. I had the notion that it was hard to walk to, but when I googled it, I saw that it really wasn't. The churchyard itself got full, so there's another cemetery just across the way, which is where Sylvia is buried. You can drive right up to the church, but it's a bit of a strange rutted lane that you have to drive down first.

We set off up the very steep hill to Heptonstall, taking it really slow. I really wouldn't like to drive up there in bad weather. You can walk up Church Lane from the middle of the village, but that would have been too much for me, so we drove around Hepton Drive and turned down the lane towards the church. We parked and went into the graveyard. I had read that there isn't explicit directions to Sylvia's grave, but that it was easy to find, and it is. There's a middle bit with memorial plaques to people who have been cremated, and she is just off that centre square. Her grave is filled with flowers and pens and little stones and, at this time of year, conkers.

It was beautiful to see her grave and I'm glad we bothered to. The graveyard is very peaceful and the grave is obviously well attended. I first read The Bell Jar when I was in my mid teens, around twenty years ago, and as a teenager who suffered from mental ill health it really resonated with me. I recommend it if you've never read it, but trigger warning for mental illness and suicidal ideation. I also love a lot of Plath's poetry. I have some of her journals, too.

The epitaph on her grave is from the Bhagavad Gita, which I really like. It meant a lot to me as both a reader and a writer to be there, I'm so glad we went.

A Convenient Marriage by Jeevani Charika - Blog Tour and Review

Hello and welcome to my blog for this stop on the tour for A Convenient Marriage by Jeevani Charika. I am really thrilled to welcome you all to my blog! 

I liked the sound of this book and read it while I was on holiday last week. I like reading books about people from cultures different to mine, so I was excited to read about two Sri Lankan people.

The book takes place in a few different time periods. First of all, in 1995, we meet Chaya at university in Oxford. She has left her family in Sri Lanka to study in Oxford. She is the "clever one" between her and her sister, who is the "pretty one" and who is already married. She knows that her parents want her to settle down and get married when she's finished her degree. However, she meets Noah, a fellow student, and the two begin a relationship. Chaya really loves him, but she knows her family won't approve if she marries a white man, so eventually she has to break up with him.

In 2005, Chaya lives a somewhat spartan life. She has never got over losing Noah. She goes to work, she goes home to her tiny bedsit, she tries to keep her panic attacks at bay. Noah is visiting her university, so she goes to see him, and realises all that she's lost. On a trip home to Sri Lanka, she thinks that maybe it's time to let her parents introduce her to some eligible men with a view to marriage.

Meanwhile we meet Gimhana. Gim is a lawyer in London, although he's also from Sri Lanka. He is climbing the ladder at his law firm, although he's one of the only people of colour who work there. His colleague, Barry, tells him that he'll never be made partner if he isn't married because of the firm's family values. Gim is gay, and there are rumours about him at work. He is terrified to come out to his family, so he just has random hookups.

Chaya and Gim meet at a party and quite like each other. Over the next year, back in London, they become friends - Gim helps Chaya through a number of mental health crises. Then Gim has an idea - they could get married. It would be a marriage of convenience, they would never sleep together and are free to sleep with other people, although not to be in other relationships.

Next, we meet Chaya and Gim several years later when everything is about to unravel. They're both in their mid to late 30s and although they are friends, they are finding that their convenient marriage is becoming a hindrance.

I believe this is Jeevani's debut novel under her own name, but she has written under the name Rhoda Baxter previously. I would be really interested in reading more of her work as I liked her characterisation a lot. I'm giving this book four out of five!




Here's a little bit more information about the author:

Jeevani* writes multicultural women’s fiction. She was born in the South of England, but spent much of her childhood in Sri Lanka, with short forays to Nigeria and Micronesia, before returning to settle in Yorkshire. She studied Biochemistry and Microbiology at Oxford and ended up working in university technology transfer. All of this, it turned out, was excellent preparation for becoming a novelist.

She also writes romantic comedies under the name Rhoda Baxter. Her books have been shortlisted for the RoNA awards, the Love Stories awards and the Joan Hessayon award. She is a member of the UK Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors.  

Jeevani loves all things science geeky. She also loves cake, crochet and playing with Lego. You can find out more about her (and get a free book by signing up to her newsletter) on her website. www.jeevanicharika.com

(*Jeevani is pronounced ‘Jeev-uh-nee’. Or just call her Jeev) 

Social Media links

Website: http://www.jeevanicharika.com

Twitter: @rhodabaxter, and @jeevanicharika  

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Author/Jeevani-Charika-369662313887613/

Newsletter sign up (get a free story):  https://www.subscribepage.com/JCwebsite

Left for Dead by Paul J. Teague - Blog Tour

Hello and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Left For Dead by Paul J Teague. I'm really happy to be welcoming you all to my blog today.

I said I would join in with this tour because I was intrigued by the premise of the book. It's set in Morecambe, a place I know and really like. I'm really happy to be reading more books set in the north as I sometimes feel like we're lacking representation. I liked the book and the main characters of Charlotte and Will.

Please do check out the other stops on this tour!

Here's the blurb:

A return to the past. Two guilty secrets. A memory that won't stay buried ...

When Charlotte and Will Grayson return to the seaside resort where they met as teenagers, they hope it'll help to heal the wounds in their marriage.

But visiting the dilapidated holiday camp where their relationship began brings terrible memories back from the past.

The man who'd once made their lives hell has come back to find them - only, the last time they saw him, they'd left him for dead on the beach.

As the threats to their new life become more severe, Charlotte and Will discover that they were mistaken about what happened to Bruce Craven on that fateful night.

And now he's returned to finish off what was started thirty years ago.

Sometimes the past is best left alone 

Left for Dead is the first book in the Morecambe Bay Trilogy.

Book 2 is Circle of Lies and will be published on Monday 9th December 2019.

Book 3 is Truth Will Out and will be published on Monday 6th January 2020. 



And here's a little bit more information about the author:

Paul Teague writes thrillers, sci-fi and non-fiction books.

Writing as Paul J. Teague, he is the author of the Don’t Tell Meg trilogy as well as several standalones such as Dead of Night, Two Years After, Now You See Her (with Adam Nicholls) and So Many Lies.

His latest thriller trilogy is set in the coastal town of Morecambe in the UK.
Paul studied, lived and worked in Lancaster and Morecambe between 1983 and 1991 and the books draw from his personal experiences and knowledge of the area.

The first book – Left for Dead – is released in November 2019 and the follow-ups – Circle of Lies and Truth Will Out – will be published in December 2019 and January 2020 respectively.

Paul is a former teacher, DJ, waiter and BBC radio producer, presenter and journalist.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulTeagueUK

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulteagueauthor/

Thriller website: https://paulteague.co.uk/

The Secrets He Kept by Jackie Walsh - Blog Tour

I'm happy today to be joining in the blog tour for The Secrets He Kept by Jackie Walsh. Please do check out the other blogs on this tour!

This book is set in Ireland and is about Sally, a thirty-something year old mum. She's a hairdresser working all hours because her husband, Tom, lost a lot of money several years ago, money that she was saving to open her own salon. 

The couple have three children - Amber, who is fifteen, and three year old twins Aaron and Cian. Sally feels that Amber is pulling away from her. She's quite resentful of Tom, because he lost all her savings, but she excuses him of a lot of things because she loves him. 

One Saturday she's at work when a girl turns up and shows her a photo of her boyfriend, Kenny. Then she shows Sally a photo of Kenny and his dad. Sally can't believe her eyes - the man in the photo is her husband. But surely he can't have another child, can he? One that he has kept from Sally?

Thank you very much to Hera books for the opportunity to read this book. I was provided with an electronic copy of the book for review purposes, but was not otherwise compensated for this post. 

Patrick Gale at Off the Shelf Festival

You might not know that I am a huge fan of Patrick Gale, because I've never reviewed any of his books on here, but over the years I've read a few of them. Plus he wrote my favourite book of all time, Notes From An Exhibition. It's about an artist, Rachel Kelly, who is found dead in her studio, witha series of unfinished paintings around her. It's told through those paintings, and through them the reader learns all about Rachel's husband and four children, as well as her past and life. It's brilliantly done, and I love Rachel and the family. I first read the book over ten years ago, when my friend Amy, who is an artist herself, pushed it into my hands.

It's about madness, and family, and family madness, all of which are things I love in a book. I think it's so cleverly done, and I also really like how there are queer characters who are just incidentally queer - their relationships aren't pulled apart for the reader. I would really recommend it if you've never read it. My original copy went missing a few years ago but if I ever see it in a charity shop I always buy it because I like to have spare copies to hand to give away to friends.

I saw a few weeks ago that Patrick was appearing at Sheffield's Off the Shelf Festival so I asked my friend Sarah if she would come with me. She also really loves Notes From An Exhibition. We both read it before we knew each other, so bonded over it! Sarah agreed, so we bought tickets and then made plans to get together during the day before the evening event.

The whole day was just ridiculous. On the way to Sarah's, my car started overheating and I limped to hers, then phoned my breakdown people. The rain was awful and the breakdown people were later than they thought they would be. Then the garage the car was taken to couldn't help me, so I had to drive very carefully back to Sarah's where I just abandoned the car. The rain was apocalyptic and it was so dark, so we got Sarah's husband Tom to take us into town for the event. We made it! It was stressful, but we made it!

Patrick was in conversation with a lady asking him questions. He's very eloquent and talked at length about his books, about his most recent book Take Nothing With You, about surviving the Aids crisis, about his screenplays, about his characters, about his early life. I could've listened to him talk for ages, because it was really lovely. Apparently there's going to be a film of Notes From An Exhibition which excites me very much!

I bought a copy of Take Nothing With You and then we joined the signing queue. It didn't take long to get to us. I had six books with me and Patrick signed each one and I told him how much Notes means to me. He was really kind and gracious and it more than made up for the disastrous day!

Here's some photos:

There were quite a few people there

Firth Hall was a really lovely venue

And here are all my signed copies! I really want to read them all immediately!