Be Careful What You Wish for
10.0
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Be Careful What You Wish For, the fourth instalment in Jeffrey Archer's The Clifton Chronicles,...
Beth has a husband who is struggling with Beth’s roles as a mother and a wife and consequently won’t have sex with her. The final main character, Lauren, is a model and seems to have it all. At least that’s what her Instagram posts tell us (and by the way, some of the comments on her Instagram posts are so funny. Not very nice, but very funny!).
These are all very relatable women, we may not have ‘been there’ but we can understand and relate to where they’re coming from. Beth’s employee, Risky (and what an appropriate name that is!) was such a good character - she seemed to be there to remind the reader that everything is normal, and we should support and empower one another as women. And she was hilarious. Because I both laughed out loud and I cried at this book. Parts were just heartbreaking, saved by a healthy dose of black humour.
This is the first Dawn O’Porter book I’ve read, and it’s thanks to The Pigeonhole that I got the opportunity to do so. She’s not an author that I’d immediately think of reading, but I’m so glad that I did. This is an excellent book, and I’d highly recommend it.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2316 KP) rated Guaranteed to Bleed in Books
Jun 10, 2020
I’m glad I was finally able to return to Ellison’s world. The story is strong. It doesn’t unfold in typical cozy mystery fashion, but that didn’t bother me. I got more and more involved the further into the book I got. Ellison is a great main character, and I loved watching the growth in the character here. The rest of the cast is also great, although I wish her Mother weren’t so focused on everything being perfect. I find it funny at times, but it can be annoying. The book walks a fine line between humor and more serious themes, and the result is rich. The book does venture into some PG-13 topics, but know that going into the book and you’ll be fine since it never gets too graphic. I do recommend reading book one before you read this one since it includes fallout from the events of that story. Hopefully, it won’t be so long before I visit Ellison again.
Love And Friendship (2016)
8.0
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LOVE & FRIENDSHIP is an adaptation of young Jane Austen’s novella Lady Susan, believed to have...
Our Little Racket: A Novel
6.0
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A captivating debut about wealth, envy, and secrets: the story of five women whose lives are...
Fiction
American Stranger: A Novel
8.0
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A daughter of Jewish refugees searches for love and a spiritual home in this novel by the National...
Gavin Maxwell: A Life
Book
Gavin Maxwell was a romantic, self-destructive adventurer, brave and handsome, with a deep sympathy...
Are We There Yet?
8.0
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A breezy yet affecting read filled with struggle and hope.--People Among fake Instagram pages,...
ClareR (5846 KP) rated Send For Me in Books
Sep 7, 2021
This was a different take on other books set at this time, and I liked that about it very much. I haven’t read many books about those who managed to escape the Nazi regime and immigrate to safe countries before the Holocaust really began. But it’s no less saddening for that. Annalise desperately misses her parents, and life is so utterly different in the US.
The story swaps between Annalise and her granddaughter, Clare, whose life couldn’t have been any more different. Clare has the much more liberated life of an American woman - whether that’s what she really wants, remains to be seen.
I really enjoyed seeing the juxtaposition between a 1930s immigrant and a modern young woman. Annalise’s fear of being in a big city with no English is palpable - I panicked along with her. It must be so scary to move somewhere that’s completely different to your own life experience, and not even have a common language - something that people have always had to endure for their own safety throughout the ages.
This is a really moving novel, made more so when I learnt that the letters between Annalise and her mother Klara were real - just that the names were changed.
Miranda Reynolds is left to fend for herself and her teenage daughter when her husband literally drives himself off a cliff. She realises her only safe space is with the mother she hasn’t spoken to in a very long time, and the community that she has set up: Femlandia. It’s her last resort.
Now, if I were Miranda, I wouldn’t have prevaricated for so long - I would have turned up on Femlandia’s doorstep pretty fast. This is regardless of the fact that it’s nothing like the safe haven it has always sold itself as.
As I’ve said, this frustrated and gripped me in equal measure. There are plenty of things in this, that as a feminist, made my toes curl. But let’s face it: who wants to read a dystopian novel where everything is lovely, there are no problems, and everyone lives happily ever after? That’s like NO dystopia I’ve ever read about!
This looks at human nature in all it’s glory and ignominy. It looks at some uncomfortable subjects: abuse, control and prejudice (especially misandry and anti-trans). But do you know what? I raced through this, it gave me a lot to think about, and I think it’s well worth a read.