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Reiko LJ (126 KP) rated The Psychology of Time Travel in Books

Aug 13, 2018

The Psychology of Time Travel

Kate Mascarenhas | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Mystery, Science Fiction/Fantasy

8.3

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

Engaging, fully formed world (1 more)

Complex female characters

This book had my interest on the premise alone, enough to give it a shot - but I didn't expect it to be such an enjoyable ride.

Usually when fiction tackles time travel concepts you get glaring paradoxes, intentional blurring of details or overdone tropes but this book actually pulled it off well. Rather than focusing on the usual quandaries faced by time travelling instead we had a plethora of content I'd never even considered before!

From the humble beginnings of the four 'pioneers' in the '60s (which most books would have kept focus on) we jump forwards to the modern era and have what happened between was filled in through very natural exposition and character discovery. The result is a rich and vast world I wanted to know more and more about. What a fantastic concept to show modern day Britain with a history knocked off course by the creation of the conclave and decades of shared knowledge.
I was repeatedly impressed by the level of detail that Mascarenhas took things to (the time travel terminology/slang definitely being one of them!) and the areas she covered.

Over the course of reading this book I found myself bringing up the book in conversation at work and home. I couldn't help but talk about it. It was also at this point, in describing the book, that I suddenly realised there were no male characters of note in the book at all. This absolutely took nothing away from the story. The women in this story were fully formed and real enough to be flawed. Such a refreshing experience in sci-fi! I was pleasantly surprised by the romantic sub-plot between two women as well. This was such a natural progression of the story, with no fan-fare or overdue focus - it was just right and wonderfully depicted.

The themes covered by the book are equal parts beautiful and painful - just like life itself. What an incredible debut novel from a voice I am keen to hear more from.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an ARC of this book in in exchange for an honest review

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ClareR (5996 KP) rated Killing Beauties in Books

Feb 5, 2020

Killing Beauties

Pete Langman | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Killing Beauties is about the female spies (She-Intelligencers - isn’t it funny how they could make even that sound like an insult 🤔) who worked for the exiled Charles Stuart during Cromwells reign. Charles Stuart himself sends two female spies back to England to turn Cromwell’s Secretary of State, John Thurloe, into their accomplice using their feminine wiles and training. This is actually based on the true story of two female spies - not something that any of us are usually taught in history lessons at school (perhaps due to their methods!). This is a story with heaps of subterfuge and betrayal, and women who are determined to do the best job they can for their King and their secret society. It was quite amusing in places, which was a little light relief in an otherwise tense story. There’s loads of great historical detail too - think sights, smells and sounds.

It’s a really fun book - fast-paced and with a feeling of danger. I loved it!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising the book, and for Pete Langdon for commenting along with us readers!