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The Talk of Pram Town
The Talk of Pram Town
Joanna Nadin | 2021 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Talk of Pram Town was a bit of a walk down memory lane for me, as someone who was born in the early 1970’s: playing out with my friends, arranging to meet by speaking face to face with them, no mobile phones. I can remember watching Charles and Diana’s wedding, whilst holding commemorative coins bought by my Nan and commemorative mugs that would never be drunk out of (I still have mine somewhere!). But that’s where the similarities in my life, compared to that of 11 year old Sadie and her mum Connie, end.
Sadie and Connie live in Leeds, and don’t appear to have any other family. Connie wants to hit the big time as a singer, but instead sings at local working men’s clubs, and works at the local supermarket. Sadie certainly lives the first 11 years of her life in a much different way to many other people. This house in Leeds seems to be the most stable and ‘normal’ way of life that she has had so far.
So when Sadie is forced to go and live with the grandparents she has never met, her introduction to Essex suburbia is quite a shock to her system!
I loved this book. It has a real sense of time and place, making me feel so nostalgic for my childhood. I really enjoyed Sadie's grandparents: Jean, her grandmother, especially. It’s clear from the beginning that she has her own secrets, secrets that have embittered her over the years. I felt that the slow reveal of her younger life, and how she deals with Sadie as well as her feelings for Connie and Bernard, were fascinating.
But Sadie really is the most wonderful part of this novel. The way that she approaches her new life with such stoicism, her intelligence and curiosity of the new world that she has to grow to at least like, really made me want to read more.
I can’t wait to see what Joanna Nadin writes next - I’ve loved both this and her last novel (The Queen of Bloody Everything), both of which look at mother-daughter relationships.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this - it’s a joy to read.
  
To Catch a Dream
To Catch a Dream
Morgan Sheppard | 2021 | Contemporary, Romance
9
9.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
i wanted Will and I dont get him!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Caitlin starts a new job, and finds herself drooling over her boss. But with a rubbish childhood and still dealing with an abusive ex, she doesn't think she deserves anyone. But Will is determined, and more importantly, willing to wait for Caitlin.

OH! But for one teeny tiny thing, this would have been a 5 star! I'll get back to that, though.

Cat is still dealing with her abusive ex. He is stalking her and keeps turning up in random places, kicking her door in! So, quite rightly, she doesn't want to start anything, let alone with her boss. But Will is a sweetheart, and once he knows about the ex, he's willing to wait for Cat, as long as it takes.

I loved Cat! She's not perfect, she doesn't pretend to be, but she is working and playing hard. She wants to be rid of the ex, but he isn't taking any notice of her saying no. I LOVED Ben and Alex, Cat's best friends! Oh those guys are the BEST best friends a girl could wish for, made me wish for a male best friend! I love what they do to help her to recover from the ex. But as serious as that is, they are so much fun!

It's not especially steamy, as Cat herself finds out 😉. But that's not what this book is about. This book is about getting yourself free of a toxic relationship, giving yourself time to heal, and letting yourself love again, on YOUR terms. And it's about friendships that can help you do that, IF you let them. It's about falling in love again, when you really didn't expect to.

What that teeny tiny thing was? I wanted Will and I don't get him! He was, in his own words, smitten with Cat that first day, and he falls hard and fast, but HE doesn't tell me. And I wanted him to!

So, for that reason only. . .

4.5 stars, rounded UP for the blog!

**same worded review will appear elsehwere**
  
Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea
Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea
Ashley Herring Blake | 2021 | Children, Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A beautiful story about love and loss
Hazel Bly lived a great life with her Mum and Mama until a kayaking accident. Then her Mum died, leaving Hazel with a scar on her face and terrible anxiety. She wants nothing more than to keep her little sister Peach safe. The Blys move around a lot now. Two years after the accident, they are in Maine. It turns out that one of their new neighbors is her Mama's old childhood friend, Claire. The introduction of Claire into Hazel's world--along with her chatty daughter Lemon--makes Hazel feel unsettled. Plus Lemon is fixated on a local legend, the Rose Maid, a mermaid often seen in the waters. Hazel notes a resemblance between herself and Rose and soon she finds herself as fascinated by the mermaid as Lemon. Because sometimes everyone needs to believe in a little magic, especially when their world is crumbling around them.

"Now it's two and one, with me as the odd one out."

Oh this book is excellent-- an absolutely stunning read, which captures grief and loss so viscerally. I truly felt traumatized at times on Hazel's behalf. With the death of her Mum, she is so afraid something will happen to Peach, or even her Mama, and this fear comes through the pages so strongly. It's heartbreaking. Her fear of being happy again. You just want to wrap this sweet kid in your arms and hug her until everything is okay. Blake writes Hazel so well, and her grief, passion, and emotions come across so well.

Everything in this book is amazing--the magical and whimsical myth of the Rose Maid; the diversity of the characters; and the total acceptance of Hazel's parents being gay and bi. It's not a big deal in this book for parents to be queer or friends to be nonbinary. How wonderful for a YA story.

This is an exceptional tale about family, love, loss, healing, and magic. It made me cry, but it left me hopeful too. It's touching and heartfelt. Highly recommend. 4.5 stars.
  
Starfish on the Beach by Terry Jacks
Starfish on the Beach by Terry Jacks
2015 | Pop
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Continuing the otherworldly theme, as we’re looking chronologically at our lives and youth, this is the next song that hit me as a young person, at the age of seven or eight. The reason it hit me so hard, so young, was because it was one of the first songs that I understood was about death. “I grew up in the Catskill Mountains and Grasshopper grew up in Lake Erie, so we were well away from New York, punk rock or anything that was happening in the ‘70s, we were out in the hinterland. All that I could listen to was AM radio and ‘Seasons in the Sun’ was a massive hit, but lyrically its dealing with death, ‘Goodbye to you my trusted friend.’ He’s dying and I’m a young kid thinking ‘Why’s this guy dying on the radio? What’s he dying from?’ It was so much more than the syrupy, ‘I’ve got love in my tummy’ stuff that had come out of the ‘60s. “And this mystery, I was old enough to know what dying meant, but too young to understand that you could sing about it. Yet here was Terry Jacks singing this very sad, almost suicidal song and it hit me like a ton of bricks. now I started not only having to process music that I was deeply in love with, but also processing lyrics at seven or eight. The idea of the mystery within the song, that there were not only unanswered questions, but the biggest question, death. That’s what rang my bell, it was existentialism in a three-and-a-half-minute pop song. “I didn’t have all the tools to process it artistically at my young age but I knew it was deep, it was important and it was really, really sad. It was almost like a traumatic moment in early childhood that you didn’t experience directly, but indirectly it shook your bones, like the death of a relative you’ve barely met. You can tell everyone around you is ringing like a brass bell from it and that was something I got from that song."

Source
  
How to Find a Princess
How to Find a Princess
Alyssa Cole | 2021 | Erotica, Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy, LGBTQ+, Romance
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A repetitive and lackluster romance
Makeda Hicks loses her job and her girlfriend in the same day. Reeling, she's forced to move back with her grandmother and help out at her bed and breakfast. Being back with Grandmore means hearing more about when Grandmore supposedly had a passionate affair with the Prince of Ibarania--leading to Makeda's mother. Makeda has no patience for this story, as her mother's obsession with being a Princess dominated Makeda's entire childhood. When it never panned out, she disconnected from life (and Makeda), receding into alcoholism and forcing Makeda to grow up fast. When Beznaria Chetchevaliere, an investigator for the World Federation of Monarchies shows up at the B&B, claiming to be looking for Ibarania's missing heir, Makeda wants nothing to do with it. But the beautiful and chaotic investigator is surprisingly persuasive. Can she convince Makeda to go with her--and is Makeda indeed the heir to Ibarania?

"No adventures, no drama, and always there to lend a helping hand, even when her hands were full, that was Makeda."

This was one of my #Pride reads for June, and it sounded so cute. There were definitely funny and enjoyable moments, and I'm always glad to see queer romances in the world, but overall, this one didn't really work for me. I am a sucker for a good Hallmark movie, but even I couldn't get into this crazy idea--an unhinged royal investigator, a reluctant heir... and eventually a lot of fakedating and a cargo ship. It was all too much.

It's hard to believe the instachemistry between Bez and Makeda, especially as we do not get a lot of backstory on the two women. Makeda's "will I go with Bez or won't I" takes an inordinately long time--it was incredibly frustrating. Just decide already! Things are repeated over and over, making the story feel inordinately long. Being unable to get into the characters or their romance, it was just hard to really love this one. The pacing and timing always seemed off. I wound up skimming the last half just to find out what would happen, otherwise it would have been a DNF. 2 stars.
  
All This Has Nothing to Do with Me
All This Has Nothing to Do with Me
Monica Sabolo, Georgina Collins | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
2
2.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well this one was weird… This book has a stunning cover, it is a tiny book, and I knew that this is going to be a quick read, and I bought it for only 10p when a couple of my nearby Poundlands were closing down. I thought it has a fun chick lit story for me, but I was very wrong… I kept reading it because I don’t like to DNF books, but till the last page, I have no idea what was it about.

The main character in this book is MS, and sometimes referred to as Monica, so it gives me a very strong feeling that this is some sort of memoir maybe? The one thing I could grasp was that MS is kind of psychologically unstable, she writes letters to the dead author, her relationship with XX is an absolute mess, but she kind of tries to explain her behaviour, by going back to the past and talking about her mother and stepdad. Yes, she had a difficult childhood, and if the story and format (it is a mash of letters, SMS, pictures, normal text etc.) would’ve been differently presented, it could’ve been an awesome memoir.

The writing style of this book was very unique and original, and it should’ve been really hard to write this book because it is filled with a huge amount of pictures. No, not some nice pictures, but pictures of random things e.g. a lighter taken from XX; sweaters worn on dates; 4pages of scooter pictures which might belong to XX, and many more. I think it took years to collect this amount of pictures, so props to the author for the patience and detail.

So, let me just jump to the conclusions here. This book won France’s Prix de Flore 2013 award, so it has to have something that I am not seeing, right? One thing I know, it wasn’t for me, but if you like award-winning books, which are different and really original, give this book a go, and you might enjoy it.
  
The Twilight Wife
The Twilight Wife
8
8.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
The main character Kyra, confused after diving incident and trying to figure out what happened. The whole story was told from only Kyra’s perspective and other characters didn't have their voice in it. That's unfortunate, because it would've been interesting to hear Jacob's thoughts about the whole situation, which was going on in the book and what was his relationship with the friend from his childhood. Maybe a throwback to the past? All this would’ve given the whole book more twists and suspense, I believe. The characters were not very interesting to be honest; they were not very strong and did not have very charismatic personalities. I noticed that, if a male character looks perfect in the pages, there is something not quite right with him, in this case the same, Jacob was too perfect. Even though Aiden (a mystery man) should’ve been one of the important characters in the whole story, his actions were nonexistent, even at the end he was the most passive one. <br/><br/> I really enjoyed that in every chapter there used to be at least one memory coming back. The suspense was really well thought through, giving those recovered memories like little sips of water in the desert. Unfortunately, the whole plot in this novel is not very original. I saw couple of films with the same principal, but the suspense kept me interested and it was hard to put it away. There is very visible touch of author's life in the book, as she lives by the ocean. There are lots of terms of marine biology in this publication, which got me looking up some terms because I never faced them in my normal life. All the suspense throughout the book was nicely rewarded at the end of it, I really enjoyed it and I loved the fact, that it still left you hanging with some unanswered questions. It had a lot of turns and twists which didn't leave u bored and kept the book interesting. To conclude, I would recommend this book if You would like some twisty and suspenseful novel filled with island life and marine biology.
  
Come Play (2020)
Come Play (2020)
2020 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
One of the more interesting and fresh horror films since “It Follows” has arrived and “Come Play” is a creepy film that captures childhood fears and captivates.

The film follows Oliver (Azhy Robertson); a non-verbal autistic boy living with his mother Sarah (Gillian Jacobs), and his father Marty (John Gallagher Jr.). Oliver communicates via an app on his phone and he awakens one evening to find a story called “Larry the Misunderstood Monster” on his phone. While he attempts to read it, unusual things start to happen such as lights going out on their own and the belief that there is something in the room.

When morning arrives we see that Oliver is picked on at school due to his disability and a past incident where he struck another student. The fact that his parents are strained does not help but Oliver continues to experience unusual events especially in the evening.

Oliver starts to believe that Larry from his story is indeed real and is attempting to enter his world and take him. Unable to communicate this clearly, Oliver soon has his concerns confirmed when students come to his home and he sees Larry via a camera on a found tablet.

As the situation unfolds, the tension mounts Larry begins to manifest himself more and more in our world forcing Oliver and his parents to confront Larry who has become more and bolder in his manifestations.

While the film is shot in darkness for several parts of the movie which makes some things harder to see; it does add to the tension and the story is a nice deviation from the usual killer monster on the loose and provides a more restrained but suspenseful take on the monster on the loose film. The smaller cast works well as it is at the core a story about family and the extent parents will go for their children as well as a look at the problems of loneliness amongst children; especially those with disabilities.

In the end “Come Play” is a creepy, memorable, and refreshing horror /suspense film that stays with you long after the movie ends.

3.5 stars out of 5
  
Our Little Cruelties
Our Little Cruelties
Liz Nugent | 2020 | Thriller
4
6.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
William, Brian, and Luke Drumm--three boys each born a year apart. William becomes a successful movie producer. Luke, a famous singer. And Brian, the steady middle brother, watches over careers, money, and their mother. But none of the brothers are as successful and happy as they appear--scarred by their traumatic childhood and their constant attempts to gain the attention of their mother. Now, the brothers are gathered together again: but only two are alive.

"All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral. But only one of them was in the coffin."

I made a lot of mistakes with this book. First, I thought I loved Liz Nugent, but then I realized I had her confused with another writer, and that I've never read any of her books. Next, I thought this would be more of a true, suspenseful mystery. It is not.

I feel bad, but this book was not for me. It started out slowly and just never got better. The plot drags on and on. While it is somewhat a mystery about a dead brother (which Drumm has died?), it's mostly a character-driven tale about three awful brothers. Because these three men are terrible and despicable, and I found it nearly impossible to become interested in them or their stories.

The book is told in chunks--from the perspective of each brother. Within their parts, their stories go back and forth in time. It's hard to keep track of the passing of time, especially as the book progresses.

This novel could provide in-depth perspective on mental illness and the impact our parents can have on our lives, but so much of that nuance gets lost in our characters and their abject hatefulness. There is little redemption to be had here. I had twinges of sympathies for the brothers, but, at times, I wasn't sure I would care if they were dead. They are truly evil sometimes.

Overall, this book just didn't work for me. I wasn't interested in the characters, and I wanted this to be a different type of story. Many others found this much more captivating and enjoyed the character driven style, so it may work better for you. 2 stars.
  
Anything That Isn&#039;t This
Anything That Isn't This
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well this was a surprising read. Not just a typical YA dystopian novel, but a peculiar, artistic novel complete with illustrations throughout.

For some reason, I wasn't expecting the strange world that Priestley created in this book. The Grey is suffocating Frank, the Ministry controlling his every decision. Most people are okay with it, comfortable in the routine provided. But Frank wants more.

First, Frank is obsessed with a girl from his school. Even after they graduate, he is desperate to be with her - he believes they're 'fated'. But after a while, he realises that maybe she's not quite right for him.

This combines two typical YA romance plots - the "unpopular boy gets the cool girl" and also the "childhood friends become lovers" plot. I think it's a bit unusual to mix the two, but I didn't find anything spectacular about this aspect of the novel.

The whole book has a very strange abstract sort of feel to it; I was unsure at times whether to actually take what he was saying at face value or take it as a metaphor. There are loads of weird myths that are thrown around, many of which play a big role later in the book. 

The friendship with Scape was interesting; it kind of just happened out of the blue and ended in a similar way. And Mr Vertex was a weird character - it was obvious there was something strange about him, and I felt he really added to the abstract feel created.

The book kind of felt grey, but not in a bad way - as in, I felt how Frank felt about his life. I was pretty shocked by how dark it got at the end, quite suddenly. The ending was a bit of a whirlwind, followed by a moment of calm. The calmness was nice, an interesting ending that left your imagination running wild.

I didn't really enjoy this book at first but I did eventually get into it, and quite liked it. I definitely liked the unique feel it had, almost like Coraline. 3.5 stars.