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ClareR (6256 KP) rated The Spoiled Heart in Books

May 26, 2026  
The Spoiled Heart
The Spoiled Heart
Sunjeev Sahota | 2024 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I’ll be honest, I’m not too sure how to explain The Spoiled Heart, but I will say that I can’t understand why Sahota’s books aren’t more widely known and read. This is the second book I’ve read (The China Room being the first), and I will be reading his two earlier novels at some point!

Nayan is a man with a past: he loses his son and mother in a senseless fire (an arson attack), and turns to activism in his local Trade Union after the collapse of his marriage. He’s a caring man who. Looks after his father with dementia, even though they’ve always had a very tense relationship.

When he decides to run as the trade union General Secretary, Megha decides to run against him, even though she has far less experience and comes from a very affluent background. Nayan also starts a relationship with Helen, an old schoolfriend of his sister, who has a teenaged son.

There’s a lot going on in this - more than I could possible tell you in this short review (and why wouldn’t you read it instead?!), so I won’t!

I liked that it was written from the perspective of Sajjan, who is investigating what happened to Nayan and his own family’s involvement. This gripped me from the off. It’s a novel with big topics, big feelings and big reveals!
  
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ClareR (6256 KP) rated The Mars House in Books

Oct 1, 2024  
The Mars House
The Mars House
Natasha Pulley | 2024 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Can I just say that I loved a book and leave it at that? Because this is one of those books.
Ok, a short summary:
January Sterling is a climate refugee, escaping the floods and intense heat for the Mars colony of Tharsis. Life as an Earthstronger on Mars isn’t ideal. He and the other Earthstrongers are seen as a danger to the native Martians: they are much stronger because of the weaker gravity, even though they’re much smaller. January and his fellow Earthstrongers are discriminated against and given the worst manual labour jobs.

January meets a Martian politician who is staunchly anti-Earth stronger, an somehow ends up in a sham-marriage. Of course, it’s a slow-burn romance with lots of peril, lies and climate change politics.

My only complaint, is that in trying to make the characters asexual, they all read as being very male. Perhaps it was just the way I read it.

The Mars House has a lot to say about climate change and its refugees - and the predictable refugee-haters. Instead of boats, they arrive in space ships, and the inhabitants of Mars are as scared of, and enraged by, these people, as some elements in our own society today.

I really enjoyed this book, and I loved how different it was to Natasha Pulley’s previous books. Whatever will she write next? I’ll be waiting!
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2633 KP) rated The Unkept Woman in Books

Mar 2, 2026 (Updated Mar 2, 2026)  
The Unkept Woman
The Unkept Woman
Allison Montclair | 2021 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Body in Sparks’s Apartment
When Iris Sparks returns to her apartment one night after work, she is shocked to find an unexpected visitor. It’s someone she is less than happy to see, especially since she thought the person was out of her life for good. After quickly going to the Bainbridge’s for the night, she thinks things are behind her again – until a body is discovered in her living room. Who was the victim? And who committed the murder?
 
If you have yet to meet the ladies of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau, I don’t suggest you start here. Despite the prologue, which has a scene two days before the story really starts (yep, still hate that literary technique), the book takes some time getting into the mystery. Instead, we get some updates in the ongoing soap opera infused storylines. But, as a fan, I was there for it. Things only pick up once the murder happens. Despite my focus on Iris in the teaser, Gwen gets plenty of her own moments to shine, and the plot couldn’t have been solved without both of them. And they continue to be two compelling leads I can’t wait to spend more time with soon. Fans looking to catch up will be as hooked on this entry as I was.