ClareR (6081 KP) rated Small Mercies in Books
May 22, 2023
1970s Boston, America, and the school districts want to merge the separate schools for black and white children. Except your average white Southie doesn’t want that to happen, and they’ll do anything to ensure that.
There are violent demonstrations, tensions boil over, and amongst all this a young black man is murdered. At the same time, Mary Pat Fennessy’s daughter goes missing. At first, these two events seem unconnected, but as Mary Pat searches for her daughter it starts to look otherwise. And somehow, the Irish mob are involved.
Mary Pat is the ultimate tiger mother. Her daughter Jules, is her only surviving child, and she’ll stop at nothing to find her - dead or alive.
This is brutal, and proves that ultimately revenge profits no one. The heat simmered off the page, as did the threatened and real violence. The writing is gorgeous despite the violence, and is a masterclass in how a writer can make the most ugly things so astonishing.
I’m expecting to see a film adaptation of this at some point - it reads like a screenplay.
This may well be my first novel by Lehane, but I doubt very much that it will be my last. Thanks for introducing me to another new-to-me author, Pigeonhole!
Small Mercies
10.0
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'Mrs. Fennessy, please go home.' 'And do what?' 'Whatever you do when you're home.' 'And then...
Historical fiction Literary Fiction
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Other Words for Smoke in Books
Jun 11, 2023
Kindle
Other Words for Smoke
By Sarah Maria Griffin
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Twins Mae and Rossa’s summer away from home becomes life altering when they discover a house full of witches, experience devastating first love, and face a dark power beyond any imagining.
Sarah Maria Griffin’s haunting and literary sophomore novel explores the balance between love and fear, weakness and power, and the lengths one will go to claim one’s freedom. For fans of Libba Bray’s The Diviners and Maggie Stiefvater’s All the Crooked Saints.
When the women from the house at the end of the lane went missing, none of the townspeople knew what happened. A tragedy, they called it. Only twins Mae and Rossa know the truth about that fateful summer.
Only they know about the owl in the wall, the uncanny cat, the insidious creatures that devour love and fear. Only they know the trials of loving someone who longs for power, for freedom, for magic. Only they know what brought everything tumbling down around them. And they’ll never, ever breathe a word.
This was the strangest book I think I’ve read in a long time. I really enjoyed it. The story was so strange but had you needing to read more. At first I have to admit I did think of not continuing with it but I’m so glad I did. The talking cat completely through me well worth a read.
Of Hoaxes and Homicide
8.0
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The second in the delightful Dear Miss Hermione mystery series from Anastasia Hastings—when you...
Hard By A Great Forest
9.0
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Saba’s father is missing, and the trail leads back to Tbilisi. It’s been two decades since...
Murder at Glenloch Hill
8.0
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Set in Edwardian Britain, American transplant Stella, and British aristocrat, Viscount “Lyndy”...
Taming of a Wolf (Viking Wolves #2)
10.0
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Jamie Could a grumpy Viking werewolf be the missing piece my broken family needs? Between...
Vikings Historical Contemporary Time Travel MM Romance
Debbiereadsbook (1664 KP) rated Ziggy's Gift (Liverpool Boys #5) in Books
Dec 14, 2025 (Updated Dec 14, 2025)
This is a novella in the Liverpool Boys series, and you really should read Saving Ziggy before this one. Much will not make sense if you haven't.
Ziggy and Marc are 7 years married, settled into life happily. But *something* is missing, they both cannot pinpoint what, so a break away over Christmas seems perfect. What they find, will change their lives forever.
I found this the most PERFECT end to Ziggy and Marc's story!
It's so full of love! Marc and Ziggy are very much in love. That fact shows on every page, and finding the bundle in the summer house? Makes their lives complete.
I loved that there was very little steam here! Ziggy and Marc make plans for *fully* enjoy their down time, but plans go awry!
It emotional, though, on a deep level. Finding a baby will wreck anyone, but taking that baby on? Takes a huge amount of emotional upheaval but Ziggy and Marc own it, beautifully!
All the other *boys* and their partners are talked about, and some pop up at the end, so that was a lovely catch up with everyone.
This really is, the most fitting end to Ziggy and Marc's story.
5 full, but very sweet stars
*same worded review wil appear elsewhere
Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles (Babs Norman Hollywood Mystery #1)
3.0
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Asta, the dog from the popular Thin Man series, has vanished, and production for his next film is...
Humour Mystery Historical
The Path of Redemption
Book
With Grand Protector Faust missing and Caesar dead, Senator Frigus is trying to hold the fraying...
Alternate History