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Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated Pivotal in Books

Aug 14, 2021  
Pivotal
Pivotal
Nikki Vallance | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Interesting concept (0 more)
Unnecessarily confusing (1 more)
Still unsure what actually happened
Confusing
Quite a confusing read, and one that I’m still not sure about what happened after finishing it!
We follow four women Dulcie, Elizabeth, Annie and Liza after they get a summons from a solicitor about a potential inheritance they have to decide whether they are going to accept or not. It is stipulated that whilst deciding they can’t speak to their family otherwise they forfeit the inheritance. We follow the women as they try to make their decisions as well as following them through their day to day lives, which are all extremely different. One is a potter, one a dancer, one a head hunter and one a teacher. Their way of making the decisions although different and more in keeping with their personalities, were also similar in some ways.
Although I enjoy the idea behind the whole book, I spent the majority of it confused. Even at the end, I was still confused and it was only because I was reading along on Pigeonhole and had the pleasure of Nikki Vallance answering questions that fellow readers had that I understood what had happened, but without that I’m not sure that I would have completely understood the ending.
The writing was beautiful, but maybe in order to be less confusing the chapters for each character could have been slightly longer and with more obvious time frames.
I want to thank pigeonhole and Nikki Vallance for allowing me to read this book for free, and I want to thank Nikki for trying to answer all of the questions that everyone had without giving away any of the plot, and for explaining it to those of us who were still confused at the end!
  
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ClareR (5726 KP) rated Lady MacBethad in Books

Apr 4, 2023  
Lady MacBethad
Lady MacBethad
Isabelle Schuler | 2023 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I studied Macbeth at school (pre-GCSE), and I don’t think I was told that it was based on a real historical figure - at least I’ve forgotten in the intervening 30-odd years. All I can remember , is that my English teacher at the time, Mr Jones, asked me to read Lady Macbeth’s part, because he thought I suited it! I’m sure I should have been more insulted than I was, but then I always thought that she had the good part…

Lady MacBethad is the story pre-Macbeth and probably closer to the truth. Shakespeare had his reasons for writing his play the way he did (keeping in with the royals and the fee-paying public, perhaps?), but it seems in reality MacBethad had more of a claim to the throne than Duncan.

This novel is of course from Lady MacBethad’s point of view - but she hasn’t got there yet. In this, she’s Gruoch, or as her grandmother says: “Groa, daughter of Boedhe, son of Coinneach, the rightful King of Alba…You will be the greatest of us all”

Gruoch is brought up in a household where her mother remembers her picti and ancient Druid heritage, but her father, Boedhe, follows the new Christian faith. Gruoch is conflicted. But she does know that she wants to be queen, and will stop at nothing to get there.

She’s so young though, and that does come across in some of her attitude, temper tantrums and opinions. She’s certainly undertaking quite some learning curve.

This was such a readable, immersive story, and I found myself backing Gruoch and wanting to actually help her (she would never have listened). I’ve no doubt this will be one of my favourite books this year - and I do wonder if there will be a sequel? I’d read it!