Cat’s Cradle was first published in 1963 and it is a book out of time and completely of its time. It is a book about big issues, nuclear war, environmental concerns and the role of governments. As you are reading, it doesn’t take long to start reflecting on life, hope and the future.
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger starts with a good premise: a tween who’s not like everyone else.This is a generalisation or more accurately a truism, that most people want to feel necessary, be important and it’s set up from the beginning of the novel that Sophie is all that and more.
As the novel is interspersed with vignettes on cults, their leaders, serial killers and victims, Will Carver has thoughtfully given us (the reader) enough context and examples to assist us in the hunt for the leader and other members of the group, so we are not reliant on the police who appear incapable of solving this in a prompt and satisfactory manner.
I am a sucker for intrepid children who are resourceful and disarming. Whose small efforts make a big difference in their lives and in Lizard’s Tale, the world stage. These are children who have purposely decided to make a stand against obligation, expectations and gender roles.
This is a world of magic and the fight of good against evil abounding with religious allegory.. I wanted to like this book, in fact I wanted to love it given the plot: it had all the themes that I typically enjoy. But I didn’t., which was a crying shame.
I can see why others compare In the Crypt with a Candlestick to Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse, however, it is a zany romp all of its own making. Laugh at loud funny, dysfunctional characters and shenanigans.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo eloquently shows that that love, abuse, the whole spectrum of the human condition is the same and gives no quarter for ethnicity or gender. Her understanding of human beings and ability to convey the complexity of human thought, behaviour and action, through a multifaceted, nuanced depiction of race and relationships in an accessible way, is a triumph.
Orphans of the Tide weaves a tale of history, loss, and love in a joyless, mysterious city, with fantastic world-building and charming characters.
The Bride Test was a fun contemporary read, that showed falling in love, relationships, and family life in a convincing way. Yes, there were coincidences and a happy ending but not at the expense of character development.
Helen Hoang writes perceptive romance novels with a diverse, inclusive cast. They are fun, humorous and sexy.
