A cautionary tale/ reflection on personal preferences for audiobooks rather than a book review. Anyone else find that they can only listen to certain types of audiobooks? For me its non-fiction, humorous - think Caitlin Moran or first person, plot driven, simple stories. Anything else and I‘m distracted, bored or fed up with the narrators voice. Think I‘ll pick up a copy of this one and start again given the general consensus that it‘s excellent.

Ridiculous, but compulsive reading. Just go with it and you‘ll love it.

There was almost a point in this book where I bailed, but something kept drawing me back. The first and last thirds are fantastic. I would have preferred more of a focus on cal and his growing sense of self, closing the gap between the end of the book and present day, but the family saga was super interesting, just not what I was really expecting or signed up for.

A sort of ‘Sliding doors‘ theme of two stories of one character born as both a boy and then as a girl. I thought it would go further in terms of gender inequalities/differences experienced as male/female and I found it a bit too cutesy in places. No doubt a thought provoking read none the less.

Agree with some of the other reviews that this one took a long old time to get going. Not as good as the first but still a fun, twisty turny, easy read.

This was really up my alley as an easy read. Mysterious interweaving stories and all loose ends tied up with a bow by the end. Looking forward to the next instalment of Jackson Brodie

Great collection of essays covering fatphobia, trolling, censorship, feminism (obvs), rape culture and grief. I would recommend reading it before watching the tv series (also excellent) as I think it would provide a bit more depth and context to the show. Very inspiring read for anyone who needs confidence to call out BS when they see it!

The brief synopsis of this book almost put me off reading it, but I‘m so glad I did. Peter Beech put it perfectly ‘It‘s about how class conditioning can turn you into your own worst enemy, making you complicit in your own subservience‘, tragically Stevens only really begins to truly understand the impact of this and admit it to himself once it is all too late.

A lovely book, told through a dog‘s eyes. fundamentally about living life to the full - not fearing the future or dwelling on the past - things we‘ve got a lot of time to do at the moment especially! I do have a tendency to imagine anthropomorphised characters in a rather cartoonish way which was quiet a challenge given the subject matter - war, grief, loneliness - anyone else have this tendency?

Meh. Controversial, but this just didn‘t do it for me. Nothing really happens and that which does didn‘t really capture my imagination. Maybe if I were a bigger Harry Potter fan it would have helped? I loved Eleanor and Park, so had high expectations but was rather underwhelmed.

Wow! Absolutely loved this. Unlike anything I‘ve read before including any thrillers. It‘s so eerie and chilling and all the characters are totally unlikeable, except maybe Francis. It really gets under your skin this one!

I enjoyed the writing style of this book and found the story gripping but the main plot details seem to be skirted over very quickly and without much depth or proper explanation. It reminded me of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep with its village full of secrets

I spent more time berating myself for not reading this book than actually reading it! Anyone relate? But today I reminded myself that now, more than ever, I need to read for pleasure and escapism. so I‘m hang up my hat and moving onto something that will bring me joy. I‘ve nothing bad to say about the book, it just wasn‘t for me and I found it really hard to stay focused with the stream of consciousness. And so onto something a little more me!

Continuing my adventures in YA I came across this lovely book! Set against a backdrop of 80s music and culture, it tells the story of two worlds almost colliding. Would love to see an adaptation of this, apparent there is one in the pipeline!

Beautiful book. Only gave it so-so as I listened as an audiobook and that didn‘t really work for me. This is really a book about family and grieve more than travel, and it is beautiful and painful all at once.

This tackles so many massive issues head on & in such a positive way. As a YA book, it made me consider and question the level of responsibility YA authors have for their target audience. I tried to imagine how much this book would have meant to me if I was reading it as a young woman today (a great deal) and, if I were the mother of a young woman, how terrified, but fundamentally delight I would be if they read it too.

Very glad I agree with the 100% of readers who also loved this book. So much of it reminded me of my own childhood growing up in the Essex suburbs. It really is a book for anyone with unconventional or complicated family dynamics. Enjoy!

‘Doing more is not being more‘ - couldn‘t have put it better myself!

This was recommended to me by a friend as a dog lover/owner but I couldn‘t get on with it and it‘s doesn‘t look like Jackapoo Holly liked it much either!! The sweet narration exposes a series of horrible events and I found the contrast really jarring. I also just couldn‘t relate to any of the characters. So what‘s next from the massive ‘to read‘ pile...?

This little book has a lot of heart! Beautiful tale of friendship, love, mortality and morality. It really reminded me of The Book Thief in a lot of ways. Highly recommend for a quick, thought provoking read.

This little book has a lot of heart! Beautiful tale of friendship, love, mortality and morality. It really reminded me of The Book Thief in a lot of ways. Highly recommend for a quick, thought provoking read.

Loved the interview format, gave the book real depth and momentum. Really captured, what I imagine to be, Californian rock and roll in the 70‘s. But forget Daisy, Camila is the real hero of this book!

Absolutely gobbled this up! I was expecting it to be similar to the Netflix series, but expect for the broad theme and some small details it couldn‘t be more different. It‘s a drunken, creeping, disorientating read and full of suspense until the very last page! Loved it.

Surely one of the greatest openings to a novel ever, right?!

This is the most devastating, heart wrenching and haunting book I‘ve ever read. it repeatedly broke my heart and left me sobbing at the end, sounds terrible but my god what a book!! Such beautiful fully formed characters that you care so deeply for. A masterpiece!

Read this after Women‘s Prize for Fiction nominees: Sally Rooney & Oyinkan Braithwaite, so had high hopes. I enjoyed the soundtrack weaved in and thought it tackled grief and the underwhelming realities of adult life well. However, I agree with others that it was rather mundane. Stephanie felt underdeveloped and I was disappointed that Melissa‘s breakdown was glossed over, it felt like a missed opportunity to tell a more interesting narrative.

My first post and always a bit nervous to give my view on books for fear of sounding stoopid. But...absolutely loves this, I‘ve never read anything like it as a novel, more poetry in places than prose. Parts of it were way over my head but the bits I did get were so moving and relatable. Highly recommend