A very uncomfortable read. The narrative made me squirm and identify unpleasant feelings that I sometimes experience myself. Fear forces us to be unlikeable versions of ourselves. This reminded me of 'The dinner' although I found Koch's Book even more unpleasant.

A fast paced, addictive story with enough plot twists to keep you guessing until the end. I enjoyed the Melbourne setting, particularly the scenes in the inner west. I have to admit, I found the ending a bit silly but this is an entertaining, engaging read.

Utterly compelling, brilliantly inventive and highly original. I was hooked from the start. The foetus narrator was a brave move. Because of his sophisticated tastes, there were times when he reminded me of Stewie Griffin from 'Family guy'. Not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the story though.

There were times when I was reading 'Set the boy free' that I thought my heart was going to explode with nostalgia and love. I think that I'd forgotten just how much The Smiths meant to me. I particularly loved Marr's account of going to Morrissey's house for the first time, knocking on his door and asking him to be in his band. The descriptions of Morrissey and Marr writing songs together were truly magical.

A coming of age story dealing with themes of identity, not worrying what other people think, and conforming versus having the courage to be different from the crowd. It had some good moments but it was laboured and dragged in the middle. I got about half way through and skipped to the end. I couldn't help comparing it to 'Luckiest girl alive' which was much tighter plotted and more intriguing.

Beautiful and lyrical. I'm not normally a fan of dystopian or science fiction but I was entranced by this multi-layered story. It was deeply affecting and will stay with me for a long time.