Book review: I, Witness by Niki Mackay

4/5 stars Audible version, narrated by.. a whole bunch of people. This is the story of a young woman  – Kate – just released from prison, where she served time for killing her best friend Naomi at a party 6 years earlier. However, Kate is not convinced she actually committed the crime (she doesn’t really…

Book review: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

4/5 stars Just because this is a book about high school girl cliques and one of the girls is called Regina, don’t make the mistake of thinking this is Mean Girls. Actually, scratch that, this is exactly Mean Girls. Down to the colour coordinated clothing. Except it’s not funny, and nobody is hit by a…

Book review: The Sealwoman’s Gift by Sally Magnusson

3/5 stars Audible version, narrated by Katherine Manners This was an interesting premise, and certainly seemed very well researched. The story was also well told and included plenty of interesting events and descriptions to paint a picture of faraway times and places. It just didn’t really grab me. It’s a very strong 3 though, and…

Book review: Cracked up to Be by Courtney Summers

4/5 stars After having read and fallen in love with Sadie by Courtney Summers, it’s safe to say that I had pretty high expectations of this novel, though I knew it was Summers’s first, so I couldn’t reasonably expect it to be as well polished, plotted and written as Sadie. And it isn’t, but it…

Book review: Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

3/5 stars Audible version, narrated by Stephanie Racine. This was a well-written book, and should by all rights be a 4 star review, but for me personally it just wasn’t that engaging, which is a personal preference thing, but that’s what I’m writing about – so it only gets a 3. A very brief summary…

Book review: You Are Not You by Simon Rosenberg

2/5 stars So… Thanks to Netgalley and the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. And unfortunately, because I’m being honest, my review of this particular book is not very positive. I very nearly gave up on this one several times, and ended up skimming through…

Book review: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

4/5 stars Audible version, narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Partly because of the sheer volume of this book and partly because I have a bit of a hard time with Russian authors, I’ve been putting off Anna Karenina for a long time, knowing that somewhere down the line I’d simply have to give it a try….

Book review: The Map of Us by Jules Preston

4/5 stars This was a free review copy from Netgalley. The book loosely follows the history of the North family through several generations and from the POV of quite a lot of people. It’s a story of kindness, extreme violence, hope and grief.  It’s a story of charts, numbers and indexes, of a turquoise blue…

Book review: Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland

4/5 stars Audible version, narrated by Imogen Church Trigger warning: domestic abuse We follow Loveday Cardew, who has worked in the Lost for Words second-hand bookshop since she was 15, and full time since she left school. She is a tough, pierced and tattooed book lover, who is determined to make it on her own…

Book review: Sadie by Courtney Summers

5/5 stars Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC. HSP/trigger warning: paedophilia. Wow, this book really got under my skin. And if I hadn’t had other things to do I probably would have finished it in a day. As it was I read the last 70% or so in one…