03.04.25
Like Williams' later book, My Murder, this story of a coming to terms with being dead was both emotionally involving and beautifully written. It was also, unfortunately, quite similar to the (later) TV show, School Spirits - I hope Williams got some credit.
30.03.25
I've never managed to get through Harrow's celebrated 'The Ten Thousand Doors of January' so finishing this was a step up. But it was also oddly forgettable, even as I was reading it. It could have - should have - been compelling, moody, atmospheric, but instead it was foggy, uneventful and self-consciously overwritten. And the main character had so little charm that it wasn't clear why anyone was rooting for her.
27.03.25
This has glowing reviews but it was just another muddled fantasy murder mystery. The excessive worldbuilding overshadowed - to the extent of distracting from - the plot, so that when the denouement finally came it wasn't a revelation so much as a reinforcement of what had already been made clear. None of the characters were convincing or interesting and it wasn't particularly well written. Despite all this, it was readable enough and gets a few points for trying to be inclusive.
18.03.25
Some reviewers enjoy the more serious approach to relationships (and class and politics) that make this a rather untypical Heyer but it bored me and lacked the light touch of the better Heyers. The male lead was totally unsympathetic, and the female lead remained as dull as she first appeared. The class clashes were handled awkwardly - although the vulgar new-money father was one of the few vivid (if overdone) characterisations.
14.03.25
Despite the terrible cover and misleading but actually perfect title, this is as much proper literary fiction as it is a rom com - in more ways than one, as the main character relates everything to classic novels. A reflection on what makes a worthwhile life, it was the sharp observations that made it so good, rendering the characters real and relatable, even when they behaved badly.
11.03.25
This was trying to be Carrie Soto but its uneven pacing and structure meant you could never properly engage with the story or care whether the characters triumphed personally or professionally. The main male character, in particular, was totally without personality. The ice skating element, while competently researched, just seemed to be the channel through which the relationships and melodramatic plot were delivered - I'd have liked more about what it's really like to compete at elite level. And where was Torvill and Dean?!
07.03.25
Yes, I know, but it was free and had a talking cat. Don't judge me.
06.03.25
Sarah Waters hasn't published a novel for more than 10 years so I was pleased to remember there was one I hadn't read. In her anniversary afterword, she's pretty critical of this, her debut novel, but I think she's too harsh on herself. From the start, the reader is clearly in the hands of a confident and sophisticated storyteller, a late-20th-century Dickens. Yes, it was a bit messy, and the main character is self-serving to the end - and it wasn't quite as good as The Little Stranger, for example - but it's certainly a good read.
05.03.25
A fun, Agatha Christie-style murder mystery set in Fantasyland. The narrative was rather confused and confusing, and I found the main character intensely irritating, but the style was engaging and the worldbuilding fairly strong.
27.02.25
This was sweet in all sorts of ways, including the 'sour' and 'bitter' variety. Set in a a vivid 1990s Jamaica, this was strongly imagined and characterised, although the story was a little oddly paced, which made you less invested in what happened.
56%
17.02.25Telling the story via media channels was an interesting (if hardly original) conceit but it meant that you never get into the heads of any of the characters. The ones who were supposed to be 'good' were so irritating that I expected them to turn out to be the villains. (Spoiler: they didn't. The obvious villains were the villains.)
56%
13.02.25More very American light fantasy, again with a promising central conceit that didn't quite pay off. The worldbuilding was fine, but was all just a bit of a muddle, with uneven pacing and characters agonising over problems that would be solved in three pages if they just spoke to each other.
06.02.25
What is it with all the telling and not showing in family dramas? This could have been a fascinating insight into an unfamiliar world, but it - the characters, the plot, the dialogue - felt cold and flat because everything was exposition. It really needed another edit - but would make a good TV show.
03.02.25
A competent first novel. Dent seems pleasant and erudite in real life, and this comes across here - it's obviously more than a little autobiographical (apart from the murder bits, I assume). Oxford was the main star but the plot was unusual, if a little confused by the end, and the characters fairly well drawn. It might be Dent's speciality but most of the distracting and irrelevant etymology could have been edited out.
29.01.25
Objectively, this isn't a particularly good novel but it's so sweet and positive that it's easy to overlook the general lack of drama and conflict, and the unrelentingly 'nice' characters. It's also refreshing to note that it barely features any men - the girls are definitely able to do it by themselves!
26.01.25
This was bad in almost every way a novel can be bad: characterisation, continuity, exposition, plotting, dialogue... Not quite Danielle Steel-bad but it's surprising from such an experienced and widely read writer.
22.01.25
I'd never heard of Rob Rinder before this book but apparently it's a bestseller because he's famous so I'd thought I'd better read it. Well, it was no John Gresham, apart from the casual sexism in all the depictions of women. Stereotyped characters, messy and illogical plot, not really any action, not really any suspects - at least it seems he didn't use a ghostwriter.
