The Other Bennet Sister - Janice Hadlow

58%

08.03.26

This was charming and well characterised, although Austen did most of the hard work. As it's basically fan fiction, it suffers where it departs from Austen's example - being bogged down in endless exposition (so much telling, not much showing) and the occasional distracting head hopping away from the protagonist's point of view. And as for the completely contrived misunderstandings near the end... if even the characters admit they should have just spoken to each other, then the plot simply isn't strong enough.

Perspectives - Laurent Binet

59%

04.03.26

I tend to avoid translated novels as they're usually sterile and stilted, but this was the opposite - smooth, fast-paced (for an epistolary novel - recounting a police chase by letter is an eccentric choice) and fascinating. Apparently, its cheeky take on Renaissance figures is controversial among those who know the period, but I don't, and it got me looking up most of the characters in Wikipedia. And I laughed out loud when the murderer turned out to be [x] because... of course it was.
 

Into the Midnight Wood - Alexandra McCollum

51%

01.03.26

This read like a first attempt at writing a novel by someone who'd had some guidance but not enough editing. The best thing about it was the almost-accidental fantasy elements - they just happened to be there, in that world. But otherwise it was all a bit awkward, and the drawn-out romantic difficulties could have been resolved after a quick chat (and a development edit).

Fleishman is in Trouble - Taffy Brodesser-Akner

 61%

25.02.26

This is archetypal lit fic, in all senses. It's introspectively character driven with very little actual plot, and the New York setting almost a character in itself. It's vividly and wittily written, just on the edge of pretentiousness. It can be read at surface level or appreciated for its clever narrative device in which the omniscient narrator is a subtly critical friend of the protagonist. And the feminist message is fascinatingly complex. It's a book that can be admired and enjoyed but, while both are true for me, I don't think I'll remember much about it in a month.

Blade - Wendy Walker

53%

19.02.26

This ice-skating drama had all the elements of a really good literary thriller but they don't add up to a place on the podium. Some parts were really interesting - the potential for abuse at the heart of competitive sport, in particular - but it needed a stronger edit to avoid a forgettable performance.

The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands - Sarah Brooks

64%

15.02.26

Strange and beautiful, the world and characters drawn with care, and the plot, such as it was, gathering speed like a train on the tracks. This  leisurely, intelligent story perhaps needed a little more steam power to really get going.

The Thrashers - Julie Soto

60%

10.02.26

A fun and thoughtful high-school supernatural thriller that leaned into the ridiculous horror tropes while also tackling the universal desire to belong. It could have been developed a little more - there were parts that needed more (and others that needed less) focus, and the protagonist didn't really have enough conflict, but generally it was engaging and mostly unpredictable.

Check and Mate - Ali Hazelwood

57%

06.02.26

You can tell from the title that this is ridiculous in almost every way but Hazelwood is good at what she does and somehow it's still cute and engaging and relatively unpredictable (and quite educational about chess) if you don't think too carefully about the Cinderella fantasy of it all or the disappointingly flat ending.

The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Caruso

64%

05.02.26

Well written, vivid, exciting, clever and fun, this story throws you straight into the careful worldbuilding, with strong female characters taking charge and the men mostly just afterthoughts. But it did lack a little something emotionally - neither the romantic nor the maternal love were quite convincing enough.

Always On My Mind - Carys Green

40%

02.02.26

An interesting premise, poorly executed. The author needed to spend less time thinking about how it would adapt for Netflix and more time improving her writing skills. 

Learning to Swim - Clare Chambers

61%

28.01.26

I could say exactly what I said about Back Trouble but this was slightly more memorable, with more vivid characters. I didn't like the anti-only-child rhetoric though!

A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering - Andrew Hunter Murray

44%

24.01.26

This couldn't be more different to the previous book I read - it's all action and gentle British humour. What it does have in common is the lack of character development and emotional engagement, making it instantly forgettable.

The Atlas Six - Olivie Blake

41%

19.01.26

Gosh, but this was boring. Was there even a plot or was it just badly written, pretentious philosophical worldbuilding featuring eight or nine characters with an interchangeable personality? 

The Perfect Golden Circle - Benjamin Myers

54%

14.01.26

This is lit fic at its most self-referential, like the crop circles it describes - carefully crafted and ultimately meaning whatever you want it to. 
 

The Bones Beneath My Skin - TJ Klune

57%

12.01.26

The genre might vary but a Klune novel will always have a male/male romance, found family, a supernatural element, awkward dialogue and jokes in surprising (sometimes inappropriate) places. This was essentially an action thriller with an eye on a Netflix adaptation but that made it feel rather superficial and I doubt I'll remember much about it in six months.

The Unknown Ajax - Georgette Heyer

53%

09.01.26

Heyer is a dependable comfort read when I'm under the weather (I've been winged but not by a pistol) and this, as usual, featured vivid characters and gentle humour, but it's also a little dull (despite the smuggling subplot). Much of it hasn't aged well since the 1950s - marrying one's cousin and bullying a queer relation lands rather differently these days.

The Wishing Game - Meg Shaffer

53%

05.01.26

I knew I had to write a review for a book I'd finished yesterday but it took me a good ten seconds to remember what that book was. Which isn't a great sign. I really liked Shaffer's The Lost Story but this, while competently written, was somehow both emotionally detached and overly sentimental. 

Woodworking - Emily St James

69%

02.01.26

The new year's off to a strong reading start with this engaging, funny, moving and ultimately satisfying character-driven story that uses every type of narrative voice to convey many types of identity. I was less keen on the underplaying of the inappropriateness of the teacher/student relationship, and the lack of trans men amongst the vivid queer cast, but overall a good read.

Novels I started but didn't finish in 2025

While I read just a chapter or two of some novels and just didn't come back to them, there were only few this year that I devoted time to and then abandoned. 

In alphabetical order by author:

• One Day With You - Shari Low: just no.
• The Hungry Dark - Jen Williams: I got three-quarters of the way through this but it was so unrelentingly grim, and the characters so improbable, that I couldn't finish it.
• The Year of the Child - Niall Williams: too pretentious to bear.

I started and wasn't enthralled by but may come back to:

• The Friend - Dorothy Koomson
• Aphrodite - Phoenicia Rogerson

The Golden Age of Magic - Luanne G. Smith

43% 

29.12.25

The author tried hard with the worldbuilding but maybe should have spent more time thinking about plot, pace and clarity.