Under My Skin - Juno Dawson

55%

04.10.26

While schlockily confirming my view that tattoos are a bad idea, this was oddly paced, with a confusing ending that explained little and left many of the storylines un-inked. 

In Case I Go Missing - RN Swann

56%

30.06.26

A competent smalltown 'kids on bikes' (well, teens in cars) mystery that wasn't particularly distinct from similar YA stories and TV shows.

Your Time is Up - Sarah Naughton

51%

28.04.26

Who knew exams could be so exciting? Especially if 1) there are lots of flashbacks and 2) everyone leaves the exam room to generate the plot because exams are not exciting at all. But it was fine, even if the villain was obvious from the start and there was an unprofessional number of typos for a traditionally published book.

If You Could See the Sun - Ann Liang

52% 

11.03.26

This has a great premise and (slightly) unusual setting but it doesn't explore either enough. The tediously self-involved protagonist can turn invisible - so many possibilities! - but most of what she gets up to is skimmed over. Also not interrogated was the love interest letting her take the fall for something he was also involved in. But it's fine, as long as they're together, right?

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.

Absent - Katie Williams

68%

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.

This Time Tomorrow - Emma Straub

 

60%

09.07.23

Despite the quirky cover and the '13 going on 30' (or 16 going on 40) premise, this was solid literary fiction that interrogated all the big questions. Its knowing references to the 'Back to the Future' tropes prevented it getting too bogged down in its own dynamics, but it still lacked cohesion in many place - and the characters (which included New York) weren't particularly interesting. But, overall, a fun and thoughtful read.

I Have Some Questions For You - Rebecca Makkai

 

60%

28.06.23

This was an entertaining and thought-provoking read but overall it didn't quite hit the mark. Despite its narrator's obsessive focus on an old murder, it ended up too flabby, too meandering, too in need of a decent line edit. And it would have been far more interesting if the narrator had actually been the murderer - perhaps the reader was led that way a little - but instead the ending was just flat. Also I suppose I need to resign myself to tedious pandemic-related content in any novel written after 2020.

Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty

 

64%

31.08.22

The strong, engaging (female) characters made this one of the better Moriarty novels, even if (spoiler!) it had the same formula as The Guest List, i.e. 'identity of murdered person will only be revealed at the end but clearly the man who abuses women will get his just desserts'. I also like the Australian-ness of it all: it's disappointing to note it was adapted for TV with an American setting. 

The Last Graduate - Naomi Novik

 

57%

01.04.22

Copy and paste my review of the first book in this series, except it's even more frustrating that there's probably a diamond in the rough here if only it didn't read like a first draft. The weird Anglo/American stream-of-consciousness style is no doubt a deliberate choice (Novik is an experienced author, after all) but the many moments of confusion it causes brings the reader out of the otherwise-promising story. Get an editor, already.

A Deadly Education - Naomi Novik

 

67%

25.02.21

Naomi Novik is up there with Frances Hardinge in terms of original, well written, speculative fiction. And this compelling, deliciously dark take on the magic school genre could have been brilliant if only its endless exposition had been trimmed by a no-nonsense structural edit and its awkwardly inconsistent Anglo-American phrasing had been transformed into a proper dialect. But I've noted a frustrating lack of editing in her previous novels (here, here and here) - she's not doing her writing any favours when such promising material isn't polished to the extent it deserves. 

The Stranger Diaries - Elly Griffiths

52%
23.09.19

This reads more like an under-edited first novel than the latest from a prolific novelist. Narrative, plot and characterisation make little sense, although it's entertaining enough.

One of Us is Lying - Karen M McManus

69%
13.01.19

This is rather a good novel masquerading as a trashy one. Yes, it's pretty clear whodunnit from the start, and the title gives you an instant Abba earworm, but the characters are unusually engaging and the writing style is surprisingly skillful. Most of all, it's simply entertaining.

Different Class - Joanne Harris

Didn't finish

I wanted to find out exactly when the misdirection promised on the cover was going to materialise but it was so slow that it almost went backwards and I ran out of patience.