book review

Graham Norton’s debut novel Holding attracted significant media attention and glowing reviews. Most likely because Graham Norton of The Graham Norton Show wrote a fiction crime novel. Presumably most reviewers would have liked to slate it for some kind of self-gratifying purpose. I hate it when celebrities get book deals. Half of them can’t write; it’s never usually because […]

When Charlotte Brontë called her sister Anne’s book The Tenant of Wildfell Hall a “mistake” and prevented it from being published for ten years, I do think she was being rather severe. Anne Brontë’s second novel is not the masterpiece Jane Eyre is or Wuthering Heights. I am hesitant to call it a masterpiece at all, but there are […]

Natalie Haynes’ retelling of the Trojan War was attractive to me based on the description – a retelling from the view of the women.  After reading her book, Pandora’s Jar, I was more than excited to read and she did not disappoint. We all have heard of the Trojan War – Paris steals Helen of […]

Daisy Jones and The Six is the story of fictional musicians in the seventies. And I very much recommend this book to anyone in a slump or wanting to procrastinate before exams (like me!) Written in interview snippets we, learn the ups and downs, the good and bad of how the band was formed. There […]

A Monster Calls is one of the most renowned books of the 21st century. Patrick Ness, its author and flame-carrier, is just as renowned. There is a reason for that. A Monster Calls is one of the most moving, brilliantly executed, and informative novels I’ve read in a while. I’m possibly too old to be considered the target […]

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood is the latest read from my to-be-read list that has been interrupted by my studies, but we all need a break from Plato every now and then. I didn’t know what to expect from the book. I don’t read many romantic books, but this was recommended by friends, Twitter, […]

The Bridget Jones’s Diary empire is synonymous with the nineties; it has (rightly) achieved legendary chick-flick status; is renowned for being comedy gold; and criticised just enough to make the whole thing semi-controversial. The last part depends on who you ask. But Bridget Jones’s Diary hasn’t always been that mega bucks film starring Texan Renee […]

Sally Rooney has had a stratospheric rise to fame and success after the publication of her first two novels, Conversations with Friends and (of course) Normal People. Both novels have received widespread critical acclaim, with the latter cementing Rooney as perhaps the frontrunner of millennial literature. Beautiful World, Where Are You only serves to compound this reputation. This novel, […]

 Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. This book was an unexpected buy, but the premise of the book had me hooked. A Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars-type thriller but with two black leads who are LGBTQ? Sign me up! In fact, the plot is so much more than I could’ve hoped for. I can see […]

Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library was a Sunday Times number one bestseller. Why? For the life of me, I cannot fathom it. That’s personally, though. If I look at the general state of the world and publishing as it is, I can totally see why. The Midnight Library is essentially a mix of everything this society has come to superficially […]

The Bridgerton hype is going nowhere fast. That is almost one hundred percent guaranteed – and the books are no different. After living above a rock, I have obviously seen Netflix’s adaptation of Bridgerton more times than I care to recall. However, as we all know, I am an avid reader and so, naturally, have […]

Well, the first thing I have to say about this book is that it is an absolute cracker. Tom Bradby returns on top form for the final instalment of his spy thriller with Triple Cross and I was, in no uncertain terms, hooked from the off. Triple Cross picks up where Double Agent left off. MI6 […]

Well, here I am at ten to one in the morning having completed Three Women. Before I proceed, this book – and so this review – is not suitable for a younger audience. Three Women is at its core, a reportage-novel hybrid about sex and power, which manifests itself in the following trigger warnings: rape, […]

I don’t think I have visited the delights of New York City in a novel since Breakfast at Tiffany’s, so Brooklyn has been a lovely, warming return to the one location that literature never fails to personify. In other words, I’ve been in a tiny village hardly seeing anyone for a year and I read […]

5/5 If you’ve ever read a book review by yours truly before, you’ll know it’s rare I award five stars. They are reserved for special works of art – and Sally Rooney’s Normal People is exactly that. In fact, Normal People is a masterpiece. I first heard of the book when it was broadcast as […]

4.5/5 Kindness. Wisdom. Courage. Those are the three things that L. Frank Baum’s most famous children’s book, The Wizard of Oz, is about. Those three things and, of course, the ever-important lesson that home really is where the heart is. At the ripe age of 20, I eventually dug into Baum’s children’s classic, 120 years […]

1/5 1984 is always cited as one of the best books ever written. It’s supposed to be intelligent, sharp and profound. Instead, I found it to be dull, rambling and unremarkable. Oh, and rampantly sexist. George Orwell was clever – I’ve read his essays and I like them. But 1984? It was hard to believe […]

5/5 Three things are rare when it comes to me and books. First, someone buys me a book and I actually like it; second, it takes me less than two weeks to read a book; and third, I pass a book on to my grandma because I think it’s so good. M L Stedman’s The […]

4/5 Books written today are usually lacklustre and fail to hit the mark. But Tom Bradby’s (yes – that’s Tom Bradby from ITV News at Ten) latest novel, Double Agent, is far from lacklustre and absolutely hits the mark. Double Agent picks up where its sister novel Secret Service left off: MI6 agent Kate Henderson […]

5/5 Heavyweight ITV journalist Tom Bradby is best known for presenting the news each night at 10pm on our TV screens. But, for those who care to follow him on Twitter, you will know he also has another talent up his sleeve: writing. His latest novel Secret Service proves very well that he is exceptionally […]

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn is a thriller book that consistently shocks you throughout. Finn creates an agoraphobic character named Anna Fox, who will not go outdoors due to past trauma. In the novel, we discover Anna’s background and what has caused her to have such a terrible fear of the […]

4.5/5 Published in 2010, Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero is a great young adult book. Best for those over the age of 13, it is part of a pentalogy of fantasy novels written by Riordan. At the beginning of The Lost Hero, Jason doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school […]

Can You See Me? is a book written by author duo Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott. In the book, we learn about the life of Tally, an eleven-year-old girl with autism. When we first meet Tally, it’s the last day of the summer holidays, and the next day, Tally is going off to secondary school […]

Juno Dawson’s Say Her Name, published in 2014, offers a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat classic horror book experience. This book is an intriguing page-turner for young teenagers and one that must be read by all. Mary Worthington, a student at Piper Hall, is at the centre of Say Her Name. Mary Worthington is the real name of […]