aftereliza's Reviews (946)

Thanks to @PenguinUKbooks and @NetGalley for providing me with a proof copy in advance of publication.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review - Queentide by Donna Fischer

This review has been made possible thanks to @NetGalley and @shesawpress for providing me with an Advance Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review.

A story set in Australia in 2026, where women’s rights have been reduced to nothing. Society feels like a step before going total Handmaids Tale, but there is a resistance building. The novel follows Bodie, an elder women’s community leader, her rebellious and reactionary granddaughter Insley, politician’s ex-wife Lilith, fighting for her rights to keep custody of her daughters, and Prime minister candidate Kathleen. Each of these women has unique experiences and trauma caused by that society that are impacted by new rules and regulations on women’s freedom.

I loved this concept and the writing from the get go. I love the fact that the perspective changes from different characters to show the full spectrum of women’s options and opportunities in society. You get characters who you think are in the right, but they surprise you and some grey characters that are fascinating to watch their actions unfold. This story is absolutely genius and it feels like a modern precursor to the Handmaid’s Tale, as a fresh take on restrictions to women’s rights based off modern problems. The fact that the pandemic is talked about in a past tense is jarring when we’re still going through the end of it.

This book absolutely screams “you should see me in a crown” from its cover to its content. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loved YA dystopias or classic dystopian books and is interested in feminist issues. I’m definitely going to be buying a copy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review - Twice in a Lifetime - Helga Jensen

This review has been made possible thanks to @NetGalley and Hera Books for providing me with an Advance Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about missed chances between Amelia and Patrick, who she met on a trip to New York 20 years ago but lost his number. After her divorce, her friend Sian posts online about her fateful meeting and it goes viral, with someone who fits the description reaching out. Patrick and Amelia meet up in New York with her friends’ blessings while her sons are in Disneyland with their father and stepmother. When things start not adding up, will that fateful meeting lead them both to true love? Or will it have been a fluke?

I have to say I was really keen on the premise of the book. I loved the idea that these two had missed their chance 20 years ago and could reconnect again now. The writing flowed well and the pacing was really good. Unfortunately though, it felt a bit unrefined, the characters felt like tropes instead of individuals. I really didn’t like the main character, Amelia, and how she complained about every little thing. She really didn’t have her life together and she lacked some self-respect to stand up for herself. The dialogue in the text messages, while a nice touch to convey the long distance relationship, sounded very juvenile with an absurd amount of xXx kisses at the end of each message that I’m certain no American man would use. It didn’t read as realistic in those parts and kind of took me out of the story.

I’d recommend this to a lover of women’s fiction, likely your mum or aunt, as an good beach read this summer.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review - Swipe Right by Stephie Chapman

This review has been made possible thanks to @NetGalley and Saga Egmont Audio for providing me with an Advance Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows Fran and Ollie, both interviewing for the same role at a media production company. They have chemistry from the get go, sparks fly and arguments start. While Fran is with her insufferable boyfriend Lucas, and Ollie is dating Mean Lou, they develop a friendship. While Ollie and Lou go on a world tour and Fran is recovering from a bad breakup, she starts an anonymous dating column for Hive. But when things go wrong with the guys she’s dating, who will Fran turn to for comfort and advice?

It feels very fun, I loved the premise and the enemies to friends to lovers trope going in and it feels like a Buzzfeed environment meets early 2000s rom-com situation and I’m here for it! I love the chemistry between the characters. I couldn’t put it down! Even though the audiobook ended, I still wanted to hear more about these two! I felt like the character development was really well executed. The supporting characters had lives and storylines of their own that also advance in the background.

I’d highly recommend this as an excellent romcom and on the whole really entertaining novel about social media, dating and relationships in general and how important it is to have people to confide in.

Will this house last forever is a painfully aware story of a young woman coming to terms with her absentee father dying in her 20s. It's told in a series of different short stories about different aspects of her father's life from different perspectives. Parts of it were written in the second person perspective which is unique and a pleasant surprise to shift the focus of the story.

I recommend this to anyone who likes to read new writing in interesting ways, that play with perspectives and timelines. It’s a raw, sentimental but also detached perspective of a daughter trying to connect to her poet father after his death.

The story follows Emmy Lake, working at a women's magazine and her responsibilities include answering the advice letters in the Yours, Cheerfully column and writing articles about women working in factories to help with the war efforts. When some of her new friends, widowed mothers with young children come into trouble for bringing their kids to work, Emmy rallies her friends, colleagues and editors at the paper to try and improve their situation. All the while, trying to plan her wedding before her soon-to-be husband has to be sent off to the front. Will she manage it all, and keep her own job?

I went in absolutely unaware, thought it was a standalone book, but turns out that its a sequel! I loved the diverse cast of characters, the dialogue was dynamic, vintage and had a cheeky bite to it. The situation Emmy found herself in was really interesting and you could tell the stakes were pretty serious for her, her friends and other women across the country, helping with the war effort. I love learning more about people's daily lives during the war so this was a fantastic book for me. I'll definitely be picking up Dear Mrs Bird as soon as humanly possible and I'll be seeking out more books by AJ Pearce, or reading upon on more authors with a similar writing style and genre!

An absolutely enjoyable read from start to finish that I just couldn't put down!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

When Addie LaRue isn't happy with her life in 1700s France and the roles she needs to take up, she makes a deal with the gods after dark for her freedom. Turns out, she made a deal with the devil and while he granted her freedom, he also made sure to erase her from people's memory as soon as she's no longer in their eyeline. After 300 years of being forgotten, Addie finally comes across someone who remembers her. And he has a secret of his own. They need to come to terms with their fates and Addie needs to keep this one person who remembers he a complete secret so the devil doesn't find out and take him too.

I didn't initially understand what was going on but about a quarter of the way through I had caught up. I really enjoyed the changing of timelines, hopping back and forth from Addie's original timeline to the present-day. I loved the mentions of Addie in the lives of artists through the times, a shadow present through time but only visible in glimpses, silhouettes and as a muse. The cast was a fun group of diverse characters, there isn't only character who's wholly good or bad, but they're a mix of morally grey characters. The ending to me felt surprisingly meta but I am still intrigued and hoping for a sequel.

I'd absolutely recommend this to everyone with an interest in historical fiction, light mythology and fantasy in urban scenarios.

Have you read it? What did you think of it?