“𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔰 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔱 𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔥 𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔞 𝔪𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱, 𝔰𝔞𝔶𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤; 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔰 𝔡𝔬. 

“𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢’𝔰 𝔞 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔴𝔢 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔟𝔬𝔯𝔫 𝔦𝔫 𝔐𝔞𝔰𝔥𝔞’𝔰 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔬𝔴, 𝔐𝔞𝔪𝔞,” 𝔎𝔞𝔱𝔶𝔞 𝔰𝔞𝔦𝔡 𝔰𝔩𝔬𝔴𝔩𝔶. “𝔅𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔢 𝔡𝔬, 𝔴𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔫’𝔱 𝔡𝔬 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔩𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱.” 

“𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔞𝔦𝔡 𝔴𝔢’𝔡 𝔞𝔩𝔴𝔞𝔶𝔰 𝔟𝔢 𝔥𝔲𝔫𝔤𝔯𝔶,” ℑ𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔞 𝔞𝔡𝔡𝔢𝔡. “ℑ𝔱’𝔰 𝔴𝔥𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔲𝔰. 𝔅𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔴𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔫’𝔱 𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔶.””

Published: 14/06/22

Publisher: Tor

Genre: Urban fantasy, retelling 

Page count: 433

Format read: 🎧

Other books read by this author: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐀𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 & 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝

A stunning 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨 & 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐭 retelling featuring two rival witch families, the Antonovas & the Federovs, living in New York. I loved the characters, Baba Yaga’s daughters & Koschei the Deathless’s sons, their differing gifts & the way they shifted & grew throughout the story. I was invested in the romance between Sasha & Lev from the very beginning, & even though it was a retelling of one of the most famous stories in the world, Olivie manages to keep us guessing throughout her beautiful prose. 

I was genuinely excited by the blurb & cover but sadly I had to DNF as this was just not for me. I found the writing hard to engage with due to various anachronisms that pulled me out of the setting & I didn’t relate to the characters.

Thankyou to Kathleen S Allen, Macmillan Children’s Publishing, & NetGalley for the ARC.

“𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔞 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔴𝔥𝔬 𝔴𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔢 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔰𝔲𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔶, 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔞𝔩𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔶 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔞 𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢? 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔴𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔫𝔢𝔢𝔡 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱 𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔭𝔲𝔫𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔟𝔞𝔤?“

Published: 25/05/23

Publisher: The Borough Press

Genre: Satire, psychological fiction, literary fiction 

Page count: 326

Format read: 📱

Other books read by this author: 𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥

After watching her far more successful fellow author/friend Athena die in a freak accident, Juniper thinks it’s a fantastic idea to steal Athena’s unpublished manuscript & pass it off as her own whilst managing to convince herself that she hasn’t done anything wrong in a series of increasingly impressive mental gymnastics. A satirical look at the publishing industry, cultural appropriation, racism, Asian fetishisation, social media & cancel culture. I was in a reading slump when I picked this up, & had devoured it within 24hrs. A compulsively readable story with a thoroughly unlikeable narrator. 

“ℑ 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔳𝔦𝔳𝔢.” 

“𝔈𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱.” 𝔏𝔦𝔡𝔡𝔶 𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔤𝔬. “𝔑𝔬𝔟𝔬𝔡𝔶 𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔰 𝔱𝔬.”

Published: 02/09/25 (ARC)

Publisher: Tor Books

Genre: Horror, dark fantasy

Page count: 272

Format read: 📱

Other books read by this author: None

A visceral, botanical ghost story set in a small town, sub-tropical floodplain. I adored the way the story was framed by & intersected with neighbours gathering to tell local legends & unexplained experiences. The strong undercurrent of dread & sense of unreality that ran throughout, when coupled with intense & vivid imagery, made for a hallucinogenic fever dream of a novel. The one area this fell down for me was the characters, but purely in that I wanted to get to know them much better than we did. The vagueness of the prose, though beautiful, left me at times a little disconnected from the characters which meant I wasn’t as invested as I otherwise could have been. 

Thank you so much to Kathleen Jennings, Tor Books, & NetGalley for the ARC.

“𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔯 1: 𝔖𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔩

𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔯 2: ℜ𝔢𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣

𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔯 3: ℌ𝔞𝔯𝔪𝔬𝔫𝔶 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔞𝔟𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔶

𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔯 4: 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔧𝔬𝔶 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 

𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔯 5: 𝔅𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔫𝔬𝔴” 

Published: 20/09/18

Genre: Self-help, non-fiction

Page count: 208

Format read: 📖

Other books read by this author: None

Recommended & lent to me by the wonderful @mr.scadding, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐤𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐢 was my first non-fiction book of the year. A quick read filled with interesting anecdotes & helpful tips, I am going to try & incorporate the five pillars of Ikigai into my life as much as possible. 

“𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔬𝔪’𝔰 𝔤𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔢𝔢𝔭-𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔠𝔩𝔢, 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱-𝔳𝔦𝔬𝔩𝔢𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔰 𝔰𝔬 𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔣𝔲𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔞𝔩𝔢 𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔨 𝔬𝔣 𝔳𝔦𝔰𝔠𝔢𝔯𝔞. ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔦𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔶 𝔫𝔲𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔡𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔡𝔢𝔢𝔯 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔡𝔶𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔬𝔩𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔯𝔰, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔦𝔱 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔩𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔢 𝔦𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢.

𝔓𝔢𝔯𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔰 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔰𝔬 𝔲𝔫𝔰𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔬𝔪𝔰 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔢𝔡 𝔰𝔬 𝔪𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔣𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔥. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔭𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔪𝔪𝔶, 𝔰𝔴𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔫 𝔟𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔢, 𝔭𝔲𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔡 𝔲𝔭 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔞𝔯𝔨-𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔤𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔰. 

𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔴 𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔞𝔭𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔫 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔱𝔲𝔪𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔡𝔦𝔰𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔰𝔨𝔦𝔫. ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔞 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔲𝔯𝔤𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔭 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯 𝔲𝔯𝔤𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔭𝔬𝔨𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔪 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔞 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔠𝔨.”

Published: 18/10/22

Genre: Horror

Page count: 178

Format read: 🎧

Other books read by this author: 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 & 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞

I dove straight into this one after finishing 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 & 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞 as it was included in my @audible subscription & just like with 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 & 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞, I was hooked from the first line. A visceral mushroomrot retelling of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝 introduces us to several original characters, including narrator & retired soldier Alex Easson, as well as Madeline & Roderick Usher from Poe’s story. The descriptions of the house & landscape are haunting, the author’s measured prose perfectly encapsulating the gothic tone of the original, whilst injecting an element of body horror that combines the anatomical with the botanical. The book also plays with gender in a fascinating way, introducing pronouns ka/kan for the eponymous sworn soldiers of the series title, making the book as a whole unlike anything else I have ever read.

“𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔠𝔯𝔬𝔴𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔬𝔡𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔪𝔞𝔡𝔪𝔢𝔫. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔭𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔣𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔟𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔲𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔦𝔯𝔢𝔰.
ℌ𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔟𝔩𝔢𝔡 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔯𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔰 𝔠𝔲𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔯. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔠𝔲𝔱𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔫𝔬 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯 𝔟𝔩𝔢𝔢𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔡𝔤𝔢𝔰 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔤𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔬𝔱, 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔯𝔶 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔨𝔰 𝔯𝔲𝔫𝔫𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝔨𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔨𝔦𝔫. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔦𝔭𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔭𝔲𝔣𝔣𝔶 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔫𝔦𝔪𝔟𝔩𝔢. 
𝔐𝔞𝔯𝔯𝔞 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔞𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔞 𝔤𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔡𝔡𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔢𝔫𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔦𝔫𝔣𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔨𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔰𝔬 𝔰𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔰𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔪𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔠𝔢𝔯𝔫.”

Published: 26/04/22

Genre: Folklore fantasy

Page count: 257

Format read: 🎧

Other books read by this author: None

I loved this book so much. Both familiar & refreshing, 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 & 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞 is a dark fairytale with a main character in her late 30s. The language is beautiful & the imagery,  reminiscent of Holly Black’s Faerie, is haunting. The characters are fascinating & flawed. I was absolutely captivated from the first line to the last & can’t wait to read more from this author. 

“ℌ𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔫’𝔱 𝔱𝔬𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔪𝔢.” ℑ 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔱 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔞 𝔨𝔦𝔰𝔰 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔭𝔞𝔩𝔪 𝔟𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔭𝔲𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔱 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝔪𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔥𝔬𝔩𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢. “𝔗𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔟𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔪𝔢 𝔬𝔯 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔪𝔢𝔢𝔱 𝔐𝔞𝔩𝔢𝔨, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔱 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢. ℑ’𝔳𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔪𝔶 𝔭𝔢𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢’𝔰 𝔫𝔬 𝔤𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲.”

Published: 21/01/25

Genre: Romantasy

Page count: 779

Format read: 📱

Other books read by this author: 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞

I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed by this instalment after loving the series so much so far. It may well be my fault for not re-reading 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞, as a year *has* passed, but I found the plot hard to follow at points & struggled to remember who certain characters were. Don’t get me wrong, I was so happy to be back with Violet, Xaden & the dragons (particularly my sassy babe Andarna). I still loved Violet’s chronic illness rep, & Xaden’s awareness of & support with her issues warmed my heart. I love the relationship between Violet’s squadmates, & Ridoc, Aaric & Cat are firm favourites. I was fascinated by the new settings & the information revealed about Violet’s family history, but overall I was left more than a little confused, which lessened the emotional impact of the book compared to the previous two.

“𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔲𝔪𝔞𝔫 𝔟𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔰 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔵 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔳𝔦𝔩𝔢 𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔰, 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔯𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔲𝔟𝔩𝔦𝔪𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔠 𝔬𝔣 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔡𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔫𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤. 𝔒𝔲𝔯 𝔢𝔵𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔫 𝔢𝔵𝔞𝔰𝔭𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔬𝔣 𝔤𝔯𝔞𝔶 𝔦𝔣 𝔴𝔢 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔩𝔞𝔴𝔩𝔢𝔰𝔰.”

Published: 05/10/20

Genre: Dystopian, horror 

Page count: 224

Format read: 📖

Other books read by this author: None

Set in a dystopian society where animals have been eradicated following a deadly virus & humans are now raised & slaughtered for meat, 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡 manages to be both unimaginable horror & a cautionary tale that feels far too close for comfort. From the POV of Marcus, a slaughterhouse manager, we see how society has embraced the Transition, readily accepting the ‘us & them’ rhetoric spewed by the government. Even Marcus, who is highly suspicious of the virus being a hoax, carries out his work methodically, remaining detached from the horror that surrounds him by careful use of vocabulary: ‘heads’ or ‘product’, never ‘people’ or ‘humans’. As Marcus struggles to support his ailing father & come to terms with the loss of his son, a ‘female’ is gifted to him by a business associate, throwing Marcus’s already fractured world into disarray.

The book is shocking, both in its content & the cool, calculated way in which the story is told. It raises questions about herd mentality, government propaganda, the meat & dairy industry, the willingness of people to turn on each other & the culpability of those who stand by & do nothing. It’s certainly not a comfortable read, but I think it’s an important one in today’s political climate.

“𝔖𝔞𝔲𝔯𝔬𝔫 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔞 𝔰𝔬𝔯𝔠𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔡𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔭𝔬𝔴𝔢𝔯, 𝔪𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔣 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔡𝔬𝔴𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔭𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔱𝔬𝔪𝔰, 𝔣𝔬𝔲𝔩 𝔦𝔫 𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔡𝔬𝔪, 𝔠𝔯𝔲𝔢𝔩 𝔦𝔫 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔤𝔱𝔥, 𝔪𝔦𝔰𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔲𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔡, 𝔱𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔲𝔩𝔢𝔡, 𝔩𝔬𝔯𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔴𝔬𝔩𝔳𝔢𝔰; 𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔡𝔬𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱.”

Published: 15/09/77

Genre: Fantasy

Page count: 384

Format read: 🎧

Other books read by this author: 𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐑 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐭 

Though I’d originally read 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐭 in primary school & 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 in secondary school, I had never before undertaken 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧, & fresh out of my re-read of the other books & desperate for more of both Tolkien’s writing & Andy Serkis’s flawless narration seemed the perfect time to do it.

A little different to the other books, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 is a collection of stories that make up the mythology & pantheon of Middle Earth. The scope & richness of the tales are a testament to Tolkien’s commitment to his world, & the existence of them is a large part of what makes 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐭 & 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 so epic. 

I won’t pretend that I found 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 the easiest read - the stories spanning eons of history & containing an array of characters & places, many of which have both names that are very similar to one another, & different names in different languages & dialects - but it was definitely a rewarding one & I can’t wait for my next re-read of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 now that I know a lot more about the wider context of the story.