elementarymydear's Reviews (967)

 Did I spend the last four days on the various motorways of this country, listening to this book with a massive grin on my face because it was everything I never knew I wanted in a book?

Absolutely.

This book brought me so much joy. It’s a coming-of-age story filled with friendships, relationships, secrets, arguments, and questionable decisions, but all set in regency England. Although you can’t help but draw comparisons to Bridgerton and Mean Girls, this book stands on its own two feet. It is, how do you put it? So. Fetch.


Georgiana Ellers has had a very sheltered twenty years of life, so when she is sent to live with her aunt and uncle she takes the first opportunity to have all the adventures she has only ever read about. She meets the charismatic Frances Campbell, and gets drawn into a life of raucous parties and scandalous situations. Soon, however, she becomes aware of a dark side to some of her new acquaintances and her own character – plus her newfound friendship – is put to the test.

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The cast of characters were what really brought this book to life. Georgiana, while painfully naive, had a fantastic character arc that carried the book through its conclusion. Many of the characters – particularly Cecily, Frances’ dim but kind friend, and Betty, a plain but ultimately heroic girl often left on the sidelines – surprised us as the book went on, showing more depth to their characters in a way that made them extremely likeable. Even the prickly Jane was hard to dislike, and the love interest, Mr Hawksley, really came into his own in the second half of the book. The dynamics between the friends felt very true to life, and it was a joy to be a fly on the wall for their shenanigans!

As much fun as this book is, it did have some much darker moments and themes than I expected. (If you’re considering reading this book, I would recommend checking the content warnings on StoryGraph and the author’s website; be aware that this book contains sexual assault). The different tones and themes needed were perfectly balanced, and although some of the characters do go through some traumatic events, the story was still about the characters themselves, their own strength, and how they coped with what happened to them. Croucher was able to portray very well, through the unworldly eyes of Georgiana, a character slowly dealing with and coming to terms with her trauma.

I haven’t read many regency romance books, but I’ve read enough to know that they are obsessed – and I mean, obsessed – with propriety and scandal, especially for an era that was much less morally conservative than the later Victorian era. It was a pleasant change to read a modern regency book that featured very few spinster aunts clutching at pearls, and scandalous behaviour that we with our modern eyes can also disapprove of, not just fabricated scandals about necklines and chaperones. It was also great to see a diverse group of characters in historical fiction done in a historically accurate way. Two of the characters are mixed-race, both of them with aristocratic fathers who married women they met abroad. There were also some queer characters who in their own ways have to deal with their queerness in a society that has no space for them. Importantly, though, none of these things were the most interesting part of any of the characters. They all felt well-rounded and real, just like any other group of young people set loose in the world for the first time.

This book was like no other. It was a breath of fresh air to read, and is hopefully the first of many wonderful novels from Lex Croucher. A special shout-out to Bessie Carter as well, for a fantastic audiobook narration. 

 Where to even start with this book?! It was absolutely wild from start to finish, made even better by the fact it’s based on real people and events, and I couldn’t put it down.

In the Jacobean court, power is a slippery thing to hold on to. Keeping the king on your side is an immensely difficult task, especially when the only person he listens to is his ‘favourite’ – that is, his lover. So the solution? Plant your own favourite.

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The rein of James I (VI in Scotland) is discussed far less than his charismatic Tudor predecessors, but his court was one just as filled with spies, corruption, and power plays. Francis Bacon, the main character and (often unreliable) narrator of this book, is a name we all know but his political manoeuvrings are less well known.

You can’t help but warm to Bacon as a narrator. He’s witty, droll, and self-deprecating enough to hint at his real vulnerabilities. What’s remarkable though, is how not only is Bacon convinced he is always in the right but he convinces us too. It’s not until the last few chapters (I won’t spoil the details but what an ending!) that we witness not only his fall from his position, but the carefully constructed lies he believes about himself collapse around him. George Villiers, famously a long-time favourite and believed lover of James I, had dealings with Bacon and, in this telling of events, was groomed for the position by Bacon. The steady reveal of his true feelings kept both us and Bacon guessing and doubting what we knew. Neil Blackmore is clearly an expert in creating an unreliable narrator.

The open secret of Bacon’s sexuality added an extra layer of danger to his dealings at court. As the story unfolded we got to see quite how much he had come to believe himself unworthy of love, having lived in that environment his entire life. His own inner conflict runs alongside the court dealings, and made this an unputdownable read.

Blackmore has vividly recreated a violent, bawdy and outrageous court life which it is impossible not to get drawn into. This book accomplished a lot of things: it made me want to learn more about Francis Bacon, and it made me want to read more of Blackmore’s books. But most importantly, it completely absorbed me from the start to the end.

I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

 I’ll start off by saying that I did, in fact, really enjoy this book. I’m saying that up front because I’m going to delve into a few fundamental things that didn’t work for me so here’s a disclaimer – I enjoyed this book!

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Ariadne is, as you might expect, about the life of Ariadne of ‘Theseus and the Minotaur’. The book follows her whole life, so while the first part was a bit dry (going over the events of ‘Theseus and the Minotaur’) the story really got going once she left Crete with Theseus and we began to venture into stories not as well-known. One of the main characters for the latter half of the book is Dionysus, god of wine, and I really liked the approach Jennifer Saint took to his character. Rather than the party-loving, pompous idiot you usually get in mythological retellings, he was (mostly) kind, loving and all too aware of the consequences of gods meddling in human affairs.

The recurring theme of the book was how, in the dealings of gods and men, it is women who suffer the consequences. It was an interesting theme, and I was excited when it was first brought up, but it didn’t really go anywhere.

Where the book fell down for me was actually in the mythology itself. Ariadne has very little agency in her story, becoming – as Saint rightly observed – a pawn in the games between gods and men. Any significant character development would alter the outcome of the stories this book is based on, and so it had to either be undone or not happen at all in the first place.

The obvious example is Ariadne herself. She didn’t really… do anything? I can count on one hand the amount of times she made her own decision about what to do next, and in some of those cases her actions had no consequences or didn’t even shape her opinions about what she had witnessed or learned. Then there’s Dionysus; as I mentioned I really liked the direction Saint took him in, but it wasn’t sustainable because he was always going to torture hundreds of women and incite battle with Perseus. There wasn’t the wiggle room in the original myth for any of the character development Saint clearly wanted. And yet Ariadne spent over a decade on an island overwhelmingly populated by women, and we only briefly learnt one of their names? Those relationships and dynamics, though not relevant to the original myth, would have been a welcome addition.

I am intrigued to see what Jennifer Saint writes next. The actual reading experience was very enjoyable, and the bones were there for a fantastic book. Unfortunately, and ironically, the original myth got in the way.
 

This collection of six short stories is a beautiful, poignant and sometimes dark glimpse into everyday life in India. Each story is about the tensions, secrets and undercurrents of family life. They are beautifully written, you can't help but be entranced by Poornima Manco's writing. The only drawback for me was that with such short stories, as soon as I was finding my rhythm with one it was suddenly over and onto the next one. Apart from that though, a stunning collection, and I look forward to seeing what Manco produces in the future.

Thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy for review. All opinions are my own.

 Pirates? Check. Princesses? Check. Magical powers? Check. Slow-burn sapphic romance? CHECK.


This book was a surprise in the absolute best way. Shawna Barnett has created such a vivid world full of lovable characters (including some that you love to hate). She keeps your attention from the first page right to the last, and it was such a joy each time I sat down to read some.

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The main character is Captain Liana Foley, a pirate with a mysterious backstory who gets roped into helping Princess Rhian, a shy young woman who secretly has magical powers. The whole cast was compelling, from Ameen the quarter-master, to Squiddy, the orphan-turned-sailor. Without going into overwhelming detail and backstory we got such a strong sense of the camaraderie between the characters and the strong bonds of friendship.

A shout-out as well to Barnett’s world-building, which was effortlessly done and, again, without needing huge bouts of exposition, we were drawn into the historical and political landscape of the world she’d created.

It was also really nice to read a story about two bisexual women, set in the past, who are both in relationships with men and (most importantly!) DIDN’T cheat on their partners with each other! It’s astounding how many stories have a cheating-bisexual storyline, but not this one! Huzzah!

It’s very rare that I get to the end of a book and am itching to read the next one, but this one is up there! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Liana, Rhian, and the rest of the crew in the future, and to find out where Barnett is taking them!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free copy for review. All thoughts are my own.
 

 I came across this book when I was looking for an audiobook on Kindle Unlimited. I was looking for something lighthearted and fun that I could listen to in the car, and safe to say this book achieved that!

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Corinne’s life has been turned completely on its head. Her best friend has recently passed away, so she left her stable job and life in Texas to move to Chicago. After a party at her cousin’s house one night she wakes up, hungover, to find a new app installed on her phone: Met. The app promises that she is about to meet her soulmate, who will be one of four people from her past that are about to come back into her life.

Corinne was a great character, especially as the book progressed and she began to grow in confidence. The cast of characters is the real stand-out aspect of this novel, including all four potential matches (who range from the truly terrible to the wonderfully lovable), Corinne’s friends, and her family. Kudos to Camille Baker for not just writing a diverse cast but for writing them well. Someone’s sexuality, gender, or disability was never the defining thing about them, but it affected their day-to-day lives and how they interacted with the world. I particularly liked Cory one of the main characters, who is bi; I found his character really compelling and I strongly related to the way he talked about his sexuality.

While the premise of the soulmate app was a little contrived and appeared out of nowhere, I didn’t mind it at first. A bit like in sci-fi, if something is integral to the world or the story, you just have to accept it regardless of whether or not it’s possible. I was quite happily going along with it but as the story progressed I had two main issues with it as a plot device. The first was that I couldn’t understand Corinne’s reliance on it. She tells us time and time again that she doesn’t believe the app and that she wants it off her phone, but when it comes to big life decisions to trusts the app over her own judgement. Without spoiling anything, I wasn’t a fan of the reveal as to why the app was there; I would have much preferred it had the app just stayed a mystery.

Overall, this was a really fun read with a great group of characters, but the plot just didn’t quite do it for me, starting off promising but ending up frustrating. 

 Wow, this book was a treat! Classic sci-fi adventure mixed with scathing anti-imperialist commentary and a heavy dose of pro-environmentalism? Yes please!

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You can’t underestimate the impact this book has had on our popular consciousness, from the very concept of a submarine to the deep-sea monsters such as the giant squid. The story follows a French scientist who finds himself carefully toeing the line between ‘guest’ and ‘prisoner’ on an underwater ship under the command of the mysterious Captain Nemo. While you don’t have to look particularly hard for the political themes of the text, the story and premise is a fantastical underwater journey around the whole world. It’s impossible not to sense Verne’s excitement about the ocean, the natural world and the plethora of scientific breakthroughs of the time. A personal highlight was the crew of the Nautilus discovering the bio-diverse ecosystem at the South Pole; it was the part of the journey that was farthest from our current understanding of the ocean and its inhabitants, and clearly a passage where Verne had a lot of fun! The marine lover inside me couldn’t help but get swept up into these great adventures under the sea.

Captain Nemo is known for his mysterious character, and I will admit I ended up googling him partway through reading just to see if I was missing something because it didn’t quite add up. After reading about the history of the writing process – and its translation into English – it started to make more sense, how this staunchly anti-imperialist man of unknown origin ended up as a sympathetic anti-hero in an 18th Century French novel. Perhaps one day when I run out of new books to read (ha!) I will read a different translation as I suspect my copy is the original which removed most of the explicitly anti-British empire sentiment. Science fiction is inherently political and so it shouldn’t have been a surprise to read such a character, yet it was.

Speaking of political messages, I was also surprised by the ecological position taken by Captain Nemo and, presumably, Jules Verne. As our main character thinks to himself:

“...the captain was right. The barbarous and inconsiderate greed of the fishermen will one day cause the last whale to disappear from the ocean.”

This was written a century before major conservation efforts really got underway, proving – not for the first time in this book or, I’m sure, in any other – that Jules Verne had a remarkable understanding of human nature and its flaws as much as its assets.

I’ve always been slightly intimidated by Jules Verne books, but not anymore! 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was a rollicking adventure with plenty of food for thought.