elementarymydear's Reviews (967)

I went into this book expecting a gentle historical mystery, and instead I was served a big platter of family secrets and women’s rights which I LOVED!

The story is told from dual perspective, and while I initially wasn’t fussed about Rosamund’s perspective, as soon as it switched to Briar’s perspective I was hooked! There were so many layers to the story, and just when you thought you had one secret figured out there was something else around the corner.

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As well as a captivating story, this book also explored themes such as reproductive rights and queerness in a time when these topics were taboo. I thought they intertwined with the story to make an emotional climax.

While I would have liked a little bit more time at the end to see the characters’ journeys from that point on, the bulk of the book was a fast-paced page turner that kept me gripped and constantly desperate to read more. Even though there were multiple timelines and perspectives, which can sometimes be difficult to follow, I always knew exactly where I was in the narrative and in the world.

This was an incredibly enjoyable read, that packs an unexpected punch!

I received a free copy for an honest review.

 

I LOVED Ace of Spades, so as soon as I finished it I dove straight into this one! And while there was lots to love, there was also a lot that didn’t really work for me.

I really enjoyed the start and end of this book. The introduction to the boarding school was great, with a nice mix of pop culture references and spooky mystery. The final 20% or so of the book was filled with twists and turns, and a conclusion that was frustrating in the best kind of way.

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In between was where it was let down for me. The pace slowed right down, and tonally it felt quite scattered. It was so long but it didn’t feel like the characters or their relationships were explored as much as they could have been. As much as I enjoyed the reveals towards the end of the book, there was my least favourite kind of plot twist, which is an unprecedented reveal about the main character’s history. It’s a real pet peeve of mine, and it really bugged me when it could have had such a good build up!

Overall, this was a good book that was just one ruthless edit away from being a brilliant book.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

 

First things first: this did not work as an audiobook. There were of course no diagrams, the tables were just read out loud, and it was aching for a conclusion at the end to round off the listening experience. I thought the same about the previous book in this series that I reviewed, and I thought this one might be different (given how keen they are to push these audiobooks) but I was wrong.

That aside! This was a very interesting and accessible introduction to psychology. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on developmental psychology, and I feel like I learned a lot about the way our brains develop. I was coming out with developmental psychology facts for days, it was so interesting!

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I also thought the author did a really good job of presenting difficult subjects, such as some of Freud’s theory. She didn’t shy away from the less savoury aspects of them, but did give sufficient context, including examining how these theories were and are still received.

I did feel that the chapters on applied psychology were dragged out, with extensive tangents into other topics that felt unnecessary. Again, this is where the audiobook format wasn’t great; some of this could have been an appendix that could be referred to on the readers terms, but for the audiobook I had to sit through a lot of being told how and why people applied to jobs, for example.

I’m sure this would be a great reference book, and I did learn a lot, but I think that if this series is going to continue then the audiobook format needs to change.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

 

I really struggled with this one. I pushed through it, baffled as to why I was struggling to find the motivation to read it, when about 300 pages in I realised I wasn’t enjoying it. By that point I was committed so I saw it through.

It wasn’t all bad. I really enjoyed the setting, and the secret societies were brilliant (made better by the fact that they’re real, to a degree). It was very atmospheric, with some really cool twists on the paranormal elements, and that went a very long way.

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I had two main gripes with this book. The first is that the story just kind of went on, and on, and on. I wasn’t 100% sure if there were new characters being added in the whole way through, or if they just made little to no impression so it was hard to keep track. It became really hard to keep track of who was who, who was where, who was when, and I didn’t feel much motivation to figure it out.

There were also a lot of very dark and serious themes brought up, but they never really felt resolved or dealt with, which sometimes made them feel almost gratuitous. There was so much potential to the story, but it just carried on with a meandering plot.

Ultimately I was let down by this book, which I had such high expectations for given the amount of hype it has received. Ah well!

 

This book had me HOOKED. I sat down to read the first chapter and read, I kid you not, 150 pages before I moved again.

Set at an elite private school, Devon and Chiamaka – the only two Black students – find themselves the target of Aces, who anonymously spills their secrets. They try to get to the bottom of what’s going on, but it soon becomes clear that there is more going on than they previously thought.

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I very rarely read thrillers, but this is the sort that I absolutely love. There were twists and turns, there were shock reveals, there was a final line that made me gasp out loud, but none of it felt unprecedented, or there for the shock value. The story was revealed so brilliantly that for the entire second half I was on the edge of my seat.

This book dealt with themes of race and sexuality masterfully. Often with YA contemporary books I talk about the need to balance the plot vs what the book is actually about, and in this case they were combined brilliantly. Anxiety and fear manifested brilliantly in the villain(s), and while the villain(s) could have been cartoonish, they were horribly believable.

I am so glad I decided to pick up this book, and I can’t wait for Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s next book!

 

The blurb of this book describes it as a “Dickensian-style yarn”, and that is true in a number of ways – and in all the best ways! I like to think of this sort of book as a ‘fictional biography’, following one characters life and the things they experience. Through Tony’s eyes we got to experience life in 17th Century Virginia, and the hardships (and sometimes joys) that could be found there. There is a heavy dollop of social commentary too (furthering the Dickens comparison), which could feel preachy but is in fact poignant, moving, and angering.

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The prose is so beautifully written that it’s impossible not to get swept up into the story. Tony’s life takes so many turns and corners, some much darker than others, and you can’t help but feel those emotional highs and lows alongside him.

It’s also a great insight into the world in that period. Many of our modern ideas about race date back to this time, and I think we can all benefit from thinking and learning about how these ideas came into being – and how they’ve affected communities of colour since. It’s a side of American history that is often erased, and this book very deliberately widens our view.

This was a very powerful read, and one that I hope will become a modern classic.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

 

It’s no surprise I enjoyed this book – a dark academia retelling of the sapphic vampire classic Carmilla? Of course I jumped to read it! And I had such a great time too.

This book was such a page turner. I kept telling myself “just one more chapter” until I finally admitted to myself that I needed to set aside the next few hours to devour it. S. T. Gibson creates the world so vividly that I was instantly drawn into it; I felt like I was there.

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The first half is classic dark academia. We have a vintage New England setting, an after-hours poetry group, and a rivalry between Carmilla and Laura for the attention of their professor, De Lafontaine. While it felt quite removed from the source material, it was very enjoyable in its own right.

The second half of the book takes a strong vampiric turn! Both the reader and the characters are thrown into the vampire underworld, as an ancient vampire is resurrected and begins attacking innocent citizens. While the school setting remains, it becomes pure paranormal adventure, as Laura, Carmilla, and De Lafontaine try to put things right. Gibson really embraces the dark and sensual side of vampire lore, which makes for some very compelling character relationships.

It did feel slightly like a book of two halves, and I would have liked the dark academia themes to be mixed with the vampire themes a little bit more. It ended with a fizzle rather than with a bang, but that aside, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read that I became obsessed with the whole time I was reading it!

I received a free copy for an honest review.

 

This romance between two college students has all the intensity, emotion and yearning of all first loves. A. M. Johnson does such a great job of capturing that feeling of that first adult relationship, how the stakes feel so enormously high.

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The thing is, though, that the whole book was like that. It was over three hundred pages of intense longing, of facing perceived obstacles at every corner, and it started to lose its impact. By the end it felt almost unrealistic, which was a shame as it started out so strong.

I would have liked more variation, more shades and colours of emotion. There was nothing light-hearted to balance the heady romance, and there were no real sub-plots. The romance was a very enjoyable read, but on its own it was just a bit much.

 

I’ve been a fan of Fern Brady for a long time, and as soon as I found out she had a book out I knew it would be a brilliant read. Lots of celebrity memoirs are essentially a recounting of their careers, but from what Fern had already mentioned in her stand-up about her background, I knew this would be something different.

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Really, this book is a retrospective on growing up with undiagnosed autism. Fern looks back at her childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, through the lens of now knowing that she’s autistic. She examines how this affected her relationship with her parents, her struggles with her mental health, and how difficult she found university life. There are many dark themes and topics explored in this book, but where there is humour to be found, Fern finds it.

What I found particularly interesting is how she explores the various intersections of sexism, autism, and queerness. She lays out so clearly how one affects the other. I think this book will be validating for a lot of autistic women, and an essential read for neurotypical readers.

This was a funny and moving memoir, that was also incredibly thought-provoking. Fern Brady explores so many themes with clarity and sensitivity. This is a stand-out gem in the world of celebrity memoirs, that will have impact for years to come.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

 

I really, really wanted to like this book. And there were things I did like! But ultimately it left me more annoyed and frustrated than anything else.

The plot starts off as a classic murder mystery: a woman is found dead at a party, in a pool of blood next to the murder weapon. One of the many guests at this party is a young Jane Austen, who becomes personally invested when her brother is falsely accused.

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I actually really enjoyed the first part of this book. There was plenty of intrigue, and I liked the family link with the mystery. The more the book went on, though, the more my frustrations grew. The approach to ‘solving’ the mystery seemed to be to accuse literally everyone in increasingly dramatic and convoluted situations. Jane reminded me less of a sleuth and more of someone a little too invested in true crime who starts to take things into their own hands.

I also really didn’t like the writing style. A fast-emerging pet peeve of mine is this quasi-Regency, Lady Whistledown-esque style of writing that is obsessed with scandal and unironically describing men as ‘delectable’. While this book was far from the biggest offender, it still grated and felt quite disingenuous, especially given that this book is actually set much earlier. The Regency pastiche does have its place, but I don’t think it worked here.

There were strong elements in this book, but overall it was a disappointing read.

I received a free copy for an honest review.