Fuse by Hollay Ghadery absolutely blew me away. Two pages into the foreword and I knew this book was going to be amazing. The elegance and vulnerability of the foreword set the tone for the rest of the book. Fuse is a memoir but it doesn't really read like a traditional memoir. Time is not linear, instead we follow the unravelling of Hollay's thoughts around race, mental illness and motherhood.

Her words are rich in vulnerability and are full of poetic beauty. Hollay Ghadery explores the documented prevalence of mental health issues in bi-racial women. We also see her own experiences with being bi-racial and how it shaped her ever-evolving sense of identity. Hollay's life hasn't been an easy one - she's lived with and through eating and anxiety disorders, self-harm, OCD, misogyny within her family dynamics, and more. Yet there's a sense of triumph to her tales.

Fuse is personal and touching. It provides a much needed focus on the tensions bi-racial women experience around their bodies and their identities. The subject matter is raw and heavy, and at times it's a hard read, but I know that so many women will feel seen upon reading this book.

None of my experiences with body image have been as extreme as Hollay's but I spent years hating my body and trying to change it. The first chapter explores Hollay's thoughts on the casting of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and her experience watching the movie with her young daughter, and it was so easy to step inside Hollay's mind. Fuse brims with emotions, it's relatable even when describing moments, feelings and experiences that differ greatly from my own.

Fuse is the kind of book I want to shout about from the rooftops. It was absolutely stunning. It's beautifully written and thought provoking. Yet I know it will be quite triggering to a lot of people. If you're in a good head space though, it's definitely worth a read.

The Poet X now holds the title of my favourite Elizabeth Acevedo book.

Elizabeth Acevedo knows how to write a novel in verse. She plays with syntax and metre. The chapters are short and punchy. Each chapter is like its own little poem. Each word carefully chosen and accurately portraying how Xiomara feels.

Xiomara, our main character, is tall and curvy. She's feisty and often lets her fists do the talking. She also has a whole world in her head, that spills and fills her journal.

I'd read a few reviews that talked about the plot following Xiomara as she attends confirmation classes while desperately wanting to attend the slam poetry class that's held at the same time. Which is true, but there was so much more to it.

Xiomara is in high school, at that age where strange men view her and treat her like an adult, while her parents treat her like a child. She has her first real relationship with a guy in her biology class but has to hide it from her deeply religious parents. She's at the age where she's forming her own opinions and beliefs. She's realising that she doesn't have to be who her parents expect to be.

All of this, she explores through poetry. She discovers the power in taking her written words, adding movement, tone and nuance, and speaking her poems aloud.

I adored The Poet X. It's been a long time since I was 15 but there was so much to Xiomara and her experiences that I could relate to.

It's a super quick read. I read it in a night, and was a little bit sad that it was over so soon. It gets a well deserved 5 star rating from me.

This genre defying book is incredible. It's part dark academia, part sci-fi. It's a mix of myth, magical realism and generational curses. It's a musing on science, mental illness and family bonds.


Starting in Antarctica we follow Elsa, a physicist working on her PHD, as she moves between Sweden and America. Elsa's also dealing with grief, trying to find meaning in the myths her mother told her as a child.


There was lots of physics that went over my head, a dissection of Korean folklore, and the study of runes. It's hard to know what's real and what's not. I felt the same disorientation that Elsa feels.


Folklorn was a very timely read with the increase in hate crimes against Asian people. Elsa ponders lots on the immigrant experience, and how she experiences race in America vs in Sweden.


Elsa's parents immigrated to America after the Korean war. They speak little English and their trauma and disconnection to both Korean and American culture, created rifts and discontent in their family home.


There's lots of interesting discussion around identity in the Korean diaspora. Elsa very much identifies as Korean, even though it's a country she's never stepped in. Another character, Oskar was adopted from Korea to Swedish parents who largely ignored his race. Together and separately, they try and grapple with their ties to Korea, its myths and their identity.


Folklorn explores the cultural myths and generational trauma we inherit. We see the complicated mother-daughter relationship that defines (and begins to consume) much of Elsa's life.


The book explores how families support and suffocate each other. Elsa changes her opinions on her parents and brother throughout the book. Her feelings deepen with understanding and empathy. Much like how my opinion on Elsa changed . She's often frustrating but you can't help but feel for her.


It's a book that leads to lots of introspection. I'm still thinking about it a week later. There lots of heavy topics but it ends on a hopeful note.

I've read quite a few short story collections in the last 12 months and The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans has been my favourite.

This collection includes six powerfully written short stories and ends with the titular novella. Every story is a strong one. This is a rare short story collection where none of the stories are duds.

The book has perfect pacing and superb characterisation. The stories are immersive and the length is just right. The ending to each story added some much weight to them. The endings aren't necessarily neatly wrapped up, but they all end with some kind of emotional climax.

The book is a moving look into the human condition and into race in American culture. I liked how the stories were set all over America, from Seattle, to New York, from Washington DC to Chicago.

It's hard to describe too much of the synopsis without giving the stories away, but I found the stories often took turns I wasn't expecting. The book explores how white ignorance harms Black people, it muses on who decides what makes it into the history book and what it means for those whose voices are erased.

A few of the stories are written with ambiguity. Danielle Evans doesn't tell the reader how they should feel or tell the reader who we should sympathise with.

The stories I thought stood out the most were 'Richard York Gave Battle in Vain', 'Boys Go to Jupiter' and 'Anything Could Disappear'. It's also hard not too include the novella as a favourite. I can think back on the ending now and still feel exactly how I felt when I was reading it.

This is a timely, thought-provoking book full of deeply realistic characters. Even if you're not a reader of short stories, you should read this collection.

Maggie O'Farrell has written an exceptionally beautiful book. Hamnet is a superb historical fiction about the often forgotten members of Shakespeare's family. Yes, the story is about Shakespeare but it's also not really about him.

Instead, the book is told from the perspective of his son, Hamnet, and his wife, Agnes. The book is about family, motherhood, dealing with the loss of a child and living with a grief that will never disappear. Maggie O'Farrell writes about grief so beautifully, so tenderly, and in such a realistic way.

The prose throughout is lyrically and beautifully written. The descriptions, of often mundane things, are evocative and emotive. The ending is poignant and left me with goosebumps running up my arms.

When so much has been said about Shakespeare's life, this was a captivating way to imagine the life of his wife and children.

I highly recommend Hamnet for historical fiction lovers, or anyone who enjoys a superbly written character driven book.