hallereads's Reviews (197)

Séverine is literally that girl. Hot girl summer 2025 book incoming…

Society of Lies started so well and I really enjoyed the themes of dark academia, mystery/thriller vibes, and secret societies however the book seemed to drag towards the end and became quite predictable in the last 3/4 chapters!

These Days by Lucy Caldwell is a beautiful, tender, and sharp historical fiction novel set in 1941 in Belfast. Following the lives of sisters Emma and Audrey - one engaged to be married, the other in a secret relationship with another woman - as they try to survive the horrors of the four nights of bombing which were the Belfast Blitz.

I really enjoyed this one. It felt like a different war-time book. Something more honest and humane. With beautiful characters, it was brilliant to read about the lives of two 'ordinary' women, instead of the typical war hero books, and in Belfast no less. Both women at significant turning points in their lives, we see how the war changes them and shapes them. 

A special novel from start to finish.

Thank you so much to Virago and NetGalley for this advance ARC!

Between the bohemian demimonde of New York and the affluent Black community of Detroit in the 1970s, Lewis Jones is a party girl for the ages—a woman in her thirties who has reached a point of freedom, confidence, and mayhem. She is supported in her adventures, in every way, by her husband, Woody. She is accompanied by her friend Kitty Kat, a gay hustler with impeccable style and a knack for finding all the best spots. She soaks in baths of champagne, powders her nose with cocaine, wakes up on silk sheets with a variety of lovers. And then she is finally, truly upended by the handsome, erudite, often cruel Brook—a man who won’t tolerate her attempts to take control.

Nettie Jones is a great writer. Fish Tales reminds me a lot of Corregidora by Gayl Jones in a good way, the writing about 70s Black America, both sharp and frank and brilliant. Fish Tales is a party story, a Gatsby style champagne fuelled tale of opulence, desire, touching on race and sexuality in the process. It’s a fun novel that is pretty fast paced and there is a lot to take in. We meet Lewis Jones in her early years and watch as she is quickly picked up by predatory older men. Further in we see a different side to Jones, a woman unafraid to call a phone number and ask for a couple of male hookers. I think in the present we often don’t imagine women of the 60s and 70s being so unashamed in their pleasures and desires, and Fish Tales makes this a refreshing take.

Formatting wise, I really enjoyed the short chapters. I think that was a perfect device for this novel, being so short with so many characters to meet, the briefness of the chapters allow you to see a snapshot of Jones’s relationships, just the perfect amount to understand the people in her life, how she feels about them and the impact they create.

I love that ‘forgotten’ classics like Fish Tales are being reprinted for the modern reader. This is a loud, look-at-me, understand-me story that should be read by millions of women. For a book written in the 70s it is strikingly current in its themes of sex, drugs, alcohol, and love.

I loved the author’s note at the end, confirming that Nettie Jones had met Gayl Jones – who inspired her to write! I won’t spoil it but I loved understanding Jones’ reasonings for writing Fish Tales and what it means to her.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this advance ARC!

If you love contemporary Irish fiction this is definitely a book for you!

Rachel's perfect family life is shattered when her husband Tom drives their car off the road, attempting to end his and his families’ lives, leaving her to grapple with the aftermath. As she tries to understand what led to this moment, Show Me Where It Hurts explores the emotional toll of living with someone in deep pain, the struggle to stay afloat when a loved one is drowning, and the challenge of surviving immense loss. A compelling and heartbreaking journey, the novel ultimately offers a story of recovery, resilience, and the unexpected hope that can arise from even the darkest moments.

The chapters are split between the present and the ten years leading up to the accident, when Tom and Rachel met. I love when any novel does this because I think you learn so much more about the characters and the depth of the story. As you read about the accident in the very first chapters, some of the chapters about Rachel and Tom dating can be pretty hard to read knowing what he does ten years later.

Gleeson writes grief exactly as it is; raw, ugly, terrifying, and tidal. A book that is both gripping and emotional. I really liked the way that Gleeson explores family dynamics in the novel, from Rachel’s relationships with her mother, sister, and of course with her husband Tom.

Show Me Where It Hurts is a powerful novel. Gleeson has written a mindful book full of tenderness, heartbreak, and sorrow. The book evoked so much emotion within me, a truly excellent and haunting debut novel that I won’t forget for a long time.

Five stars.