This Eternity of Mask and Shadows was brilliant. This was my first ARC read through NetGalley and it is going to be hard to beat. Mystery, mythology and murder - what more could you ask for in a book?

I stormed my way through this, finishing it in just one day. As soon as I put it down I itched to pick it back up again, I was reluctant to do anything else; my mind constantly returning to the story of Cairn, daughter of the Inuit goddess Sedna, and her quest for justice. Eternity does a brilliant job of taking popular genres (mystery and crime) and then flipping it on its head, delivering something truly original fantastical and absorbing.

In this world the god and goddesses of every conceivable religion; Egyptian, Norse, Greek, Roman and Māori amongst others. Karsten Knight creates a rich and vibrant world, one in which I desperately wanted to spend more time. (If Karsten reads this, consider this a plea for this to spark a series of Cairn and co's adventures).

A strong, hilarious, gay protagonist, surrounded by strong women, flawed characters, morally challenging decisions and diverse and equally hilarious characters - I don't think I'm going to stop gushing about this book for a while. I was well and truly enchanted by the characters in the book, the entire idea is genius but the execution is *chef's kiss*.

This Eternity of Mask and Shadows will be released Jun 2nd 2020, or if you're desperate to get your hands on it (and you should be) keep an eye on GoodReads for upcoming giveaways of advanced copies. Get yourself a copy of this book - I know I'll be getting myself a physical copy, this book needs to be on any self respecting book lovers shelves.

This was definitely an interesting read. I picked it up as the first book from my TBR jar and it was one that my fiance was very excited for me to read - mostly because she thought it would make me cry like a baby.

It did not. And honestly, I think that disappointed me a little. For me, the book didn't pack enough of a punch and whilst that could be because it was a little too hyped up by those I spoke to about it, I just felt a little underwhelmed by it.

Following Susie's journey was emotional, particularly in the first few chapters. Sebold's style is certainly original and I really love the premise of the book. Certainly, I was hooked. Each time I picked the book up I would read and read until I had to stop.

The Lovely Bones is definitely an interesting read, as a crime and thriller fan it was an enjoyable experience to see things from the victim's perspective and to witness alongside her her imploding family.

The book was not perfect though, without giving away any massive spoilers for the few people who may not have read this I found that the book moved fairly slowly and then in the final few chapters everything started to happen. An incident occurs between Susie and Ruth that left me frustrated that this was only happening 60 pages from the end of the book, then Sebold's decision to have Susie go to Ray - her first kiss from days before she died - rather than her family and to make love rather than help her family get closure from finding her body was perhaps the most annoying part of this entire book.

Other than the killer never being caught and his other victims not being discovered. But then, I found this a chilling reminder that not every killer is caught. If you pay close attention to the book it seems as though Susie got her revenge anyway.

It is definitely worth reading, particularly if, like me, you're a fan of crime thrillers as The Lovely Bones does something entirely new to the genre. My only advice is not to have your hopes too high, take the book as it is, because for me my expectations tainted the experience of the book.

This book was phenomenal. I pride myself on being a fantastic sofa detective, always sniffing out (or feeling like I've sniffed out) the killer in all the crime books I read, and there are a lot of them, but not this one. One In Three delivered twist after twist, constantly surprising me with the nuggets of information we receive from our two main unreliable/biased narrators.

I've never read a book with this structure before. Each chapter focused on a different characters point of view with police interview transcripts scattered throughout. We start with the murder and our two main suspects, the wife and the ex-wife, standing over the body. After this we jump back in time, learning about our main suspects lives leading up to that night. It works really well in building up the pace and tension.

I adore crime novels, they've always been my favourite genre and One in Three absolutely blew me away. It is unlike any crime novel I've read before and I stayed up until the early hours of the morning to get through this one! A definite must-read!

https://proseamongstthorns.wordpress.com/2020/04/26/one-in-three-by-tess-stimson-arc-review/

This review is a little different. Rather than reviewing a book I've read for fun, this one is the latest academic text I've read for my MRes dissertation. The Spell of the Sensuous is a beautiful exploration of magic, environment and the animal world within indigenous cultures.

'Direct sensuous reality, in all its more-than-human mystery, remains the sole solid touchstone for an experiential world now inundated with electronically-generated vistas and engineered pleasures; only in regular contact with the tangible ground and sky can we learn how to orient and to navigate in the multiple dimensions that now claim us' (Abrams, 1996, p. x)

I've never come away from an academic text feeling awed, but Abrams manages to do this. His writing style is beautiful, balancing academic and colloquial writing wonderfully. Every line resonated with me and I often found myself reading the text out-loud in order to fully appreciate it.

Most academic/theoretical/critical texts leave me with a headache and, often, feeling more confused than I was before. This was not the case with Abrams' work; each chapter leads into each other, creating a natural progression through his work. You are eased into the deep discussion of time and space and how this relates into the written word, by the time you reach this part of the text it seems like a natural evolution. Never before have I enjoyed an academic text to the extent that I have this one. I will almost certainly be purchasing my own copy.

If you have an interest in indigenous culture, human relationship with the nonhuman, or the history and importance of the written word, then this book is a must read. Or maybe you're studying English (Lit) at Uni and want to take a look at this critical text. Either way, I can't recommend this enough. Reading this book has helped shape my MRes and sparked my PhD topic too.

I've always had an interest in law, for a long time I planned on becoming a lawyer and I still adore all those crime shows, and this edited collection of Cicero's speeches is an amazing indication of crime and punishment during the Roman Era. For anyone interested in those areas, this book is a must-read.

I will admit, it was not an easy read. However, a 3-star rating (for me at least) is a 'good' book. Despite the difficulties I had getting through this and it did take me a while to get through this one, I am definitely going to be reading more of Cicero's speeches. The editor of this collection did a fantastic job in explaining things thoroughly through the footnotes and providing useful family trees.

It was insane to see just how similar the judicial process is to Roman time. And to see the types of crime that were prevelant during this time. 'Murder Trials' deals with some of Cicero's most popular and eloquent speeches defending alleged murderers, there's an abundance of poisoning and some very tangled webs. For me, this was one of the most interesting parts of this read - it was truly fascinating.

Finally, it cannot go unsaid that Cicero's speeches (if they were delivered as this editor has translated them) were beautifully eloquent. He had me convinced! There was humour, evidence and charisma. I really could imagine these speeches taking place in a modern court room. As I said above, this is certainly worth a read for those interested in law or/and the Roman empire.

This book gave me a fascinating insight into Pacific Islanders life, society and culture. It was a brilliant read and I'm curious to read more of Hau'ofa's work. This has really helped shaped my Master's dissertation.

This book is a fantastic introduction to academic writing. Even though I'm studying for my master's now, I felt like Smith guided me through Shakespeare's plays carefully whilst gently pushing me towards points to consider. It's perfect for anyone planning on studying English Literature in further studies or who is interested in Shakespeare.

But, that's not entirely true - because Smith makes Shakespeare more approachable. Even those people who have found Shakespeare to be complex and unobtainable should pick this book up. Plays that, until now, have confused me or seemed a little too smart suddenly seemed to make sense. Smith's colloquial language engaged me, I saw her as a friend sharing a passion rather than an academic lecturing about Shakespeare.

This is Shakespeare certainly achieved its goal: even before I had finished I begged my girlfriend to let us watch Macbeth and Hamlet. Right now, I'm considering picking up some of the plays I've not yet read or attempted to read and gave up on. I can't recommend this one enough, no matter who you are - a Shakespeare fan, a hater, a teacher, an academic, a student - this book is essential.

This was my first Bookstagram made me do it purchase - as a fan of crime novels I knew I had to get myself a copy. I've seen so many brilliant reviews and whilst this book wasn't quite a 5* read (and honestly I couldn't exactly tell you why!) it was still fantastic.

The Hunting Party keeps you guessing throughout. You don't find out who the victim is until right at the very end of the book, which was both original and captivating: how could I put the book down without knowing who is dead? It worked, because I didn't stop reading until I had finished the entire book.

This decision to withhold information also made me get emotionally involved; I found myself hoping some characters were safe. But certainly not everyone: a lot of the characters in this novel were thoroughly dislikeable. This made the read more interesting as I was hoping my favourite characters would both survive 'till the end and also not be the killer.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one and whilst it wasn't a 5* read for me I do highly recommend it to all crime lovers. I will certainly be checking out Foley's newest book The Guest List.

I adore Kipling. I wrote my dissertation on The Jungle Books and I have an unhealthily large collection of antique Kipling's (including a first edition The Jungle Book and a first edition The Second Jungle Book. The Seven Seas is one of those old books I've collected and have darted in and out of in the past, but never really given it my full attention: Thanks to the TBR jar, it finally got its chance.


There were a few gems in here though, I particularly liked 'The Song of Ung' and 'L'envoi'. The poetry certainly wasn't bad poetry, it just wasn't to my taste or in an area I know enough about to truly appreciate it.

As I said, this collection won't be for everyone. It certainly looks gorgeous on my bookshelf, but it won't be one I pick up again for a re-read. If you're a full-blown Kipling fan, give this one a go, if not then steer clear!