Oh I did love this. It was a bit treacle like in places but oh largely delicious. The characterisation was fantastic. The writing was sumptuous and tactile. I know the outcome if I keep on reading and I'm dreading it. Cromwell is a fascinating character and I'm really enjoying him. Will be going on to Bringing up the Bodies asap.

So it's really nicely written and all. When it's not excusing rape, and shitting all over the concept of consent.

I need to actually read the tempest. Enjoyed this one though. Got better as it went on.

Ok so I enjoyed this. I found it nicely life affirming. But it encapsulated my problem with Matt Haig and my feeling that he doesn't necessarily recognise the privileged vantage point from which he writes about mental health.

I get it - the point is living. And it's perspective rather than where you actually are. She goes back to the crap life. But she has potential. And lots of her issues are of her own making. She makes the decision not to see her life as crap anymore. Lots of people can't do that. The shift in perspective is too big. Not everyone has the materials (physical or mental) to do so. And I know it's not a self help book, but it doesn't feel a necessarily responsible way to write about being depressed.

Really enjoyed this. I found the beginning a bit disjointed and it took a while to get into the characters because the perspective changed really frequently.

It didn't feel particularly innovative in terms of its treatment of gender. It's split along the classic lines of nature/science. Man's need for order versus the wild/feral nature of women.

The villan was fairly poorly drawn and a bit one dimensional and some of the peripheral characters deserved a bit more airtime. But overall I really like it, I wanted to know what happened to everyone. The end was satisfying if not a bit predictable.

Meh. Intensely unlikable characters all the way through. Guessed the gist of the plot about 3 chapters in. One twist I didn't get but

Struggling to make my mind up about this one.

I enjoyed the format, the plot was interesting and exciting. The nature of the unreliable narrator is always a good one to keep me turning pages.

Where I stumbled was that sometimes the inconsistencies in the narrator, in terms of plot/tone/language made me falter and think it wasn't well written, or was just too preposterous.

Turns out it's all for a very good reason, and I did enjoy the end (though I'd had my suspicions before I got there.) But I'm not sure everyone would persevere with the odd twists and turns that the story takes.

I'm glad I stuck with it, though the end did feel a bit rushed after the slow set up.