*listened on Audible*

This one is tricky for me to review from a content point of view as it's a new subject, a new history and a new geographical area, so my knowledge on the current writing is non-existent. It could be completely full of inaccuracies, biases and other things, but in my infancy of knowledge in this area, I couldn't tell you.

From an enjoyment point of view I can be more certain. This was a dense piece of work which combined broad strokes with finer detail. The content suited me as, being a subject I know little about it wasn't *too* bogged down in minutiae that I didn't understand.

There were lots of names and I remember very little of them beyond the ones I already recognise from my patchy knowledge of middle east history and religious education!

But it's the kind of writing I like when approaching a new subject - it gave shape to the history of the area, helped me to understand how that history fit into my wider understanding of global historical events and it aided me to narrow down areas I might want to look into in the future.

Oh this was fantastic. Disputed inheritance, orphans, conspiracy and plot. Plus a brilliant female main character to really root for.

It twisted and turned, and I had no idea how it was going to turn out and I was guessing and being caught out until the very last.

The card reading was a fun element to draw it altogether. Highly recommend this one!

So this was really readable in a fairly basic kind of way. I'm not familiar with the publishing world, I'm not really in the whole booktok, bookstagram world so all this meta stuff about SM and publishing didn't really hit the mark for me. And yeah, it's about racism. In case it didn't hit you over the head about it enough to notice.

It was an interesting premise, and I kind of liked the plot (though the last section just got a bit ridiculous.) I read it in a couple of days. June is an asshole but she's readable. But it felt too much like it had 'Something To Say' and that came at the sacrifice of actual characters you could get behind. So, a bit flat for me.

And actually, the interesting bits - exploration around that very idea of who gets to write suffering, or the act of mining trauma for sales - that's the bit I wanted to see explored more fully.

Reading with the 5 yo. Good fun. This one doesn't have any 'scary' bits so it's perfect for my sensitive little boy.

I think 3 is a bit stingy and this is more a 3.5 really.

There are some real pacing issues in this novel and it drags in places which made me feel like I was wading through it at times. Characters were engaging and the general idea is sound and worthy of a story.

But as it laboriously got towards the crescendo, it fell apart a bit. All the interesting parts happened in the last 100 or so pages but equally it kind of undid itself.

I liked the setting, the characters were strong and you could get behind them. The male characters were a bit two dimensional but many of the female characters were well presented.

All in all, it was fine.

There is no doubt that this is a masterpiece of writing. It would take a much slower and more measured reading than the one I gave it to unpick the nuances in each carefully crafted sentence. But I don't think I could read it again.

I found the structure really challenging and disjointed - and I note that on reflection Morrison was dissatisfied with that structure so I take solace there!

I found it a really haunting novel, and certain sentences stopped me in my tracks. This is the first Morrison I have read and I'll be adding some more to my TBR pile - with a reservation that they need to be given an intentional and deliberate read.

Ok so reading this is giving me much more context for the failure of Shrines of Gaiety!

This one very similar in that there are multiple threads, characters and perspectives. A writing style that I enjoyed and a much more successful closure and meeting up of those threads at the end. More happened in the build up to the reveal than SoG and the ending wasn't ridiculous as it was in SoG. There were some convenient introductions of brand new characters which always drives me potty because it feels dishonest - you have no chance of guessing the connections if the author isn't giving you the relevant information. I did guess most of the plot points apart from the one where you didn't have the information so that's annoying really.

The stories were all great. A sad collection of girls at the whim of male violence as usual but it didn't bludgeon you over the head with it. Brodie definitely feels like he needs developing a bit more and there are inconsistencies in his world view that felt disappointing at times but interesting to see if they get ironed out in subsequent novels.

I might try and come back to this but my current headspace is not enjoying this really. I am enjoying some of the characters immensely and when they are interacting with one another, the pages fly by. But these moments are few and far between.

I can see the potential for good, but I can also see myself committing to 650 pages of the same sludge I'm currently working through just now and life is too short.

I really enjoyed this..if enjoy is the right word. Another novel centred around the Spanish Civil war this one was a bit less dry than Winter in Madrid. It came off a bit saccharin towards the end but possibly a necessary tonic after reading about an entire town being blown to pieces.

*listened on Audible*

I say listened. I have the audiobook on in the desperate hope that some of it actually seeps in.

This book has some interesting and worthwhile things to talk about. I know it does, because a dear university lecturer exhausted much effort and energy into trying to get it into my resolutely stubborn brain.

And I know it's an academic text, but I once was an academic kind of person. And it still doesn't get in. I am not a stupid person by any means. But I can't particularly highly rate a text that I struggle to understand even after studying it for a bit.

I think it's probably not a text that suits an audiobook. I need to pore over the words and unpick them.

So yeah. I am stubborn, so I am likely to visit this again because I know it has good things to say. I just cant figure all the things out.