From Bloody Mary to Guy Fawkes, this sweeping 16th (to early 17th) Century saga brings us through it all one step away from the people of historic fame—in the eyes and experiences of an original cast of religiously convicted and deeply conflicted characters. 

 

You’d think these stories in history are far so removed our emotions would be hardened to the truths of long ago losses, but as QEI took her last breath, with Ned saying ‘we were all pygmies, and she was a giant we were privileged to serve’, I too shed a tear for a monarch 400 years dead as if I was standing at her bedside as one of her beloved faithful. 

 

These books are so flipping long, but I do so love Follett’s writing… 

Kundera weaves the oddest of tales with such morbid humour and unique satire, and it's teeming with sharp political criticisms and biting ironies. This one is for fans of Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut who like a sly intellectual giggle.

A spa town given to licentiousness and governed by a regime that farcically maintains control by expressing shocked indignation at salacious behaviours is the comical setting for a number of intertwined relationships. Dramatic irony abounds.

So do the severely awkward relationships between men and women, the tensions and jealousies that destroy women at their hive's core, the crappy advice men give men about strained relationships, all the lies people tell one another in attempts to preserve what cannot be, and an exposé of irrational fears humanity harbours at the risk of engaging in romance.

In the midst of it all are the little blue pills that keep a population subdued and under the impression they are content. Not to be mistaken with the other blue pills. But of course, this mixup is a an accident waiting to happen.

A rose-lensed satirical study in misunderstood socialism, misapplied communism, several wonky interpretations of love and God, and the green-grass promise of capitalism that lingers on the fringes of a mildly disgruntled and fatally misdirected society.

At once tactless, vulgar, and blunt, darkly comical in its unfolding, and profoundly insightful in its criticisms. An easy study for First Year Twentieth-Century-Literature-in-Society academics.

This starts out with dark intrigue in a world we can taste, the brine and salt of a relentless sea dripping incessantly off clothes, the walls, seeping into carpets and curtains, hair, and always right there on your tongue. 

 

One young naive, ill-prepared girl finds herself tossed and handled in a man’s world, and her tiny resistant voice goes unheard—until she travels south and finds her power. 

 

The novel is an allegory, one great big obvious metaphor. Its fantasy setting is used as the illustration for a world rotten with sexual abusers and a sneering, misogynistic patriarchy to oversee what passes for justice at the highest levels. As an allegorical study on overcoming abusers, groomers, harassment, etc. it has worth. There is a lot in here for discussion. 

 

As a story, it held my interest for the first half, but then the resolutions for several interesting threads dissolved into improbable scenarios or cliche fixes or the sudden addition of random fairytale tropes that didn’t seem to fit with the story—or add to it in any way. 

 

I know it was meant to be a predictable rivals-to-lovers storyline, but being told so in the synopsis doused any element of surprise from our expectations, stripping the authenticity from the development of the relationship. We were just waiting for it to happen, and then when it did, it was like… meh. 

 

Preston deserved more story, more depth, just more as a person. I feel he had much more to give, we just never saw it. I was waiting for it. 

 

4 stars for the allegory 

3 stars for story development and execution 

4 stars for writing style, narration, and overall setting (very inventive) 

2 stars for denouement (I really wasn’t impressed by the ending) 

 

3.25 overall… 

A superb and imaginative continuation of the Cinderella story told from the perspective of the ‘middle sister’ in the original tale. Full of girl-power elements taken from real history as inspiration for the reconciliation journey of an ‘ugly stepsister’ to a place of hope, love, and power. 

 

Let your teen girls read this; it abounds with motivational lessons that will speak to girls 13+ in the face of bullies, mean girls, and the persistent voice of self-loathing. 

 

This is a new angle to the familiar story, but this one is for us all. 

While I’d let my 9-12 year old read this middle grade fantasy tale, there is better stuff out there (JK Rowling, Chris Colfer, Kate DiCamillo, Roald Dahl, Eoin Colfer). It’s fairly tame (a few kisses and ‘making outs’ sans details, with some petty big-kid insults thrown around), yet has enough magical adventure and social grey-area discussion topics for older children to tackle. Fledgling adolescents may enjoy the challenges of the ‘meet your inner demons’ analogies presented. It’s all wrapped up in a modern American setting, replete with slang, first-world conveniences, and fast-food suppers. 

 

Another middle-of-the-road THREE from Holly Black for me; I imagine a 13 year old boy might find it engaging… 

Simply Magic!! More so because of the narration by Saskia Maarleveld. She’s the best there is…

A jazz age fantasy novel surrounding the coming together of three virgin magic-bearing courtesans in a reluctant sisterhood. And they are hiding in plain sight from the pretentious religious zealots who are just itching for a witch-burning. This is a blend of many periods of history and social issues set in a fantasy city replete with knife-wielding gangs and elemental magicians, a rogue alchemist, and a a hardened female drug lord —and yes: THERE BE dragons too… does it get any better? Oh certainly, because someone somewhere has a ship for sailing off on an ocean. This has romance, girl-power (quite literally the central theme of the novel), a fight for justice, and lays the groundwork for an intriguing series. 

Can’t wait for the next.

I mean, keep in mind that these are written for young teens. That is the target age, and I appreciate the innocence involved in the stories despite the themes of evil and dark magic. Fun adventure for boys, but nothing super special.

Yes yes yes. The best of the bunch. I LOVED these novels and so sorry they’re over with this last one. 

Our snappy sarky good-hearted Charlie finds himself in the middle of a clandestine investigation that for once doesn’t make him the criminal (does it?), but it does thrust him into an altogether more shocking situation—being the eyewitness to a grisly murder. The twists and punches are plentiful and unexpected, and Charlie never loses his wicked sense of humour. 

But that ending…

Chris Ewan trying to kill me with that ending. Took me hours to work through it, and eventually I think I’ll get over it…but maybe not.

A fishhook (baby sunfish-size) of curiosity snagged me in the opening pages and I got sucked into this callow vortex…

I need to remember that what passes for an adult novel these days may lack any real-life experience, but will likely be congested with juvenile storylines, snotty with petty jealousies and childish emotional manipulation; will contain romantic relationships founded on the shallowest of premises and the basest physical attractions; will be stuffed with flashbacks of underage drinking and cringey descriptions of experimental sex; and will be replete with shameless efforts to recuperate an ethereal unfulfilled promise lingering bitterly from a tainted unsatisfactory secondary school experience.

This is not an adult novel, but there’s no way I’d recommend it for anyone under18 either… so that’s a unique quandary. I’m coming to expect it with novels written by this generation of new adults. If you’re 18-28 there is a possibility this might feel like ‘mature’ reading, but don’t be fooled—it only contains ‘mature themes’ (as we call them); it’s got a long way to go before being fit relatable material for responsible mature and experienced working-class adults. Yes, it’s fiction, I know, but it still needs believability.

The storyline involving the step-father was sad, and sadly, it was the realistic part of the novel that tied things to the real world. I understand it’s borderline fantasy (as in: building fantasy worlds to escape nasty, mentally-disturbing and dangerous realities), but the tales are simply told and no real fantasy world is revealed; it’s merely a veneer that shields the broken mind of a traumatised woman, impeded from maturing into a responsible adult by the ugly marks upon her from multiple damaging childhood relationships.

The ending is predictable, but not so bad as you might expect. As an allegory, it’s obvious, and yet remains too far out of reach. It all ends abruptly on a satisfactory note, though, so at least there’s that. 

Also, some of the writing is beautiful…

I laughed out loud. 

I got angry and frustrated in the awkward tensions. 

I appreciated the solid happy girly friendships. 

I broke my heart at the aunt-niece relationship… and how personal that was to the author… and how it gave this book its soul… 

I TASTED all the foodie food bits. 

…and I loved the ‘fantasy’ element of time travel that blends into the fusion of food and restaurants and artwork and all the overly sentimental purple prose that makes the story what it is…and the magic. 

…and of course, those two pigeons. 

What a pleasant surprise this book turned out to be.