tashreads2manybooks's Reviews (1.06k)

4.5 stars. Listened to it on audio - narrated by Kate Mulgrew - she is incredible.

I knew this book hit a nerve when I started feeling uncomfortable reading it. When I heard my own thoughts, my own insecurities given voice. Why I never feel good enough, why I’m forever trying to lose weight, why I feel ‘less than’ when I see images of beautiful people living beautiful lives.

I’ve had three kids - I will never be thin and yet I feel a failure because of it. I don’t see my body as given birth to three miracles- I see a saggy belly, stretch marks and softness. The self loathing is palpable. And I’m not alone. When I’m with a group of my female friends, how often do we turn the conversation to diets, to work-outs, to body image and aging. I’m sick of it. I’m so so sick of it.

We are worth more than our clothes size. There is more to us than our bodies.

Bravo Bri Lee

4.5 stars. Well that was a pleasant surprise! Jane Eyre meets Kill Bill - it really shouldn’t work, but it does, and I loved every second.

It was another enjoyable ride, but I’m glad it ended with this one. Series fatigue was setting in. My favourite of the series is still book 1.

This book is powerful, and I think it would have been even more powerful if it had stuck to one main idea. Instead of focusing exclusively on sexual abuse and its ramifications (major trigger warnings) it also tried to be a book about art, race relations and climate change. And it felt a little scattered. The writing was poetic and it's message was important - but it just needed more focus.

I do love a good cult story.

Hamnet will tear your heart out then put it back together again. Maggie O' Farrell offers a new perspective on a time in Shakespeare's life that may have inspired one of his most famous plays. Yet The Bard is a minor character in the novel. It focuses instead on his wife, Agnes, and the events that lead to the tragic early death of their son, Hamnet. The subject is expertly handled with exquisite, gut-wrenching sorrow. With prose that takes your breath away with its beauty and anguish. ⁣Best read slowly, with a cup of tea (or wine!) and a box of tissues at the ready.
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3.5 stars. Trigger warning! Very disturbing depiction of psychological, emotional and mental abuse- gas lighting, jealousy and control. It was an uncomfortable read, but had me hooked.

4.5 stars. I read a lot of mystery thrillers, and can usually guess the twist / culprit. However, this left me flabbergasted