Initial thoughts: Is alcohol poisoning not a thing here??
Review: A good holiday read! I finished this in a day and wasn't disappointed by the story. Personally, I didn't think the actual murder was the central plotline but the developing relationships between the numerous characters and how their secret pasts were never far away from catching up with them.
Final reflection: I think I enjoyed the ending (no spoilers) more than the bulk of the book and I really feel like staying where these guys did (minus the murder obviously)

I want to start of this review by saying that the actual content of this book was very interesting and I learnt a lot about the Shelleys and their families. However for me the writing style made it a drag to read.

I never knew Mary and Percy Shelley's relationship was such a scandal. They ran away together when Mary was 16, taking Mary's step-sister with them, despite Percy already being married and having 2 children. The over arching story of this book and their later life is altogether immensely depressing- it didn't really turn out well for any of them.

I suppose you would call this book a fictional re-telling of their lives which must be quite a task to produce- especially since we'll never know exactly what they were thinking or why they did all the things they did. Was it really love? The author suggests that Percy was polyamorous rather than a man who cheats frequently which I thought was an interesting perspective seeing as without this idea, he really doesn't come across in a very flattering light at all.

Think I'm going to have to read Frankenstein now and see if I can see similarities between the characters in that and the characters described here. Especially since Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in my city!

Wow!! I've seen this book absolutely everywhere for so long and somehow managed to convince myself I wouldn't like it- and I was so wrong. This is immediately going on my list of favourite books of this year (that is ever growing).

I'm hopefully going to read the Penelopiad and the Odyssey soon- 2 books which fit with this perfectly and will give me further insight into this particular greek myth.

Circe is such an interesting character- I loved getting to see her thought processes behind each action and the ending had me nearly in tears. Despite living for so long, each emotion she felt was sharp and poignant. I greatly admire Madeline Miller and her skill at storytelling and weaving a fresh story from a centuries old tale.

In an interview she did, I came across something she said which mentioned that Circe is only in 2 books of The Odyssey so in Circe, Odysseus only gets two chapters. For me, that just adds to the joy I got from reading about complex, magical women in positions of power.

This started with such a punch that I felt like I was free-falling into the rest of the story. I've not read any other books by Mark Lawrence so the magic system and universe he writes about here was completely new to me but I don't think that detracted from the story.

I loved that there was such a wide range of aspects to this story. You had strong themes of community, alongside the desolate feeling of 'the end of the world', along side magical powers and ancient cities, alongside mechanical/animatronic killing creatures. Made for a good kind of chaos.

Struggled to get through it purely because it's so not a genre I'm in the habit of reading.

What a weird and also fascinating book. I don't think I've ever read something that has such a unique story. Since it's narrated by a five year old, the language is limited and the beginning of 'life in captivity' is rather tedious. However, about midway through, the book picked up speed and I was drawn into seeing the world through fresh eyes from this little boys perspective.

Might have to watch the film purely because I'm curious to see if the boy's thoughts are portrayed as they are in the book (where his young opinion is the basis for everything)

If you start this book and immediately think "Is she a real person?", Don't worry, I thought the same thing and i doubt I'm alone in that. (Hint: she's fictional)
This book was explosive- full of Hollywood scandals, romances and affairs. And despite the title, this book is LGBT heavy. You've got gay, lesbian, and bi characters and it (importantly I think) covers the issue of bi-phobia/bi-erasure.
Reading this feels like a blissful escape into someone else's dramatic life and I'm sure I'll be re-reading it before long.

For some reason I went into this thinking it was going to be a contemporary read?!?!?! It's absolutely NOT. But it was also incredible and reminded me why I love horror so much.
I'd like to warn people that there's quite a lot of graphic pain/injury but not necessarily in a violent way. The girls at this school are all infected with a virus that invafes their body and is trying to get them to evolve- producing symptoms that should be helpful but are instead damaging. (it makes more sense in the book i promise) For example one girl has an extra spine that the virus has caused her to grow etc.

I felt like the ending was very open which in this case worked for me. If it had been specifically all tied up, the plot would've been much less dramatic.

This is such an interesting book! I'm almost glad it took me so long because it gave me a lot of time to reflect on what I was reading. It was full of insights into a culture I know little about and I feel that I learnt a substantial amount about the race issues in the US, Nigeria, and the UK.

Character wise, I loved Ifem. I loved the way she wrote and the way she bluntly put her thoughts with a no nonsense attitude. I especially enjoyed that you're able to read the articles she writes for her blog. For me, that was something special- not only being told about her thoughts on being a non-American black living in the US, but being able to see those thoughts play across the page in an essay that I would have loved had I found it on an actual blog online.

Adichie's writing continues to grow on me and I'm going to have to invest in physical copies of her novels (this was read as a library e-book)

Not for me at all. Too many aspects of this book were either confusing or straight up too weird.

To start with, this book made me quite wary. Part of the world building that started off the story contained a lot of misogyny that felt uncomfortable to read. Perhaps I was just being overly sensitive since I wasn’t expecting it. I felt like I successfully understood how this world worked despite not being a huge fan of the violence.

I loved the romance in this- had a little love triangle going which is always fun to read even if it’s painful to see them all vying for each other’s attention all the time.

Loved the fairytale aspects: Balls, Magic, Witch in the woods ❤️

Predicted the end which wasn’t an issue for me as I was caught up in the drama of the finale. Thought this was a great fantasy read that put a fresh twist on stories everyone knows well!