My favourite part of this book by far was the dialogue. I loved how our characters felt so real with their sulking and drama and genuine friendship. This covered some heavier topics such as alcoholism which I wasn't expecting but actually worked really well in fleshing out characters. Without that added depth, i think it would be easy to see the story as a bit shallower - royalty in a castle causing problems - but there really is more than that. 
I was in love with all of our characters, particularly those who became friends begrudgingly, and it even had a cute ending! 

"There is nowhere you can go," said the Antari to her Prince, "that I cannot follow."

this was EVERYTHING. I forget just how much I'm obsessed with VE Schwab's work until I pick up another one. I read the Shades of London trilogy in first Lockdown and just inhaled it - I loved everything about it, and suffered immensely on behalf of my beloved characters. This book paid such a beautiful hommage to that, in the way Schwab has blended old and new characters, as well as old and new magic systems and settings. 
I love Kell and Lila so much, and to get to see them years on in their relationship and the ways in which they rely on each other was a joy. I am honestly so scared to see where this series goes because there are just a million things (as always) that could go disastrously wrong at any moment. I'm hoping we get more of Tes because she's such a cute character, and a refreshing addition to our cast who usually range from flirtatious to cynical, and her family background was so curious as well - excited to see how they'll play into later books in the trilogy.

Just had the best time ever being back in this universe and I'm going to have to get myself copies of these books because having a library copy is just not the same.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As the author says herself at the beginning of this story, this is a black comedy dealing with very real issues of domestic violence, only exacerbated my the covid-19 lockdown period of 2020. While at first I was a little put off by the shock factor of the violence portrayed at the start of the novel, I quickly came to realise that once you picked up on the razor sharp wit behind it - it was very cleverly done.

Plotwise, this was the epitome of I support women's rights but most of all I support women's wrongs". I loved the way this book looked at female companionship and intergenerational friendships and it also touched on how abuse can affect the relationships people have with their own families. 

Although the book remains lighthearted and earnest in tone throughout, there is a serious note running through that cannot be ignored and I feel that I've gained a new perspective into the kinds of dangerous relationships that exist across the UK (and beyond of course!)

I don't think this is a genre or style of book I'll return to, but it was a well paced, enjoyable story nonetheless.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

Unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me. I got about 50% through and felt like everything I'd read so far had been negative: whether that was our characters' perceptions of visiting India, of the way they talked about their family and friends, their outlooks on life. And sure, life is really tough - suffering is undoubtedly a part of life, but when I pick up a novel that's not quite what I'm looking for. I continued on to the end of the book, and found that I enjoyed the last perspective (Tara) the most, as she talked about her art and the way she used it to self-regulate. 
Not my cup of tea, but I'm sure others will enjoy it a lot more.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"We are only allowed such a small piece of knowledge about who we are, and where we really come from. We march relentlessly into our unknown future, beginning anew with every second."

This was just the most exquisite novel, absolutely took my breath away. Right from the start, before I even knew who the wide range of characters were, I had already fallen in love with the beautiful Scottish landscape in which the story is located. For me, the descriptions of the hills and the water and the way of life felt like someone had taken thoughts straight from my head: a combination of childhood holiday memories and my own deep love of traditional folklore (and even how we see it in academia, and the accompanying emotions and ethics - it ticked so many boxes, and was so relevant to where I find myself in life at the moment)
And then I realised that as well as this, I was going to have to fall in love with the MacArthur family. Each character was written with so much detail I felt like they were performing on stage in front of me, or as if I were sat in the kitchen with them as they narrated their lives. The layers of relationships between each character grew and grew and with every twist and surprise I could only feel for them more deeply - for the pain that they all went through and felt they couldn't share with one another, as is the way of complex histories. 
There were so many pieces to this story, some that by the end I was desperate for - wanting as badly as our characters to understand the whole arc of a family history, and others I didn't even realise were missing until they quietly opened up whole pieces of the puzzle that had previously been hidden. Ultimately, stories like this can have no perfect conclusion because we are an imperfect people who, out of love or hate or fear or bravery, make choices that ripple through history, but I felt MacRae offers us a beautiful hommage to these complicated feelings in the way we leave Anna, Jamie, Donnie, Bella, Fern, and Netta at the end of the novel. A masterpiece of historical fiction, and one I am glad to have experienced!

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. 

"The more oppressed you feel, the more you turn to your community...you realise you can only be truly understood by the church."

This was a complex and hard-hitting book primarily structured around the traumatic circumstances surrounding the author's father's death, and the other factors in her life affecting her childhood such as her born-again Christian faith. Personally, due to my own religious leanings and experiences, King's searching look at the power of organised religion was the most fascinating part of this book. In the vein of [book:Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit|15055], the reader learns how even a small religious community can exert great influence, for better or for worse, and what this might look like for a child who hadn't known anything different. 
My only critique is that as we reached King's later adolescence and her foray into the thinking of spiritualism, there was less and less detail in comparison to the discussions of the church in the first-half. It would have perhaps been interesting to see more of a comparison there. 
A very interesting life-story, with powerful messages about class and community in the UK.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review. 

Enjoyed this a lot! From the first page, the reader is thrust into an alternate South Korea full of magic and monsters - most specifically in this case, a magical parasite running rampant in the city. The quick pace and the straight-to-the-point world building meant that in only a few pages I was completely invested and I felt this could definitely have been longer than it was. Since it's on the shorter side, it felt almost like a dramatic episode of some kind of crime detective drama which again, helped maintain the rapid pulse of the plot. I particularly enjoyed the friendship arc of our two male MCs, especially in the way they had to take care of each other. I also found the idea of a parasite removing all of the senses are really interesting one - not something I've read or come across before. 

 Read this in one sitting on the train - and half the time felt like I should close it so no-one read over my shoulder oops. I love a weird relationship dynamic - especially when you finally get a glimpse into a woman's mind and discover she's completely unhinged (think a certain hunger, my year of rest and relaxation).
Found the translation lovely and smooth, excellent balance of subtle imagery followed by upfront crude imagery. Also really got across that feeling of listlessness and repetition in each of their lives.
Wouldn't go so far as to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was certainly weird and intriguing! 

 Didn't feel like this one had any third act conflict at all?? Which is so much fun (for me personally) since it made the book feel a lot like a developed character study of how they both became more understanding people over time rather than some dramatic misunderstanding. Set up was a little slow, I feel like that comes with writing sequels that follow different characters in the same universe - the author has to talk about what everyone else is up to all the time. BUT, overall a lot of ridiculous fun and I'll be picking up the third book when it releases!