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wordsofclover
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Cows follows three different women, in their late 20s, 30s and early 40s, as they navigate their way through life while facing off against public opinion on what women should be and what they should do, health scares, sexuality, misogyny in the workplace and much more.
This book was absolutely brilliant and I loved all of it. It's been a long time since a book was able to make laugh out loud while reading (including when in public) and make me want to yell 'WTF!' five minutes later. This book is a laugh out loud funny, unapologetic take on feminist literature and I really feel it's a must-read. This book covers working in a male-focused environment, pressures of being a single and/or working mum, childlessness - both intentional and unintentional, abortion, public opinion, sex, orgasms, masturbation. It really has a bit of everything!All the nice bits about being a woman but all the crappy ones too!
I really loved that the women were all of varying ages and they were all at different points in their lives. Tara was a working mom, who came to work two hours early every day so she could pick up her daughter from school but was still made feel guilty by her male colleagues. She is professional but also a red-blooded woman with sexual needs and desires, as well as a desire to find love, all of which lead her to make a mistake that destroys her life.
Cam is a no-nonsense feminist blogger who enjoys a fantastic sex life with younger men, talks openly about masturbation and orgasms and her desire to remain childless. She struggles with her own anxieties of course, and often struggles to connect with her sisters and mothers - all of whom are mothers and presume she's gay because she wants to remain unattached (which doesn't even make sense cause gay people get married and have kids too). We also see her deal with online trolls.
Stella is a bit of a mess. She's still dealing with the loss of her identical twin sister and her mother to cancer while also struggling to accept that she has the BRCA gene meaning she has an 85% chance of getting the cancer that killed her family. She's desperate to have a baby and through her loss, comes up with a crazy plan to get one.
This book was just so honest and refreshing and I really loved a lot of what was discussed in it. From simple pizza farts (yes, women fart too!) to open discussion about why a woman might not want a baby, I appreciated it all. Tara's story was particularly engrossing due to how it spirals but more so because, for me, how the media treats her and the ever-changing face and mood of the internet's opinion. I loved Cam's blog and her posts which we get to read. I feel like if her blog was a real thing, I'd definitely be a fan. We need more women like Cam int he world for sure. Those who aren't afraid of saying don't use your gender as an excuse, just go and do it and demand what you want until you get it. Stella, while not my favourite character, was an intriguing one to follow as her story showed what it can take for someone to become an online troll. As a celebrity, I'm certain Dawn O' Porter has had to deal with many, many trolls herself and I like how she kind of 'unveiled' the face and mindset of a troll to show they are something to be pitied and not to be scared of. Stella went completely crazy for me and I found myself reeling at times from her decisions but she was certainly entertaining!
The ending definitely shocked me, I did not see it coming at all. But I loved how the conclusion came about and how things got better for all our girls (well, most of them but if you've read the book you know what I mean). I can't recommend this enough for people who love honest, feminist fiction.
The Cows follows three different women, in their late 20s, 30s and early 40s, as they navigate their way through life while facing off against public opinion on what women should be and what they should do, health scares, sexuality, misogyny in the workplace and much more.
This book was absolutely brilliant and I loved all of it. It's been a long time since a book was able to make laugh out loud while reading (including when in public) and make me want to yell 'WTF!' five minutes later. This book is a laugh out loud funny, unapologetic take on feminist literature and I really feel it's a must-read. This book covers working in a male-focused environment, pressures of being a single and/or working mum, childlessness - both intentional and unintentional, abortion, public opinion, sex, orgasms, masturbation. It really has a bit of everything!All the nice bits about being a woman but all the crappy ones too!
I really loved that the women were all of varying ages and they were all at different points in their lives. Tara was a working mom, who came to work two hours early every day so she could pick up her daughter from school but was still made feel guilty by her male colleagues. She is professional but also a red-blooded woman with sexual needs and desires, as well as a desire to find love, all of which lead her to make a mistake that destroys her life.
Cam is a no-nonsense feminist blogger who enjoys a fantastic sex life with younger men, talks openly about masturbation and orgasms and her desire to remain childless. She struggles with her own anxieties of course, and often struggles to connect with her sisters and mothers - all of whom are mothers and presume she's gay because she wants to remain unattached (which doesn't even make sense cause gay people get married and have kids too). We also see her deal with online trolls.
Stella is a bit of a mess. She's still dealing with the loss of her identical twin sister and her mother to cancer while also struggling to accept that she has the BRCA gene meaning she has an 85% chance of getting the cancer that killed her family. She's desperate to have a baby and through her loss, comes up with a crazy plan to get one.
This book was just so honest and refreshing and I really loved a lot of what was discussed in it. From simple pizza farts (yes, women fart too!) to open discussion about why a woman might not want a baby, I appreciated it all. Tara's story was particularly engrossing due to how it spirals but more so because, for me, how the media treats her and the ever-changing face and mood of the internet's opinion. I loved Cam's blog and her posts which we get to read. I feel like if her blog was a real thing, I'd definitely be a fan. We need more women like Cam int he world for sure. Those who aren't afraid of saying don't use your gender as an excuse, just go and do it and demand what you want until you get it. Stella, while not my favourite character, was an intriguing one to follow as her story showed what it can take for someone to become an online troll. As a celebrity, I'm certain Dawn O' Porter has had to deal with many, many trolls herself and I like how she kind of 'unveiled' the face and mindset of a troll to show they are something to be pitied and not to be scared of. Stella went completely crazy for me and I found myself reeling at times from her decisions but she was certainly entertaining!
The ending definitely shocked me, I did not see it coming at all. But I loved how the conclusion came about and how things got better for all our girls (well, most of them but if you've read the book you know what I mean). I can't recommend this enough for people who love honest, feminist fiction.
I received a copy of this book from Harper Collins UK in exchange for an honest review.
The People at Number 9 follows a middle-aged couple called Sara and Neil and their blossoming friendship with their new next-door neighbours Gav and Lou. While Sara and Neil are pretty ordinary, Gav and Lou are free-spirited and artistic and seem to live life a little on the wild. As Sara and Neil become enamoured by their neighbours, they soon come to realise that they might not be as great as they seem.
I thought this book was going to be a bit of a shocking thriller but unfortunately the story fell flat for me and i felt quite bored throughout. I immediately disliked Sara - she came off as a bit pretentious and snobby and then transformed to fake when she actually met Lou. I was mildly entertained by how quickly Sara became quite pathetic around Lou and Gav but I also just quite turned off. This is one of this ebook where no characters end up being likeable (except perhaps Carol who just got the bad end of the stick throughout) and while it works for some books, it didn’t quite work for me with this one.
I didn’t really buy Sara’s instant obsession with Gav. It was just too instant for me, considering she appeared to be a happily married woman before that. All it took was 5 minutes chat before she was fantasising about him while in bed with her husband. I would have like their relationship to be more developed before she decided she had feelings for him.
I did like how all the weird things between Lou and Gav and Sara and Neil were dropped quite subtly into the narrative - such as the money Sara and Neil invested in the film. I liked picking up on all of this and starting to put my own spin on what game Lou and Gav were playing with their gullible neighbours.
The end was just disappointing for me. It was a really wet sizzler and wasn’t a big bang at all like I had been expecting.I really would have liked to have seen what became of the house foundation issues - did Sara and Neil give up because of the Lou and Neil thing? Did it ever come out what happened between them to the neighbours? Surely Sara and Neil would have won any kind of lawsuit considering Gav didn’t seem to have done anything properly when building the studio but we don’t hear anything about this. Also I really would have liked Dash to have his comeuppance seeing as he seemed to be a bit of a psychopath. .
The People at Number 9 follows a middle-aged couple called Sara and Neil and their blossoming friendship with their new next-door neighbours Gav and Lou. While Sara and Neil are pretty ordinary, Gav and Lou are free-spirited and artistic and seem to live life a little on the wild. As Sara and Neil become enamoured by their neighbours, they soon come to realise that they might not be as great as they seem.
I thought this book was going to be a bit of a shocking thriller but unfortunately the story fell flat for me and i felt quite bored throughout. I immediately disliked Sara - she came off as a bit pretentious and snobby and then transformed to fake when she actually met Lou. I was mildly entertained by how quickly Sara became quite pathetic around Lou and Gav but I also just quite turned off. This is one of this ebook where no characters end up being likeable (except perhaps Carol who just got the bad end of the stick throughout) and while it works for some books, it didn’t quite work for me with this one.
I didn’t really buy Sara’s instant obsession with Gav. It was just too instant for me, considering she appeared to be a happily married woman before that. All it took was 5 minutes chat before she was fantasising about him while in bed with her husband. I would have like their relationship to be more developed before she decided she had feelings for him.
I did like how all the weird things between Lou and Gav and Sara and Neil were dropped quite subtly into the narrative - such as the money Sara and Neil invested in the film. I liked picking up on all of this and starting to put my own spin on what game Lou and Gav were playing with their gullible neighbours.
The end was just disappointing for me. It was a really wet sizzler and wasn’t a big bang at all like I had been expecting.
3.5 stars
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Kim Dinan is unhappy and wants to explore the world. So she and her husband sell their house, and all their worldly belongings, so they can travel around the world for an entire year. The journey ends up being one of person self-discovery and comes close to destroying their relationship for good. Keeping them going is The Yellow Envelope - an envelope of money that is to be used to help make the world a better place, in little or big ways.
I quite enjoyed this book. For a non-fiction book, it had a really great flow to it and was very story-like. It didn’t come off too preachy and I really enjoyed finding out about Kim’s journey and all the different people she meets on her journey. Her relationship with her husband Brian did irk me at times, more so because there was a point she did seem to be unnecessarily selfish though I liked that she was eventually able to recognise this and apologise for it. The relationship problems came close to overpowering the story of the travelling and different countries at times. Near the end of the book, Kim did appear a bit pretentious at times with her opinions on other travellers and she seemed to place herself within a higher power of travellers and seemed to think she was better than others at time because she had seen and done more at that point.
I did love all the different, unique stories that Kim was able tot ell and all the wonderful people she met and who helped her and Brian on their journey. It does give a sense of relief that there are still good people in the world. Overall, this was a great look at different countries and their culture and the inclusion of the yellow envelope money gave the story a nice twist to make it stand out to others.
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Kim Dinan is unhappy and wants to explore the world. So she and her husband sell their house, and all their worldly belongings, so they can travel around the world for an entire year. The journey ends up being one of person self-discovery and comes close to destroying their relationship for good. Keeping them going is The Yellow Envelope - an envelope of money that is to be used to help make the world a better place, in little or big ways.
I quite enjoyed this book. For a non-fiction book, it had a really great flow to it and was very story-like. It didn’t come off too preachy and I really enjoyed finding out about Kim’s journey and all the different people she meets on her journey. Her relationship with her husband Brian did irk me at times, more so because there was a point she did seem to be unnecessarily selfish though I liked that she was eventually able to recognise this and apologise for it. The relationship problems came close to overpowering the story of the travelling and different countries at times. Near the end of the book, Kim did appear a bit pretentious at times with her opinions on other travellers and she seemed to place herself within a higher power of travellers and seemed to think she was better than others at time because she had seen and done more at that point.
I did love all the different, unique stories that Kim was able tot ell and all the wonderful people she met and who helped her and Brian on their journey. It does give a sense of relief that there are still good people in the world. Overall, this was a great look at different countries and their culture and the inclusion of the yellow envelope money gave the story a nice twist to make it stand out to others.
I received a free copy of this book from Amulet/Abrams&Chronicle in exchange for an honest review.
Quinn Cutler is 16 years old when she discovers that she is pregnant. The thing is, Quinn has never had sex or done anything close to it so has to try and figure out the missing pieces of her virgin pregnancy. As the story breaks, Quinn is soon inundated with crazed fans who think she is carrying the next Messiah. Quinn has to figure out if she is blocking out something terrible that happened to her, resulting in a pregnancy, or if she could have actually had an immaculate conception.
This book is quite sweet and fun, despite the rather heavy topic of Quinn's pregnancy. The story starts more or less straight away with Quinn finding out about the pregnancy within the first few chapters and I liked that there wasn't a big build up to the story. I liked Quinn's family for the most part, especially her mom who immediately becomes very present in her life when the pregnancy is revealed. I also really enjoyed reading about Quinn's boyfriend Jesse and how supportive he is of her, even when some things are revealed that make him upset.
I liked the theme of the magical realism in this book though it was hard to figure out if it was magic or if Quinn was a bit messed up. Because she definitely seemed a bit odd at times. Even though Quinn is quite sweet, after a while I felt a dark undertone of the book that made me uneasy. I wasn't sure if the book would end up being magical or if it would turn out that Quinn had been hurt and blocked it out which was just such an upsetting thought. So that definitely made me feel uneasy for a lot of the second half of the book.
Overall, I did like the story but I was missing a connection to it and the characters so I gave it a three star rather than a four star.
Quinn Cutler is 16 years old when she discovers that she is pregnant. The thing is, Quinn has never had sex or done anything close to it so has to try and figure out the missing pieces of her virgin pregnancy. As the story breaks, Quinn is soon inundated with crazed fans who think she is carrying the next Messiah. Quinn has to figure out if she is blocking out something terrible that happened to her, resulting in a pregnancy, or if she could have actually had an immaculate conception.
This book is quite sweet and fun, despite the rather heavy topic of Quinn's pregnancy. The story starts more or less straight away with Quinn finding out about the pregnancy within the first few chapters and I liked that there wasn't a big build up to the story. I liked Quinn's family for the most part, especially her mom who immediately becomes very present in her life when the pregnancy is revealed. I also really enjoyed reading about Quinn's boyfriend Jesse and how supportive he is of her, even when some things are revealed that make him upset.
I liked the theme of the magical realism in this book though it was hard to figure out if it was magic or if Quinn was a bit messed up. Because she definitely seemed a bit odd at times. Even though Quinn is quite sweet, after a while I felt a dark undertone of the book that made me uneasy. I wasn't sure if the book would end up being magical or if it would turn out that Quinn had been hurt and blocked it out which was just such an upsetting thought. So that definitely made me feel uneasy for a lot of the second half of the book.
Overall, I did like the story but I was missing a connection to it and the characters so I gave it a three star rather than a four star.
I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rhiannon is a 27-year-old receptionist working at a local paper who seems happy in her life and domestic bliss with her boyfriend Craig. However, deep down Rhiannon is a bit of a psychopath who lists down the people on her Kill List everyday in her diary and has a flip that can switch a bit too easily. As Rhiannon's blood-lust grows and her anger deepens, it's only a matter of time before she snaps for good.
This book is crass, outrageous and just absolutely batshit crazy and I think anyone who likes You by Caroline Kepnes and/or The Girl in 6E by AR Torre should think about picking this up as it might be up your alley.
I did think I was really going to enjoy this book but unfortunately it did end up a being a bit of a dud. I'm not actually sure what it was that didn't connect with me - whether it was that my mood wasn't right which made me feel a disconnect with the character or whether i had read similar before and done better. I think what threw me off at first was just how angry Rhiannon was from the get go. She was so full of rage at everything and I felt like she was shouting at me from the pages, which I really didn't like. I started this after a long day of work and maybe my body and mind was just too exhausted to be able to handle a crazy character shouting her Kill List at me. I also just didn't understand how Rhiannon didn't get caught with the numerous murders she commits throughout the book - she gets messier and messier and while the slight twist at the end was good and made me go "wow", I do feel like the story was a bit unbelievable and scoff-worthy at times.
There was a twisty humour to this book though that definitely earned a chuckled from me a few times. Her Kill List is often full of all sorts of people that everyone encounters at some point during the week or another and people whom everyone has vented about.
This book is great for anyone wanting a bit of a shocking read and something that will keep them on their toes. Unfortunately for me at this time, it just wasn't what I was looking for.
Rhiannon is a 27-year-old receptionist working at a local paper who seems happy in her life and domestic bliss with her boyfriend Craig. However, deep down Rhiannon is a bit of a psychopath who lists down the people on her Kill List everyday in her diary and has a flip that can switch a bit too easily. As Rhiannon's blood-lust grows and her anger deepens, it's only a matter of time before she snaps for good.
This book is crass, outrageous and just absolutely batshit crazy and I think anyone who likes You by Caroline Kepnes and/or The Girl in 6E by AR Torre should think about picking this up as it might be up your alley.
I did think I was really going to enjoy this book but unfortunately it did end up a being a bit of a dud. I'm not actually sure what it was that didn't connect with me - whether it was that my mood wasn't right which made me feel a disconnect with the character or whether i had read similar before and done better. I think what threw me off at first was just how angry Rhiannon was from the get go. She was so full of rage at everything and I felt like she was shouting at me from the pages, which I really didn't like. I started this after a long day of work and maybe my body and mind was just too exhausted to be able to handle a crazy character shouting her Kill List at me. I also just didn't understand how Rhiannon didn't get caught with the numerous murders she commits throughout the book - she gets messier and messier and while the slight twist at the end was good and made me go "wow", I do feel like the story was a bit unbelievable and scoff-worthy at times.
There was a twisty humour to this book though that definitely earned a chuckled from me a few times. Her Kill List is often full of all sorts of people that everyone encounters at some point during the week or another and people whom everyone has vented about.
This book is great for anyone wanting a bit of a shocking read and something that will keep them on their toes. Unfortunately for me at this time, it just wasn't what I was looking for.
