I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kate, Thea, Isa and Fatima were all 15 years old when they were expelled from school. The four were famous for something called The Lying Game, and their friendship almost ended when Kate’s father died and they did something drastic to keep the truth from being revealed. Now over 15 years later, his body has been discovered and Kate has called her friends to her side.

I liked this book a lot better than The Woman in Cabin 10, so it was a pleasant read and I was so hooked nearing the end. I really enjoying the writing and the pacing and we definitely got just enough but enough the whole way through which I loved because it left me guessing all the time. I also felt this story was a lot more realistic and believable, as thrillers go, compared to The Woman in Cabin 10.

I thought the town and school in Salten was written really well, and it came to life on the pages for me. I would have liked to have seen more of Mary Wren in the flashbacks seeing as she was one of the more villainous characters in the present day.

I received a free copy of this book from Pan Macmillan in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a spin-off to The Faithful and the Fallen series by Joh Gwynne which is set in the Banished Lands and follows the armies of Elyon and Asroth, forces of good and evil, battle for power. I strongly suggest people read TF&TF before reading The Time of Dread as otherwise you may be confused by story history and character history.

I absolutely loved this book which was no surprise to me as TF&TF is one of my all time favourite fantasy series, and John Gwynne’s writing works really well for me. Straight away, I was sucked into this story despite things feeling the same but being disconcerting with new characters. I quickly bonded with many of the characters, my favourite being Drem and his dad Olin.

I loved Drem’s anxiety tic and how it was portrayed. It’s not often we see strong, male characters portray anxiety like that in high fantasy and i love that it was included. Drem’s relationship with Olin was also just lovely, and I adored the bond they shared and how much they loved each other.

I found the Ben Elim and the way they had taken control and rewriten some history really interesting but not surprising because it was obvious they were capable of it in TF&TF. It did make me mad that everything Corban and his company did was so downplayed by the Ben Elim but we know, we know.

I also never knew i’d be SO HAPPY to see a talking crow in a book. I love that the crows are in it again, they just give the story a comical air that it needs and some things can get a bit dark and ominous but having a crow just speak their mind makes things a bit more relaxing!

I did see the thing with Riv coming for a while but I think it’s a very intriguing turn and I can’t wait to see what comes next. I’m presuming we will follow all of these characters for several years as they get older, like we did with Corban, and I’m so eager to watch their character development and where they go. I also loved seeing characters related to Cywen, Corban, Carolen and Veradis - it made me so happy. And i actually almost cried when the same giants reappeared! It was basically like meeting old friends again, and it’s nice that even though Corban and co are long gone, something remains of the crowd we loved in TF&TF. Also, so here for seeing Storm and Buddai’s descendants.

Overall this was everything i wanted and more. And I need the next book now, but until then I will just reread TF&TF and this book again and again and again.

3.5 stars

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Elsie Bainbridge is newly widowed and in the early stages of pregnancy when she moves to her late husband’s crumbling country estate to grieve, and convalesce. But before long, Elsie begins to wonder about the history of the house, and its connections to the ‘companions’ - strange wooden figures that keep showing up in different room and contain a malevolent evil.

This book was dreary, dark and creepy and such a great, addictive read. This kind of felt like a creepy doll horror story except there was this history linked to the 1600s in the story and it was done really well.

There are three different timelines in this book - one is a future Mrs Bainbridge in a mental asylum. She is mute, and a doctor is trying to figure out her story. The second is when Elsie and her cousin-in-law arrive to the house around the 1860s and all the weird happenings begin, and the third is diary entries of Elsie’s husband’s ancestor Anne who lived in the house in the 1600s and was the first to introduce the companions to the house. I really enjoyed all the time periods, particularly the diary entires. I’m not sure if it was Kindle format I was reading but I found the switches between each timeline a bit confusing, and sometimes it would switch and I wouldn’t realise it for a few paragraphs.

The ending of this just got more twisted and spooky and this definitely left me feeling uneasy, and I loved that!

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a short but beautiful novella by Sarah Pinsborough that explores a family’s grief as they come together to deal with the impending death of their terminally ill father.

This was really beautiful story and one that manages to weave dark, almost horresque themes with a little bit of fae magic, as well as a lot of normal relatable experiences in family life like strained relationships, love for siblings, addictions, mental health issues. It had everything and through the whole story, there was a beautiful truth about death. It didn’t hide away the hard bits about caring for a dying loved one, and the uncomfortable moments.

3.5 stars.

Will Scarlet, one of famous outlaw Robin Hood's band of merry men, isn't all that he seems. In fact, he is actually a she, and she's on a mission to help as many people as possible - taking from the rich and giving to the poor. But Scarlet has a secret and things begin to unravel when the Sheriff of Nottingham employs the evil Guy of Gisbourne to hunt down Robin and kill whomever he pleases while doing so.

So I love Robin Hood, and I knew there was a very large possibility i was going to love this book. And I did, and I'm so glad I finally picked it out my TBR jar and read it. However, I do want to give this book he full four stars, I just can't as there were some niggly bits of the story that did make me drop my rating.

I really liked Scarlet and all the tropes surrounding her - which I'm a sucker for in a female adventure/badass hero storyline, though I possibly could have done without the love triangle which felt a tad forced as it felt like all of a sudden Little John was obsessed with her (and going about it in the entirely wrong way, I might add). The relationship with Robin was obviously going to happen from the first line of the story, and I do feel like there was a lot more genuine chemistry between the two, though I didn't like how Rob talked to Scarlet at times, and it was also obvious he was into her (people don't touch your face that often when they don't like you Scar!).

I had big problems with Rob telling Scarlet she was leading John on, when various times throughout the story she blatantly told him to leave her alone and that she didn't want to kiss him in the way he kept trying to. He also called her a whore at one point for the secret engagement and again, the John not-relationship, when the engagement was arranged and one she had literally run away from and left everything behind so she didn't have to do it, and that wasn't okay. He told he she wasn't 'available' because of the engagement when hell yes she was, because she wasn't consenting to the engagement in the first place. UGH

I think there should be possible TW for eating disorders in this book as well - there is a thing in the first half of the novel where Scarlet doesn't seem to eat properly and has problems eating in front of other people, and is given out to by Rob and John for not eating properly. While it's not explicitly stated that she has an eating disorder (and this whole thing seems to have been forgotten about in the second half of the book) it may be triggering for those who are current or past sufferers of an ED, so just wanted to point it out.

I also would have liked even more information on Scarlet's past. She knows how to fight (kicking and flipping kind of fight), is a knife expert and also is a pro at being a pickpocket. However, there's no explanation in how she

Lady frickin' Marian

came about these skills. They are definitely not ones she was taught growing up, and she appears to have already known them when Robin recruited her. Also I did have a problem with the speech thing as it didn't corroborate with what we knew about Scarlet's past but her reasoning was eventually explained.

Overall though, I did enjoy this book. I'm just a sucker for a good Robin Hood tale, and I love the whole idea of good-hearted outlaws, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor and the evil Sheriff (aka Alan Rickman). I loved the setting, and I do think the author nailed Robin's relationship with his people and his good heart (though I would like to see him being broadened out in the next one. He was slightly flat at times.). I picked up the next book straight away as I didn't want to let go of the story, and that says it all really, doesn't it!

Lady Thief is the sequel to Scarlet and follows Will Scarlet - Robin Hood’s right-hand man or woman - as she leads a secret life as an outlaw.

In this book, Scarlet is dealing with some new complications in her relationship with Robin Hood, and the evil Guy of Gisbourne is back but this time he has an offer, with a result that could make Scarlet and Rob’s life a lot easier.

I really enjoyed this one, and I must say it almost made me feel a bit tired. I couldn’t understand how Scarlet was still standing at the end of this book because everything that happened in a matter of days was just so…much, and traumatising!

I really liked the inclusion of Eleanor of Aquitaine (I always forget she was King Richard’s and Prince John’s mom). She always seems like a super badass woman in history. I thought some of the secrets revealed about Scarlet were very interesting, and I can’t wait to see more of these new developments in Lion Heart. I do wonder why more control wasn’t exerted by Eleanor over Scarlet when she was young because of these things.

I had a complicated relationship with Gisbourne in this book. I think it’s because in my head I imagine as the actor who played him in the BBC series (who very handsome) but I kept hoping for a redemption arc. He was obviously an evil git but now and again, there were flashes of the good man he could be and I was crying for that to come out and then he’d go and ruin it all.