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wordsofclover
I received this book from Abrams&Chronicle in exchange for an honest review.
The young Edgar Allan Poe is struggling to finish his poetry, and is dealing with a tumultuous home life when his muse, Lenore, comes to life and starts dogging his steps - intent on inspiring him. Edgar must accept his dark nature and his darker writing if he wants to keep Lenore alive.
This is a beautifully told story about a struggling artist and I think the teenage Poe in this book will appeal to anyone who was once a little bit of an emo child growing up. He's moody and angsty, and over the top with emotion when he wants to be. There's a lot of ups and downs with Poe in this book and I feel for him as he struggled to accept the truth of his art and who he had to leave behind to do so.
The most I knew of Edgar Allan Poe before this book to be honest was the Gilmore Girls episode with Poe Convention, so I was ignorant of his poetry beforehand but I still appreciated this story-telling and the way cat Winters was able to bring Poe to life. I definitely now have the desire to read Poe's poetry and fictional work as i found the bits in this book really beautiful.
I loved the idea of muses in this book and how they can appear physically alive. It's also great that other people can see them and recognise them as muses, and this is (mostly) an accepted thing. Lenore was an interesting character to picture as she was both beautiful and grotesque at the same time - I also loved that Winters gave Lenore an attraction towards women, and that he relationship with Poe wasn't a romantic one, as she was born from him and was part of him in that way.
I did find that there was nothing in this book that necessarily gripped me and really wanted me to keep on going until I had no more pages left to read. Once i put the book down, I remind myself to pick it back up again and continue which is a shame as I did find the story and language rather beautiful. I do think this is a story that a lot of people will love and appreciate.
The young Edgar Allan Poe is struggling to finish his poetry, and is dealing with a tumultuous home life when his muse, Lenore, comes to life and starts dogging his steps - intent on inspiring him. Edgar must accept his dark nature and his darker writing if he wants to keep Lenore alive.
This is a beautifully told story about a struggling artist and I think the teenage Poe in this book will appeal to anyone who was once a little bit of an emo child growing up. He's moody and angsty, and over the top with emotion when he wants to be. There's a lot of ups and downs with Poe in this book and I feel for him as he struggled to accept the truth of his art and who he had to leave behind to do so.
The most I knew of Edgar Allan Poe before this book to be honest was the Gilmore Girls episode with Poe Convention, so I was ignorant of his poetry beforehand but I still appreciated this story-telling and the way cat Winters was able to bring Poe to life. I definitely now have the desire to read Poe's poetry and fictional work as i found the bits in this book really beautiful.
I loved the idea of muses in this book and how they can appear physically alive. It's also great that other people can see them and recognise them as muses, and this is (mostly) an accepted thing. Lenore was an interesting character to picture as she was both beautiful and grotesque at the same time - I also loved that Winters gave Lenore an attraction towards women, and that he relationship with Poe wasn't a romantic one, as she was born from him and was part of him in that way.
I did find that there was nothing in this book that necessarily gripped me and really wanted me to keep on going until I had no more pages left to read. Once i put the book down, I remind myself to pick it back up again and continue which is a shame as I did find the story and language rather beautiful. I do think this is a story that a lot of people will love and appreciate.
I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Penguin Ireland.
It's 1324 and Bébinn and Líadan arrive in Kilkennie (Kilkenny) seeking refuge from the wilds of Ireland with an old friend of Bébinn. Moneylender Alice takes in the mother and daughter as her new servants, and gives them new names - Petronella and Basilia - to protect them from Gaelic-haters in the town. But the pair soon find that they may also be in danger in Alice's house as the town bishop is jealous of the moneylender's wealth and status and is intent on destroying her. Which all leads to the real events of the Kilkennie Witch Trial..
This historical novel tells the tale of a real event - the Kilkenny Witch Trail - which I know absolutely nothing about, and am ashamed to admit to, and I really enjoyed learning more about this time in Ireland and how the Irish were taught of. I don't actually think I've read enough set so far back in Irish history and this has really prompted me to seek out more.
There's a fantastic dynamic in this book between all the women in the story - most of whom live in the same house. Alice and Petronella share a childhood together but there's a lot of secrets there that could tear them apart forever and Alice takes too close an interest in Basilia, therefore isolating her mother. The writing and the richness of the history and the town, reminded me a bit of The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton and I think this book would appeal to fans of Burton's writing, and also that of Hannah Kent.
This is a fantastic tale about the women behind the witch trials and who they may have been - as Niamh Boyce says at the end of the story - the men have already had their say in history, and this is the story of the silenced women which I LOVED. This was a character-focused book and contained a range of strong women with different personalities and motives, and the wicked man who was jealous of a woman stronger and more influenced than him. Which is a tale as old as time really.
I urge people to pick up this book - it might not be one for everyone but it's full of fantastic female characters and tells a fascinating story.
It's 1324 and Bébinn and Líadan arrive in Kilkennie (Kilkenny) seeking refuge from the wilds of Ireland with an old friend of Bébinn. Moneylender Alice takes in the mother and daughter as her new servants, and gives them new names - Petronella and Basilia - to protect them from Gaelic-haters in the town. But the pair soon find that they may also be in danger in Alice's house as the town bishop is jealous of the moneylender's wealth and status and is intent on destroying her. Which all leads to the real events of the Kilkennie Witch Trial..
This historical novel tells the tale of a real event - the Kilkenny Witch Trail - which I know absolutely nothing about, and am ashamed to admit to, and I really enjoyed learning more about this time in Ireland and how the Irish were taught of. I don't actually think I've read enough set so far back in Irish history and this has really prompted me to seek out more.
There's a fantastic dynamic in this book between all the women in the story - most of whom live in the same house. Alice and Petronella share a childhood together but there's a lot of secrets there that could tear them apart forever and Alice takes too close an interest in Basilia, therefore isolating her mother. The writing and the richness of the history and the town, reminded me a bit of The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton and I think this book would appeal to fans of Burton's writing, and also that of Hannah Kent.
This is a fantastic tale about the women behind the witch trials and who they may have been - as Niamh Boyce says at the end of the story - the men have already had their say in history, and this is the story of the silenced women which I LOVED. This was a character-focused book and contained a range of strong women with different personalities and motives, and the wicked man who was jealous of a woman stronger and more influenced than him. Which is a tale as old as time really.
I urge people to pick up this book - it might not be one for everyone but it's full of fantastic female characters and tells a fascinating story.
I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
25 years ago, an alien race called the Medusae came to earth to study mankind. After a year of the race floating in the sky, they disappeared and in consecutive years, baby girls were born with special abilities. Penelope is the fifth daughter in her family, something unheard of, and has to pretend to be a boy so her powers aren’t discovered. But one day everything goes wrong, her family are captured and Penn might be the one to save them all.
I liked the premise of this book and the somewhat dystopian/steampunk nature of the story as well due to the mechanical automatons that Penn’s father creates and other human machines like Klok. However, this book just ended up being very messy and the storyline just didn’t really go in a straight line for me.
The first half and the second half felt unconnected. I preferred the second half when there was a set setting and we weren’t bouncing all over the place (there was a point where the settings seemed to change every paragraph or two and left me really confused). I liked the second half in the facility but again a lot went unexplained, and a lot of things happened at once that felt confusing for the reader.
25 years ago, an alien race called the Medusae came to earth to study mankind. After a year of the race floating in the sky, they disappeared and in consecutive years, baby girls were born with special abilities. Penelope is the fifth daughter in her family, something unheard of, and has to pretend to be a boy so her powers aren’t discovered. But one day everything goes wrong, her family are captured and Penn might be the one to save them all.
I liked the premise of this book and the somewhat dystopian/steampunk nature of the story as well due to the mechanical automatons that Penn’s father creates and other human machines like Klok. However, this book just ended up being very messy and the storyline just didn’t really go in a straight line for me.
The first half and the second half felt unconnected. I preferred the second half when there was a set setting and we weren’t bouncing all over the place (there was a point where the settings seemed to change every paragraph or two and left me really confused). I liked the second half in the facility but again a lot went unexplained, and a lot of things happened at once that felt confusing for the reader.
I received this book from Titan Press in exchange for an honest review.
Mae and Rossa are staying with their Great-Aunt Rita and her teenage ward Bevan for a whole summer, and neither of them know what to expect - until they get there and realise that Rita and Bevan are witches and a talking cat lives in the house as well as an evil entity called Sweet James who takes the form of a terrifying owl.
This is a really interesting tale with subtle magic that flashes powerful at times, and an underlying unrest caused by Sweet James and his gluttonous need for negative emotion to feed off of. This book is packed with unlikeable characters like Bevan, Sweet James and even at times Mae and Rossa depending on their mood.
The book takes a lot of inspiration from real life Irish history to do with the Magdalene Laundries and the Catholic Church's treatment of girls that were pregnant and unmarried or just girls who were felt to be wayward. I loved how Sarah Maria Griffin tied this real history into the emergence of Dear Bobby and Sweet James due to the grief and pain the actions of the laundry caused on Rita and Audrey. There was a real power in the words when Griffin talked about the laundries - particularly the fear Rita, Audrey and Deborah all felt when they knew what was happening and the limited choices they had available, as well as when Griffin described the laundry as not just a building but as a threat. Wow.
The style of magic and writing in this book isn't one I think would suit everyone - it can be a bit whimsical at times and it can be hard to figure out what exactly is happening but I think if you go in ready to be brought along on a magical, scary ride - you'll enjoy it!
Mae and Rossa are staying with their Great-Aunt Rita and her teenage ward Bevan for a whole summer, and neither of them know what to expect - until they get there and realise that Rita and Bevan are witches and a talking cat lives in the house as well as an evil entity called Sweet James who takes the form of a terrifying owl.
This is a really interesting tale with subtle magic that flashes powerful at times, and an underlying unrest caused by Sweet James and his gluttonous need for negative emotion to feed off of. This book is packed with unlikeable characters like Bevan, Sweet James and even at times Mae and Rossa depending on their mood.
The book takes a lot of inspiration from real life Irish history to do with the Magdalene Laundries and the Catholic Church's treatment of girls that were pregnant and unmarried or just girls who were felt to be wayward. I loved how Sarah Maria Griffin tied this real history into the emergence of Dear Bobby and Sweet James due to the grief and pain the actions of the laundry caused on Rita and Audrey. There was a real power in the words when Griffin talked about the laundries - particularly the fear Rita, Audrey and Deborah all felt when they knew what was happening and the limited choices they had available, as well as when Griffin described the laundry as not just a building but as a threat. Wow.
The style of magic and writing in this book isn't one I think would suit everyone - it can be a bit whimsical at times and it can be hard to figure out what exactly is happening but I think if you go in ready to be brought along on a magical, scary ride - you'll enjoy it!
3.5 stars.
Erin is almost 30 years old with only a broken engagement and a boring job in a cafe to her name. Desperate and longing for change, Erin gets a chance to see what alternate lives could look like when her beloved granny gifts her a special pendant passed down through generations. As Erin looks over all her 'If Only's', will she begin to change what she needs to her in her present day life and find a form of true, meaningful happiness?
This was a really strong, witty and fun book to read and perfect for this time of year and reading outside in the sun, I must say. I'm a big fan of Melanie, and I loved her non-fiction book so had great hopes for this one and I wasn't disappointed. Melanie was really able to bring out her Irish humour, give no shits attitude in her debut novel, and lend them to Erin's personality and the many, many 'Irishisms' in this book left me smiling (and did give me a giggle when I imagined people who don't spend a lot of time around Irish people reading the book and probably raising their eyebrows A LOT).
There's a lot to love about Erin from her general, everyday girl looks and personality to her confusion about life and what she's suppose to be doing (because honestly, who the hell knows what they're doing). There's definitely an belief that you're suppose to be on the golden road of success by the time you're 30, probably with a ring on your finger and all your future children's birth dates arranged etc, and it's terrifying when you're erring on the side of 30 (like me, eek) and well, your life isn't all rosy and glorious AND you're second-guessing yourself just as much, if not more, than when you were 21. I liked seeing a character who honestly was a bit of a mess with her life choices, and that she didn't have an easy fix in the novel or even have everything completely perfect by the end of it because well, that wouldn't be realistic!
I loved Erin's granny who was very typical Irish granny, and definitely gave me the urge to run home and give my beloved gran a squish. As someone who counts her gran as one of her favourite people in the world, Granny Beglan definitely stole my heart and plenty of my tears (while in public!). Erin's friend group (Destiny's Child) were also a bit of fun, and it was really nice to see a fun cast of friends with lots of different personalities in the mix (and sexualities).
There were a few times throughout the book that Erin would specifically mention the songs she was listening to or heard playing by name, and honestly I was not a fan of this. I tend not to mind pop culture references too much but I prefer when it's TV shows or movies, rather than the music. So the music in this one didn't work for me (though I guess it makes it easy to create a Spotify playlist for this book!).
And while overall I did appreciate Erin due to her reliability and realness, I did actually find it hard to like her and there were times I thought I'd find it hard to be her friend because she seemed like a lot of hard work. She was extremely judgemental, and while I liked that Erin did call herself out on this and was well aware of this particular flaw - it still got a bit annoying at times and a bit too much for me.
The magical element in this book of the family pendant was a really nice spin to the story and I really hope that when I turn 30, my gran hands me down something similar. How amazing would it be to find out all your 'If Only's'. I did very much enjoy this book and it makes me really excited to see what else Melanie can bring to the world of fiction because this was a very strong start!
Erin is almost 30 years old with only a broken engagement and a boring job in a cafe to her name. Desperate and longing for change, Erin gets a chance to see what alternate lives could look like when her beloved granny gifts her a special pendant passed down through generations. As Erin looks over all her 'If Only's', will she begin to change what she needs to her in her present day life and find a form of true, meaningful happiness?
This was a really strong, witty and fun book to read and perfect for this time of year and reading outside in the sun, I must say. I'm a big fan of Melanie, and I loved her non-fiction book so had great hopes for this one and I wasn't disappointed. Melanie was really able to bring out her Irish humour, give no shits attitude in her debut novel, and lend them to Erin's personality and the many, many 'Irishisms' in this book left me smiling (and did give me a giggle when I imagined people who don't spend a lot of time around Irish people reading the book and probably raising their eyebrows A LOT).
There's a lot to love about Erin from her general, everyday girl looks and personality to her confusion about life and what she's suppose to be doing (because honestly, who the hell knows what they're doing). There's definitely an belief that you're suppose to be on the golden road of success by the time you're 30, probably with a ring on your finger and all your future children's birth dates arranged etc, and it's terrifying when you're erring on the side of 30 (like me, eek) and well, your life isn't all rosy and glorious AND you're second-guessing yourself just as much, if not more, than when you were 21. I liked seeing a character who honestly was a bit of a mess with her life choices, and that she didn't have an easy fix in the novel or even have everything completely perfect by the end of it because well, that wouldn't be realistic!
I loved Erin's granny who was very typical Irish granny, and definitely gave me the urge to run home and give my beloved gran a squish. As someone who counts her gran as one of her favourite people in the world, Granny Beglan definitely stole my heart and plenty of my tears (while in public!). Erin's friend group (Destiny's Child) were also a bit of fun, and it was really nice to see a fun cast of friends with lots of different personalities in the mix (and sexualities).
There were a few times throughout the book that Erin would specifically mention the songs she was listening to or heard playing by name, and honestly I was not a fan of this. I tend not to mind pop culture references too much but I prefer when it's TV shows or movies, rather than the music. So the music in this one didn't work for me (though I guess it makes it easy to create a Spotify playlist for this book!).
And while overall I did appreciate Erin due to her reliability and realness, I did actually find it hard to like her and there were times I thought I'd find it hard to be her friend because she seemed like a lot of hard work. She was extremely judgemental, and while I liked that Erin did call herself out on this and was well aware of this particular flaw - it still got a bit annoying at times and a bit too much for me.
The magical element in this book of the family pendant was a really nice spin to the story and I really hope that when I turn 30, my gran hands me down something similar. How amazing would it be to find out all your 'If Only's'. I did very much enjoy this book and it makes me really excited to see what else Melanie can bring to the world of fiction because this was a very strong start!
