I received this book from Hachette Ireland in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book in one sitting - here: https://bit.ly/3cPHCnA

Ava is a young Irish woman teaching English in Hong Kong when she falls into a relationship with a wealthy English banker called Julian. As Ava tries to establish what she and Julian even are to one another as she moves into his spare bedroom rent-free, Julian leaves Hong Kong for six months and Ava meets Edith. Edith brings something else into Ava's life but as she begins to fall in love with the Asian-born lawyer, Julian texts to say he's coming back.

This is a really interesting novel full of some really interesting self-analysing moments from the main character Ava as she dissects her life, how she fits in with everyone around her and tries to make her life in Hong Kong work - all with a slightly dispassionate air to her.

I found Ava as a character a hard one to pin down. There were moments I felt like I could relate to and other times I felt like she really pushed the reader away from understanding her. There was definitely a level of detachment around Ava that I've seen other reviewers describe as cold, and I have to agree that sometimes Ava looked upon things in a clinical manner or in a way where she seemed to want something (like a relationship with Julian) because it's what she should want and it would be the piece that fit into the jigsaw of life.

I don't know hardly anything about Hong Kong and I definitely didn't get a lot more knowledge from this book but I still enjoyed the different surroundings than what you get in other books normally set in the UK or US. Ava's struggles in teaching "British English" to her students were also funny to read as "Irish English" can be so much different and the bits Ava pointed out were amusing. While I say this, this book isn't a really funny book. It didn't really make me smile or laugh when reading it but there is still a wry humour attached with could just be the Irish sarcasm that's heavily laid into everything Ava does and says.

I enjoyed my time bouncing between my thoughts on Ava and Julian, and Ava and Edith, and the different person she was with each of them, and the whole person she became when they were all three together. I liked both love interests and could see who Ava needed, though I think Ava wanted the best of both worlds.

In a way, Ava is almost a "kept woman" in this book in that she is having a sexual relationship with Julian, and living rent free in his apartment and has his cards at her disposal but there's nothing crude about them when they're together.

This book will definitely receive Sally Rooney comparisons and while they are a little bit similar, I feel like there is enough of a difference that Naoise Dolan will continue to develop a really strong writing voice that is already evident in her debut novel.

I received this book from Hachette in exchange for an honest review.

Majella is a big girl, living in a small world, and for the moment, she's actually okay with it. At 27 years of age, Majella's world is fairly routine - she works the evening to early morning shift in the local chipper in Athybogey, and then goes home, eats her fish and chip supper before bed. Then in the morning, she looks after her mother, who is an alcoholic, before repeating the previous evening's routine. And once a weekend, she goes out for a few scoops in the local pub, and maybe she gets the ride.

This was a really charming book in all of its vulgarity and cussing that kind of wrapped me up in the smell of vinegary chips and the taste of sugary coke at the end of the day! Majella is a fascinating character to follow, and I loved her for the matter of fact way she viewed the world and how she dealt with everyone in her life - from her chipper colleague she gets the ride from now and again, to her mother who has always been a handful.

Majella appears to be on the autism spectrum, but I loved that her quirks and oddities didn't stop her doing anything she wanted to do. The only time she really hid her quirks were her tics around her mother because her mother was, well, a selfish git!

This book only follows a week of Majella's life, with each chapter spanning one day. It's only a few days since Majella buried her granny - who was attacked and ending up dying from her injuries. I feel like the reader saw huge character development in Majella from Monday to Sunday as progress was made in her granny's case, to just how Majella began making small changes to make her life a bit nicer - like buying herself a new duvet!

Nothing really 'happens' in this book but it has the charm that comes with a small Irish town, and the run of the mill characters you expect to see in such places. The way Majella thinks and communicates with people is fun to read, and downright funny in other parts.

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

Jenny and Jacob know they can rely on their mammy for everything. She's always there to look after them and bake them a cake on their birthdays, and mammy is one of the only people to can really communicate with Jacob, who has autism and is non-verbal. But when mammy suffers a stroke, daddy and granny have to step in and things become different for a while.

This book has a lot of good intentions, and the veins of a really good story with compelling characters and nice representation of disability - both mental and physical. I, at first, really liked seeing how the author wrote chapters through the eyes of Jacob, who sees the world completely differently to everyone else. and Annette when she was sick and unable to understand or communicate her thoughts well. Jenny is also a brilliant character with a vivid imagination and it was both heartwarming and heartbreaking watching her try to understand and cope with her changing world.

The book fell apart for me about 30-40% through. While the story is mostly focused on the family life, I feel it lacked a real plot other than wondering if mammy would ever fully return to health and return home, and there were some odd moments thrown in about Jenny fabricating friendships and people that was never fully explored or explained. I felt that, at times, Jacob and Annette's chapters were too long for the way they were written. While it's fantastic to have the type of representation in a book, there's only so many pages a reader can read of nonsensical sentences.

Granny was one of the strongest characters in the book, though I had a sweet spot for the dad as well. She was extremely strong, and was a typical Irish granny the way she was able to swoop in and take charge of everything like she'd been there all along. There were some nice moments in this book that I smiled and laughed but by halfway through I did become frustrated by the storytelling and I'd had enough. There were times about 80% through it felt like the story had wrapped up and I couldn't figure out why there was still so much left so I had an unenjoyable experience struggling to finish it.

There are also some small problematic things said in conversations in the books such as casual references to "tinkers" (the Irish traveling community) which could have been left out in my opinion.

3.5/4 stars

I received a free copy of this book from Abrams&Chronicle in exchange for an honest review.

On the Edge of Gone follows a teenage girl called Denise living in Amsterdam on the day a comet is due to hit Earth. Denise, her mother and her sister are due to go to a temporary shelter for safety but her mother is making them late, and her sister Iris is nowhere to be seen. Derbise and her mother end up on a generation ship - a ship scheduled to leave Earth in a number of days for another planet similar to Earth - and stay during the initial comet hit. But Denise wants to stay and starts trying to figure it out.

I really enjoyed this book for the most art and the strongest bit about the book was that Denise was autistic. I thought Denise being autistic was portrayed really, really well throughout the entirety gf the book - from the way she had to do certain things like scratching her seat belt to calm down to her downright aversion to being touched by anyone, even her own mother and sister. I loved following her as she tried to overcome her disability while trying to figure out a way her and her family could survive and become a part of the ship - she really had character growth from the way she was able to stand up to people like Anke to going off and looking for Irish by herself. I also liked seeing other people's reactions to Denise's autism from people suddenly being nicer, or some people like the Captain's brother not believing her cause it didn't fit into his idea of autism. I also like how it was mentioned a couple of times that Iris was trans but there was never a big deal made of it and like Denise said, unless it was said, no-one would guess anyway.

I had to take off a couple of stars for this book as it did get a little boring around the middle. The plot seemed to slow down and I felt like I was reading Denise do the same thig over and over again. I wasn't totally crazy about the ending. It wasn't bad by any means but it didn't give me any wow feelings. I also would have liked to have seen a bit more character development from her mom as well.

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.

Hope Jackson is dead. But she didn't leave the people she left behind with nothing to not only help deal with their loss but also bring them together as well. Erik, Aiden, Kali and Sam - four completely different people with thing in common, Hope. They all knew her separately and loved her with all their hearts. When she dies, Hope sets them on a scavenger trail to help them deal with different problems in their loves and become friends while doing so. A story of loss, truth and friendship.

First off, anyway who loves Looking for Alaska should read this because this is similar to John Green's story but just done so.much.better!!! This story just captured my heart and didn't let it go and not only that but it's diverse and refreshing AF! Racial stereotypes, other sterotypes, autism, ocd, anorexia, self harm, disability from blindness, mobility and disfigurement and gender fluidity. All in one book! YASSS!

I won't lie Hope definitely suffers from a bit of pixie manic dream girl but we're really only getting the other's perfect memories of her as she was loved so much by them. She did seem pretty great though and it was easy to see how she could be herself but also something a little different with each of them - the teenage girl in love with Erik, the voice of reason with Aiden, the big sister with Kali and the fangirl with Sam.

"It was rare to see Hope not smiling. Even when her lips weren't, her eyes were."

Each character was different in their own way and all dealing with different things. Aiden was a particular joy to read. He had autism and OCD and to see him explain about the different things he did and felt and why we did them, or felt them was really great. We also see a highlight on racial stereotyping with people avoiding the 'black guy in the hoodie.'

"It's always seemed strange that my hoodie makes people feel uncomfortable, because I wear it so I don't have to feel at all. I hate random things touching my skin."

Aiden had such interesting ways to explain his tics such as his obsession with odd and even numbers, particularly the number five. I also loved how counting ended up being a big deal for him at the end of the book AND the number five. It was really cleverly done.

Kali was the one character I didn't really like. She's quite an unlikable character - despite her issues with her biological parents, she doesn't have that much to excuse her behaviour. She's living in a good home with parents who love her. She's beautiful but 'hates' her beauty yet she likes being skinny so is anorexic. I know there's more to anorexia than that and it's more of a control issue but i felt her reasoning contradicted slightly. She's also mean to the others a lot out of spite and she was just one of those characters that takes me a long time to warm up to.

Erik was just a sweetheart. Tall. good-looking and a 'jock' he's battling the stereotype that he's dumb yet he loves reading and is great at memorising quotes from literature. His own issues with telling his parents about his condition was heartbreaking and I totally teared up when he finally spilled the secret.

Sam was particularly great. They go by the 'they' pronoun rather than 'he' or 'she' and seeing the others struggle with this, particularly Erik, was funny and loved how Sam explained it - "I'm just Sam." Sam's dealing with not only being in a wheelchair but also disfigurement in their face and hands but their overall mind-frame is great. I didn't particularly like the format of Sam's chapters which were all computer speech as Sam is a tech genius but it did make it fast to read and I liked Sam's pint of view. Their contrasting issues with Kali was very intriguing - Sam is disfigured because of a tragedy and Kali is disfigured because she does it on purpose - and Sam's honest way of calling Kali out on her BS was fabulous.

"That's how you know if people really matter - when they're not there anymore, it's like part of you isn'y there, either." Sam holds up their scarred hand and laughs wryly. "And let me tell you, it hurts to lose part of yourself."

This story just hooked me in from the very start to the very end when I had tears in my eyes and oh, so many feelings in my chest. I HIGHLY recommend for anyone who a fan of John Green, Nicola Yoon or just some great YA contemporary!

THE CUTEST!!

I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Told in verse, the story of Ana and Connor is one that was always going to end in someone's heartbreak - either their own or that of Connor's wife, Rebecca. When Connor dies suddenly, Ana is left alone to grieve as the "other woman" and having no-one to confide in or talk about her lost love to. Instead, Ana becomes obsessed with Rebecca, the woman allowed to openly grieve and begins to configure her relationship with Connor while getting to know his wife outside of the things he had told her.

This was a really interesting story to be told in verse, as have been all of the novels I've read by Sarah Crossan. She manages to take different topics and really create lyrical, flowing masterpieces out of them - you wouldn't think words like "fu*k" and "c**t" could work in verse but they do! I think this is also the first adult novel I've read in verse rather than YA so it was a new venture for me in that way.

There were parts of this I really loved - I think the way Ana's character is revealed to the reader between the different parts of the story was so clever. Who I thought Ana was in Part One was a completely different person with a different life than the Ana I knew in Part Five. The same in how we learn about the real Rebecca (also is her name being Rebecca a nod to Daphne Du Maurier? I wonder!) compared to what Ana always thought she was like because of Connor and this awful, terrifying woman she had built her up to be in her head.

The characters in this - mainly Ana and Connor - are not nice people, and because of this I felt no emotional connection to this story the way I felt with other Sarah Crossan books I've read. I didn't really think Ana deserved any kind of happy ever after, and part of me feels like she got off lightly in the end as well.

But an interesting read, and one to pick up if you are a fan of books in verse, and a fan of the unique stories Sarah Crossan writes.