wordsofclover's Reviews (2.16k)

Andria is struggling to deal with her twin sister's death by overdose, while also counting down the days she can take her driving test which is an even bigger deal than normal due to Andria's epilepsy and doctor's orders she needs to be 6 months seizure free. As pressure piles up and even worse things come to light in connection to Andria's family and Iris's death, a boy from Iris's past comes back into Andria's life and she can't help having feelings for him.

This is a very typical YA book with a lot of angst and drama from boy troubles, over protective parents and what to do after school finishes decisions. But there are also a lot of serious topics covered in this book, some of which really surprised me from sucide, drug use and overdosing as well as sexual assault and child molestation. Plus we see experiences of living with a chroncic and often debilitating illness from Andria as well.

The writing in this was decent though I think there are part of the storylines that I'm just too old to really resonate with now. I felt some of the story was a bit of a shock at how hard it was considering it was a YA - from Iris's drug use being heroin (I don't know but I find a 16-year-old shooting up heroin a bit too hardcore to be believable - and for it not to be noticeable by the parents either), and then the rather shocking turn of events with the stepfather which I really did not see coming. I would have liked to have seen Andria finally go to proper counselling after everything particularly because the only thing we do hear about it is how Andria's mom is against counselling and airing out your issues which is not very healthy.

The romance was fine, and even sweet at times especially with the poetry - but I always find it a bit weird in books when characters go out with their dead sibling's boyfriends/girlfriends. It will never not have a bit of an ick factor to it. 

 This book is many things; beautiful in parts, crude in others - it examines humanity at it's lowest as people judged and shamed others, and also humanity at peace in love and feeling accepted by friends, families and strangers and allowed to be who they are.

Set in the early 1800s, our morally grey, unreliable narrator is John Church, a sort of Reverend for a church that doesn't believe in sin or casting judgement, only love and acceptance which is a lovely thing really but the more we get to know about John, the more the reader wonders what kind of man he truly is as he omits truth, and warps things to make them go his own way - not to mention his obsessive need for love but also to control and keep the love of those who try to be close to him in a way that eventually drives everyone else away from him.

One of the things I like about Neil Blackmore's writing is the campiness and the highlighting of queer characters throughout history and how gay, non-binary and trans people have existed in society for a long, long time. I loved the scenes of debauchery and joy at the molly house, and how the girls (aka the Queens) were free to be who they were and love each other, and the marriages of love that took place.

I can't speak for the representation in this book, that of the trans community but also of the Black community we see in the book. We learn a little bit of the experiences of what it must have been like to be Black during this time, when the abolition of slavery was still a very recent thing but that didn't mean the Black community were treated with the respect they deserved. Through Ned, we see what his life was like as a 'thing' or a 'product' before he escaped an unhappy home, and how he struggles to hold down a job as people didn't need a reason to fire a Black person back then. I appreciated all of this in the book, but I can't say if this representation was good or not - I hope it was.

It felt rather poignant and timely to read this book and learn once again about the historical treatment of people in the queer community - how it was almost better to be proclaimed a rapist or a murderer than a sodomiser. The fear people felt in case they were found out but how this fear didn't stop people from being who they were or feeling how they felt. In today's world, transphobia and homophobia seem to be on the rise again and it's sad to see it's history repeating itself but again, all of this hatred isn't going to drown out the love people feel and share for each other.

Neil Blackmore is really good at writing slightly shady characters. Unlike his previous book's anti-hero Mr Lavelle, I didn't find John Church quite as repugnant or disagreeable but because it was obvious in the narration that he wasn't the completely good person he pretended to be, it was hard to like him - and I'm not sure I liked to hate him either. It was a strange one. 

Endurance Proudfoot knows she is no beauty - tall and ungainly, broad and muscular, she's very different from her delicate beautiful sister Lucinda. However, this makes Durie perfect for learning the family trade - bonesetting. But when Lucinda gets into trouble and is shipped off to an aunt in London, Durie is made to go with her and leave her bonesetting dreams behind. But Durie uses her skiulls in London's wealthy circles to get noticed but this also means she attracts the wrong sort of attention.

This was such an enjoyable audiobook - I really loved Durie's POV and she is someone that is very easy to like and to root for. Coincidentally, I ended up reading a few books all set in the 1750s-1800s around the same time but set in different areas of London, and within different social classes but it made me feel like I had a really well-rounded view of London during this time and it improved my reading experience.

I did find Lucinda a very annoying character, not to mention spoiled and selfish but I enjoyed the maturity growth and character development in her by the end of the novel. And Durie also learns (the hard way) that just because she is good, honest and straight-talking, it doesn't mean everyone is.

This book is a real testament to real women who have come before us and had to find a way to pave their way and make a living in a world that was occupied by men who didn't want to move over to make room. Durie's endurance and strength despite every obstacle that is thrown at her from heartbreak, betrayal and unfair accusations against her character, is brilliant to read despite it being hard to witness all these hard things.

I loved the romance between Durie and George, the tenderness and innocence between them and the way George really truly saw Durie for exactly who she is and loved her for it. I won't say too much about the other romance in the other book other than that every step of the way of it gave me the feeling of dread and there was one part where I felt I couldn't even go on as I was so afraid for Durie - I just didn't want her to get hurt!

This is a brilliant, quieter type of historical fiction novel and I will be reading the author's other book as soon as I can! 

 Nikisha, Danny, Lizzie, Dimple and Prynce all have the same thing in common - their dead-beat dad Cyril who was pretty good at making children but failed in every way imaginable when it came to actually being a dad. Despite hardly knowing each other, when Dimple gets into trouble and calls her big sister, all of her siblings come to her aid and for the first time, they feel like a family.

I really enjoyed this book - both the plot of the story and the twists and turns with Kyron and what he did and did not remember about the night he was rolled in a tarp and almost buried alive but mostly the dynamic and growing relationship between all the siblings. The book covers some more serious topics such as loneliness and the feelings of parental abandonment but also shows the special bond that can exist between family, even when that bond is discovered or nurtured later in life rather than in childhood.

I can't say Dimple was my favourite character to follow for the majority of the book as yes, she was pretty much a crybaby and tended to overdo her victim complex but I guess she was a good character to observe the others through particularly Lizzie and Nikisha whose personalities are so different to hers. I think my favourites were Danny and Prynce (mostly Danny for being a lovable soft boi)

I think I would have liked more chapters in the POV of the other siblings just to understand more what was going on inside their heads than always being in Dimple's which got slightly tedious at times as she repeated the same actions (videos, Roman, crying, poor me act etc).

There are some great scenes in this book and most characters have big personalities in different ways so I do feel like every character stood out but all the best scenes definitely had Cyril in them as he left chaos in his wake. From the way he talks to his baby mamas to how he uses his children for money yet at the same time often visibly struggles to connect with his children and you can tell he does want to but has no idea how and fears that rejection and failure - and not to mention when you find out about some elements of his life, it's hard not to feel a bit sorry for him.

I very much enjoy Candice Carty-Williams, and I think she will probably be an auto-read author for me.

 

I found the pace a bit slow and the storyline itself quite boring. A lot of repetition as well, and quick relationships to form that felt unrealistic. I think this book is dated in a way a lot of YA books that came out in the early 2000s post-Twilight tend to be as well so it was fairly juvenile in places. Not my thing anymore.

In a futuristic, dystopian LA, Blake Fowler assists private investigator Erasmus Keane as they hired to look into the robbery of a genetically modified sheep from a laboratory. As the two try to figure out why a sheep would be a hot commodity, they are also approached by superstar Priya Mistry who is convinced someone is trying to kill her. It turns out there are connections between the two cases and things take a wild turn.

I've had this lined up on NetGalley for quite a while and I was always excited to read it as I really felt like it was something I would enjoy but unfortunately the writing and storyline fell flat for me due to a myriad of reasons. I think the dystopian aspect of this is good in theory and it actually reminded me a little bit of the cities and QZ zones in The Last of Us so picturing the city split down the middle was actually an easy thing for me but we got the Maelstrom information about why it all happened a little bit in a rush near the end, and it was slightly info-dumping.

I just thought the crime/mystery elements in this story were poor and there was nothing particularly exciting or surprising about the cases and I actually felt like it was all a bit ridiculous. I also really hated how all the women were written in this book and it very much felt like a case of 'women written by men.' Whenn Priya Mistry first arrives on the scene and describes why she believes someone is out to get her, she is immediately dismissed by our main character because she is a beautiful woman and obviously people would be watching her and because she was convinced someone was after her, she was therefore paranoid and crazy. How many times have women's fears over their safety or health being dismissed by people (mainly men) and ended up dead? Too many. And pretty much all the scenes with Priya felt a bit yucky as all the characters ever focused on was how beautiful she was and we never really ever got to know who she really was underneath it all.

I'm glad to have this checked off my list to read but I won't be continuing with the series and I don't think I'd recommend.