wordsofclover's Reviews (2.16k)

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

As a young girl, Fliss is brought to the grand house of Glenmaroon in Dublin to become the childhood companion of the three daughters of Arthur 'Ernest' Guinness. As the girls grow up together, Fliss watches as they leave a tumultuous Ireland behind and enter the glamourous life of 1920s London. But what is left for Fliss after all the girls are gone?

This is a charming historical fiction looking at the lives of three women I never knew existed yet at one point they were the belles of the balls in London society, and their father branded the drink that will forever be associated with Ireland. The writing in this is very good, and you can tell the author did so much work studying not only the lives of the Guinness Girls but also the people they socialised with and the era they lived in - not just in London but in Ireland as well.

There are fascinating looks or more glimpses as we learn through Fliss the political and often violent climate in Ireland during the 1920s and while she doesn't understand much, she knows it's important and she sees her beloved brother get caught up in it. I never realised that Arthur Guinness, being Anglo-Irish would actually be very Pro-Crown, anti-Irish independence and would have supported the Black & Tans who did awful things to Irish people fighting for their rights. It definitely left a bitter taste in my mouth!

Seeing as Hughie was such a huge character in this, both visible and invisible at times, I would have actually liked to have seen even more of him and more of his political views. It did feel a bit muted how everything with Hughie ended up and it took so long to really learn much of substance about what happened (literally the last two pages).

The glimpse into the parties and debauchery of the 1920s in London was fascinating and while it was glamorous and I loved the descriptions of everyone's fashion at the tome and what the girls wore to all the parties, I definitely would be more of a Fliss and probably want to sit a lot of them out. They sounded tiring. I also can't say I ever really liked the Guinness girls - they were vain, selfish and silly and it didn't sound like they ever really grew out of it - Maureen in particular.

I liked learning about how the great stock crash affected those in London circles and how much it muted the types of circles the girls socialised in.

I liked this book but there was a part in the middle where the book definitely dragged a bit, and Fliss while being a very observant...observer.. isn't necessarily a character full of gumption and can be a bit boring. I actually would have liked more of Fliss being Fliss and taking charge of her life after the girls were gone and married but all of that was left out. 

 

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

On a tumultuous night in Dublin, kingpin Arthur Ward is shot dead the same night he ends up in a fist fight with Liam Kennedy. As Ward's family try to piece together who was behind Arthur's killing, Liam's pull together to make sure he had nothing to do with. Leo Kennedy, the black sheep of the family, returns home having previously cut ties with his criminal family yet ends up pulled in nevertheless. Meanwhile, on the Ward estates, two sisters who traveled to Ireland hoping for a better life fight to find each other again and escape the hell they ended up living in.

This book was...just okay? It definitely had a lot of the ingredients that should make a riveting crime family - two families and a crime that hinted at a gang war (that never ended up happening?), several different criminal enterprises including people trafficking and a sex ring, and a cannabis farm. I think there wasn't actually that much excitement happening considering everything going on and the people who we were believed to be silly, vapid and stupid were...exactly that. There was no hidden reveals about who people were and there was no wool pulled in front of the readers' eyes in any way which could have been fun.

I feel like the people trafficking story could have had so much attention and while I appreciate the author shining a light on this activity - while I'm not stupid and I'm aware it happens in Ireland, it's something I haven't though of enough and it's always shocking to think there are girls being treated in this way - I feel like it became an almost unnecessary part of the story. Yulia and Celestine only served to feck things up a bit for Murphy and Rally, and that was about it.

The ending was also really flat, and honestly I felt a bit disappointed in this. For a crime novel set in Dublin, I was expecting more.

 When Nishat comes out to her parents, and their reaction is less than desirable, she's left devastated and confused. She gets a chance to distract herself with a school business competition and she opens up a henna business which lets her celebrate her culture and cherish memories of her grandmother at the same time. The only problem is, new girl Flavia and Nishat's school crush, also starts her own henna business and doesn't seem to care that's cultural appropriation.

This was a lovely book to read, and I'm so glad it was our group pick for The Irish Readathon 2021. I loved seeing the story of a young Muslim girl in Ireland going through a lot of the trials and tribulations of what it's like to be a teenager and have to deal with parental expectations, horrible school peers and crushes in a way that sometimes feels like the end of the world.

I really felt for Nishat a lot in this book particularly for her sadness around her parents' reaction to her being gay. However, I really liked how that particular point was explored throughout the book and there were some real 'lump in the throat' moments for me as her parents opened up to learning and accepting and loving their daughter for exactly who she was.

I will admit it took a while for Flavia to warm up for me, and I don't really know if I was 100% Team Flavia by the end, though I did understand some of her reasoning for going along with her cousin Chyna (horrible), and her own struggles with her identity as an Irish-Brazilian girl. I hated seeing some of the horrible school behaviour in this, and I felt ashamed that people in an Irish school (Catholic or not) would behave the way some of the girls here did because of someone's sexuality. I probably, naively, like to think that things would be better and different in real life as the teens of today are so 'woke' and I like to think gender identity and sexuality isn't as much of an issue now for people, and anyone blatantly homophobic would be called out. But I also haven't been in a school setting in 10+ years so I have no idea what it's like now.

One of the things I loved the most in this book was the sister relationship between Nishat and Priti. It was so lovely to see how they supported and loved each other throughout everything, and that they were not just sisters but best friends. They had their arguments but they made up swiftly like all sibling ups and downs.

I definitely recommend this as a lovely YA book that looks at some serious issues while also delivering some heartwarming moments. I can't wait for Adiba's next book! 

In 1987 in the small town of Mullinmore, a car accident leaves three people dead, one permanently injured and several families in town changed forever. Conor, the young driver, becomes a pariah in town and soon leaves for Liverpool before completely severing all contact with his grieving family. As Conor figures himself out as a gay man, as well as trying to forgive himself for the devastation left behind, it's a long time before he finally confronts the shadows of the past.

I really enjoyed this book - it was a fast read with a storyline and characters that kept me gripped throughout. There were people to love, and people to hate while also people you completely recognise and could probably point out the equivalent of in your own town. The characters Graham Norton writes always feel like real people - the doctor's son, the lonely woman living on her own, the newly freed divorcee, and the family who own the pub down the road. Nothing really feels over the top or particularly stereotyped.

There were parts of this that were hard to read as, especially the start, the story contains so much sadness for a variety of things from the tragic accident at the start that cut off four young lives, the day before two of them were about to embark on something great, as well as the sadness and loss Conor's family felt when their son came home changed and then left without looking bad. There's a sadness for Ellen for the marriage that promised so much hope and happiness and left her joyless and bitter (and gave her children that weren't all great either) and then also the struggles Conor faces throughout about first accepting his sexuality, and then his fear of returning home as a gay man.

I really liked how the story was weaved from the time jumps throughout the years to the occasional flashbacks. I also appreciated that by the end Linda's story had gotten a little better and she was experiencing with a new freedom and wasn't confined to her home as she had allowed herself to be for years. I also liked how the changing face of Ireland was revealed slowly from Conor's fears of being outed to Finbarr's easy acceptance and eventual first gay wedding in the town which parents and grandparents were delighted to attend.

I always enjoy Graham Norton's fiction books and this was so exception. A wonderful book to read on a weekend morning with a cup of tea!
 

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

When Marianne's husband leaves her for another woman, and she ends up shoplifting (she only does it when she's stressed!) which results in her losing her job, she has to move back to her childhood home. Now she's forced to get involved with her mother Rita's wacky antics which include running a group called the Get Well Soon Club (a more eccentric version of AA), and Marianne soon finds herself enjoying her days at home instead of mourning the loss of her old, organised life.

This book was just what I needed this week, and made a bad start to the week into a lovely finish! It felt like a tonic due to the weird and wonderful characters I was introduced to though Marianne's integration into the Get Well Soon Club, and by the end I felt like Ethel, Shirley, Freddy, and Bartholomew were my friends. The book was full of joy and laughter and while there were moments of sadness in there too, it was still tinged with love and warmth.

Marianne was a great character and though she's written as merely socially awkward, I would definitely feel like she would also be on the spectrum. I love how she slowly got involved with the group and warmed up to everyone and how they all loved her and she loved them back.

The way the group interacted, loved and depended on each other reminded me of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Really recommend this book! 

 When Leela meets a charming man at an inn she's staying with on the way to her stepdaughter's betrothal, she takes a chance on a night of passion. However, she's horrified the next day to realise the man she just slept with is her stepdaughter and best friend's potential new husband.

This was a fun read, and I really enjoyed Leela and Hunt's predicament as well as all the delicious chemistry between them. I don't think this was the best regency romance I had read as there were definitely some parts in the middle that dragged a bit, and felt a little bit boring but I still very much enjoyed the world and figuring out how Leela and Hunt would sort everything out.

Leela was an interesting character to follow as unlike other characters I've read in similar books, she is a young widow and therefore has a bit more freedom than other women her age. She also didn't care much about society and was finally free to travel as much as she wanted, and learn more about her mother's side of the family. Her mother was Arabic and so Leela does tend to get looked down to sometimes in this book because of her heritage and suffers some racism because of it. I loved the chapters where Leela got to know her family more.

I also really liked that Leela was an author in this book too, and the story highlighted how hard it was for female writers to be taken seriously and be given a fair wage for their work. It was so frustrating to see how Leela had to struggle to get her book published when she had already been so successful when people thought she was a male writer.

Weirdly, one of the things I liked the most in this book was seeing all the obvious signs that the next book would be about Hunt's friend Griff. I really can't wait for that one but it was probably a bad sign that sometimes I was more excited to read Griff's story than continue to read Leela and Hunt's.

I did think this book was going to go down the slightly unconventional route in this genre where the couple didn't necessarily have to have a new arrival by the epilogue and given everything that had previously been discussed, I was hoping to see something more of their travels together (perhaps an adoption instead?) but nope. Which was a disappointment! 

I don't really know how to accurately rate this book because while I love this trilogy so much, this was definitely the least favourite book for me both in reading experience and the contents of the story. I give it 4 stars but it might more accurately be a 3.5 (and maybe even a secret 3? I DON'T KNOW!).

This book contains a lot of Corien and Eliana in the future timeline as Corien plays with Eliana to try and get her to use her powers, meaning he might be able to return to Rielle. But Eliana is stronger than he thinks, and even though she is suffering from grief, heartache and betrayal, she won't break. In the past timeline, Rielle has also run to Corien and is losing herself more and more to the Empirium, forgetting who she really is and how much the people in her life like Audric and Ludivine love her.

I did really like having more POVs in this book from Audric and Ludivine because they are characters I genuinely just love (would die for them both tbh) but overall this book just stressed me out and made me really sad because so many awful things were happening (some of them by the hands of Rielle - a character I've loved and defended).

I felt very frustrated by a lot of Rielle's decisions in this book and it was very hard to read at times seeing her choose the wrong thing again and again while on the other hand, there was a real lull in Eliana's story as it felt the same kind of thing was happening - there is only so much you can read about forced dreams and mind torture.

Ludivine was the really interesting character in this as we saw her really develop into something amazing. I've always loved Audric, Rielle and Ludivine's relationship in this book and there were parts of Lightbringer that brought me to tears when these memories were brought up and pain both Ludivine and Audric felt over them.

I do agree with some other reviews that the ending, and how some of the characters were treated felt a bit abrupt and more time here (and maybe less in the mind dreams) would have been beneficial.

I can't say I'm unhappy with the ending but it definitely left a very bittersweet feeling in my mouth. I do hope we get more books in this world as we haven't learned even a real smidge of what the Emperium can do - and maybe Eliana has many more adventures ahead! 

In the America of Red Clocks, a human embryo has more rights than that of a woman carrying it. Due to a special amendment in the law, abortion is illegal in every state in America and women who attempt an abortion can be jailed. Those who miscarry can be charged with manslaughter or forced to for the funeral of the fetus, and single women who want to adopt are not allowed due to a 'Every Child Needs Two' rule. Even IVF is out of the question as the embryos did not give consent.

This is a strange book to read because even though everything in it seems so over the top and crazy, we all know too well that the strict abortion laws portrayed in this book are almost identical to those currently in place in Poland, and where up until very recently in my own country of Ireland. The journeys American women in this book go on to Canada - a journey of fear, loneliness and pain - is currently being experience by Polish women travelling to neighbouring countries and all the Irish women who took the flight to England, and bled on the way back.

This is actually a book I put off reading for over two years because when I originally received it, Repeal the 8th hadn't yet passed in Ireland and all the fears and entrapment felt by the women in this book were ones I also felt when I fear what would happen if I ever went through an unwanted pregnancy. However, having read it now and at the right time - now Irish women have the control over their own bodies for the first time in a long, long time - I thoroughly enjoyed this book and not just for the points it made (how women and those in vulnerable position are always the ones that are affected the most by insane abortion rules aka men trying to control women's bodies AND abortion laws don't stop abortions from happening, they just stop safe ones)

I liked entering the world of the various women in this book, and all the different things they were going through and how different they all were. I definitely had favourites and least favourites with Ro (The Biographer) being on top and Susan (The Wife) being on the bottom. I actually would have loved more from Gin's perspective (The Mender) as I feel like she had a lot more to tell and give to the story and her character fell a little bit into the stereotype of the witchy woman. Ro also does deal with the cliche of becoming a slightly manic with despair woman desperate for a baby which I have seen before in books and it never really looks great - however, I liked seeing Ro's journey come full circle and her peace and acceptance in where her life would be going next.

While Mattie (The Daughter) played an important part in being the section of the story dealing with the fear and anxiety over an unwanted pregnancy, and the lengths a person will go through to not be pregnant anymore, there wasn't much else to her story. There were times where I couldn't figure her out as she seemed quite smart but she had also been so dumb when it came to Ephraim.

While Susan was interesting in terms of the woman who seems to have it all (almost) but really she doesn't, her storyline is also been there, done that. I do think it would have been better to have a woman who was on the opposite side of the tracks when it came to the abortion laws as all the women we're following agree in a person's right to choose. It was a bit strange having no-one on the other side other than some of the side characters who all happened to be men (Mattie's dad and Mr Fivver for instance).

I did enjoy this a lot, and it was the kind of book when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about reading it which says a lot! 

 Mona lives with her aunt on the grounds of a great house in the village, owned by the Somerset family. When Lady Somerset dies, Mona's aunt fears they will soon be without a home but when the new homeowner takes over, he treats the women like family and soon Mona is introduced to a whole new world of dancing the Charleston, fine dining and family secrets.

This was a sweet book and a good audiobook listen. I definitely think it would be a good one for a middle grade reader to read or listen to on a long car journey as it's lengthy enough (about 12 hours long). Mona was a sweet character to follow, and has ups and downs with friendships, her relationship with herself and her aunt. I enjoyed the little adventures she went on and the build up to her summer with the Somersets.

I actually think this book could have been a tad shorter as by the time we got to the last few chapters, my attention had definitely wavered a bit. I also would have liked the 'reveal' about Mona's family to have come a bit sooner, as it definitely felt like she found out and then the book was over and there wasn't a real chance for her to really take it all in. I also would have liked to have seen a proper make-up between Mona, Maggie and Peter.

I liked reading one of Jacqueline Wilson's newer novels as up until now I've read a lot of her older ones from when I was a child and teen. The writing in this wasn't incredibly childish and could be enjoyed by adults as well which is one of the reasons why I think Jacqueline Wilson's books are so good!