Scan barcode
amyvl93's reviews
854 reviews
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I don't think I've read a book that has put me into such a state of anxiety than <i>Soldier Sailor</i> did for a long time. This is a bracing, honest and dark look at both the early months of motherhood, following Kilroy's unnamed narrator who is struggling to adapt to her new role as mother and homemaker, whilst her husband's life continues as normal, and her baby refuses to eat/sleep/insert other baby behaviour here.
For about 2/3s of the novel, Kilroy combines incredibly prescient writing with dark humour to paint a picture of motherhood which made me alarmed to see how many women have described this as relatable. I felt like I knew this woman so well that I wanted to punch her husband in the face, and was overjoyed when she found an ally in parenting who saw her for her rather than simply as a Mum. The final third, then, captures the joys of motherhood - the deep love that ties two people into having a baby, and peels back some of the moments we saw earlier in the novel described as times of immense pain, refreshed as being ultimately okay.
As someone who is decidedly unsure I want children, <i>Solider Sailor</i> definitely confirmed many of my anxieties about motherhood, but I am very grateful to Kilroy for capturing all of these complicated feelings so well within the pages of this novel.
For about 2/3s of the novel, Kilroy combines incredibly prescient writing with dark humour to paint a picture of motherhood which made me alarmed to see how many women have described this as relatable. I felt like I knew this woman so well that I wanted to punch her husband in the face, and was overjoyed when she found an ally in parenting who saw her for her rather than simply as a Mum. The final third, then, captures the joys of motherhood - the deep love that ties two people into having a baby, and peels back some of the moments we saw earlier in the novel described as times of immense pain, refreshed as being ultimately okay.
As someone who is decidedly unsure I want children, <i>Solider Sailor</i> definitely confirmed many of my anxieties about motherhood, but I am very grateful to Kilroy for capturing all of these complicated feelings so well within the pages of this novel.
Western Lane by Chetna Maroo
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Chetna Maroo has had an amazing start to her career, with her debut novel longlisted for both the Booker and now the Women's Prize. Unfortunately, this means that expectations are typically raised for her novel, which in my case with <i>Western Lane</i> weren't quite met.
The novel follows Gopi, whose Mum has recently passed away, leaving her father and older sisters in something of a freefall. Her Dad throws her into an intense squash training regime, where Gopi begins to find a life outside of the roles she falls into within her family.
In terms of strengths, despite the short length of the novel the characters in its pages felt rounded and real; Maroo really manages to ground the reader in her settings. I felt like I could imagine the claustrophobia of her bedroom that she shares with her two sisters, the opening scene of the sisters helping their aunt with the cooking under critical gaze felt really fully rendered too. I also found the exploration of the migrant community and family that Gopi and her family lived within really interesting, particularly the combination of support and monitoring that impacts on all the characters in the novel.
Although marketed as a book about grief, I don't really feel like we delved that much into that feeling - we don't hear that much about Gopi's mother at all. In part this may be because it is a representation of individuals who are suppressing their grief, or have complicated feelings about this, but I didn't feel like there was much emotion explored here.
Also, whilst I learnt an awful lot about the history of squash and squash players, a little less squash recounting to focus more on Gopi and her family would have been appreciated!
I'll definitely look into Maroo's writing in the future, which will hopefully be given a little more space to breath for a writer early in their career.
The novel follows Gopi, whose Mum has recently passed away, leaving her father and older sisters in something of a freefall. Her Dad throws her into an intense squash training regime, where Gopi begins to find a life outside of the roles she falls into within her family.
In terms of strengths, despite the short length of the novel the characters in its pages felt rounded and real; Maroo really manages to ground the reader in her settings. I felt like I could imagine the claustrophobia of her bedroom that she shares with her two sisters, the opening scene of the sisters helping their aunt with the cooking under critical gaze felt really fully rendered too. I also found the exploration of the migrant community and family that Gopi and her family lived within really interesting, particularly the combination of support and monitoring that impacts on all the characters in the novel.
Although marketed as a book about grief, I don't really feel like we delved that much into that feeling - we don't hear that much about Gopi's mother at all. In part this may be because it is a representation of individuals who are suppressing their grief, or have complicated feelings about this, but I didn't feel like there was much emotion explored here.
Also, whilst I learnt an awful lot about the history of squash and squash players, a little less squash recounting to focus more on Gopi and her family would have been appreciated!
I'll definitely look into Maroo's writing in the future, which will hopefully be given a little more space to breath for a writer early in their career.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger by Rebecca Traister
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Rebecca Traister has been a writer that I've admired for a long time, and I've had Good & Mad on my to read list probably since it was first released, back in 2018.
This is a book that has not aged well, not because its content isn't interesting, but because it is so heavily rooted in its period, that reading it six years later and staring down the highly probably threat of a second Trump presidential term felt quite deflating.
Written in the immediate aftermath of Hilary Clinton losing the election to Trump in 2016, Traister uses this event as an anchor around which to talk about other times that female anger has been used as a double-edged sword to prevent progression; and times where female rage has truly had revolutionary power. This was very compelling when Traister dipped into history, or contemporary examples that were not Clinton. However, it did feel slightly repetitive to constantly return to the 2016 election - although as someone who was similarly devastated by that result I can understand the temptation. It would be interesting to read an updated version as it is clear that any rage has not made too much of a different, especially that from white women.
This is a book that has not aged well, not because its content isn't interesting, but because it is so heavily rooted in its period, that reading it six years later and staring down the highly probably threat of a second Trump presidential term felt quite deflating.
Written in the immediate aftermath of Hilary Clinton losing the election to Trump in 2016, Traister uses this event as an anchor around which to talk about other times that female anger has been used as a double-edged sword to prevent progression; and times where female rage has truly had revolutionary power. This was very compelling when Traister dipped into history, or contemporary examples that were not Clinton. However, it did feel slightly repetitive to constantly return to the 2016 election - although as someone who was similarly devastated by that result I can understand the temptation. It would be interesting to read an updated version as it is clear that any rage has not made too much of a different, especially that from white women.
River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Sometimes when a historical fiction novel doesn't quite hit as much as I wanted it to, I wish the author had written a non-fiction piece instead - and that is the case with River Sing Me Home. The novel follows Rachel who flees the plantation she has been enslaved on after the Emancipation Act to try and find her five children who have all been taken from her. This journey takes her across Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and exposes her to the different lives that black people are attempting to find in this new context.
Shearer's close focus into the time of the 1834 Emancipation Act was very interesting to me - I didn't know about how many plantation owners, and other white business owners, essentially kept their slaves in place using loopholes which meant they could still be considered 'runaways'. Whilst I knew bits about the slave rebellions, much of the detail that was shared in this novel was new to me, and I also appreciated how Shearer also touched on the experience of those who were indigenous to the islands - who were there before colonisers arrived.
What didn't quite work as well for me was the characterisation of Rachel and others in the novel. Despite the often moving and heart-breaking content of this novel, I felt very distanced from Rachel and I felt that we were told rather than shown her emotions. She also didn't always incredibly rooted. The writing that I found the most moving was where we had characters telling their own stories, rooted in the first person, and perhaps there was a missed opportunity to truly tell Rachel's story. I also wasn't sure how I felt about a slightly unprobable romance that was thrown into the story as well.
River Sing Me Home highlights an important period of history, but wasn't a total hit for me.
Shearer's close focus into the time of the 1834 Emancipation Act was very interesting to me - I didn't know about how many plantation owners, and other white business owners, essentially kept their slaves in place using loopholes which meant they could still be considered 'runaways'. Whilst I knew bits about the slave rebellions, much of the detail that was shared in this novel was new to me, and I also appreciated how Shearer also touched on the experience of those who were indigenous to the islands - who were there before colonisers arrived.
What didn't quite work as well for me was the characterisation of Rachel and others in the novel. Despite the often moving and heart-breaking content of this novel, I felt very distanced from Rachel and I felt that we were told rather than shown her emotions. She also didn't always incredibly rooted. The writing that I found the most moving was where we had characters telling their own stories, rooted in the first person, and perhaps there was a missed opportunity to truly tell Rachel's story. I also wasn't sure how I felt about a slightly unprobable romance that was thrown into the story as well.
River Sing Me Home highlights an important period of history, but wasn't a total hit for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Racism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Murder, and Grief
The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter & Other Essential Ghosts by Soraya Palmer
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
One of the things I do miss about my old book subscription is it putting really interesting books into my hands that I may not have otherwise found, and Beatrice Porter is definitely one of those novels.
The novel follows two sisters, Zora and Sasha, living in New York with their Caribbean parents, whose lives are shaped by their parents storytelling of myths from the islands, including Anansi and Rolling Calf amongst others. As their parents marriage disintegrates and the two sisters drift from one another, these stories are how they find a way forward. Zora becomes increasingly interested in storytelling, whilst Sasha begins to explore both her sexuality and her gender.
Palmer's writing throughout this was so vivid, both in the narration from the two sisters, who feel like distinct enough characters - to the voice of the novel, who explores the stories from the Caribbean and who shines a light on the family histories of the sisters - and the cycles that the family seemed doomed to repeat. She gives even the characters who you instinctively want to turn away from nuance.
Whilst there is a lot going on within the pages of this book, it never felt like too much - and I felt like Palmer gave space to the discussions in here, particularly those around gender and mortality. Not all the magical realism worked for me, particularly towards the end but I'll definitely read more of Palmer's work in the future.
The novel follows two sisters, Zora and Sasha, living in New York with their Caribbean parents, whose lives are shaped by their parents storytelling of myths from the islands, including Anansi and Rolling Calf amongst others. As their parents marriage disintegrates and the two sisters drift from one another, these stories are how they find a way forward. Zora becomes increasingly interested in storytelling, whilst Sasha begins to explore both her sexuality and her gender.
Palmer's writing throughout this was so vivid, both in the narration from the two sisters, who feel like distinct enough characters - to the voice of the novel, who explores the stories from the Caribbean and who shines a light on the family histories of the sisters - and the cycles that the family seemed doomed to repeat. She gives even the characters who you instinctively want to turn away from nuance.
Whilst there is a lot going on within the pages of this book, it never felt like too much - and I felt like Palmer gave space to the discussions in here, particularly those around gender and mortality. Not all the magical realism worked for me, particularly towards the end but I'll definitely read more of Palmer's work in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Transphobia
Normal Rules Don't Apply by Kate Atkinson
challenging
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Kate Atkinson is one of my forever faves and an insta-buy author. I haven't, however, ever read any of her short stories so was intrigued by this collection.
A series of interlinked stories, <i>Normal Rules Don't Apply</i> is utterly bonkers. Moving from sinister - the first story 'The Void' felt incredibly creepy - to the laugh out loud funny, it contains a true variety of tales. Some of the tales feel like fairytales told through a slightly tilted glass, others feel like they could be thriller entries in the world of Jackson Brodie.
Not all these stories worked instantly for me - but I did really enjoy this collection whist I wait for the next full-length novel.
A series of interlinked stories, <i>Normal Rules Don't Apply</i> is utterly bonkers. Moving from sinister - the first story 'The Void' felt incredibly creepy - to the laugh out loud funny, it contains a true variety of tales. Some of the tales feel like fairytales told through a slightly tilted glass, others feel like they could be thriller entries in the world of Jackson Brodie.
Not all these stories worked instantly for me - but I did really enjoy this collection whist I wait for the next full-length novel.
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.5
This was an excellent if very bleak look at cycles of poverty through the lens of those who are evicted from their rental properties. Desmond follows 8 families in particular who live in Milwaukee - all of whom are paying significant amounts of their income on rent - as well as a couple of landlords, one who runs a condemned trailer park and the other, and one who owns numerous properties in poor areas of the city.
Desmond treats all the individuals he features with such empathy, it really felt like you were alongside them. There are moments of great tragedy sitting alongside everyday tragedies. He shines a light on systems that exploit those they should protect - from the incredibly profitable business of filling your properties with those on state support because you don't run the risk of losing rent, whilst not considering whether the properties really meet their needs, to the truly insane practice of raising grievances against landlords when residents call the police (including in cases of domestic abuse) that can lead families being evicted because landlords don't want to be considered nuisance properties. When this happened to one family, who finally appeared to be on the 'up', I very nearly cried out of frustration for them.
Alongside the problems of housing, Evicted also looks at the factors that can tip people what many may refer to as 'chaotic lives'. Drug addiction is a pattern for many of those profiled here - a nurse who loved their job who gained an opioid habit following an injury loses his job after he stole and finds himself in a trailer park. But alongside this is abusive relationships, childhood trauma, limited employment that enables the flexibility that many women raising children need and proximity to crime. The families that are able to find stability are those that are able to finally get themselves into spaces where they can build connections, find stable employment and access support - all of which is underpinned by high quality housing. Desmond very clearly articulates how being stuck in a horrible home impacts the way people feel about themselves; and how a home to be proud of improves people's ways of seeing themselves - which is even more true of the children and teenagers profiled here.
Written in 2016, so much of Desmond's writing and findings feel prescient to today. I'm looking forward (?) to reading his latest book Poverty next.
Desmond treats all the individuals he features with such empathy, it really felt like you were alongside them. There are moments of great tragedy sitting alongside everyday tragedies. He shines a light on systems that exploit those they should protect - from the incredibly profitable business of filling your properties with those on state support because you don't run the risk of losing rent, whilst not considering whether the properties really meet their needs, to the truly insane practice of raising grievances against landlords when residents call the police (including in cases of domestic abuse) that can lead families being evicted because landlords don't want to be considered nuisance properties. When this happened to one family, who finally appeared to be on the 'up', I very nearly cried out of frustration for them.
Alongside the problems of housing, Evicted also looks at the factors that can tip people what many may refer to as 'chaotic lives'. Drug addiction is a pattern for many of those profiled here - a nurse who loved their job who gained an opioid habit following an injury loses his job after he stole and finds himself in a trailer park. But alongside this is abusive relationships, childhood trauma, limited employment that enables the flexibility that many women raising children need and proximity to crime. The families that are able to find stability are those that are able to finally get themselves into spaces where they can build connections, find stable employment and access support - all of which is underpinned by high quality housing. Desmond very clearly articulates how being stuck in a horrible home impacts the way people feel about themselves; and how a home to be proud of improves people's ways of seeing themselves - which is even more true of the children and teenagers profiled here.
Written in 2016, so much of Desmond's writing and findings feel prescient to today. I'm looking forward (?) to reading his latest book Poverty next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Racism, Grief, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, and Drug use
The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
f you watched and enjoyed Succession, but thought that Logan Roy just wasn't quite vile enough, The Exhibitionist may be for you!
This novel follows the gathering of the Hanrahan family at the family home ahead of the patriarch Ray, one-time famous artist, launches his first art show in many, many years. We are introduced to Lucia, his wife who has put her arguably more successful career on hold; Patrick, his stepson who longs for a life outside of the family home; Jess, his daughter who has fled from London to Scotland to avoid her family and Leah, his (strangely) devoted other daughter. Alongside the core family are Jess' wet blanket husband, Ray's brother and his family, his ex-wife amongst many others.
I was enjoying this to begin with, I liked the nuanced time we spend with Lucia and Jess in particular - the latter grappling with potential motherhood and the former with her sexuality were both interesting. However, it did start to become overly repetitive and noodley with little point. I also struggled to fully understand some of the character motivations here - especially Leah whose character I never felt we really got to understand. Ray's general vile personality also didn't appear to have any nuance - I don't mind unlikeable characters but I like to be able to at least understand their motivations and Ray was just...horrific. I didn't enjoy spending time with him at all.
Whilst an interesting character study, The Exhibitionist didn't quite give me the pay off I wanted it to.
This novel follows the gathering of the Hanrahan family at the family home ahead of the patriarch Ray, one-time famous artist, launches his first art show in many, many years. We are introduced to Lucia, his wife who has put her arguably more successful career on hold; Patrick, his stepson who longs for a life outside of the family home; Jess, his daughter who has fled from London to Scotland to avoid her family and Leah, his (strangely) devoted other daughter. Alongside the core family are Jess' wet blanket husband, Ray's brother and his family, his ex-wife amongst many others.
I was enjoying this to begin with, I liked the nuanced time we spend with Lucia and Jess in particular - the latter grappling with potential motherhood and the former with her sexuality were both interesting. However, it did start to become overly repetitive and noodley with little point. I also struggled to fully understand some of the character motivations here - especially Leah whose character I never felt we really got to understand. Ray's general vile personality also didn't appear to have any nuance - I don't mind unlikeable characters but I like to be able to at least understand their motivations and Ray was just...horrific. I didn't enjoy spending time with him at all.
Whilst an interesting character study, The Exhibitionist didn't quite give me the pay off I wanted it to.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Domestic abuse, Sexism, and Cancer
Minor: Suicide
Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Uncanny Valley follows Anna Wiener's move from her dead-end publishing job in New York, to the land of opportunity in tech out West. As she moves between start-ups, and as scrutiny of tech companies increases, Wiener herself begins to become increasingly disillusioned with her work and the industry as a whole.
This started as a really engaging listen, the juxtaposition between Wiener's life in New York and her move into tech was really well described. However, it did feel a little overlong and felt like we repeated a lot of the messages around sexism and excessive wealth in the organisations. I will say this may have been exacerbated by having to take a pause in listening to this because of my Spotify credits; though if you read a fair bit about the tech industry I'm not sure this would necessarily offer anything new.
This started as a really engaging listen, the juxtaposition between Wiener's life in New York and her move into tech was really well described. However, it did feel a little overlong and felt like we repeated a lot of the messages around sexism and excessive wealth in the organisations. I will say this may have been exacerbated by having to take a pause in listening to this because of my Spotify credits; though if you read a fair bit about the tech industry I'm not sure this would necessarily offer anything new.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexism