I was sooooooo excited to read this one, then I started and immediately became really overwhelmed with the amount of information in the first 25%. I read high fantasy. I read sci-fi. This was another level of world building entirely and I wasn't sure I'd cope. How on earth was this book written by a 21 year old? I've said it before but, I love Samantha Shannon's brain.

Once I got into it and realised I didn't need to actually understand every single thing that was mentioned, I got into it and was hooked.

I'm still not entirely sure what the Rephs are (maybe I skimmed over that) and that ending was a bit woah, what just happened, but I'm good with that.

Looking forward to reading the rest when my pre orders come through.

Looking For Jane by Heather Marshall

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hopeful informative reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A letter is sent from a dying mother to get daughter telling her she was adopted. The letter was put into the wrong letter box and never received. 7 years later the letter is discovered, unraveling the story of young women in the 60's who's babies were sold by nuns (based on real life) and the underground abortion movement in Canada.

I love it when I'm pleasantly surprised by a bookclub read. It's a story of female solidarity, medical/societal progression and individual strength.

On reflection, I've been thinking about the main characters relationships with their loved ones and how this influenced their situations and the decisions there were able to make and how this changed over the decades. In the 1960's Evelyn had biological parents who chose to put her into a home for wayward mothers and her baby sold. In the 2010's Angela is undergoing IVF with her partner Tina. As a society now, we have more choices and freedoms, but even now, depending on your family and community, they can be taken away.

Meet Me at the Surface by Jodie Matthews

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Merryn moved to Manchester to escape her Cornish home where her family are perceived strange outcasts. She returns for the memorial of her ex girlfriend Claud. While she is home, her family are acting stranger than usual and a book of folk stories leads Merryn down a path she cannot come back from.

This book is dark. Very dark. Some descriptions gave me the chills or made me feel a bit icky. That is a sign of good writing if it makes me feel stuff.

The descriptions of Cornish life were real. None of this fluffy stuff you usually find. It had the villagers who knows everyone's business, that feeling of growing up isolated and starting secondary school not knowing the trends. The buying a school bag from Par Market is an actual rite of passage and the description of the smell was spot on!

I very much got the wanting to escape Cornwall element. I did it myself, but came back (still not sure if that was my best idea). Claud too, doesn't everyone know a girl who was a bit odd and needy and just can't do a relationship?

Overall, I thought it was great, but a bit dark for my usual taste.

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books_coffee_cornwall's reviews 477 reviews

books_coffee_cornwall's reviews
477 reviews