myprettypages's reviews
47 reviews

Twelve Hours in Manhattan by Maan Gabriel

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

I had tried many times with this book but every time I picked it up, I just couldn’t get into the story. This is more of a slow paced novel focusing on the characters, a woman struggling with her love life and on the brink of losing it all and a famous k-pop star who is wanting to escape the pressures of fame. After meeting by chance, they open up about their struggles and through this they are able to help each other grow. I liked the inclusion of K-pop touch which gave it a unique element which was interesting, however I did find that the plot dragged out at points which made it hard for me to get into the flow of the book. I had gone into this book imagining that it’ll be something lighthearted and joyous, instead this had more serious topics and a somber tone which I wasn’t expecting. This novel has a thoughtful concept however this book just wasn’t for me. 

 

Many thanks to She Writes Press and Netgalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for a review. 

Ms Perfectly Fine by Kate Callaghan

emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

This was a very interesting and hooking romance that was set up with enemies to lovers and forced proximity. Two characters focused on their career and both with their own secret… With the inclusion of a mystery and a thriller mixed in, this took the romance on a twist making it a gripping read. Autumn tragic past and chronic pain was approached effectively, highlighting the struggles of people who suffer from it, in a "world [that] isn’t built for those of with chronic issues." I really enjoyed how the first person narrative switched between the two protagonists which built up the tension and angst between the two and heightening the romance. 

 

Many people tend to prefer romances to stay in its’ own genre but I love the inclusion of a suspenseful mystery mixed in. Later on in the novel, the dual pov served as a great way to build up suspense as a looming threat was foreshadowed. The promise of a stalker had me hooked as I was trying to figure out who it could be as subtle hints were dropped throughout - keeping me intrigued with Autumn’s backstory. The build up of suspense didn’t distract from the romances and instead, highlighted it more. This was a great read which reflected the importance of embracing who you are, letting go by remembering the good moments and that “there is beauty in mistakes”. 

 

Many thanks to Kate Callaghan for sending me this ARC in exchange for a review.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Chronic illness, and Stalking

Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was a brilliant thriller, not something I’d usually pick up but I’m so glad I did, this kept getting better and better as the story progressed. A novel about a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business, gossip is rife and everyone is willing to air their neighbours’ dirty laundry… 

 

This novel surrounds a woman who’s found dead in her home which then follows the events building up to that moment as we await the reveal. All throughout, secrets are unraveled and affairs are spewed out because like Mary Alice Young once said, “trust is a fragile thing…”. Disha Bose set this novel up perfectly with an instant hooking plot line and a strong willed character who despite everything "needed to show she was in control, even though she wasn’t anymore" as she cleverly plants hints at critical moments to foreshadow the inevitable outcome. 

 

The most intriguing part were the characters, all desperate to prove how better they were compared to each other. Disha flipped typical stereotypes, there was no helpless woman waiting for a white knight, she set up a course of marriages where women were no longer weak in the knees. There was this constant mirage between the way each couple’s marriage appears to their neighbours and then the reality of the fractured relationship and unfaithful partners. Affairs, marriages and friendships are all pushed to a breaking point, playing into the power and affect of paranoia when trust is broken so easily. 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the tension and anticipation that Bose created, no one is clear when everyone has a motive… What really stood out about this novel for me was the way it ended, everyone is at some fault and with no one taking responsibility, they ironically shared the responsibility and the weight of their shameful secrets which made for a “cruel joke” as the final piece to the puzzle fits into place. I really liked the way all the plot lines were set up and how they tied with each other smoothly. The different perspectives and each person’s version of events made it such an interesting read. The cyclical structure was a clever touch, the novel starting and ending with the moment the body is found at the bottom of the stairway, now with all the secrets exposed to the reader… Everyone and everything is a facade. 

 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General for sending me this ARC in exchange for a review. 

Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"The pulsing heartbeat of true crime, of all human stories when you got right down to it, was we all wanted and hoped and dreamed and loved, but we had no control over what happened in the end." 

 

This was a very interesting and fun romance, whilst it had the classic tropes of a small town romance and boy next door, I really liked that this had a different approach with the inclusion of true crime. The main character, Phoebe is paranoid and uses humour as her coping mechanism, who would sometimes “cross over from endearingly neurotic to obsessively weird.” She is relatable in her fears and anxieties with “the reality that so many lives are interrupted, so many dreams unfulfilled”. From her fathers’ death she becomes closer to her brother, more accepting of love and reconciles with her old friends. 

 

I really liked the concept of the true crime obsessed, there were many true crime references briefly mentioned throughout, nothing gruesome or heavy. Whilst I would have preferred more of a mystery, it was good that this had a lighthearted approach to make the romance more appealing. A big part of Phoebe’s character is her dissertation on true crime and when it starts to come to the end she realises that “these books promise closure and justice,”. As the story progresses so does her development as she started to open up more. This would be great for those who like true crime but in need of a light romance and enjoy second chance romance. 

 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for sending me this ARC in exchange for a review. 

Parallel by Matthias Lehmann

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

“I felt a longing for something that I couldn’t grasp. I had a family, but all I wanted was to get out of the cage.” 

 

This is an emotive story portrayed beautifully through the art, flashbacks and the honesty of a fathers letter to his estranged daughter. A story about sexuality, family, love and the fear with being true to one’s self as well as the pressures of a society that doesn’t accept you. 

 

Shifting between the present and past, Karl in his retirement was able to reflect on his past through his letter to his daughter. I found it really interesting how this delved into Karl’s outlook on his sexuality, his shame and desire. The story starts from the moment where he starts to question himself as we witness how his first marriage fell through and the tension that arises and forced to restarts his life. 

 

I really liked the artwork and how the layered ink drawing often leading into the darkness, the scenery and emptiness in those panel’s reflected the mood. Switching between detailed facial expressions when it’s close up showing characters deep in thought and from afar with little detail, the expression and emotions were portrayed really well. 

 

I enjoyed this graphic novel and how it demonstrates and portrays homophobia really well and the brutality of it, the fear victims have and how accusations and rumours spiral but among this, the hope of a new and accepting generation and a promise of rebuilding broken relationships- a stark contrast to the high stress and tension in the flashbacks. 

 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Oni Press for sending me this ARC in exchange for a review.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Homophobia

White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

challenging dark mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

“If we let our fear of death stop us from doing what we wish most to do, then what is the point of living?" 

 

This collection of short stories followed fairy-like tales, each with their own unique story, none similar to the next. Each one took on a wild unpredictable journey using fantastical elements to portray what people are willing to do for the ones they love, the role of death, the afterlife, breaking enchantments and showing that "perhaps hope, too, is merely habit.” 

 

There were a few stories which reminded me of classic fairytales, taking inspiration from tales such as Hansel & Gretel and the Snow Queen, with their own twists. Whilst there were many wild descriptions, there were some really gripping stories too and each one had a purpose. Throughout the book, there were many gory descriptions which added to the horrific side of these fairytales, again reminding me of Grimm’s fairytales. I really enjoyed the paranormal elements which increased towards the end, with the last tale- ‘Skinder’s Veil’ surrounding death in a human form, which was my favourite out of the collection. 

 

I enjoyed reading the magical elements, and the whimsical fantasy all with their own moral to the tale and found the stories unique to what I have read in the past. The story telling was done really well, as I was able to visualise the different aspects. This would be a great read for those who you enjoy dark fantasy and books like Coraline. 

 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for sending me this ARC in exchange for a review. 

Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice by Cristina Rivera Garza

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This was an emotive and heartbreaking account on a woman’s life cut short by her ex-boyfriend, a narrative that is all too familiar all across the world. This was written beautifully, non-fiction books can be hard to digest at times especially with such a difficult subject but the way Garza approached this was unique from anything that I had read before. Liliana’s life was told through the letters, poems and notes that she had written, deciphered by her sister. This approach as well as the interviews from her close friends and family brought her world to life, "Liliana, strong and fragile at the same time.” I was able to feel her emotions and visualise her life and the pain that carried on afterwards. From short extracts from those closest in her life, they gave a clear indication of her life and more specifically her relationship. The use of the interviews from different friends gave a really interesting insight into this man, giving little clues to what eventually happened. Through these letters we‘re transported into Liliana’s mind and her internal conflict with love as "Love hurts [her], and yet isn’t it that what makes us happy?" 

 

Throughout, there was a parallel between what happened to Liliana and things happening in real life and to so many women which made it an impactful read. There was a constant mention of “selfish love” and that "Freedom, [Liliana] reminded [her] all the time, was the most important possession in life.” Even towards the end, there is a persistent and growing danger looming over as "Liliana who, as much as she turned the world upside down, could not find the words to name the violence that followed her closely." Cristiana explored and presented why so many victims struggle to escape domestic violence, again reflecting the systemic blame off of women. Accounts like this are so important, reminding people of the growing injustice and fear for many women and how ultimately the patriarchy does nothing to dissemble it because ultimately it is only men who can stop this. The author criticises the way love and toxic men are romanticised as someone that women can ‘fix’ which is a very dangerous mentality as “Self-destruction and disenchantment do not constitute an example of a true and fiery romanticism but of a romanticism that is murderous.” 

 

I really enjoyed the letters that were woven into this novel, it’s very clear how detailed and expressive of her feelings in those letters, they were important for her and we learn a lot about her from them. The narrator slid between the present of Cristina reflecting on Liliana and the past through Liliana letters. I like the different perspectives and observations from other people who had knew Liliana’s and speaking about their time together. Whilst Liliana’s murderer is never brought to justice, we’re able to witness how Cristina is able to create her own justice by immortalising who she was as a person and her story as “time was eternal”. I appreciate how hard this must have been to write, to revisit her sisters life and death. "If the wound heals, I will swim once more. I want to meet her again in the water. I want to swim, as I always did, in my sisters company”. 

 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Abortion

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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

5.0

“If you are a figment of my imagination, some wild dream, I hope I never wake” 

 

This was written so eloquently, I fell in love with the poetic style and perception over love, hope and devotion. The way love and sacrificed was described, it was like reading an old tale from the romantic era, with the emotional and powerful nature of nature and the frequent returns to the past. This focused on the individual and spirituality, celebration of isolation and melancholy and the idealisation of Indigo, the main character. "It was the first time I understood that beauty has its own power. Beauty transformed." 

 

I loved how Chokshi was able to incorporate different genres and themes seamlessly blending the magical realism with gothic thriller and a mystery waiting to be solved. With the use of embedded narrative, mythology and European folklore was used intertwined with the main storyline to guide and hint to the truth as the past and present starts to reveal themselves. Throughout there is a fascination “with the world we cannot see, the creatures that might have lived within them but now only exist as fairy tales” as the power that Indigo has is learnt almost immediately. 

 

This was like reading a fairytale, the poetic descriptions over the two who “share a sky, if not a soul” was fascinating to read. Throughout the novel there are hints Indigo is was a “phantasm… proof of the impossible and thus a talisman against the absence that had haunted [his] adult life.” I loved the way love evolved and the meaning of it transformed. I also really liked how love and devotion was explored and dissected as a "matter of will. What would you do to be happy? To be loved?” As well as the power of beauty and its transformation and the “illusion fitted over a woman’s shape.” The impersonation of the house was another fantastic element that I enjoyed, used to reveal and create memories, distorting the mind but ultimately helping to solve the mystery. 

 

Towards the end we start to see the spell slip and unravel the truth of how Indigo and Azure “share the same soul, but not the same pain”. Throughout the novel, I was gripped and shocked with the new details and revelations, I was not expecting that final twist. The novel itself “can’t seem to decide whether to condemn, covet, or celebrate” the two hues of blue: Indigo and Azure. I loved the duality between the two whose “half souls blurring to one.” This was incredible and something that I’ll be thinking about for a while. I highly recommend this, this has become my favourite read of the year so far. This will perfect for those you enjoy romanticism and gripping gothic mysteries. 

 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Are You Happy Now by Hanna Jameson

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a wild and intriguing sci-fi dystopian. The novel starts off with an ominous gripping line when a “boy meets girl at a wedding and the world ends”. The story follows the four main characters, the way their life changes as they witness the affect of the mysterious catatonia. Yun, an agnostic struggling musician; Emory, a self inflicting news reporter hoping to gain success; Andrew, an underpaid teacher who had never felt much; and Fin, a young ballet dancer fighting against the world. The lives of these characters become intertwined with each other as they watch the harsh reality of NYC. Relationships are created, tested and some are distorted as “love not properly expressed mutated into something jagged”. 

 

With an unknown disease, neither viral or bacterial, mass hysteria occurs when millions of people start shutting down. With no scientific reason and the government leaving them to come up with their own conclusion that "it wasn’t a virus. It was no longer a simple case of mass hysteria, it was now just a narrative, that too many people had accepted.” People are forced to carry on with their lives with the fear of the catatonia that seemed to be “something so vast it couldn’t be perceived with the eyes. It could only be felt, like an ache soul- deep.” 

 

This novel touched on the downfalls of living in a capitalist society where individualism and competition is encourage. I enjoyed how Jameson used the different personalities to witness how people responded to the unknown pandemic and succumbed to the dystopian reality. Whilst reading, it reminded me so much of the initial response to covid and with the reference of coming out of a previous pandemic, it hinted at a far more sinister alternative. I really like how through all the mystery and paranoia, the book asked very philosophical questions about death. The question over why this disease has happened is never cleared up which only adds to the uncertainty and unease. Whilst this was not an easy read, this psychological pandemic had me very intrigued and is something that I would recommend. 

 

Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fling by Joseph Murray

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

This is a great Rom com which is fuelled by dramatic irony and miscommunication throughout, I loved the journey it went on and the use of fate and destiny. I really liked the concept that Murray used for the base of this novel, a marriage on the brink of collapse who fall in love with each other all over again with the help of ‘Fling’ because “every flower deserves to bloom”. 

 

At the heart and soul of the two main characters, were relatable fears and the realities of getting older. This romance centred a couple in their late 30s who’s desire for each other had dried up with the stress of life situations and with that comes the journey to revive their spark and passion by showing the importance of being true to yourself and letting go of those inhibitions. 

 

Being introduced to the app, I really enjoyed how the author used the humour of the characters to contrast the mundane life routine and struggling relationship. It touched on serious topics whilst using humour to lighten the overall mood of the book without disregarding the struggles. The side characters were classic foils to their friends, such a contrast that was both humours and effective in empathising the character flaws to ensure character development, eventually helping Tara and Colin to get back on track. 

 

The anonymity of it was great for building up that tension of wondering when they were going to realise the truth. This was a long frustrating story in the best way, I felt so invested in the characters, waiting for them to finally notice each other. This would be great for all those rom com lovers looking for a something with fated lovers and enjoy miscommunication. This had all the elements of a rom com but the introduction of a possible affair and reading how both characters fall in love with each other without realising made the ending even more satisfying. 

 

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review