Review: Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory

* Copy courtesy of Harper Collins *

Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory tells the story of Jane Boleyn in a first person narrative and is easy to slide into. Married to George Boleyn - Anne Boleyn's brother - Jane holds the title of Lady Rochford and we pick up her story in the year 1534. At almost thirty years old, Jane is the first lady at King Henry VIII's court serving her sister-in-law Anne Boleyn; who is mother to Princess Elizabeth and 5 months pregnant.

Jane is in love with George and the entire Boleyn family and has been married to George for almost half her life. Jane reflects on her service to the old Queen, Katherine of Aragon but relishes her prestigious place at court.

King Henry's court is full of rising and falling fortunes and Jane is banished from court following her attempt to remove one of the King's mistresses on Anne's behalf. Later brought back to court by Thomas Cromwell, Jane is grateful to return and agrees to be one of Cromwell's many informants.

Scandal rocks the court when Anne Boleyn is accused of adultery and incest with her brother George and they're both executed for treason. Many accounts portray Jane as betraying her husband George by giving Cromwell evidence against the pair but in Boleyn Traitor, Gregory offers a different perspective.

The King marries Jane Seymour very soon after while our protagonist is grieving the loss of her husband and beloved sister-in-law, feeling lost without them:

"Jane Seymour sails downriver from Chelsea in Anne's barge, wearing Anne's clothes, and sleeps in Anne's bed, in Anne's sheets. The monograms on the sheets and towels and linen are picked out, and the A under the coronet is replaced with a newly embroidered J. In the evenings, we light the candles that Anne ordered; they have not even burned down. Everything is the same; only the queen is different, and the newly joyous mood of the court." Page 174

Much of the plot of this book felt familiar and not only because I've read so many books set in the Tudor court, but I happened to read The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory in January 2025. Published in 2006, it contains first person narratives from Jane Boleyn, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard up until Jane and Katherine's death. Given Boleyn Traitor also follows Jane Boleyn until her death in 1542, much of the content was familiar, and I soon realised reading The Boleyn Inheritance just 9 months before Boleyn Traitor was bad timing on my part.

What sets these two books apart though is that Gregory portrays Jane Boleyn and Katherine Howard in a completely different way and there is greater emphasis on King Henry VIII as an out of control tyrant.

When it's clear Jane fears the worst for Katherine Howard (Kitty in this novel) she reflects:

"I think that those in service to a tyrant are called to strange and dark work. I want to think that I am a master courtier, steering her through a crisis in her marriage, and this will all blow over. But right now, I don't feel like a master courtier at all; I feel like her gaoler, and I think that when you enter the service of a tyrant, you never know what work you will sink to." Page 431

As an historian and bestselling author, I believe the author is using her platform to comment here on tyrants in history as a warning to the modern reader about what happens when a narcissistic tyrant is continually flattered and placated and no longer bound by the constraints of law and government.

Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory is recommended to fans of Tudor history open to a refreshingly different take on Jane Boleyn, previously portrayed as a villain and divisive figure in history.

For those interested, Jane Boleyn also features in the following books I've reviewed:
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
Anne Boleyn - A King's Obsession by Alison Weir
Jane Seymour - The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir
Anna of Kleve - Queen of Secrets by Alison Weir
Katheryn Howard - The Tainted Queen by Alison Weir

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware

* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *

The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware is the sequel to The Woman in Cabin 10, published in 2016. While some readers have patiently waited 9 years to find out what happened to Laura Blacklock after the events on the Aurora, I only had to wait a week. I read The Woman in Cabin 10 in the lead up to the release of The Woman in Suite 11 which I think was a huge advantage as all of the characters were fresh in my mind.

After the events in Norway, Laura published a book entitled Dark Waters and has been a stay at home Mum in the US raising two kids with husband Judah. After 6 years of occasional freelancing, Laura is ready to re-enter the workforce on a permanent basis and is interviewing for a job.

Although still introducing herself as Lo - ugh - I was pleased to see a more mature Laura in these pages. Now a Mum, Laura's excessive drinking is a thing of the past although she's still making questionable choices which drives the narrative forward.

Ruth Ware has an appealing way of including the everyday into a character's behaviour, and I particularly enjoyed this one:

"For the next half hour, I tried to distract myself. I scrolled my phone, did Wordle and the New York Times Spelling Bee..." Page 144

I do the Wordle with my friend every day and the New York Times Spelling Bee every night with my husband, so I loved seeing this reflected in the main character. But I always 'do the Wordle', but here Laura 'did Wordle'... have I been saying this incorrectly the whole time?

As I mentioned in my review of The Woman in Cabin 10, author Ruth Ware loves a locked room mystery and this time she literally gave us one. I found some of the sleuthing around the comings and goings of a particular hotel room a tiny bit tedious but it was all necessary to inform the plot and narrow down the suspect pool.

I loved learning the identity of the woman in the title - don't worry, no spoilers here - and the complex dynamic between Laura and the supporting character play out, which also formed the focus of the book. I recommend The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware to fans of crime and mystery novels, but you'll definitely need to read The Woman in Cabin 10 first.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware features a new-to-me type of protagonist. Laura Blacklock is a travel journalist invited to sail on the maiden voyage of boutique luxury liner Aurora. The cruise ship is headed to the Norwegian fjords to see the northern lights and Laura - who introduces herself as Lo - is on board to write an article about the journey.

After a few too many drinks over dinner with fellow guests on the first night, Lo sees a person being thrown overboard from the balcony next to hers, Cabin 10. The crew explain Cabin 10 is unoccupied due to a late guest cancellation and don't believe her account. The captain and owner of the ship conduct a full head count and confirm that every guest and crew member is accounted for. Nobody is missing.

An industry colleague - who happens to be Lo's ex boyfriend - suspects her anxiety medication might be to blame so Lo sets out to prove what she saw by putting her journalistic skills to work and investigating.

There was a little too much drinking on this work trip for my liking and I didn't like the nickname Lo, but they were minor niggles. There was a lot of time spent talking to crew members and trying to find the woman she saw in Cabin 10 the day she embarked and while I understand this was a necessary step in Lo's enquiries, it did grow a little tired. Thankfully the plot eventually moved on and the pace picked up again shortly after.

The isolation of the cruise ship at sea without phone signal or internet access created an Agatha Christie type scenario of sorts with a locked room mystery to solve. Only this time the characters were at sea although the isolated suspect pool was similar to that of One by One by Ruth Ware and I get the feeling the author loves to create these situational mysteries. The reader is left to decide if Lo is an unreliable witness or whether the woman in Cabin 10 did exist but was murdered and thrown overboard.

Published in 2016, I've seen comparisons to The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (published in 2015) however Lo was far less flawed than Rachel, making her a better protagonist capable of acting in her own best interests and furthering the plot in a more engaging way.

I recently watched the movie adaptation of The Woman in Cabin 10 starring Keira Knightley and Guy Pearce and definitely preferred the book. Understandably the movie cut out all the crew consultation but introduced new elements that just didn't happen in the book. One change gave characters a better motive, but that was the only improvement. I thought the ending of the novel was terrific and the 'last contact' between two main characters was an inspired choice by the author, completely absent from the movie. Overall, the book contained more danger and suspense making it far more entertaining and confirming the maxim that the book is always better.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware is recommended for readers who enjoy mystery and crime thrillers and the sequel - The Woman in Suite 11 - has just been published. Guess what I'll be reading and reviewing next?

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Wonderdog by Jules Howard

I was so inspired after listening to Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton that I wanted my very next audiobook to be one about animals. This, combined with the fact I've been catching up on the remarkable videos of Stella the dog communicating with her owner over on Instagram (@hunger4words) led to my decision to embark - pun intended - on Wonderdog by Jules Howard.

While the book was enjoyable on the whole, I really should have paid more attention to the subtitle, Wonderdog - How the Science of Dogs Changed the Science of Life. Styling himself as a zoological correspondent, author and public speaker on his website, Jules Howard was definitely focussed on the science of dogs in this offering, including what we thought we knew about dogs in recent history, how science has overlooked dogs and used them to conduct unmentionable testing in the past and what we know about them now. Leaders in their individual fields of science are mentioned and their studies referenced at a level that didn't really retain my interest.

Instead I enjoyed the few moments in between, like this footnote about eye contact and contagious yawning:

"Dogs can also catch a yawn off their owners, and in doing so, they join an esteemed group of animals who exhibit contagious yawns, just humans, chimpanzees and baboons manage the feat." Chapter 12

Jules Howard does a great job narrating his own work, however this is another case where I have misinterpreted the title Wonderdog and extrapolated a book all about the wonders dogs are capable of and how this has changed science over time. Instead, Wonderdog highlights the evolution of the science surrounding the canine species which was far less interesting to this reader.

Wonderdog by Jules Howard will appeal to readers with a deep interest in dogs and science, but I think I might have been better off listening to something else. How My Dog Saved My Life - Thirty Tales of Courage and Compassion by Cate Cochran sounds interesting.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: By Her Hand by Marion Taffe

Set in Mercia in 910AD, young Freda is inspired by stories, loves to forage in the woods and dreams of being able to write. Living with her sister and overbearing father, Freda's life is upended when her village is attacked by Danish raiders. Injured and lucky to survive, Freda is placed in the women's abbey Saint Ositha's by the newly appointed bishop. Bishop Ælle promises to teach Freda to write while capitalising on her miraculous survival in a bid to attract pilgrims to the abbey.

As she settles into her new life at the abbey, Freda struggles with her faith, continues to mourn her sister and is consumed by rage at the Vikings. Later in the book Freda's rage is stoked anew:

"I thought of Saint Paul urging us not to allow the sun to set on our anger. I smiled. This sun was not setting. This sun was rising on my anger, illuminating my rage in gold." Page 264-265

Freda is a feisty character and Marion Taffe expertly brings this period in English history alive, skillfully helping the reader make sense of the complicated politics of 10th century Wessex. A coming of age story, Freda must find her place in the abbey and eventually develops a connection with Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians. Freda is inspired by Æthelflæd's courage and steadfast leadership and their shared bond over grief.

"Death's twin sister is Grief. She waits at the door while Death takes the soul, then Grief enters the living. The first time you meet, she ties a chain around your heart and fastens it with hooks, and the hooks dig deeper with the effort of each beat. Grief is with you always. She is the long cold night. The eternal uhtcearu." Page 205*

*Uhtcearu (oot-key-are-oo) is an Anglo-Saxon word that translates to mean pre-dawn anxiety or nighttime sorrow.

I adored Taffe's writing in By Her Hand and I agree with the publisher that it will appeal to fans of Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks and The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader. I also think it'll appeal to readers who enjoyed The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks, Rapture by Emily Maguire and Book of Colours by Robyn Cadwallader.

I was fortunate to purchase a signed edition of By Her Hand at Readings during a visit with a friend and the irony that it's signed by the hand of the author isn't lost on me. And can we take a moment to admire the stunning cover design? This has to be one of my favourite covers for 2025 and having recently enjoyed Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton, I took great pleasure seeing the hare on the cover and the meaning it has for the protagonist.

The importance of stories is a key thread in this historical fiction novel, and in a meta fashion, the author acknowledges the power of story in a conversation between Bishop Ælle and Freda:

"Have I not taught you that stories are spears in the right hands? Even a lie can be shaped, tamed, turned into an elegy to make a man yield. A poem can forge a kingdom. A riddle can crush a mind." Page 290

I always read the Acknowledgements section of a book but can't remember the last time I commented on one in a review but I have three observations worth noting from this one. I really enjoyed learning that the author tried to build Saint Ositha's in Minecraft with her children and I'd love to see it. Secondly, it was cool to hear the author made hearth cakes - frequently referenced in the book - with her children for research during lockdown. I'm imagining they would taste like damper but I'd love to try them. Thirdly, and I rarely see this, but Marion Taffe thanks the authors who provided generous and thoughtful endorsements for this book. It may seem obvious but often this is never publicly 'acknowledged' by authors in this way and her gratitude impressed me.

Australian author Marion Taffe has burst onto the scene with this debut and I thoroughly recommend By Her Hand to fans of historical fiction set during the early medieval period, even if this is your first time venturing that far back in history. You're definitely in safe hands but if you're not sure, you can read the first 39 pages in a free sample from the publisher.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: 488 Rules for Life by Kitty Flanagan

Kitty Flanagan is an Australian comedian and I've enjoyed watching her in the ABC comedy drama Fisk where she plays the lead role of a lawyer at a small suburban law firm.

In her book 488 Rules for Life - The Thankless Art of Being Correct, the author lists rules for life, that if followed, would make all of our lives easier. You'll nod in agreement as you read some of these relatable rules - don't answer your phone in the toilet - and you'll cringe in recognition as you recall those who regularly break these rules in your own circle.

I listened to this audiobook in the car over the course of 2 months, listening for 15 minutes at a time and it was a great short form of entertainment for a long road trip. Coming in at under 6 hours in duration, it's best enjoyed in shorter grabs so that the novelty doesn't wear off.

The genesis of the book was a segment on The Weekly, a TV show on the ABC and the author has grouped the rules into themes / chapters such as:

• Around the home
• At the office
• Food
• Relationships & Dating
• At the Movies

As I'm typing this, I'm hearing the author's distinct voice in my head along with her no-nonsense attitude and I could easily relate to - and agree with - most of her rules. Here's one chosen at random:

"Rule 76: 'Feed' is not a noun and should never be used as such, as in: "hey do you want to go for a feed?" No, no I don't." Chapter 4: Language

Published in 2019, I'm a little late to the party, but 488 Rules for Life - The Thankless Art of Being Correct by Kitty Flanagan is an amusing and lightly entertaining look at social etiquette and life's little irritations.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson

* Copy courtesy of Penguin Random House *

The Ernest Cunningham series of books is my favourite Australian mystery series and Ern is back for the fourth time in Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson. This time, Ern and Juliette are in a bank when it's held up by a gun wielding robber and they become hostages in a situation where there are ten suspects and ten heists.

Yep, you read that right! The suspects are listed in the blurb so it's not a spoiler to disclose them here as Ern considers the motives of: the bank robber, the manager, the security guard, the kid, the film producer, the priest, the receptionist, the patient, the carer and Ern himself. Each person is guilty of stealing something (including Ern and Juliette!) and Stevenson cleverly discloses the stolen items on page 4 immediately building atmosphere and suspense.

How's this for an opening line:

"Given I'm dying, and have just the one pen, let's motor through the pleasantries." Page 1

Ern is a reliable narrator and the reader knows up front his survival isn't guaranteed but he's determined to get to the truth no matter what. Ern is an amateur detective inspired by the Golden Age of detective novels and fair play mysteries where the clues are front and centre for the reader. He solves impossible crimes and was in the bank to apply for a business loan to start a detective agency.

"Solving murders is just a series of people lying to you in succession: the detective part is figuring out which lies are worth killing for. It's an endless pinball of deceit." Page 193

The thefts were creative and despite being the fourth installation in the series, the mystery felt far from formulaic. Stevenson's signature humour bursts from the page and the dialogue crackles along as Ern asks questions to identify the motives for each of the ten suspects while making questionable decisions himself along the way.

"Everyone steals, whether it's product or effort, money or time. There's more you can steal from a man than just his wallet. Air, for example." Page 310

The author is a comedian and earlier this year I attended the Melbourne Comedy Festival to see The Stevenson Experience, a comedy act he performs with his twin brother James. The show includes a little audience participation and during the performance James asked if anyone knew his brother was a published author. I clapped and cheered a little too enthusiastically and the brothers asked me a few questions. I answered that my name was Tracey and mentioned that I've reviewed Ben's books on my blog, to which Ben said: "You're not Carpe Librum are you?"

It was such a mind-blowing moment that the author knew who I was but he was quick to clarify that he doesn't read reviews of his own books but has read my reviews of other books by Australian authors. This was such a memorable experience and it's a shame he'll never see my glowing reviews for this bestselling and beloved series but I admire the self discipline required. Perhaps that's how he's able to keep producing such excellent work; he's never bogged down by negative reviews and his ego is kept in check by not reading the positive reviews either.

Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson is a terrific bank heist mystery and you don't even need to make a deposit to read a FREE extract. Each of the Ernest Cunningham books have been published a year apart and I can't wait to see where the author takes the series next; hopefully we'll find out in October 2026! 

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone (Book 1) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Everyone on This Train is a Suspect (Book 2) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Everyone This Christmas as a Secret (Book 3) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James

Rebecca James is an Australian author and in 2011 and 2013 I enjoyed Beautiful Malice and Sweet Damage respectively. They were both YA novels set in Australia and in this offering she takes us across the seas to England.

Published in 2018, The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James is an historical fiction novel with dual timelines centred around the ominous property of Winterbourne Hall.

In 1947, Alice takes on the role of governess to twins living at Winterbourne Hall, a property situated on the cliffs of Cornwall overlooking the sea.

In present day New York, adopted art gallery curator Rachel knows nothing about her birth parents and is shocked when she learns she's the heir of Winterbourne Hall after the death of her Aunt Constance.

I love books where a building is its own character and we definitely have this in spades here. Winterbourne sits high on the clifftops and dominates the skyline of small town Polcreath, with a dark wood on the other side. One of the characters is filled with wonder when they see Winterbourne for the first time.

"It's hard to imagine a more dramatic facade. The place instantly brings to mind an imposing religious house - a Parisian cathedral, perhaps, decorated with gaping arches and delicate spires. Turrets thrust skyward, and to the east the blunt teeth of a battlement crown remind me of a game of chess. Plunging gargoyles are laced around its many necks, long and thin, jutting, as if leaping from the building's skin. Lancet windows, too many to count, adorn the exterior, and set on the western front is what appears to be a chapel." Page 15

I think it'd be awesome to see this gothic tale adapted for the big screen, even if it's just to see Winterbourne Hall. If you've been following my reviews for a while, you'll know I also love a book with twins and in this case the twins are manipulative and up to no good; perfect for a struggling governess with secrets of her own.

The romantic elements in both timelines were necessary and well-balanced, but it's fair to say they were the parts I connected with the least. Every time we were in a romance thread I found myself wishing we were back with the haunted mirror, the creepy oil painting and the duplicitous twins.

Elements of Alice's fascination with the late mistress of Winterbourne reminded me a lot of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and I wonder if Rebecca is one of the author's favourite books.

The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James is a dark gothic mystery about secrets, inheritance, haunting and a curse and is perfect to read at this time of year.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

Chloe Dalton was a political advisor living in the English countryside when she came across a baby hare (leveret) on a country lane near her home. Leaving it for a few hours in the hope it would be found by its mother, Dalton later returned to the location to find the leveret still sitting there. Deciding to take it home, Dalton discovers very little information on how to look after a leveret and embarks on a crash course of trial and error.

Raising Hare - A Memoir documents Chloe Dalton's life changing experience finding and raising the leveret and I was totally there for it. I'm not really an animal person but I loved listening to the antics of the leveret as it slowly developed into an adult hare. From the outset the author strived not to stroke or cuddle the leveret, believing it should remain wild and one day be released into its natural habitat. The author's detailed observations and interactions with the leveret were endearing and greatly entertaining and I enjoyed following her experiences.

During this period, Dalton takes an interest in learning about the history of hares, and takes the reader along for the ride. I knew the hare was symbolic in certain cultures, but this was a timely reminder:

"The mythology and lore around hares was puzzling to me since it appeared to divide into extremes, with the hare a signifier of virtue, renewal and self sacrifice on the one hand, and a witch's familiar and harbinger of death, revenge or misfortune on the other. How, I wondered, could the same creature be both sacred and profane, chaste and promiscuous, lucky and unlucky, an emblem of self sacrifice but also a witch in animal form, the embodiment of madness and foolishness but also wisdom." Chapter 5 May Days: Witch-Hare

Hares are mythical creatures and in medieval times it was believed hares were shapeshifters. Hares have been seen as sacred animals connected to the supernatural world and were once linked to the underworld in Ancient Egypt.

I admired the lengths the author went to in order to accomodate the leveret but I'll admit I found myself wishing I had a leveret to keep me company in my study. 

Ultimately I'll remember this book for the nature writing and sheer wonder of raising a wild animal in a domestic setting. I listened to the audiobook perfectly narrated by Louise Brealey, who sounds - to me at least - like the character of Anna Bates in Downton Abbey, making this a sheer delight to listen to.

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton was a real unexpected joy and I'll be recommending it to my sister!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Dinner At The Night Library by Hika Harada

* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster *

A bestseller in Japan, Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Harada is translated by Philip Gabriel (translator of The Travelling Cat Chronicles) and is my first foray into the seemingly exploding genre of Japanese comfort novels. The genre contains character-driven, cozy, feel-good stories set in everyday locations like bookstores or cafes and focusses on themes of relationships and loneliness. Usually featuring an illustrated cover and written to be uplifting in its examination of human connection in everyday life, I believe this was a fair representation of the genre.

The Night Library of the title is located outside Tokyo and contains collections of books both owned and written by famous authors now deceased.

"An old library . . . a library devoted just to writers' collections . . . definitely a most odd, unconventional sort of place." Page 112

Our protagonist Otaha loves working with books and when she receives a message inviting her to apply for a job at the Night Library she can't believe her luck.

Open only at night, staff working at the library share her love of literature although nobody has ever met the owner. A series of workplace projects begin to take shape as collections are entrusted to the care of the library and books mysteriously appear on the shelves without being catalogued.

Before being employed by the Night Library, one of the characters worked in a used book store where books were judged on how new, clean and popular they were. I was shocked to read one of the practices employed in the used book trade:

"With old books, we'd just clean them up, using sandpaper to clean off what was called in the trade the upper part, the outside of the pages, which get faded and dirty, and then sell them." Page 183

What? Surely this isn't a 'thing' but I put the book down to do a quick search and swiftly stumbled onto a bunch of videos showing book lovers how to remove foxing and yellowed page edges with a fine grit piece of sandpaper. I'm still deciding how I feel about this, would you ever do it?

Back to the book, and the library employs a dedicated cook to prepare dishes from the books held in the collection and I was certainly hungry while reading this cozy mystery. Otaha gets to know her coworkers and we learn some of their backstories as she tries to work out who the mysterious owner is.

Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Harada is a gentle cozy mystery with plenty of Japanese culture and a tonne of Japanese books and authors mentioned. Not having read widely of Japanese fiction, I couldn't enjoy the references or bookish chat between the characters but I'm sure many other readers will.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury *

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan is a family saga set in small town Bonhomie, Ohio about the lives of Cal Jenkins and his eventual wife Becky and Margaret Salt and her eventual husband Felix. Cal is born in 1920 with one leg shorter than the other making him ineligible to serve in World War II, while Felix serves in the Navy on a cargo ship. Becky realises her gift of mediumship during the war and Margaret is still troubled by her upbringing as a foundling in an orphanage.

A novel that examines these four lives and the families they create in detail wouldn't be my usual reading choice but there was something about the blurb and early praise from the likes of Tom Hanks ("I've been yearning for a novel that connects the American generations who dealt with our two Wars - one of Omaha Beach, the other of the la Drang Valley. Buckeye is that book, and it soars") that drew me in and I'm so glad it did.

The author made me care deeply about each of the characters as they went about their lives, bearing witness to their flaws and insecurities, following their struggles and yearning for their inner peace and happiness.

There were plenty of daily references to suburban life in this era and I especially loved the mention of a mailbox bookclub where four older men enjoyed reading and discussing westerns.

"They agreed ahead of time on what book they would read - often a reread - and when there was only the one copy available, they worked out a system wherein each of them would get three days with it, then tape a nickel inside the book's cover and leave it in their mailbox. Skip would then collect the nickel and carry the book on his bicycle over to the next house, where he would leave it in the mailbox and put the flag up." Page 286

Brilliant! My favourite character arc was that of Cal's alcoholic father who suffered from PTSD related to his service in WWI. A hoarder living on his own, he had a turbulent relationship with his son which came into focus after a near tragedy.

Ryan includes many touching and amusing moments to offset the struggles of our characters, like Becky asking her father-in-law his thoughts on the book Death on the Nile. He said he hadn't especially enjoyed it:

"But that Poy-Rot is in the right business." Page 336

The book spans a period of 60 years and Ryan takes us right through to events in the Vietnam War and in doing so shines a light on the complex effects war has on each generation of characters. Also under the author's microscope is the marriage between Cal and Becky and Margaret and Felix.

At the end of Buckeye, there didn't appear to be a logical conclusion reached with any of the four main characters, rather it felt as though 'this is where the reader will leave the characters.'

"What is it about time that confounds us? We spend it. We save it. We while it away. We waste it. We kill it. We complain about not having enough of it, or about having too much of it on our hands. We regret what we've done with it. We give it away. We want it back. We say 'time and again' when something is bothering us and 'it's time' when something is supposed to end. ...all we should ever want of time is more of it." Page 430

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan is a moving historical family saga set in the American midwest about ambition, love, longing, marriage, parenthood, service, sacrifice, loss, grief, forgiveness, guilt and survival.

Highly recommended!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Sleep Hacks by Keith Barry

The latest audiobook in my never ending exploration of the topic of sleep is Sleep Hacks - Discover the Life-Changing Tranquility of Deep Sleep by Keith Barry. Interestingly, the author provides 21 hacks in 3 sections, advising the reader to choose 1 hack from each section in order to achieve a rejuvenating night's sleep. If for some reason you don't see any improvement in your sleep patterns, switch out one of the hacks for something else.

It seems simple enough but Barry is firm early on that this system won't help readers who aren't determined to apply the learnings and stick to the program. If you don't have the discipline, Barry essentially encourages the reader to come back another time which I respected. He's essentially advocating the success of his program based on the dedication and discipline from those who choose to apply it as intended.

My sleep has improved greatly over the years and I decided to read for interest without strictly implementing his program.

In Chapter 3 Feed Your Brain: Eat Well to Sleep Well, the author provides an interesting list of foods that have been scientifically proven to potentially aid sleep. These include: cherries, walnuts, almonds, pecans, oats, bananas, kiwi fruit, spinach, live yoghurt, turkey, salmon or other oily fish, passionfruit, dragon fruit, pumpkin seeds, cheese, prunes, whole grains and watermelon. The author then asks the reader to choose two food items to eat each day from this list. For those struggling with sleep, it couldn't hurt to try some of these foods, but I doubt they'll cure your insomnia if you don't make any of the other changes suggested in his program.

I believe it was Jade Wu who solidified the phenomenon of sleep arousal in my mind when I read Hello Sleep and I've never forgotten it. Coincidentally, my favourite part of Sleep Hacks wasn't a new concept or breakthrough, but a simple list of the types of thoughts that keep people awake (sleep arousal) as they attempt to sleep. This is from Chapter 7 Mind Wipe.

Did I lock the back door?
What if my alarm doesn't go off tomorrow?
I'm not ready for the big meeting on Friday
Why did I arrange to meet someone after work when I'd rather go home to my kids?
I think that person took what I said the wrong way
I keep buying clothes I don't need and my credit card bill is terrifying
What will I cook for dinner tomorrow?
Will my mother remember she has the kids after school?
Can I skip the gym tomorrow?
How can I quit my job?
Why is the pain in my shoulder getting worse?
The house is a tip and I don't have the energy to sort it out
I am so annoyed my boss called for a meeting at 4.30PM
Can polystyrene go in the recycling bin? I'd better check
How am I going to be able to afford a holiday this year?
I forgot to text my sister back, she's going to be annoyed

I loved these examples of self talk that go on in the minds of people in general, not just when it's time to sleep. My internal chatter sounds a lot like this, and the native Irish accent by narrator Brendan Dempsey was absolutely perfect for this section.

Sleep Hacks by Keith Barry was an enjoyable read on the topic of sleep and I have faith his program will work for those dedicated enough to apply and stick with it.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans is an epistolary novel, told entirely in letters to and from our main character, 73 year old Sybil Van Antwerp who has been writing and sending letters out into the world since she was nine years old. Sybil writes to her brother, best friend, daughter, neighbour and many more recipients besides, and some of these letters - and their charming replies - are included in the book.

Sybil writes and sends letters to guard against the impermanency of email and text messages and her writing is witty and full of humour. Her correspondence includes many references to the books she and others are reading which I found interesting. I also enjoyed the clever reference to 84 Charing Cross Road in one of the letters from Sybil's daughter who sees the book by Helene Hanff and thinks of her mother.

Sybil believes letters are the original form of civility in the world, the preservation of which has to be of some value we cannot yet see.

"Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle, or, a better metaphor, if dated, the links of a long chain, and even if those links are never put back together, which they will certainly never be, even if they remain for the rest of time dispersed across the earth like the fragile blown seeds of a dying dandelion, isn't there something wonderful in that, to think that a story of one's life is preserved in some way, that this very letter may one day mean something, even if it is a very small thing, to someone?" Page 44

The concept of finding an old letter like this reminds me of the letter from 7 year old James VI of Scotland in the 1570s thanking his foster mother for sending him some fruit. If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to check it out. We just never know how long our letters will remain on this earth do we? I hope that if anyone has any letters or cards from me they no longer want to keep they'll offer to return them before sending them to landfill. It'd be quite the trip down memory lane, that's for sure.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Sybil and her circle of family and friends and how her life at 73 undergoes subtle yet significant changes throughout the book as her years progress.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans is a moving, uplifting and entertaining read and I can highly recommend it.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: Beyond Suburbia by Warren Kirk

* Copy courtesy of Scribe Publications *

Victorian photographer Warren Kirk is back with a brand new collection Beyond Suburbia. Having enjoyed Northside, Christmas in Suburbia and Westography, I was keen to discover the vistas Kirk would discover beyond the suburbs of Melbourne. Having grown up in Gippsland, I know there are plenty of old shop fronts and ghost signs to be found in every small town in Victoria and it appears Kirk has found some real gems in his travels.

The Introduction is written by Australian author Don Watson - who was born in Warragul and grew up on a farm in Korumburra - so it was nice to see a photograph of a gold hand-painted sign for the Sentinel-Times Publishing Co from Watson's home town of Korumburra in this collection.

Like Christos Tsiolkas and Helen Garner before him, Don Watson set the scene perfectly although I still would have preferred to hear from the author himself. Having enjoyed several of his collections now, I'm eager to hear what inspires Warren Kirk, how he conducts his work and how he introduces himself to his subjects, somehow managing to put them at ease in their environments while staring down the lens of what must be an impressive camera.

Whether the subject of the portrait stands in front of their home or behind the counter of their shop, the photograph invites you to see them in their domain, complete with knick-knacks, shop inventory and more besides. I found myself wondering if the photographer asked them to stand in front or behind their front gate, whether they wanted to change their clothes or fix their hair but were encouraged to stay precisely as they were to allow their genuine selves to be captured for posterity without artifice or embellishment.

In this collection I noticed an increased focus on signage and ghost signs which put me in mind of Melbourne Ghost Signs by Sean Reynolds, also published by Scribe. I wonder if these two photographers have ever met.

Kirk likes to photograph the interiors and exteriors of houses, shop fronts, motels (like the one on the cover), service stations, hairdressers, automotive shops and more. If the paint is faded or peeling, if the ironwork is rusty, if the hand painted signage is reminiscent of days gone by or the architecture is a throwback to the 1930s - 1960s it's guaranteed to capture his photographic eye.

Many of these structures - and sometimes the people in them - bring to mind those that populated my formative years and conjure memories of another era. A cafe with a timber interior and picture frames covered in seashells taken in Sale gave me a jolt of recognition, having visited there often in my youth. Some rural and regional towns were familiar from various road trips and a consequence of living in Melbourne for the past 25 years, while most could have been taken anywhere in Australia.

Warren Kirk's body of work seems to be unified by a theme of time and the passage of it, with each photograph transporting the viewer 50+ years back in time. Beyond Suburbia is recommended for anyone who enjoys photography or has an interest in Australia's social history. I wonder where his camera will take him next. 

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert

* Copy courtesy of Bloomsbury *

All The Way to the River - Love, Loss and Liberation by Elizabeth Gilbert is possibly the best memoir I've ever read. Bursting with brutal honesty shared in a manner I can't recall ever experiencing before, this is one to remember.

To sum it up as a memoir about relationships, love and addiction would be the understatement of the year. I don't tend to seek out memoirs on relationships or addiction and I don't enjoy reading fiction about addiction let alone non-fiction about the topic. Having said that, my love of Elizabeth Gilbert's writing led me to pick up her memoir and after reading it I was forced to reconsider my reading tastes in this regard.

The author tells us that Rayya was her hairdresser for several years before she went on to become a social acquaintance, then a friend, then a neighbour, then her best friend, lover, partner and finally her 'person'. Gilbert's description of Rayya is detailed, affectionate and admiring while remaining resolutely honest, particularly towards the heartbreaking and ugly changes towards the end of Rayya's life.

Similarly, Gilbert lays her own soul bare to the reader, declaring early on that she is a sex and love addict. She doesn't stop there though and elaborates further by stating:

"I'm also a romantic obsessive, a fantasy and adrenaline addict, a world-class enabler and a blackout codependent." Page 33

Wow, it's quite the mouthful and I was fascinated to learn how all of this has manifested in Gilbert's life and how she came to know and recognise this about herself. Gilbert shares all of this and more, including how she found the courage to admit her shortcomings and begin to make a conscious effort to be a better person for herself and others.

I really enjoyed learning about Rayya and admired her confidence and direct nature. If there was tension between Rayya and another person, she'd say to them:

"Let's just lay it on the table, man. The sooner we see this mess, the sooner we can start cleaning it up. And don't spare my feelings, dude - just say it! I'd rather have it come out all wrong than stay in all wrong. Cuz if it stays in, it's gonna be all wrong." Page 81-82

What a terrific attitude! I love the perspective that the sooner we see the mess, the sooner we can clean it up. I can see how Gilbert's codependent nature led her to cling to a person who made her feel like everything was going to be okay. Rayya was loved by all for her ability to cut through the pleasantries and make a real difference in people's lives:

"That's enough of the story, babe. We know the story already, we get it. But we don't live in our stories anymore, okay? If you're living in the story, you're still living in the problem. That's the old way, and it's getting you nowhere. We live in solutions, dude, or else we die. So let's start planning some solutions here. Because the way you're living is about to take you under." Page 84

Rayya was in recovery from a drug addiction when they met and Gilbert warns us that addicts can be some of the best and worst people out there; gloriously generous and devastatingly untrustworthy. Surprisingly, Gilbert advises that if you can save yourself from an addict you should cut them off and run. Shockingly, she points out that whether or not an addict dies from their addiction has nothing to do with the amount of love and support given to them by loved ones. This means your love can't save them.

Rayya once confided:

"The only thing that might have made me get clean sooner would have been if every person in my life had cut me off sooner. Because as long as I still had anyone left out there who I could bullshit and use, or borrow money from, or crash with, or who would listen to my sob story, there was no reason for me to quit." Page 246

It wasn't until Rayya had burned every single bridge in her life that she realised she had to decide whether she wanted to live or die. Imagine the guilt that could be assuaged for people with an addict in their family who struggle with the choice to cut their loved one loose or continue to support them. This is just one of the many insights in All the Way to the River that can literally change lives.

One minor gripe would be the overuse of italics to emphasize a word and you can see this in some of the quotes I've shared. Fortunately those listening to the author narrate the audiobook will be spared this frequent distraction.

That aside, there were so many times I had to sit with an idea or concept, like this one:

"In fact, drama and boredom are both symptoms of high anxiety, signalling a deep inability to simply be. When serenity is either un-available or unattainable, only drama and boredom will ever be on the menu." Page 334

All The Way to the River is a celebration of love, an exploration of death and grief with plenty of lighter moments and even a little humour. Far from a misery memoir, the author undertakes the most unflinching look deep within herself to discover why she does what she does and I found it incredibly illuminating. In All The Way to the River, the author delves past her feelings in order to understand her actions and behaviour on a deep level which ultimately made this memoir unforgettable. Having reached that understanding, Gilbert then embarks on the painfully slow process of rebuilding her life after it had been shattered; thus giving hope to all who read her words.

Highly recommended and life changing!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

P.S. Check out my 5 star reviews of The Signature of All Things and City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Review: A Magic Deep and Drowning by Hester Fox

* Copy courtesy of HQ Fiction *

A Magic Deep & Drowning by Hester Fox is a reimagining of The Little Mermaid set in the Dutch Republic in 1650. Sounds amazing and I certainly enjoyed the first section set in what is now the Netherlands. Clara and her maid take a ride in a carriage to see a whale that has washed up on a nearby beach. The daughter of wealthy parents, Clara wonders if the whale is a bad omen but is excited at the news of a betrothal as it means she can finally leave home and establish a household of her own.

On first sight, Clara believes the soon-to-be love interest Maurits could have easily stepped out of the pages of her nursemaid's fairy stories so we know that he's fae. Both characters quickly become besotted with each other and I was rolling my eyes early on with the descriptions of his tidal-pool eyes and the waves of heat that pass between them.

I reviewed The Widow of Pale Harbour by Hester Fox in 2023 and I'm assuming this is the reason the publisher sent me a copy of the author's latest release, A Magic Deep & Drowning. I commented in my 3 star review of The Widow of Pale Harbour that there was too much romance for my liking but here there's even more. In fact, I'd go so far as to call A Magic Deep and Drowning a romantasy or young adult coming of age paranormal romance. It sounds like a mouthful, but this historical romance will appeal to readers familiar with the genre.

This reimagining of The Little Mermaid involves a gender switch and Maurits hails from the Water Kingdom where his people are in turmoil, disgusted by the way humans have overfished the sea to the point of scarcity.

Clara was an adventurous and courageous protagonist keen to accept accountability for the destruction:

"For the first time in her life, she had made a decision herself, one that did not sit precariously on the axis of her own comfort and duty." Page 249

Wanting to atone for the sins of human kind is obviously admirable, but I have no idea why she had to do it while being hungry all the time. Even when there was food to eat, Clara chose to hardly eat any of it which proved annoying.

I kept reading in hopes of returning and dwelling in the bustling streets and canals of 1600s Amsterdam when in hindsight I probably should have set this aside. The overarching message about being better custodians of the land and the sea will appeal to many readers, but A Magic Deep and Drowning by Hester Fox is confirmation that romantasy isn't for me.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Shades of Yellow Winners Announced

Thanks to everyone who entered my recent international giveaway for 3 signed copies of Shades of Yellow by Australian author Wendy J. Dunn.

All entrants correctly identified that Lucy writes about the mysterious and historical death of Amy Robsart. Two entrants (Maddy and Karinap13) gave me their postal addresses instead of their email addresses making them ineligible for the giveaway as I'm unable to contact them. Sorry about that!

We received 97 entries in total and Wendy helped me to choose the first of the three winners. The remaining winners were drawn today, and congratulations go to... (drum roll):

Suzanne, Jeena Murphy* & Anna maree-m

Congratulations! You've each won a signed copy of Shades of Yellow by Wendy J. Dunn valued at $35.99 along with an accompanying bookmark hand painted and signed by the author. You'll receive an email from me shortly to organise your inscription and postage details, so congrats! *Jeena, your email has bounced back undeliverable, can you please contact me in the next 5 days to claim your prize or I'll need to choose another winner.

Review: Life, and Death, and Giants by Ron Rindo

* Copy courtesy of Pan Macmillan *

Life, and Death, and Giants by Ron Rindo is simply sublime and it's a definite contender for My Top 5 Books of 2025.

A young woman shunned by her Amish community in the small rural town of Lakota Wisconsin refuses medical help and manages to give birth to a baby weighing 18 pounds thanks to the help of the local vet.

We watch this strange boy Gabriel Fisher grow up through the eyes of various characters including Thomas the vet who delivered him, his Amish grandmother Hannah and several others on the periphery of his life.

Astonishingly, Gabriel Fisher walks at the age of eight months and it's clear he's been a gifted young boy since birth.

"He's good at a lot of things. Animals love him, and he cares for them with uncommon understanding. At the rate he's growing, he's going to be bigger than two normal men and stronger than any three. God has given him many gifts. How can we be sure of His intentions so soon, when the boy is only ten years old?" Page 96

Each of these characters witnessing or participating in Gabriel's childhood and coming of age has their own interesting back story. I also loved the myriad practical ways they helped accommodate Gabriel's increasing size.

The Amish way of life in the novel reminded me of the shunning of Kai Proctor and later his niece Rebecca in the TV show Banshee which I highly recommend. A gentle people, they want Gabriel to continue living on their farm and participating in their community but his size soon attracts unwanted attention and Gabriel's life as he knows it is challenged by those who want to see him succeed in a different way.

Gabriel's gentle nature and amazing gift with animals reminded me of John Coffey in The Green Mile by Stephen King (highly recommend the book and the movie), not only due to his size but the fact that he was special and had a unique gift.

The writing in this was magnificent and I was deeply moved by the ending, especially when I understood the significance of the feathers on the cover. I don't want to mention much more than this as it's a story best entered into without any prior knowledge but I came to care very much for Gabriel and I was touched by the back stories and character growth within the novel.

Life, and Death, and Giants by Ron Rindo is entirely unforgettable and highly recommended!

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

WIN 1 of 3 signed copies of Shades of Yellow by Wendy J. Dunn

* Giveaway courtesy of the author *

Intro

Wendy J. Dunn is an award-winning Australian author with a passion for bringing forgotten women of history to life and her new release Shades of Yellow will be published on 7 September. 

To celebrate the launch I'm hosting an international giveaway to give readers the chance to win 1 of 3 signed copies of Shades of Yellow valued at $35.99. Each winner will also receive an accompanying bookmark hand painted and signed by the author. Entries close midnight AEST Sunday 7 September 2025, enter below and good luck!

Blurb

During her battle with illness, Lucy Ellis found solace in writing a novel about the mysterious death of Amy Robsart, the first wife of Robert Dudley, the man who came close to marrying Elizabeth I. As Lucy delves into Amy’s story, she also navigates the aftermath of her own experience that brought her close to death and the collapse of her marriage.

After taking leave from her teaching job to complete her novel, Lucy falls ill again. Fearing she will die before she finishes her book, she flees to England to solve the mystery of Amy Robsart’s death.

Can she find the strength to confront her past, forgive the man who broke her heart, and take control of her own destiny?

Who better to write about a betrayed woman than a woman betrayed?

Giveaway

This giveaway has now closed.

Review: Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

Everything is Tuberculosis - The History and Persistence of our Deadliest Infection by John Green is an in depth examination of tuberculosis (TB), it's causes, history, treatments and cures and why it is that so many people continue to die of the disease each and every year.

TB is an infection caused by bacteria and it's airborne, meaning anyone can catch it. According to the author, between 1/4 and 1/3 of all living humans have been infected with it but only a small percentage of those (up to 10%) will end up becoming sick with active TB. Malnutrition and a weakened immune system can trigger a dormant case of TB to become active, making it largely a disease of poverty.

The author of The Fault in Our Stars began to take a serious interest in the topic when he met a young boy with TB in Sierra Leone. Referring to Henry's case throughout the book enables him to put a face on the disease and Green sets the scene early on when he informs the reader just how many people have died from TB in the last 200 years.

"Just in the last two centuries, tuberculosis caused over a billion human deaths. One estimate, from Frank Ryan's Tuberculosis the Greatest Story Never Told, maintains that TB has killed around 1 in 7 people who've ever lived." Introduction

I remember learning this fact at some point in the last few years and it's precisely the reason I decided to read this book. Also known as consumption, and sometimes referred to as the white plague, tuberculosis is the oldest contagious disease and I wanted to know more about it.

The audiobook is narrated by the author himself and I was most interested in the history of TB and in particular the romanticisation of consumption in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. At that time, it was believed TB was only acquired by people with great sensitivity and intelligence. If that wasn't bad enough, women with consumption were thought to become more beautiful, ethereal and wondrously pure. Ugh!

TB is a wasting disease and death was commonly a long and drawn out process during which sufferers became weakened and bed-bound. It's hard to believe now - until you recall the popularity of waif models and the heroin chic style from the 1990s - but this began to affect beauty standards of the time. Patients with active TB became thin and pale with wide sunken eyes and a rosy tint on their cheeks from fever and this beauty ideal became desirable and highly valued. (You can see this reflected in the art and literature of the time).

Green moves on to the science of TB and describes the various breakthroughs in medicine that led to TB eventually becoming treatable and then curable. In 2023, a million people died of TB and while Green acknowledges we can't eliminate TB completely, we can make sure nobody dies from it. So why haven't we?

The author explains that the drugs to treat TB aren't being produced and made available in the countries that need them most. Essentially, the drugs are where the disease is not and the disease is where the drugs are not.

A whole host of factors, including big pharma companies keep drug prices high; only a finite amount of aid sent to foreign countries is allocated to medicine and lack of access to basic medical facilities in poorer countries means that TB goes on to kill a million people unnecessarily each year. Learning TB is basically an expression of injustice and inequity was grim and depressing.

At the end of all this, there was no call to action, no website to donate to or petition to sign which was a lost opportunity in my opinion. Green is clearly calling for global healthcare reform, but provides little for the average reader to do with their frustration at the current situation.

For novels with consumptive characters, I can recommend:
- The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson by Belinda Lyons-Lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Bone China by Laura Purcell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Laetitia Rodd and the Case of the Wandering Scholar by Kate Saunders ⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review: The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown

* Copy courtesy of Penguin Random House *

The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown is one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2025. The Book of Doors was a reading highlight last year and it made My Top 5 Books of 2024, so naturally I've been eagerly awaiting the author's next endeavour.

The Society of Unknowable Objects is set in present day London and is primarily told by Magda Sparks, with other character points of view shared throughout the novel. Magda has been attending six monthly meetings of the Society hosted by Frank in the basement of his bookshop for several years now.

"For eighty years the Society of Unknowable Objects had existed with a sole purpose: to collect and protect and keep secret the magical items of the world. For forty years no new item had come to light and the world of magical things had been quiet, the Society's collection undisturbed in the hidden recess behind the bookcase." Page 14*

After years of uneventful meetings, news of the emergence of a new magical item comes as a shock. Magda volunteers to meet with the owner and secure the item for the Society, swiftly learning she's not the only person seeking possession of the item.

I thoroughly enjoyed the sheer creativity and imagination with regard to the unknowable objects housed in the Society's collection. The magic is contained in everyday items, like a necklace or a chess piece and their various powers were interesting.

The writing is compelling and each chapter ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, enticing the reader to continue long after lights out. There's plenty of adventure, action and of course magic, but the romance really bogged down the story for me.

There were moments of dialogue that made me chuckle like this comment from one society member to another:

"I love you, but you're absolutely the model of a modern major pessimist." Page 198*

The characters engaged in clever use of the magical items while constantly acknowledging the danger of the items falling into the wrong hands, which of course some of them do. The origin story of the objects was believable, although the source of the origin story remained a mystery; to me at least.

I noted the slight nod to the science fiction classic Frankenstein - in the desire by the monster for a mate - but I'm relieved to say I enjoyed this book a hell of a lot more.

In fact, The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown would have been a five star read if it wasn't for the heavy romance element and a little too much greenery in the denouement. Gareth Brown is now an 'auto read' author for me and I can't wait to find out where he plans to take his growing fan base in the future.

* I read an uncorrected proof copy, so the page numbers I've quoted may not accurately correspond with the published version.

My Rating:

★ ★ ★ ★ ★