Tag: fiction

A review of Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

As a whole, I really enjoyed the story and setting of the text, as well as the themes being expressed, which highlight particular areas/issues in relation to modern society. On average, I don’t normally read this type of genre, GWST has altered my perspective on several things and encouraged me to seek out more sci-fi, dystopian, psychological thrillers.

A review of The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun

The Disaster Tourist, the first novel of the South Korean author Yun Ko-Eun to be translated into English, is a sharp, intricate, and too realistic story on how capitalism’s ravenousness can turn almost every person into a disposable mannequin and almost every land into waste disposal.

A review of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is an incredible novel and my expectations were lived up to, indeed. Although considered an ‘adult’ read the text can be suitable for young adults, dependant on the readers taste and other sensitivities to certain themes. Gail Honeyman creates such marvellous characters who once only a few pages into the book, I felt like I’d known them for years.

A review of 125 Rus by Ana Efimenko

If you’re a Dostoevskian existentialist, an armchair philosopher, or just interested in international indie writing, 125 Rus is for you. Just don’t forget yourself reading it!

A review of The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Readers of The Hunger Games will remember notorious ruler President Snow, bent on what feels like a personal vendetta against the lower class districts and their citizens. This new look on 18-year-old Coriolanus implores readers to see reasonable intentions and views going through his head.

A review of Black Rabbit by Angus Gaunt

There are multiple ways to read Black Rabbit, and the reader is invited to take part in the meaning making in a way that is very open. You can imagine Maurice’s arc in multiple ways. However you choose to interpret it, Black Rabbit is a terrific read, full of unpredictable twists, well-drawn characters and an unforgettable narrative.

A review of Old Lovegood Girls by Gail Godwin

Expertly, Godwin dropped hints that another story lay beneath the surface one. Similarly, the secrets in Old Lovegood Girls, revealed in enticing dribs and drabs, keep the reader intrigued. What actually transpired between Feron and the passenger on the bus when she ran away in 1958? Was it really seasonal depression that caused Merry’s mother to withdraw to her attic room in winter?

A review of The Shaman of Turtle Valley by Clifford Garstang

Reading Garstang’s The Shaman of Turtle Valley brought to mind two very different novels. Ill Will by Dan Chaon for the way it dissects American violence DNA. And The Border of Paradise by Esme Weijun Wang for exploring the cost of when a decent but oblivious American man brings back an Asian wife and settles down in a non-Urban environment. But Garstang’s net is cast wider with an eye to tie domestic issues with foreign policy.

A review of The Definition of Us by Sarah Harris

The book is also a great introductory read to other novels about mental health and has the perfect blend of enjoyment and laughs as well as thought-provoking ideas and questions often raised in society today. This is an element I adore in fiction, and The Definition of Us did this flawlessly.