Blogs and book reviews

The Day the Earth Turned by Chantelle Atkins

The Day the Earth Turned by Chantelle Atkins

The Day The Earth Turned is book one in a post-apocalyptic YA series - and it surpassed my expectations. It begins after a pandemic or two or three. All (or almost all) the adults are dead. The focus is on a small town (village?) and its outskirts, and the two big...

read more
Coming to Find You by Jane Corry

Coming to Find You by Jane Corry

A compelling domestic suspense novel that also manages to tell a story of families surviving across the ages. After her mum and step-dad are murdered, and step-brother Martin sentenced for their deaths, Nancy realises she has to disappear. She flees to her mother's...

read more
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

None of This is True is a read-in-one-day, expertly put-together psychological thriller, and I thoroughly enjoyed every single page. It begins with Josie and Alix crossing paths at a local pub one day, and realising they are both celebrating the same birthday on the...

read more
Going Zero by Anthony McParten

Going Zero by Anthony McParten

My second book with 'Zero' in the title in a row, and the second review in a row where I'm going to do a TV comparison... In this case, Going Zero reminds me of Channel 4's The Hunted x BBC 1's The Capture. In other words, a thrilling chase vs the technology all...

read more
Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

If you were forced to sum up Camp Zero with a single comparison, you could say: "Climate change meets The Handmaid's Tale" - thought that is, of course, an oversimplification. Set in the far north of Canada, on of the few remaining cool spots in the world, there a...

read more
Games for Dead Girls by Jen Williams

Games for Dead Girls by Jen Williams

In Games for Dead Girls, we explore the mysteries and folklore of a small seaside town called Hithechurch, where horrible things have happened, and where Charlie hopes to find out the truth... In 1988, Charlie was a child when she dreamt up Stitch Face Sue, an urban...

read more
The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan

The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan

I thoroughly enjoyed this dystopian debut from Lavanya Lakshminarayan. Set in Apex City, formerly Bangalore, some time in the future, this is a world convinced it is running successfully as a meritocracy. Ninety percent of people are Virtuals, living in a world with...

read more
Thirsty Animals by Rachelle Atalla

Thirsty Animals by Rachelle Atalla

A thought-provoking read that sees the world slowly run out of water - and a great example of a 'what if' novel. Thirsty Animals is set in Scotland, about now-ish. As the book begins, there is already trouble. The price of water is rising, and people are desperately...

read more
Love Will Tear Us Apart by by C.K. McDonnell

Love Will Tear Us Apart by by C.K. McDonnell

Love Will Tear Us Apart by CK McDonnell. The deeper I get into this series, the more I find I'm enjoying it. But do start at the first book if possible (nb. this is book 3). The Stranger Times is a publication reporting on the weird and wonderful, with its own rather...

read more
The Second Stranger by Martin Griffin

The Second Stranger by Martin Griffin

I really enjoyed the slow suspense of The Second Stranger. Remie York has one shift left at the Mackinnon Hotel, based in the remote Scottish highlands, and then she gets to hand in her badge, get to the airport and go on her adventures. But then a storm closes in a...

read more
Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Godkiller is a strong fantasy debut from Hannah Kaner. It begins with water and fire and a young woman who can kill gods. And sometimes gods do need killing, because once they have love, affection and a shrine, they often tend to malignancy and abusing the very people...

read more
The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell

The Other Half is a fantastically strong crime debut from Charlotte Vassell. Laser-focused on a rich and elite set of friends who live in London (formerly of Oxford), we begin this dark satire at a black-tie birthday party at McDonalds. Only one person doesn't turn up...

read more
Mindwalker by Kate Dylan

Mindwalker by Kate Dylan

This YA science fiction thriller is a blast.In a dystopian future, Sil Sarrah is an 18-yr-old agent for the Syntex Corporation. Her brain has been engineered so she can piggyback on other agents' minds and lead them to safety without ever leaving the building she is...

read more
The Seawomen

The Seawomen

The Seawomen is a wonderful dystopian literary novel, reminiscent of Handmaid's Tale at times, and easily my favourite book of 2022 so far.Esta lives on Eden's Isle, a harsh and unforgiving place to live at the best of times but even more so when it's ruled by a...

read more
The Book of Koli

The Book of Koli

As a long-time fan of M.R. Carey (since ye olde Lucifer graphic novel days), I was looking forward to this new release, and wondering where it would take us, as his books can be so very different. This is a dystopian/post-apocalyptic almost YA-ish yet epic...

read more