Category: reviews

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Empire of Wild – Cherie Dimaline*

ramblingmads

Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year–ever since he went missing on the night they had their first serious argument. One hung-over morning in a Walmart parking lot in a little town near Georgian Bay, she is drawn to a revival tent where the local Métis have been flocking to hear a charismatic preacher. By the time she staggers into the tent the service is over, but as she is about to leave, she hears an unmistakable voice.
She turns, and there is Victor. Only he insists he is not Victor, but the Reverend Eugene Wolff, on a mission to bring his people to Jesus. And he doesn’t seem to be faking: there isn’t even a flicker of recognition in his eyes.
With only two allies–her odd, Johnny-Cash-loving, 12-year-old nephew Zeus, and Ajean, a foul-mouthed euchre shark with deep knowledge of the old ways–Joan sets out to remind the Reverend Wolff of who he really is. If he really is Victor, his life, and the life of everyone she loves, depends upon her success.
Inspired by the traditional Métis story of the Rogarou–a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of Métis communities–Cherie Dimaline has created a propulsive, stunning and sensuous novel.

My thoughts:

Blending traditional mythology with crime thriller, this is a smart and gripping book with a strong protagonist in Joan, a member of the Métis community in Canada’s Georgian Bay.

Her search for her missing husband is all consuming, she’s stopped turning up for work regularly (good thing her mum is the boss), she’s drinking too much and it’s all she can talk about. Seeing him in a Walmart car park is a shock, but he doesn’t seem to recognise her.

I loved her sidekicks, twelve year old cousin Zeus and elderly aunt of some sort Ajean, one who doesn’t know much and one who knows too much. Zeus won’t be left behind as Joan starts following the revival mission Victor seems to have been claimed by, and Ajean provides the ancient wisdom of their people that just might save him.

I don’t know much about the beliefs of First Nations people, only what I’ve read in books so this was interesting, the rogarou or similar creatures occur in several cultures around the world, dangerous creatures that seek to take you over if you get caught. The author is Métis herself, so this is her history and culture brought up to date in an intelligent and enjoyable read.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Charity of Strangers – Alison Burke*

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You can find almost anything in a charity shop, but can you find love?

You can certainly find friendship and there is both laughter and tears ahead when 19yr old Zaffron, lonely, anxious and without direction, meets Blaire Daintry, good-looking, charming, and gay.

Both volunteers in the charity shop, he has a hidden agenda, she has secrets, but they are friends from the start, despite Blaire’s constant sparring with Ida, the stern, good-hearted older volunteer who Zaffron admires. And perhaps Ida has secrets too.

Together with other victims of the city’s housing crisis, Blaire and Zaffron set up a safe and happy home. Secure at last, she tells him of the dreadful incident in her childhood that has marred her life, but not even his total acceptance gives her the confidence to start a relationship with an attractive and decent young army sergeant who falls in love with her.

Is it fear of the truth coming out that holds her back? Or is there some other reason, buried too deep in her heart for her to recognise?

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I was born and grew up in Lancashire, gained several nursing qualifications and had the privilege of a long and varied nursing career, briefly in the Royal Army Nursing Service abroad, mainly in the NHS in UK.

True love and a happy family came my way and now I have the time to read, write and remember.

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My thoughts:

Some years ago I used to be a deputy manager in a charity shop – we had some right characters in the volunteers. There was Mrs K, who acted like she was the Queen and a bit of sweeping or actually learning how to use the till was beneath her. Then there were B and L, two lovely ladies who were best pals and came in together and gossiped their way through one morning every week – they were great fun.

When Zaffron volunteers in her local charity shop, she meets some interesting and quite eccentric people, it took me right back. A lot of volunteers are older, more commonly women than men, and shops always want younger people to help with some of the larger jobs – sorting stock, window displays, culling unsold goods. That’s what I started out doing.

Zaffron is a bit adrift in her life but volunteering boosts her confidence, gives her new friends from different backgrounds and helps her work out what she wants to do. She also takes a GCSE English class, getting some qualifications to help her get ahead.

Her friendship with Blaire is a bit uneven but helps her too – having a confidante allows her to work through some of her past. She really grows as a person through the course of the novel.

I enjoyed reading about her growth and hopes for the future, as well as the cast of the shop. It really reminded me of my time at the charity shop and the overall decency of most humans.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Staying Out For The Summer – Mandy Baggot*

ramblingmads

After a summer of staying in, it’s time to let your hair down and escape to
Greece!

For Lucie Burrows, it’s time to embrace Greek life and put the past behind her!

Having spent the summer of 2020 battling a global health crisis, Lucie Burrows is looking forward to a summer out of lockdown.
When best friend, Gavin, finds them the perfect Greek escape Lucie finally starts to think this summer might just go without a hitch.But after a landslide puts the village into a local lockdown, Lucie is thrown together with Michalis Andino, the super sexy village doctor.

It’s not quite the
holiday she had planned, but things could certainly be worse.

As Lucie relaxes into the Greek way of life, she begins to wonder whether this lockdown might just
end in a new life, a new love…

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Mandy Baggot is an international bestselling and award-winning romance writer. The winner of the
Innovation in Romantic Fiction award at the UK’s Festival of Romance, her romantic comedy novel, One Wish in Manhattan, was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association
Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year award in 2016.

Mandy’s books have so far been translated into German, Italian, Czech and Hungarian.

Mandy loves the Greek island of Corfu, white wine, country music and handbags. Also a singer, she has taken part in ITV1’s Who Dares Sings and The X-Factor.

Mandy is a member of the Society of Authors and lives near Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK with her husband and two daughters.

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My thoughts:

This was a really fun romantic comedy set in the not too distant future when we can hopefully travel again. Also there are donkeys, a crazy horse and a van full of fruit!

Lucie and Gavin are NHS nurses in need of a holiday, having spent 18 months on the frontlines of the battle to save lives from Covid-19. They’re burnt out and broken hearted. So Gavin books them a stay on the Greek island of Corfu, in a small village where people seem to live a very long time.

Michalis is a Greek doctor, returned home to Corfu after facing the same struggles in a hospital on Greece’s mainland. He too is in need of a break. His eccentric sister and quiet butcher father are in need of him too.

The village’s president, a slightly nutty woman, is organising a festival of health and decides Michalis shall be the figurehead of her event. Amid all this chaos Lucie and Gavin arrive for their holiday.

The book has some laugh out loud moments as the rather odd residents of the village gear up for their new festival, and tortoises start to take over the villa Gavin has rented. But it also has a lovely summer romance and people hugging and delicious food and is genuinely a bit of a tonic right now. I hope this summer will at least be a little like Mandy’s predicting in this book. We all need it.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Steel Girls – Michelle Rawlins*

ramblingmads

Sheffield, 1939. With war declared, these brave women will step up and do their bit for their country

Housewife Nancy never dreamed that she’d end up in Vickers steelworks factory but when husband Bert is called up to serve, she needs to put food on the table for her two young children.

Betty’s sweetheart William has joined the RAF Reserves so she can’t sit around and do nothing – even if it means giving up her ambitions to study law at night school.

Young Patty is relishing the excitement the war brings. But this shop-girl is going to have to grow up quickly, especially now she’s undertaking such back-breaking and dangerous work in the factory.

The Steel Girls start off as strangers but quickly forge an unbreakable bond of friendship as these feisty factory sisters vow to keep the foundry fires burning during wartime.

My thoughts:

I’ve always been fascinated by the hundreds of women who took on “men’s work” during the war. My great aunt, Auntie Doll, became a bus driver in London, even though she’d originally been hired to clean them! She was something of a character. There’s something very powerful about women, many of them teenagers or housewives, stepping into the roles society previously told them weren’t suitable.

The camaraderie and friendship between Betty, Nancy and Patty gets them through tough shifts in a Sheffield steelworks, driving the cranes that lift huge pieces of steel through the factory. They have to put up with male colleagues who don’t want women in their workplace and ones who need to learn to keep their hands to themselves. Nancy and Betty also have men away in the war, Nancy’s husband Bert is in the army and Betty’s boyfriend in the RAF.

A heartwarming, enjoyable story about friendship and women finding their place in troubled times.


*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Republic of Love – Carol Shields*

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Read my review of The Stone Diaries

A celebration of love in its many guises, The Republic of Love recounts the heartfelt tale of two of life’s unlucky lovers: Fay, a folklorist whose passion for mermaids has kept her from focussing on any one man; and, right across the street, Tom, a popular radio talk-show host who’s been through three marriages and divorces in his search for true happiness.

Touching and ironic, The Republic of Love flies the flag for ordinary love between ordinary people.

‘Vividly fresh, glittering and spangled with fabulous surprises.’ —The Sunday Times

‘The Republic of Love marries a wide diversity of elements, mythical and modern, ironic and moving, exhilarating and melancholy … a love-surveying story that is enticingly seductive.’ —The Times Literary Supplement

Carol Shields (1935–2003) was born in the United States, and emigrated to Canada when she was 22. She is acclaimed for her empathetic and witty, yet penetrating insights into human nature. Her most famous novel

Her most famous novel The Stone Diaries was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, along with the Governor General’s Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Happenstance was praised as her tour de force, masterly combining two novels in one.

The international bestseller Mary Swann was awarded with the Arthur Ellis Award for best Canadian mystery, while The Republic of Love was chosen as the first runner-up for the Guardian Fiction Prize.

In 2020, the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, a North American literary award dedicated to writing by women, was set up in her honour. Her work has been published in over 30 languages.

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this rumination on the subject of romantic love (although it also takes in a few other kinds) through the lives of Tom and Fay, who live across the street from each other. Tom has been married three times, and Fay has had a string of failed relationships.

Both are still looking for the perfect, lifelong love. The one person above all others.

Shields writes with honesty and a clear and concise tone. She had a strong understanding of people and their complexities and simplicities. Buried within the framework of Tom and Fay are lots of other love stories – those of their friends, colleagues and family members. A thousand tiny romances, some that last and some that don’t.

Fay’s godmother, Onion, and her longterm partner only marry as he lies slowly dying in a hospital bed. All those years together and it is only when time is short they make that final commitment. There’s something terribly sad about that but also oddly beautiful.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Raft of Stars – Andrew J. Graff*

ramblingmads

One summer night in Wisconsin, the lives of two ten-year-old boys are changed forever…

Tired of seeing his best friend Dale Breadwin abused by his alcoholic father, Fischer Branson takes action. A gunshot rings out, and Bread and Fish flee into the woods. They build a raft, but the river quickly leads them into even greater danger.

In their wake travel a group of adults – each determined to save the boys from the terrors of Ironsford Gorge.

The further they go, the more the wilderness starts to change them in profound and unexpected ways. And when they reach the edge of the Gorge itself, they begin to understand the true violence and beauty of the natural world, and its ability to heal.

No matter where you run danger will always follow…

My thoughts:

This was a beautifully moving, sad book about love, friendship and the unbreakable bonds between people.

Fish and Bread are each other’s best friend and closer than brothers, when Fish rescues his friend from his abusive father, the boys go on the run, thinking only of the nightmare of punishment, not the fact that they are in fact, loved.

The people who love them follow, Fish’s grandfather Teddy, the sheriff Cal, Fish’s mum and Tiff. These adults fight through rapids and hostile forest to find the two boys and save them from further harm. Along the way the disparate pairings bond and develop deeper understandings of themselves.

I’ll be honest, I was pretty close to tears towards the end, the writing is so moving and fraught with emotion. Fish and Bread are so innocent and brave and deep down kind, gentle boys that the world will try to break. The adults are also decent, loving, good people who want only to protect the boys so much they’re willing to risk everything for them.

Elements of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, other young boys out in the wilderness, abound. An elegy for the innocence of boyhood. Tender and bittersweet.


*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Girls Are All So Nice Here – Laurel Elizabeth Flynn*

ramblingmads

Two former best friends return to their college reunion to find that they’re being circled by someone who wants revenge for what they did ten years before–and will stop at nothing to get it–in this shocking psychological thriller about ambition, toxic friendship, and deadly desire.

A lot has changed in the years since Ambrosia Wellington graduated from college, and she’s worked hard to create a new life for herself. But then an invitation to her ten-year reunion arrives in the mail, along with an anonymous note that reads “We need to talk about what we did that night.”

It seems that the secrets of Ambrosia’s past–and the people she thought she’d left there–aren’t as buried as she’d believed. Amb can’t stop fixating on what she did or who she did it with: larger-than-life Sloane “Sully” Sullivan, Amb’s former best friend, who could make anyone do anything.

At the reunion, Amb and Sully receive increasingly menacing messages, and it becomes clear that they’re being pursued by someone who wants more than just the truth of what happened that first semester. This person wants revenge for what they did and the damage they caused–the extent of which Amb is only now fully understanding. And it was all because of the game they played to get a boy who belonged to someone else, and the girl who paid the price.

Alternating between the reunion and Amb’s freshman year, The Girls Are All So Nice Here is a shocking novel about the brutal lengths girls can go to get what they think they’re owed, and what happens when the games we play in college become matters of life and death.

My thoughts:

There’s a reason so many of my friends are male, and it’s girls like this to be honest. The bitchy, clique-y girls, the ones who think they’re better than anyone else. The nasty girls. That’s not to say I don’t have female friends, I do, but I shy away from women who have never grown out of their mean streak a mile wide.

Amb and Sully are those girls, Amb thinks she’s moved on and grown up but a reunion weekend at college shows she’s still the same. I felt sorry for her husband, a puppy dog of a man, so eager to please, and her other supposed friends as she and Sully basically rewind ten years in no time at all.

They did something awful to another girl, and someone wants the truth to come to light. But who? They’ve finally met their manipulative match in this shadowy figure, someone’s who has been planning this for a long time.

Twisted, dark and compelling, this is what Mean Girls can really be if left to their own devices.


*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Iron Raven – Julie Kagawa*

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Wicked faeries and fantastic danger… Welcome to book one of the new trilogy in New York Times bestselling author Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey fantasy series, as infamous prankster Puck finally has a chance to tell his story and stand with allies new and old to save Faery and the world. For fans of Holly Black and Cassandra Clare!

‘You may have heard of me…’

Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Prankster, joker, raven, fool…King Oberon’s right-hand jester from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The legends are many, but the truth will now be known as never before, as Puck finally tells his own story and faces a threat to the lands of Faery and the human world unlike any before.

With the Iron Queen Meghan Chase and her prince consort, Puck’s longtime rival Ash, and allies old and new by his side, Puck begins a fantastical and dangerous adventure not to be missed or forgotten. Filled with myths and faery lore, romance and unfathomable dangers, The Iron Raven is book one of a new epic fantasy trilogy set in the world of The Iron Fey.

My thoughts:

I hadn’t read the Iron Fey books (something I’m correcting now) but I do of course know Robin Goodfellow aka Puck, from his most famous appearance in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

This was a really fun new fantasy book from the excellent Julie Kagawa, a writer whose Japanese inspired series Shadow of the Fox was a real treat.

I love fairy tales, folklore and old stories given new skins and this ticked lots of boxes for me – and I was really pleased to be reading it. I am already desperate for the next book.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: What Beauty There Is – Cory Anderson*

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What Beauty There Is is Cory Anderson’s stunning YA novel about brutality and beauty, and about broken people trying to survive—perfect for fans of Patrick Ness, Laura Ruby, and Meg Rosoff.

To understand the truth, you have to start at the beginning.
Winter in Idaho. The sky is dark. It is cold enough to crack bones.
Living in harsh poverty, Jack Dahl is holding his breath. He and his younger brother have nothing—except each other. And now Jack faces a stark choice: lose his brother to foster care or find the drug money that sent his father to prison.
He chooses the money.
Ava Bardem lives in isolation, a life of silence. For seventeen years her father, a merciless man, has controlled her fate. He has taught her to love no one. Now Victor Bardem is stalking the same money as Jack. When he picks up on Jack’s trail, Ava must make her own wrenching choice: remain silent or speak, and help the brothers survive.

Choices. They come at a price.

My thoughts:

You know you come across books sometimes that are sad and beautiful and there’s probably a German word for that. Well this is one of those books. It’s heartbreaking and moving and lovely.

Jack just wants to take care of his little brother, he will do anything for Matty. And then he meets Ava, who wants to take care of him. But the world is a cruel and dangerous place and neither Jack or Ava are safe.

The adults in this book are all pretty awful human beings, except Doyle, and they keep letting Jack and Ava down. His parents, his uncle, her father.

Keep some tissues handy if you’re a crier, this book will break your heart and then try to fix it. The imagery is stunning, the writing poetic and the story utterly wrings you out. A wonderful, powerful debut.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Into The Fire – Rachael Blok*

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Eleven guests. Three nights. One murderer… This is the haunting and atmospheric new thriller from rising star of crime fiction, Rachael Blok.

In a gorgeous mansion in the Hertfordshire countryside, sisters Lois and Ebba prepare to launch their new venture. Archipelago is an exploitation-free tech company whose virtual reality game promises to unite the worlds of technology, politics and the environment.

Invited to the launch party are their investors: current and ex-politicians, international business moguls and activists, one of whom – Marieke – has been receiving online abuse and death threats for her views on eco-politics.

DCI Maarten Jansen has been summoned to join the house party. He is sure the threats are from online trolls with nothing better to do – he’s only offering police protection because his boss wants to put the VIP guests at ease. But when eight of the guests are involved in a suspicious helicopter crash, Maarten starts to uncover long-buried secrets – and a murderer in their midst…

My thoughts:

This was an interesting book, with the terrible helicopter accident acting as a sort of central point and the plot moving back and forth from that moment. Slowly people’s secrets and lies are revealed, the killer’s motivations start to become apparent and guilt makes people act suspiciously.

DCI Maarten Jansen has history with one of the guests and is reluctant to engage with these uber wealthy people. But as he investigates them, he uncovers hidden corruption, these victims aren’t so innocent.

Well written and constructed, with different narrative strands building together to give a complex picture of the company and the characters, especially Iqbal – who deserves his own book. An interesting take on the classic country house mystery.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.