Review: Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

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Fox wakes, and begins to walk. She crosses ice and snow, over mountains and across frozen oceans, encountering bears and birds beneath the endless daylight of an Arctic summer, navigating a world that is vast, wild and wondrous.
Meanwhile, Leila embarks on a journey of her own – finding her way to the mother who left her. On a breathtaking journey across the sea, Leila rediscovers herself and the mother she thought she’d lost, with help from a determined little fox.

I loved Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, which was her first project with her husband, Tom de Freston, as the artist. This book is in a matching edition with the same stunning art style from de Freston, and I knew I wanted to pick it up immediately after seeing it.

We follow similar themes to Julia and the Shark, and a familiar feel to the story and the book as a physical object. Without seeing one of these books in person, it is difficult to describe exactly how beautiful this artwork is. Alongside beautiful, sketchy full page and double pages sketches, and little pieces dotted throughout the book, we also have tracing paper style overlays on some of the pages, which I adore.

Once again, this book covers some deep and emotional themes as well as introducing a lovely friendship between a young girl and an animal. There were so many objects of the friendship between the animals that were reflected among their human companions, and I loved the comparisons between the two. This book focuses on migration, both for our main characters and the animals.

Overall, I really loved this story and I read it on a perfect frosty winter evening. It may not have stuck with me in exactly the same way as Julia and the Shark, but it was a delightful story and has further cemented Kiran Millwood Hargrave as an auto-buy author for me.

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: Espedair Street by Iain Banks

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Daniel Weir used to be a famous – not to say infamous – rock star. Maybe still is. At thirty-one he has been both a brilliant failure and a dull success. He’s made a lot of mistakes that have paid off and a lot of smart moves he’ll regret forever (however long that turns out to be). Daniel Weir has gone from rags to riches and back, and managed to hold onto them both, though not much else. His friends all seem to be dead, fed up with him or just disgusted – and who can blame them? And now Daniel Weir is all alone. As he contemplates his life, Daniel realises he only has two the past and the future. He knows how bad the past has been. But the future – well, the future is something else.

After reading The Wasp Factory, I really didn’t know what the experience of Espedair Street was going to be. The same friend who lent me The Wasp Factory also lent me Espedair Street, and this book is a comfort book of his. I really related to that throughout the book, and I found it quickly became a comfort for me as well.

Although a very different story to the darkness of The Wasp Factory, I went into this straight after finishing it and could see Banks’ writing carrying over in these pages. Musical biopics (and biopics in general) are not something that I generally pick up, but this was such a fascinating study of a life and I really enjoy books that span longer periods of time and reflect on life, as this one does.

I found this book quite calming and lovely in a way, and it feels so quiet somehow. It has the same day-to-day narrative as The Wasp Factory, but evidently with very different focuses. I think the focus of smaller, quieter aspects of Daniel’s life is what made it so comforting for me. I could see it playing in my head, and the fact this book doesn’t have an adaptation is honestly insane.

Although this is a fiction book, it feels, and could so easily be, real. I think that’s one of the biggest joys of this book and is why it feels so real and relatable. The ending of the story made me hug the book to my chest after I finished it. It was a delight.

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

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Frank – no ordinary sixteen-year-old – lives with his father outside a remote Scottish village. Their life is, to say the least, unconventional. Frank’s mother abandoned them years ago: his elder brother Eric is confined to a psychiatric hospital; and his father measures out his eccentricities on an imperial scale. Frank has turned to strange acts of violence to vent his frustrations. In the bizarre daily rituals there is some solace. But when news comes of Eric’s escape from the hospital Frank has to prepare the ground for his brother’s inevitable return – an event that explodes the mysteries of the past and changes Frank utterly.

This book is one of those books you put down after finishing it and say, out loud to yourself, what the f**k did I just read.

I’d never read an Iain Banks book, and this was not necessarily one I’d have picked up for myself. However, I recently borrowed a few of my friends most-loved books, and this is one of the books he lent to me.

This book is clever, it is visceral, it is dark and twisting and twisted, and I honestly do not think it will ever leave me. It’s been a week or so since I finished this book, and it probably pops into my head at least once a day. Although most of this story is the day to day life of a teenager, it is the life of a rather messed up teenager. It focuses on some very difficult and hard topics, and is not one for the faint of heart.

However, there is something so compelling about this book. Despite the dark themes, I constantly wanted to pick it up while I was reading it. Although this one doesn’t necessarily read as a thriller or mystery, there is this constant feeling of walking up a mountain and knowing there will be something incredible at the top. There’s a sense of such intrigue to this story and the payoff is just brilliant.

Yes, this book is dark and shocking and twisted and I cannot say I necessarily found it an ‘enjoyable’ read. It is disgusting and it gets under your skin. But it is undeniably, one of the cleverest books I have ever read, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. For that, it was definitely a 5 star read for me.

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: Lore Olympus Volumes 1-4 by Rachel Smythe

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Experience the propulsive love story of two Greek gods—Hades and Persephone—brought to life with lavish artwork and an irresistible contemporary voice.
Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love—witness what the gods do after dark in this stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of mythology’s most well-known stories from creator Rachel Smythe. Featuring a brand-new, exclusive short story, Smythe’s original Eisner-nominated web-comic Lore Olympus brings the Greek Pantheon into the modern age with this sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This review is for Volumes 1-4 of Lore Olympus. I’ve read volumes 1 and 2 before, but it was my first time reading volumes 3 and 4. I decided to pick up all of these in one day, and it was such fun to be able to immerse myself fully into this world and story.

I love the artwork in these graphic novels and the colour palette is absolutely beautiful. I also appreciate and enjoy how all of the characters have a different colour theme, and it does change how each volume is presented. Having not a lot of previous knowledge of the Greek Gods, I do find these quite accessible and the idea of this being a story of the Greek Gods ‘after dark’ is such a fun idea.

However, my main criticism of these books, especially volume 4, is that I feel like the focus is sometimes lost. These books are mainly meant to be about Hades and Persephone, and I really wanted more of their relationship and sexual tension in the later volumes, 3 and 4. I hope we get more focus on them as the volumes continue.

These graphic novels do cover some quite difficult and emotional themes, and it is worth checking content warnings before reading.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

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Keiko is 36 years old. She’s never had a boyfriend, and she’s been working in the same supermarket for eighteen years.
Keiko’s family wishes she’d get a proper job. Her friends wonder why she won’t get married.
But Keiko knows what makes her happy, and she’s not going to let anyone come between her and her convenience store…

I’ve had this book for a while and just wasn’t sure why I hadn’t picked it up. It’s quite a short book and interested me at the time of picking it up, so I decided to finally read it.

This isn’t the kind of book that I would really say I enjoyed reading, but I found it very intriguing to read. It is quite strange and a little odd, but is a very interesting societal study. It is kind of visceral and honest in a way, and holds nothing back in terms of looking at internal thoughts and feelings our main character, Keiko.

I found the concept of this really interesting, and definitely found it relatable in some aspects. Although I am not necessarily feeling ‘stuck’ in a job or another aspect of my life, I think this book does a good job of discussing how all of our lives vary and we are all combatting societal ‘norms’. Having worked several retail jobs in my life, I did also find some of the more day-to-day aspects relatable.

I did find some of this story, including the characters, quite infuriating. However, I can appreciate how well-written even these aspects of the book were. Overall, some mixed thoughts and feelings here, and I do struggle with not being able to say I necessarily ‘enjoyed’ a book.

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: A Snowfall of Silver by Laura Wood

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A snow-dusted love story.
In the Autumn of 1931, eighteen-year-old Freya Trevelyan runs away from her home in Cornwall to follow her dream of becoming an actress. When she is invited to join a theatrical company about to head out on tour, Freya thinks the path to success is clear, and, amidst all the glamour and bustle of stage life, she finds – for the first time – a place to belong. But can reality ever live up to her expectations? What if her life – and falling in love – turn out to be nothing like she planned? An enchanting coming of age romance about following your dreams – even when they aren’t quite what you expected.

Myself and Courtney have read a lot of Laura Wood’s books now, but we tend to pick them up on our summer reading holidays. We always wondered when we would get around to reading A Snowfall of Silver, as this one is set in winter and it never quite felt like the right time. When we booked a winter reading retreat for January, we knew it would be the perfect time to pick this up, and we were right.

Every time we pick up a Laura Wood book, we’re astounded by how enveloped in the story we end up being. We read this in one sitting because we didn’t want to put it down, and we both absolutely loved how much we felt like we were in the story. It was so lovely to follow Freya, who is the sister of the main character in A Sky Painted Gold.

I loved the plot of this story and I found it so much fun to follow Freya as she travels around the UK. The atmosphere is brilliant and I would argue this is more of a wintery story than autumn – reading it on a cold, frosty January afternoon was absolutely perfect.

The group of main characters who travel with this theatre company were so much fun to read about and such a lovely friendship group to be a part of. I also really enjoyed the romance, as I always do with Laura Wood stories! Overall, this one was a very enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to picking up The Agency for Scandal on our next reading holiday.

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: Delicates (#2) by Brenna Thummler

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Marjorie Glatt’s life hasn’t been the same ever since she discovered a group of ghosts hiding in her family’s laundromat. Wendell, who died young and now must wander Earth as a ghost with nothing more than a sheet for a body, soon became one of Marjorie’s only friends. But when Marjorie finally gets accepted by the popular kids at school, she begins to worry that if anyone learns about her secret ghost friends, she’ll be labeled as a freak who sees dead people. With Marjorie’s insistence on keeping Wendell’s ghost identity a secret from her new friends, Wendell begins to feel even more invisible than he already is.
Eliza Duncan feels invisible too. She’s an avid photographer, and her zealous interest in finding and photographing ghosts gets her labeled as “different” by all the other kids in school. Constantly feeling on the outside, Eliza begins to feel like a ghost herself. Marjorie must soon come to terms with the price she pays to be accepted by the popular kids. Is it worth losing Wendell? Is she partially to blame for the bullying Eliza endures?

Myself and Courtney read Sheets on our reading retreat last year, and we decided to pick up Delicates on our winter reading retreat this January. We both read this in one sitting, sat in a lovely cafe, and it was joyful. I love these graphic novels and they have such beautiful artwork. When me and Courtney read them together, we are constantly pointing out our favourite pages. Some of the panels are entire pages or even double pages, and the colour palettes are stunning.

In the first volume, we follow Majorie as she becomes friends with a ghost, and both of their stories are woven into the book, with both points of view. This second volume does still follow our ghost, Wendell, but also follows Majorie as she becomes friends with Eliza, who is a fellow pupil at Majorie’s school.

I loved the introduction of Eliza. Not only did it give the opportunity for a new and complex storyline, but Eliza also is really into photography. It’s been years since I’ve done any film photography or developing, but this book, along with discussing photography with a friend, brought that love back. I even purchased a new film camera to carry around with me!

This book got a lot darker and more emotional towards the end than I expected, especially as the characters are only in their early teens. I would recommend checking out content warnings before picking this one up! However, I really loved how this book manages to weave through these complex and emotional storylines on top of the beautiful artwork. I think it’s hard sometimes to relay such emotion in few words and in artwork, but this one does it so well.

I really loved this second instalment to the story and I’m looking forward to picking up volume 3, Lights.

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: Suzume by Makoto Shinkai

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DO YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH TO FACE WHAT LIES BEYOND? Seventeen-year-old Suzume lives with her aunt in a quiet port town in Kyushu. One day, on her way to school, she runs into a young man searching for something and follows him to a ruin in the hills. But inside, all she finds is a single white door among the rubble. As if pulled by an invisible force, she reaches out to open it…and begins an epic journey across Japan connecting the past, present, and future. Follow Suzume’s adventure in this novelization of the acclaimed animated film Suzume, written by director Makoto Shinkai.

It is no secret that I will consume anything Makoto Shinkai creates, in any format I can find. I’ve been reading and watching his work for years, and Suzume is no different. Mark recently realised that the novelisation of Makoto Shinkai’s newest film has recently been released, and I immediately ordered it and picked it up as soon as it arrived.

Although Your Name is hard to beat in my eyes, I do really enjoy the story of Suzume and I found it very comforting to slip between these pages. I watched the film last year when it came out, and these stay so true to the story (I believe Shinkai writes them alongside the production of the films), that it almost felt like a comfort re-read.

The story of Suzume is pretty wacky, and is the oddest Shinkai story yet, with a talking chair being the main side character in the story. I definitely preferred the first half of this book, which is more grounded in real life than the second half. Although I don’t mind the wackiness of the second half, I do find it harder to relate to and didn’t enjoy it quite as much.

Reading this book definitely gave me a deeper understanding of the film and the emotional aspects of the grief this story represents. Although Your Name remains to be my favourite of Shinkai’s stories, I still enjoyed and appreciated being able to consume more of his work.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: The Rose & the Dagger (#2) by Renee Ahdieh

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In a land on the brink of war, Shahrzad is forced from the arms of her beloved husband, the Caliph of Khorasan. She once thought Khalid a monster—a merciless killer of wives, responsible for immeasurable heartache and pain—but as she unraveled his secrets, she found instead an extraordinary man and a love she could not deny. Still, a curse threatens to keep Shazi and Khalid apart forever.
Now she’s reunited with her family, who have found refuge in the desert, where a deadly force is gathering against Khalid—a force set on destroying his empire and commanded by Shazi’s spurned childhood sweetheart. Trapped between loyalties to those she loves, the only thing Shazi can do is act. Using the burgeoning magic within her as a guide, she strikes out on her own to end both this terrible curse and the brewing war once and for all. But to do it, she must evade enemies of her own to stay alive.

After many years of having this on my TBR list and knowing I needed to reread The Wrath & the Dawn before diving into it, I have finally read this book. I decided to pick up the audiobook for this one after listening the audiobook of The Wrath & the Dawn and finding it quite engaging.

Sadly, I definitely found The Rose & the Dagger quite a lot less engaging than the first book, but it was also my first time reading this one. I will admit that moving the setting away from the palace itself felt a little disappointing to me, but I did really enjoy the fact that we were joined by Shazi’s family. Although I found it a little difficult to follow as an audiobook, I believe we are joined with a viewpoint from Shazi’s sister.

As the book went on, we see some of the characters from the first book meet some of the main characters from this book, mainly Shazi’s family. I enjoyed seeing the fire and passion of Shazi’s sister, and the dynamic between her and Khalid was really interesting.

One of the most enjoyable parts of this book for me was the romance, which does follow on from the first book as I also loved the romance as we see it initially develop. I will say I felt like this book was not the most memorable read, and the main memories I am taking away from this read are the relationships between the characters.

Overall, I’m glad I’ve finally completed this series, but I definitely didn’t enjoy this as much as the first book.

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: The Wrath and the Dawn (#1) by Renee Ahdieh

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In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-ols Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sisteen-year-old Shahrzad’s dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance. She knows just how to get it: by volunteering to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph’s reign of terror once and for all.
Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that both enchant and ensure her survival, though she knows each dawn could be herlast. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she’d imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart, and incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. It’s an unforgivable betrayal, but Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid’s life as retribution for the many lives he’s stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?
Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end.

It’s been a very long time since I first read this book (7 years, to be precise), and I never continued to read The Rose and the Dagger. I’ve finally re-read this book in order to continue with the series, and it was really interesting to see how I feel about the book now.

I genuinely did enjoy this book the second time around, which was a little bit of a surprise for me. I didn’t think I wouldn’t enjoy this book now, but I did definitely feel like I’d be too old to enjoy the romance, as I was a teenager when I first picked it up.

The romance does definitely make this book feel like a teen story, and it does feel quite insta-love as an adult, but I could see why I fell in love with this story so much the first time around. I was still so enthralled with the world, the story, and the characters. Shazi is such a strong female main character, and I do enjoy knowing I had such a role model in books I read as a teenager.

I read this mostly on audio this time around, and I did enjoy the narration, and I’ll continue with the series on audio. However, I read the last 50 pages as a physical read and really enjoyed the experience. I can see why it was such a quick read for me many years ago!

Overall, this book isn’t perfect, and I could definitely see through the romance as an adult and found it had less development, but I still really enjoyed it. The plot is clever, the characters are likeable beyond their initial actions and situations, the world felt all-encompassing, and the writing is beautiful. I’m glad I finally took the plunge and re-read!

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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