Jen's Book Blog

Book #31 – A Summer Scandal

Prompt – A book with a pink cover.

Medium – Book

About the Book – Violet is left an apartment and a pier in her recently deceased grandfather’s will, in a place called ‘Swallow Beach’ on the coast somewhere near Brighton. She arrives in Swallow Beach and is immediately entranced by not only the pier, but also her neighbour, the extremely handsome Cal. She decides to make a go of the pier as a business, and ends up deciding to set it up as an ‘adult’ (read sexy-times) themed pier. However, not everyone in the community is thrilled by this idea, and there are rumours that the pier is cursed…

My Rating – 7/10. I am not usually a chick-lit kind of person. I generally find the characters unbelievable, the plots contrived and the female characters either a bit soft or a bit too good to be true. As you can probably tell from my list of books I’ve read so far, I like non-fiction, history and fantasy as my go-to books for a good read. As such, I’m not used to books I can get through so quickly! I liked the fact that with this book, it was an easy read. It was the sort of book I could pick up and put down between clients, without needing to think back about what happened and where all the characters were.

There are plenty of things to find a little ‘interesting’ in this book – the love interest’s name (Calvin Dearheart, anyone?), the whole idea of setting up a ‘sex pier’, the whole plot point of a young girl inheriting a beautiful apartment and pier, the coincidence that this small village could hold a whole swathe of people working in the adult entertainment business. Despite this, however, I actually quite enjoyed myself while reading. Being completely different to the other books I tend to read, I didn’t have any preconceptions and I enjoyed the mix of characters and the humour of the writing. This kind of book is exactly why the reading challenge is great – I have read a book I wouldn’t usually read, which brought some joy and some laughter.

Would I read it again? Probably not, it is currently on the charity shop pile. But, I won’t be so snotty about picking up and reading these types of books again (and I’m kind of curious to see if there is a sequel…)

Book #30 – We are Displaced

Prompt – A book by an author in their 20s.

Medium – Audiobook

About the book – This book tells the stories of refugee girls from around the world who have fled from different types of situations in their home countries, and their lives now as they come to terms with their displaced statuses and their new lives. The book is written by Malala Yousafzai, the famous Nobel Peace Prize winner and girls’ education activist, and is in the form of her own story of displacement as well as the stories of other girls and young women who have been displaced, sometimes alone, sometimes with their friends and families.

My Rating – 7.5/10. This is a book that I found immensely refreshing, helpful and enlightening. This book brings to light the important issue of girls who are displaced – whether they be fleeing across the Mexican border, sailing in boats to Europe, running through mountains and jungles. They are girls who live in refugee camps, who are internally displaced in the homes of families or who have been able to get visas and green cards. The girls are running from religious persecution, from physical and sexual violence, from war, from crime. Their stories are told by the girls themselves, who explain what they decided to do, how they got to the places they have ended up in, and what their hopes for the future are. Their struggles and how they have been forced out of their homes deeply touched me, and I feel the need to learn more – to read more and to find out new information.

The stories of the girls were incredible, as was the deep desire of each of them to further their education – to work hard to pursue learning and help others to do so to. The stories of Malala herself, of sisters Zaynab and Sabreen and of Marie-Claire (and her ‘American Mum’ Jennifer) I found particularly affecting. Whatever your views on immigration, I recommend that you read this book to see the bravery of these women and the things that they are fleeing from. It was a book I can’t say was an easy listen, but it did make me want to do and learn more, and to not take my comfortable existence for granted.

Would I read it again? Maybe, I’m not sure. I would definitely recommend it though!

Book #29 – Girl Squads: 20 Female Friendships that Changed History

Prompt – A book with ’20’ or ‘twenty’ in the title.

Medium – Book

About the Book: Written by Sam Maggs, this book tells the stories of 20 groups of female friends, whose friendships can be #squadgoals and who changed history through working together. The book includes different ‘squads’ – warriors, athletes, scientists, political and artists – who have different specialisms but who also show the benefits of working together as women. The author writes about the importance of female friendship and how this can bring benefits to everyone. The book is also full of original illustrations, which are beautiful and show the women involved within their respective fields.

My Rating – 7.5/10. There were elements of this book that I really enjoyed, and those that I found myself skipping through. I think that this is the issue with books which cover quite a broad spectrum and anthologise stories – there will always be ones that you prefer and ones you don’t. I did like the author’s style of writing – she is very informal, with lots of humorous asides in italics and sarcastic comments about male leadership. I also liked the general premise of the book – I believe wholeheartedly that it is massively important to have good female friends to offer support and help work through shared issues. It is lovely to see actual real life friendships in a book, rather than stories where the females are at each other’s throats or don’t like each other very much.

Here are some of my favourites:

Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens – they are tennis players who played against each other in the US Open but are also really good friends in real life. I found the description of the end of the US Open Final’s match really touching.
Manon Roland and Sophie Grandchamp – these were two women active during the French Revolution, who tried to rein in the despotic nature of men like Robespierre.
The Ladies of the US Supreme Court – who are just complete badasses. I loved the description of their friendship and how they work together.
The Red Lanterns – Chinese female fighters who fought in the Boxer Rebellion, were brought in to finish fights that the male fighters couldn’t and who were trained in martial arts.
The Edinburgh Seven – the first seven women who were medical students in the UK. Their resilience and friendship in the face of so much misogyny is just awe-inspiring.

Would I read it again? Probably not – but it is the sort of book I might re-gift to a friend or younger female relative.

Book #28 – Trickster’s Choice

Prompt – A book from a series with more than 20 books.

Medium – Book

About the Book – The 19th book in the Tortall series, and the first in a short series (Daughter of the Lioness), the book tells the story of Alianne, the daughter of the King’s Champion, Alanna, and the King’s spymaster, George Cooper. Aly is desperate to become a spy like her father, but her parents refuse, thinking the work too dangerous and risky for a young woman. After an argument, Aly runs away from her home but is captured and sold as a slave in the Copper Isles. She soon finds out that her life has been taken over by the God of Tricksters, Kyprioth, who has plans not only for Aly, but also for the family that she serves. The family and Aly are exiled to the lonely highlands, where it becomes clear that there is a movement to bring to fruition a prophecy to make one of the family’s daughters the next Queen of the Copper Isles.

My Rating – 9.5/10. This has to be one of my favourite fantasy books that I have read this year so far. It has an engaging and magical story line – with strong heroes, magical creatures, mages and human-crow men. I enjoyed the main character – there has been some criticism that she is a little Mary-Sue-ish (a little bit too perfect), but I found her likeable and especially enjoyed the way that she came into the story as a fully-developed person, rather than growing into her character. The main male character Nawat, is completely adorable – with his misunderstandings about how human interactions work and his ‘heart on his sleeve’ attitude to his feelings for Aly. I really enjoyed their playful relationship and want to see how it develops. I’ve also heard that in the later stories, Aly is more out of her depth, which will hopefully allow for her character to show more flaws.

The other characters in the story are likeable too – especially the Duke, the Duchess and their daughters Dove and Sarai. Each of them are underestimated and thought badly of at some point in the story, but you see them in their true colours at the end. There was one part of the story I didn’t like – hence the 0.5 off a perfect score – and I will be interested to see how this part of the story develops. The story line involves the struggles between the luarin (white nobles) and the raka and part-raka (their black servants and slaves). The raka are all brilliant characters and within the family, the luarin and raka work together to overcome adversity. The prophecy mentioned earlier involves the part-raka ladies (Sarai and Dove) becoming Queens of the kingdom, unifying the islands and freeing raka. The bit I found slightly problematic is that the raka had been working on this for a couple of years, but it was only when Aly (who is white) came along that things actually started to happen and go their way. It felt a little white-saviour syndrome-y, but I would like to read the rest of the books to see how the story progresses, as apparently this problem is resolved in later books.

Would I read it again? Definitely. I also would love to read the rest of this short series at some point – but will need to wait until my TBR pile is smaller!

Book #27 – Cinder

Prompt – A book with a robot, cyborg or AI character

Medium – Audiobook

About the Book – Linh Cinder lives with her Guardian and two step-sisters, Peony and Pearl, in New Beijing in the distant future. She is an expert mechanic and works to earn money for her horrible guardian and her sisters to live on. The world is being plagued by a horrible disease, called letamosis (which bears some interesting parallels to coronavirus!), and soon, Cinder’s youngest and favourite step-sister, Peony, falls prey to the disease. Shortly after, Cinder finds that she is immune to the disease, but there are also other things that she must find out about herself. The book speeds towards the new Emperor’s coronation and the great ball that he holds after, where rumours say that he will announce the name of his new wife…

My Rating – 8/10. I thought this book was really interesting and a novel retelling of the classic fairy tale. The main character, Cinder the cyborg, is fascinating – she’s the traditional Cinderella character with more gumption and a far more interesting backstory! I really enjoyed her relationship particularly with the android Iko, which didn’t really have any parallels with the fairy story, but did give Cinder a much-needed friend. Her Prince Charming (Emperor Kaito) is kind and sweet, if a bit short-sighted, not seeming to realise what is right in front of him (a murder plot, a cyborg love interest, the chance of a cure for letamosis). I loved the world-building that the author did – the book is set in New Beijing, within the Eastern Commonwealth – a commonwealth made up of countries in the Far East of Asia, such as China, Japan and the Philippines. The world is a nice fusion of traditional, modern and futuristic elements.

This book lent itself really well to being an audiobook – I don’t think I would have engaged with it in the same way as a written book. The narrator was fantastic – she was one of the best ‘American female’ voices I have ever heard in an audiobook – alongside Michelle Obama and the lady who voiced the Throne of Glass books. The characters each had a separate ‘voice’ – I never got confused about who was talking, and her range of accents was fantastic. If you are thinking of reading this book, I would truly recommend that you try a sample of the audiobook before getting hold of a hard copy of the book.

Would I read/listen to it again? Yes, I think so. I would also like to listen to the rest in the series, which are all futuristic re-tellings of fairytales – although it will be a while before I buy any new books!

Book #26 – Agent Jack

Prompt – The First book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed.

Medium – Book

About the Book – The true story of a MI5 agent who worked with Fifth Columnists during WW2, Robert Hutton tells the story of Eric Roberts, code-named Agent Jack. Roberts operated within England during the Second World War, locating those living in Britain who were loyal to Hitler and Nazism. He was extremely clever in the way that he did this, persuading the ‘agents’ to pass him information as a ‘Gestapo officer’, so that MI5 knew the identities of these people. He also discouraged them from acts of sabotage and from going to other places (such as embassies) where they could pass the information that they had gathered to sources where it might reach Germany. Roberts was a skilful and masterful operator, who demonstrates all the values that you would expect from a secret agent – although at the beginning of the war, MI5 had to approach his boss at the local bank to see whether he could be released for war work!

My Rating – 6.5/10. This book was a really interesting one, and I enjoyed reading it. I particularly liked that it referenced some of the other books I have read around this subject, such as ‘Double Cross’ by Ben Macintyre and Hitler’s British Traitors by Tim Tate. In order of preference, I would place this book squarely between the two mentioned above. Of the three, Macintyre’s is my favourite, the most interesting and the most fast-paced. Agent Jack is fast-paced in places, but does have some instances where I found that I was skipping ahead a bit. I liked the evident richness of the research that Hutton had used for the book – Roberts’s own notes were particularly illuminating.

I enjoyed the ways in which the author portrayed and introduced the main characters – the master spy Roberts, the aristocratic and intelligent Victor Rothschild, his assistant and scientist Tess Clay, and all of the Nazi ‘spies’ who ended up actually working for, rather than against, the British. I particularly enjoyed the irony of the anti-Semitic spies working for Rothschild, the most high-ranking and successful Jew in the country at the time. As a history book, there was plenty of information available and I read the book in a quite short amount of time. I did find, however, that there was relatively little new information being given to me, as I had already read a couple of other books on the subject.

Would I read the book again? Probably not, to be honest. This book will go on the charity shop pile for when they re-open again!

Book #25 – The Cruel Prince

Prompt – A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name.

Medium – Audiobook

About the book – Written by Holly Black, the book tells the story of Jude Duarte and her sisters Vivi and Taryn. As young children, their parents are killed by their adoptive father, Madoc, and taken to the magical realm of Faerie. Jude and Taryn, who are human (Vivi is the true-blood daughter of Madoc and so, a fae), must fight prejudice and hatred from the faeries, which they do in two ways – Taryn tries her hardest to fit in, whilst Jude uses her fighting knowledge to try and demonstrate that she is as good as a fae. Jude attracts the ire of the sixth son of the High King of Elfhame, the Prince Carden, who is the ‘cruel prince’ of the title. She must try and find her own way within Faerie, whilst gaining power in any way that she can.

My Rating – 7/10. This book had a fully immersive story line and lots of interesting world-building, which I really enjoyed. The realm of Faerie was really well described and I enjoyed the trips that the main characters made back to the mortal world as a demonstration of the differences between the two worlds. The story was good, and I really enjoyed the twists at the middle and the end – they were both ones that I had not seen coming and I was impressed by how author managed to keep us guessing right until the end of the book. There was quite a bit of violence in the book, but it was well approached and was necessary for the story line of the rest of the book.

I think the main reason that this book isn’t scoring higher is that I did not find the main characters particularly likeable. Carden is cruel (see title!), Taryn is a bit of a wimp, Locke is manipulative, and Jude, whilst strong-willed and intelligent, isn’t particularly good or kind. The only character I did like was Vivi, Jude’s elder sister. I know that this was probably what the author was going for – a twist in the genre of YA Fantasy fiction where you don’t have a ‘hero’ or a pure and virtuous main character – but I did find the lack of sympathy that the main character produced a little jarring. Nevertheless, I got through the audiobook in a couple of days and enjoyed hearing about the intrigues of the Faerie Court. There are two sequels to the book, which I am looking forward to listening to!

Would I listen to it again? Not for a while, but I am looking forward to listening to the next book in the series (The Wicked King).

Book #24 – The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerising Girl

Prompt – A book with a main character in their 20s

Medium – Book

About the Book – The sequel to ‘European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman’, Theodora Goss presents the next adventures of the Athena Club. Mary, Justine, Diana, Catherine and Beatrice return as they receive a message that their kitchen maid, Alice, and Sherlock Holmes (Mary’s employer and love interest in this story) have been kidnapped. It soon becomes clear that Alice is the daughter of Helen Raymond, a powerful mesmerist, who wants to combine their powers to take the throne of England for a Eugenicist/nationalist group. However, there is a separate plan between some of our female villains which is even more concerning.

My Rating – 9.5/10. I so enjoyed the second book in this series, I decided to move straight on and read the next book. I’m so glad I did! The story in this third book follows on from the one that is found in the second book, and includes a lot of the themes found in the last book. The book includes two main story lines – the actions of the members of the Athena Club in trying to find their missing friends, and the story around Alice, who is trying to escape her captivity, find out what is going on and help Holmes as well. The two story lines converge a few times, bring the main points of action in the book. One of the key points I really enjoyed in the book was the ‘mis-step’ the author uses with the villains. At the beginning of the book, seven powerful men gather – including Professor Moriarty, Dr Seward and Sebastian Moran. However, fairly soon, these men are out-thought by their female accomplices, Margaret Trelawney and Helen Raymond, who raise the Egyptian Queen Tera to be the ruler of the British Empire.

I really enjoyed the main characters, including the inclusion of Alice as a main player in the book (she turns out to be a mesmerist – kind of a more powerful illusionist). She is an extremely clever and very measured character who manages to double-cross her captors who think she is more sympathetic to them than she is. The author also explores the complex relationship between her and her ‘new’ mother, after she has lived most of her life as an orphan. Another part of the book I enjoyed was the burgeoning relationship between Mary Jekyll and Sherlock Holmes – it wasn’t too overplayed (both the characters are quite restrained and not to lovey-dovey), and just felt very natural. The only reason I have marked this book down by half a point is because the author has definitely drawn a line under the series and there isn’t really the chance of any sequels. I just think that is a bit of a shame, as I would have liked to see how the Athena Club develops, as well as seeing the other cases that the club is involved in.

Would I read it again? Definitely, like the first two it is staying on my shelves!

Book #23 – The Bronze Horseman

Prompt – A book with gold, silver or bronze in the title.

Medium – Audiobook (full disclosure, I listened to 23/30 hours of the book – see below!)

About the Book – The first in a trilogy of books, this book by Paullina Simons is set in WW2 Russia, commencing at the start of 1941 and the German aggression towards the USSR. The story follows Tatiana, a seventeen-year-old who lives in a communal living facility with her family, and Alexander, a lieutenant in the Red Army. Tatiana and Alexander meet one day at a bus stop in Leningrad whilst she is out to get food for her family, and this starts a series of events which involve her family, as the war progresses and the situation in Leningrad gets more and more grim.

My Rating – 2/10. Unpopular opinion coming up! I picked this book because it was one which had 4.3 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon, so I thought it was a fairly safe bet for a good book. However, 23 out of 30 hours in to the audiobook, I gave up. If you like really romantic books, you may get on better with this than I did, but I just found it too mushy and sentimental. Also, let’s just talk about the problematic love interest. Alexander Belov is, I reckon, one of the most nasty pieces of work I have ever read about. He is very tall, manly and strong but on the first day of meeting Tatiana, he basically stalks her across Leningrad so he can find out where she lives. Early in the book, we find he is in a relationship with Tatiana’s sister, and he seems to have no issue with cheating on her with her 17-year-old sister (Tatiana). He is possessive and jealous, showing signs of emotional abuse as he treats her terribly if she wants to help other people or even talks to members of the opposite sex. He seems obsessed by the idea of taking her ‘first kiss’ or her virginity. He often speaks violently towards her, and although he saves her from a number of circumstances, his infantilisation of her (at one point, he refers to her as his ‘child bride’) is just a bit creepy.

The other things that turned me off this book were the copious, repetitive sex scenes. Seriously… the amount of detail that the author went into, it was almost like she was writing a sex guide. The main characters seemed to be having sex about five or six times a day – by the end I just found myself wondering whether they just didn’t have anything better to do (answer – seems not). Tatiana, whilst not as unlikeable as Alexander, was deeply irritating in places – she was constantly seeking his approval, couldn’t work out what she wanted and then followed Alexander around like a puppy. She is convinced she is going to follow him into war and does so – I spent that part of the book shouting at her that he just wasn’t worth it! In the end, I just had to give up at 23 hours. I was fed up of the teenage angst, the borderline domestic abuse and the constant sex.

Would I read it again? NO! I have already returned it to audible!

Book #22 – European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman

Prompt – A book that passes the Bechdel Test (a book must feature at least two women, they must talk to each other and their conversation must be about something other than a man).

Medium – Book

About the Book – The second in a trilogy of books by Theodora Goss, ‘European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman’ continues the story of the Athena Club, a group of women who are the product of grievous experiments carried out by their fathers, who are all members of the Society Alchemists. The club comprises of Mary Jekyll (the main character), who is the daughter of Dr Jekyll, her sister Diana Hyde (who shows all the character traits and flaws of the dark side of her father), Beatrice Rappaccini (who has been made poisonous), Justine Frankenstein and Catherine Moreau (the cat-woman). The Athena Club are summoned by Mina Murray, Mary’s ex-governess, to rescue the imprisoned Lucinda Van Helsing from experiments carried out on her by her father. Throughout the book, they are aided by other literary heroes, such as Holmes and Watson, Irene Adler, Count Dracula and others.

My Rating – 10/10. I enjoyed everything about this book. I read the first one just before Christmas, and loved the way that the story line included characters from a range of 18th and 19th Century stories. These characters are brought up-to-date with a real focus on the female characters being strong, independent and resourceful, that despite their being ‘created’ by the whims of men, they do not have to be subject to their fathers’ expectations for them. The male characters who are allied with the Athena Club (i.e. Holmes and Watson, Count Dracula) are likeable and don’t try and stop the female characters from solving cases or working on their own mysteries.

This book was a big one – 700 pages – but I was intrigued and enjoyed myself throughout. The modern themes together with the Victorian setting of the story meant that the book both indulged my feminist beliefs alongside my love of anything pre-20th century. The book is also funny, a welcome relief from both work and the audiobook that I am listening to at the moment (which will be either book 23 or 24 on the Reading Challenge)! I also found the mystery one which didn’t get old – I didn’t know what was going to happen and the twist at the end of the book came out of the blue. I also really like the writing style – where the author (Catherine) is interrupted in her telling of the story by the other members of the Athena Club disagreeing with her writing, having arguments or adding more to the story.

Would I read it again? Yes, definitely. I really love these books and they will stay on my shelves for years! I am slightly cheating on the reading challenge as I have picked out my next book already – unsurprisingly, I am going to be continuing with the series. I want to find out how the twist resolves…