The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths (Review)

The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths

Blurb

In the next Ruth Galloway mystery, a vision of the Virgin Mary foreshadows a string of cold-blooded murders, revealing a dark current of religious fanaticism in an old medieval town.

Known as England’s Nazareth, the medieval town of Little Walsingham is famous for religious apparitions. So when Ruth Galloway’s druid friend Cathbad sees a woman in a white dress and a dark blue cloak standing alone in the local cemetery one night, he takes her as a vision of the Virgin Mary. But then a woman wrapped in blue cloth is found dead the next day, and Ruth’s old friend Hilary, an Anglican priest, receives a series of hateful, threatening letters. Could these crimes be connected? When one of Hilary’s fellow female priests is murdered just before Little Walsingham’s annual Good Friday Passion Play, Ruth, Cathbad, and DCI Harry Nelson must team up to find the killer before he strikes again.

Review

I love a Dr Ruth Galloway book and have now only one left to read from the series. Thankfully, this book did not disappoint and as usual I could not put this book down.

I’ve always loved Tudor history and I have seen so many references to pilgrimages to Walsingham so it was really fun to read a modern day book set around this place which has always been such a special place. There wasn’t really the archaeological link that most of the books from the series have but Griffiths came up with a very clever reason for Ruth being involved in these murder investigations and of course helping Nelson.

The shrines to the Virgin Mary at Walsingham are not the ideal place for Ruth who is an atheist and really not comfortable with anything Christian based due to her upbringing but because of an old university friend Ruth ends up in Walsingham quite a lot.

Hilary is Ruth’s old friend and she is receiving some rather nasty letters because she is a female priest. Due to Ruth’s past working with the police, Hilary decides to ask Ruth for advice but the situation soon escalates from threatening letters when one of Hilary’s fellow female priests is murdered. I really liked Hilary and it was nice to meet one of Ruth’s friends from her past. I like it when we meet Ruth’s friends from her past because it is quite clear that Ruth is not great at keeping in contact with people but I also love seeing how surprised she is when these people have changed. It makes me wonder whether Ruth thinks that she hasn’t changed at all and so always feels surprised when she sees others have. Ruth obviously has changed because we see it happening through the series.

There was one big inaccuracy in the book which annoyed me slightly. Ruth and Hilary are at the shrines where the monks used to live and they are judging the monks because of all the oyster shells you can see in the garden. Considering Ruth is an archaeologist and Hilary is also a trained archaeologist surely they know that in the monks’ time oysters were a poor man’s food. Yes, there was a lot of money in the church and some monks did live rather well but you can’t judge them for living well and privileged lives on the basis of oyster shells.

I was pleased that my favourite Cathbad was in this book more as I missed him in the previous book. He is such a good character who always brings a smile to my face.

I flew through this book and give it a big 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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About the author

Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway novels take for their inspiration Elly’s husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt who lives on the Norfolk coast and who filled her niece’s head with the myths and legends of that area. Elly has two children and lives near Brighton.

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Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty (Review)

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty

Blurb

Yvonne Carmichael has worked hard to achieve the life she always wanted: a high-flying career in genetics, a beautiful home, a good relationship with her husband and their two grown-up children.

Then one day she meets a stranger at the Houses of Parliament and, on impulse, begins a passionate affair with him – a decision that will put everything she values at risk.

At first she believes she can keep the relationship separate from the rest of her life, but she can’t control what happens next. All of her careful plans spiral into greater deceit and, eventually, a life-changing act of violence.

Apple Tree Yard is a psychological thriller about one woman’s adultery and an insightful examination of the values we live by and the choices we make, from an acclaimed writer at the height of her powers.

Review

This is another book that has been sat upstairs on an untouched bookshelf for about seven years. This was another book that I bought because of the all the hype at the time that surrounded it.

I will be honest this is probably the worst book I have read in 2024 so far as I just really did not get along with it. I nearly gave up with it several times but I persevered because as per usual I always try and give a book a second chance. However, the book was brilliantly written and very cleverly worked out. Doughty really knew how to feed the reader just enough information to keep them hooked to the story and I enjoyed her writing style.

My biggest problem with this book was that I just could not stand the main character. Yvonne is a successful and very intelligent woman with a successful career as a scientist but I found her extremely dumb at times and very frustrating. There were so many times I wanted her to grow a spine and actually do something especially in her home life and with her husband. I also found her very gullible and quite frankly unbelievable.

I found the scenes in the courtroom fascinating and very well researched. As someone who has done jury duty I really appreciated the detail that was included in these scenes. It was obvious what was going to happen but still really good to read about.

I found this book so frustrating because it was well researched and cleverly written but the main character was just too implausible for me to believe in. I give this book 2 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Louise Doughty is the author of ten novels, most recently A Bird in Winter, published by Faber & Faber UK Ltd in August of last year. Her previous books include Platform Seven, filmed for ITVX and broadcast on 7th December 2023; Black Water, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; the bestseller Apple Tree Yard, adapted for BBC One; and Whatever You Love, nominated for the Costa Novel Award and the Women’s Prize for fiction. She has been nominated for many other prizes including the Sunday Times Short Story Prize and the CWA Silver Dagger, along with creating and writing the hit BBC drama Crossfire. Her work has been translated into thirty languages.

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A Place Like Home by Rosamunde Pilcher (Review)

A Place Like Home by Rosamunde Pilcher

Blurb

A Place Like Home is a spellbinding collection of short stories by internationally bestselling author Rosamunde Pilcher, never before published in book form. The collection contains fifteen stories, which range from “Our Holiday”, in which a wife surprises her husband of twenty-five years with a holiday full of Mediterranean sunshine, red rocks and blue seas in an effort to rekindle the romance they had before children; “Through the Eyes of Love”, which takes the reader to a village by the sea where old flames meet again; and “A Place Like Home”, where a lonely young woman goes to recuperate in the Scottish countryside after a brief illness. The fruit orchards and fresh sea air offer much needed respite–but not as much as the handsome, mysterious farmer she meets.

Each unforgettable story is the perfect slice of romance written with warmth and passion featuring wonderfully memorable, smart, and feisty female characters that will transport the reader to another time and place.

Review

People who have been following my blog for some time know that one of my favourite authors is Pilcher. I absolutely adore her full length novels but I do struggle with some of her short stories. I find Pilcher’s strength as an author was in the epic novel where she had the freedom to create such powerful female characters that were strong and in control of their own futures.

This set of fifteen short stories has been sat on my kindle since last year as it was a holiday read that I never got around to reading. These stories all focus around marriage and courtship and quite a few strong female characters. Each story is beautifully written and has Pilcher’s wonderful charm about it but I did find them all rather similar and could guarantee what the ending would be of each story after finishing the third story.

Whilst there isn’t anything very remarkable about this book of short stories the stories were all enjoyable and a nice read and of course beautifully written. I did find myself wanting to know more about several of the characters and would have loved a full length novel instead of a short story. This was the case for the stories that had the romantic couple as the main characters of the story. The stories which had the romantic interests as side characters were much better suited to the short story format.

This was an enjoyable read and one that was perfectly suited for reading when you have a short space of time but it really lacked the special something that I expect from Pilcher. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Rosamunde Pilcher was born on the 22nd September 1924 in Cornwall. She began writing when she was 7 and published her first short story at the age of 15. From 1943 to 1946 she served with the Women’s Royal Naval Service. In 1946 she married her Graham Hope Pilcher and they moved to Dundee, Scotland together. In 1949 Pilcher’s first novel was published under the pseudonym Jane Fraser, she went on to publish a further ten novels under that name. In 1955 she published her first novel under her own name, by 1965 she had dropped the pseudonym entirely. Pilcher retired from writing in 2000, two years later she received her OBE.

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The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Review)

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Blurb

Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.

Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.

Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…

Review

I have recently been going through some bookshelves in our house that have basically been neglected since we moved into the house seven years ago. Due to this I have discovered a load of books that I had forgotten about and this is one of them. I can’t believe I waited so long because once I started this book I could not put it down.

There were so many twists and turns in this book which really kept me on my toes. This book just kept surprising me and I loved it. I had a few suspicions about who the guilty party was. Some of my early thoughts were way out but I slowly started to work out who it was. The first thing that hooked me in was the prologue to the book. It really set the scene and made me want to know what it all meant. So of course I had to keep reading.

The other element I loved about this book was how it was written. The story is mainly told from Rachel’s point of view but we also have the point of view of other important characters as well and it really added an extra element to the story and threw in a few red herrings. The book is written as diary entries and in Rachel’s case she has a morning and evening entry to go with her train commute.

Rachel is such a tragic character who just needs someone to love her again and care for her. She desperately needs to find meaning and purpose in her life again but she can’t find the way so when she sees something from the train she finds a way to be part of something again and starts to find meaning in life again but the process is not pretty. I felt desperately sorry for Rachel but at times she really did frustrate me. I just really wanted her to succeed and become a better version of herself. Due to Rachel’s problems she doesn’t always remember things very well which adds to the story because the reader is left wondering what actually happened in those blank moments.

I can’t quite believe this is Hawkins’ first thriller novel because it is so accomplished and beautifully written that I would have thought she was a well established thriller writer. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and give it 5 out of 5 Dragons and I can’t wait to read another book by Hawkins.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Paula Hawkins (1972) is a British author best known for her book The Girl on the Train.

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Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (Review)

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Blurb

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders…

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die

Review

I am very late to the party with Fourth Wing but I won’t be making that mistake with the Iron Flame and and the rest of the books from the series. This is definitely one of my favourite reads of 2024. I’m always wary about books that get a lot of social media attention as I’m usually very disappointed in them but thankfully this was not the case with Fourth Wing.

There was never a dull moment with this book and it was full of twists and turns. I also loved the pacing of the book. However, the best thing about this book has got to be that it has dragons in it!

The story resolves around Violet who is the daughter of a formidable general and a scribe. Violet was meant to be a scribe, it was what she had spent years of her life preparing for but then her mother has other ideas and makes her daughter join the Riders Quadrant. Even though it could mean the death of Violet.

During the book we see Violet take on each challenge that a rider faces and the challenges are brutal. It is possibly the scariest school imaginable! The challenges Violet faces aren’t just ones set by the Riders Quadrant, she also faces challenges of fellow cadets trying to kill her and to top it all her body is fragile and can easily be hurt.

I loved how strong Violet was, she never looked too far ahead but faced every challenge or danger head on. She was also a fierce friend to those loyal to her and I loved to see her friendships develop and people to see that she wasn’t weak or a liability but strong and clever. I also loved the humour that came through and the joking around between friends.

Obviously my favourite characters were the dragons and Tairn was just brilliant. I also have a soft spot for Andarna and can’t wait to see what happens with Andarna in the next book. I absolutely loved this book and give it 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and coffee addict. She is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels, including Fourth Wing, The Last Letter and The Things We Leave Unfinished. She’s also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward. Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for over twenty years. A mother of six, she is currently surviving the teenage years with all four of her hockey-playing sons.

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Babylon’s Ashes by James S. A. Corey (Review)

Babylon’s Ashes by James S. A. Corey

Blurb

A revolution brewing for generations has begun in fire. It will end in blood.

The Free Navy – a violent group of Belters in black-market military ships – has crippled the Earth and begun a campaign of piracy and violence among the outer planets. The colony ships heading for the thousand new worlds on the far side of the alien ring gates are easy prey, and no single navy remains strong enough to protect them.

James Holden and his crew know the strengths and weaknesses of this new force better than anyone. Outnumbered and outgunned, the embattled remnants of the old political powers call on the Rocinante for a desperate mission to reach Medina Station at the heart of the gate network.

But the new alliances are as flawed as the old, and the struggle for power has only just begun. As the chaos grows, an alien mystery deepens. Pirate fleets, mutiny and betrayal may be the least of the Rocinante’s problems. And in the uncanny spaces past the ring gates, the choices of a few damaged and desperate people may determine the fate of more than just humanity.

Review

Every time I read the next book in The Expanse series I think it can’t be beaten but yet again I am proven wrong. This book was fantastic and I could not put it down. It was also way better than the corresponding season of the TV show which after reading the book is a massive let down.

The main thing that I absolutely love about this series is that each book is told from several characters’ points of view. You get to see the story from several perspectives and learn about the characters. However, in previous books you have about 4 or 5 perspectives; this book had loads. Yes, we have the usual main characters such as Holden but we get to hear from even minor characters and it works beautifully. Some only have one chapter but it adds so much to the story.

There were quite a few emotional moments in this book for me and in particular one death really upset me as I always liked that character. There was also a really moving moment with Avasarala in this book which made me quite sad but it was so nice to see a different side to this usually super hard character. I found the growing relationships in the book really moving especially the family bonds that grew on the Rocinante.

This book was packed with action and really did not stop moving but at the same time it showed so much of the human struggle for survival. Earth is dying, people are dying on all sides and there is so much fear about what the future holds. The characters are all so real as well even though the setting is pure science fiction.

Amos has always been my favourite character and I was pleased he was on usual fine form in this book. However, my other favourite character in this book was Bobbie. Bobbie was wonderful in the hot seat of the Rocinante and she is definitely a part of the crew and family. I also loved Bobbie’s humour and how she interacted with Amos and Naomi.

This is definitely my favourite book of the series so far and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

James S. A. Corey is the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, George R. R. Martin’s assistant. They both live Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Medusa by Jessie Burton (Review)

Medusa by Jessie Burton

Blurb

If I told you that I’d killed a man with a glance, would you wait to hear the rest? The why, the how, what happened next?

Monster. Man-hater. Murderess. Forget everything you’ve been told about Medusa.

Internationally bestselling author Jessie Burton flips the script in this astonishing retelling of Greek myth, illuminating the woman behind the legend at last.

Exiled to a far-flung island after being abused by powerful Gods, Medusa has little company other than the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. Haunted by the memories of a life before everything was stolen from her, she has no choice but to make peace with her present: Medusa the Monster. But when the charmed and beautiful Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is blown apart, unleashing desire, love… and betrayal.

Adapted from the hardback illustrated by Olivia Lomenech-Gill, this paperback edition is perfect for readers who loved Circe and Ariadne, as Medusa comes alive in a new version of the story that history set in stone long ago.

Review

Medusa has always been a favourite of mine and so I always jump at the chance to read a retelling of her story. My current favourite retelling is Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes and I remember I had just finished reading it when I bought this book. Medusa’s myth is legendary and although very sad and clearly written by men it also shows the strength a woman can have. In her earliest depictions Medusa along with her sisters Stheno and Euryale were all gorgons of monstrous form. Aeschylus described all three as winged and hair of snakes there was no mention of Medusa being a beautiful maiden first. It wasn’t until the Roman period the myth of Medusa that we all know so well really took form.

This was a different take of the Medusa story and I will be honest I did struggle with the change. This is a feminist retelling and the story that we all know so well is completely flipped. I did however really enjoy hearing Medusa’s side of things and I would have loved the book to have been a bit longer so we could have more of that. I really liked how Burton had Medusa working through her trauma during the story. However, I would have also loved to have seen a bit more of Stheno and Euryale and their relationship with Medusa as we only see a little bit of that and the three sisters were such an integral part of each other.

I did feel this book let Perseus off a little bit and made him look better than he is. To me Perseus has always been a spoilt immature boy who is selfish and arrogant (a typical Greek hero who has a god for a father) and who merely saw Medusa as a means to an end. In this book we see another side to him and I’m not sure he deserves it. In this book he is a scared boy who is worried about his mother who has a whole heap of emotions going on and actually shows some bravery in completing his task when in reality he was a coward who creeped up on Medusa while she was sleeping and cut off her head. He used trickery and treachery to get what he wanted through life and he just didn’t deserve to be so well portrayed.

I flew through this book and did enjoy it to a certain degree but I just couldn’t gel with the story flip or the portrayal of Perseus. I also felt like so much of the story was missing. There is so much material to use in Medusa’s story and this just focused too closely to one part. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Jessie Burton studied at Oxford University and the Central School of Speech and Drama, where she appeared in productions of The House of Bernarda Alba, Othello, Play and Macbeth. In April 2013 her first novel, The Miniaturist, was sold at an 11-publisher auction at the London Book Fair, and went on to sell in 29 other countries around the world. It was published by Picador in the UK and Holland in July 2014, and the USA in August 2014, with other translations to follow. Radio 4 commissioned it as their Book at Bedtime in July 2014. Her second book, The Muse, set in a dual time-frame, during the Spanish Civil War and 30 years later in 1960s London, was published in 2016. Jessie’s first novel for children, The Restless Girls, will be published in September 2018.

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Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan (Review)

Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

Blurb

As the Wheel turns, the winds of fate roil across the land, and Rand al’Thor struggles to unite the nations for the Last Battle, when the Dark One will break free into the world, and to spring the snares laid by the immortal Forsaken for unwary humankind.

The White Tower in Tar Valon, under the Amyrlin Elaida, has decided that Rand must be controlled – gentled, if need be – immediately. And in Salidar, among the Aes Sedai in exile, Egwene al’Vere, although summoned to high office, faces the knowledge that her colleagues also wish to bind him.

Drought and summer heat linger into winter, and Nynaeve al’Maera and Elayne, the Daughter-Heir of Andor, begin a desperate search for the fabled ter’angreal that may enable them to bring normal weather – a search that takes them among Whitecloaks bent on exterminating Aes Sedai.

And across half a continent, Perrin Aybara feels Rand’s pull, ta’veren to ta’veren, and for the first time in a thousand years the bowmen of the Two Rivers march to war.

Review

I have finally managed to get past book 5, however I will say this book took me way too long to read! I loved the beginning of this book and the last 300 pages but the middle just moved like treacle for me and not much happened considering the length of the book.

Book 5 of the series seemed to be a little bit obsessed with breasts and braid pulling but this book was obsessed with shapely calves on men with just a hint of women’s neck lines but the neck lines are only judged by other women. Thankfully, the braid pulling was drastically reduced.

The best way to describe this book is an instruction manual of how not to be a female. I’ve never been so annoyed by a group of women in a book before. If they get warned about a danger they go head first into it ignoring all advice and when a man helps them they shout at him rather than admitting they were wrong and saying thank you. Elayne and Nynaeve find new discoveries and suddenly they know everything and are superior to everyone else. Elayne also ignores Mat’s wishes and makes demands that she has no right to. However, seeing how other Aes Sadai behave it is obvious Elayne and Nynaeve will fit right in. Egwene at least has a reasonably level head and remains down to earth.

The really exciting thing for me in this book is Rand. Rand is really taking charge, he has a plan and he will stand no messing from anyone. He stands up for himself and is now realising his potential. I also love the Black Tower taking shape. The other element I loved is Perrin is back! I really missed Perrin in book 5 so I was happy to see him feature a little bit in this book. This is also the first book that I have liked Mat. Mat has grown up and is really coming into his own. In fact I really enjoyed following Rand, Perrin and Mat’s stories in this book. I could have happily missed anything to do with Elayne and Nynaeve.

Overall, this book was much better than book 5 and gave me hope to continue with the series. I blitzed the last 300 pages of this book because it suddenly really started to pick up and I hope the next book will be the same pace. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

James Oliver Rigney Jr. (1948-2007) was an American author of epic fantasy who wrote under the pen name Robert Jordan. Jordan also wrote historical fiction under the name of Reagan O’Neal, a western as Jackson O’Reilly, and dance criticism as Chang Lung.

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Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (Review)

Yellowface by R. F. Huang

Blurb

White lies. Dark humour. Deadly consequences… Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American—in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel.

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese labourers during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.

Review

This is another book that I bought because of the hype I saw on social media and the blogging world but surprisingly it did not disappoint like so many of these hyped books usually do. To be honest I am surprised I decided to read this as I really struggled with Babel but I am so pleased I decided to pick it up and give it a read.

I really enjoyed this book and found it really interesting especially all the information regarding the world of publishing. Yellowface really gets to grips with the world of publishing and the question of authenticity. The book features around June Hayward, a struggling writer who has so far spent her life in the shadow of the author Athena Liu. Athena has everything that June wants, she is a successful author who has sold millions of books and is known worldwide. June has managed to publish one book that barely sold and nobody has heard of. June and Athena do have a form of friendship though and after a night out goes wrong June steals Athena’s latest manuscript and edits it so she can palm it off as her own work.

From the moment June makes that decision to steal and claim Athena’s work as her own she also has to protect herself and constantly keep the lie from being found out. Her publisher rebrands her as Juniper Song and makes her publicity shot seem very ambiguous and all this June allows. June argues her book is a story that needs be told so why can’t she tell it even if it isn’t her past. However, there a lot of people who disagree with this.

There were so many times during this book that I wanted to shake June and tell her to stop digging the hole deeper and deeper and to come clean but it was fascinating to see just how far June would go to be successful, to get out of Athena’s shadow and make a name for herself.

I really liked the character of June and her first person narrative and I loved seeing her character develop, devolve and develop again. This book was superbly written and a joy to read and I give it 4 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Harper Collins | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Rebecca F. Kuang is a Marshall Scholar, translator, and award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy and Babel: An Arcane History, among others. She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.

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The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett (Review)

The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett

Blurb

A shivering of worlds

Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength.

This is a time of endings and beginnings, old friends and new, a blurring of edges and a shifting of power. Now Tiffany stands between the light and the dark, the good and the bad.

As the fairy horde prepares for invasion, Tiffany must summon all the witches to stand with her. To protect the land. Her land.

There will be a reckoning…

Review

I have a confession to make. This book has sat on the top of my TBR since the day it was published but I haven’t been able to bring myself to read it. Terry Pratchett is one of my all time favourite authors and I just couldn’t bring myself to read his last Discworld book knowing there would never be another one. Finally in July I decided it was time and it was so nice to be back in the world of Nac Mac Feegle’s and Tiffany Aching.

I know this book isn’t actually finished but it has a beginning, a middle and an end and I thought it was wonderful. Yes, certain sections are not very well written and some sections clearly need more work but it is also clearly Sir Pratchett’s story and characters.

Tiffany is working hard being the witch of her steading but Jeanie the Kelda of the Nac Mac Feegle’s is worried that Tiffany is overworked and has no life outside of work. But something is brewing, an old enemy is rising and getting stronger and Tiffany must find a way to conquer the enemy and keep her people safe.

One of my all time favourite characters from Discworld is in this book. Nanny Ogg is just the best and of course her cat Greebo. Nanny Ogg is always a character but in this she really showed her caring side and her strength.

We meet a new character in this book called Geoffrey. I really liked Geoffrey and would have loved to have seen him in more books especially with his goat. Geoffrey is an unconventional character and I think that is one of the reasons I like him so much. Geoffrey is a peaceful character who brings peace to everyone around him and sheds. I love how sheds feature in this book!

Reading this book made me so happy but also very sad and I will be honest when I got to the end I had a little cry. This is the last Discworld novel and I didn’t want it to end. I have read every Discworld book and they have got me through some hard times. Whenever I have been stressed or hurting a Discworld book has helped me and I will always go back to them. I give this book a massive 5 out of 5 Dragons.

🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Sir Terence David John Pratchett OBE (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humorist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his Discworld series of 41 novels.