allmyprettybooks-new

Earlier this year, I discovered the unexpected delight of Alix. E. Harrow’s Ten Thousand Doors of January (I muse upon that excellent title in the review post), so when I learned that this excellent word-mistress had another novel in progress, I was very excited to read it!Thanks to Netgalley, I was able to read a digital ARC of The Once and Future Witches , which I consider to be a glorious feminist approach to Witchcraft in literary form. The plot revolves around three sisters: James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna, who have - at different times in their lives - escaped their abusive father and drifted to the town of New Salem. Though at first, none of them are aware of their other sisters’ presence. An ominous magical occurrence draws them together, though at first the bond between them is frayed. Remembrance of their grandmother’s tales Witchcraft and the poetry of spells help fortify them - and their allies - against the oppressive dangers of the patriarchy and t...

Having read and loved Stuart Turton's debut, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle , I was very excited to be able to read and review The Devil and the Dark Water. I knew from the start that this would be a very different story. Set in the 1600's, the plot follows "Problematory" Samuel Pipps, who has been imprisoned for a crime he may or may not have committed, aboard a ship setting sail from Batavia to Europe. He is accompanied by his bodyguard, Arent; there are similarities between these two and Holmes/Watson, though there are MANY more differences, which makes these characters uniquely compelling. As they board the ship, the crew and passengers behold a demonic premonition of the problems which will besiege the ship in the coming weeks, and the promise of a terror which may (or may not) be supernatural. The duo are assisted in their investigations by a feisty female heroine and her teenage daughter, while blighted by other passengers and select persons from the cr...

I was really pleased to discover that Claire North had written a new title. Everything of hers I've read so far has been insightful, intelligent and hugely enjoyable. Sweet Harmony is no exception: though a shorter novella than her standard books, it packs a punch in its exploration of human nature through a slightly dystopian setting in the near future. The plot centers around Harmony: a young woman dissatisfied with her appearance and her life, who chooses to seek assistance from"nanos": a new technology to physically aid and enhance our bodies. The plot shifts between the recent past and the present, in which Harmony is in debt, and unable to continue payments for her nano packages. We learn how Harmony found herself in this situation: her dissatisfaction that her "plain" physical appearance proved a barrier to her career; the abusive relationship which led to a breakdown... It reads like an episode of the TV series, Black Mirror, in which every word and sent...

'Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices... Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?' The Midnight Library is the life-affirming, feel-good book you didn't know you needed! Usually books of this type are not on my reading list, but the title, fantastic premise and beautiful cover were enough to persuade me to give this book a chance. Pleasantly surprised I was indeed to realise that I rather enjoyed it, being the type of story with simple yet reassuring prose which feels like a warm hug. It became a treat to read over a few evenings with a warm drink before bed, leaning in to the exploits of protagonist Nora while making mental parallels if her life-choice regrets with my own. If Matt Haig had hoped to help readers feel that "yes, life's actua...

Having just finished reading The Betrayals, I feel as though in a daze. It was such a wonderful, well-crafted and brilliant tale of "alternate" historical fiction which I couldn't put down.  The setting is that of a boarding school, presumably in an alternate reality of 1930's England, where for the first time a female has been appointed Magister Ludi where previously only men have been allowed to study the Grand Jeu - a spiritual game combining philosophy, mathematics, music and literature. There are flashbacks to a decade previous, where the schools' two brightest students, initially rivals, slowly begin to form an allegiance. Yet there is tragedy, in more forms than one, which change the course of their lives forever, and the ghostly voice of a little girl who haunts the halls.  There's so much to enjoy in this finely-tuned novel: politics, religious persecution, the role of women in society, the meaning of friendship and love, and above all, betrayals. I ...

A brief synopsis from the Goodreads page: Fourteen years ago, the police caged a notorious serial killer who abducted and butchered two victims every February. He was safe behind bars. Wasn't he? But then another body is discovered, and soon enough, the race is on to catch the real killer. Neuropsychologist Kyra Sullivan fights to use a new technology that accesses the minds of the witnesses, working with the police to uncover the truth. Will Kyra discover the person behind the murders, and if so, at what cost? And how far will she go to ensure justice is served? Much of the marketing describes Witness X as “Silence of the Lambs meets Blade Runner”, and while I agree should this excellent novel be translated to film, that is indeed how I would expect it to present. However, in it’s written form, I found that description rather misleading. Perhaps that is because this literary style is unlike anything else I’ve previously read..? The setting is in the near future, where the brilli...

From the blurb: Feminism’s success is down to complicated, contradictory, imperfect women, who fought each other as well as fighting for equal rights. Helen Lewis argues that too many of these pioneers have been whitewashed or forgotten in our modern search for feel-good, inspirational heroines. It’s time to reclaim the history of feminism as a history of difficult women. Difficult Women is an insightful and thoroughly entertaining book charting the history of feminism through the stories of (so-called) difficult women. It does not shy from character flaws: rather than paint these women as unblemished heroines it properly explains their behaviour and motivations, even when their actions may not today be seen as morally right or politically correct. I appreciated Lewis’ personal insights and bias: as a British feminist, she focused primarily on British history and events, and was unafraid to detail aspects of her own personal life which shaped the narratives within. Recommended for all ...

Here’s a brief description from the publisher: She sleeps, a pale girl in a white room . . .  Three years ago, Gabe saw his daughter taken. In the back of a rusty old car, covered in bumper stickers. He was driving behind the car. He watched her disappear. But no one believes him. Most people believe that his daughter, and wife, are dead. For a while, people believed that Gabe was responsible.  Three years later and Gabe cannot give up hope. Even though he has given up everything else. His home, his job, his old life. He spends his days and nights travelling up and down the motorway, sleeping in his camper van in service stations, searching for the car that took her. Searching for his daughter.    This book had me on the edge of my seat! Had I been able to read in a single session, I most certainly would have done. To make things more interesting, the novel is set on a stretch of motorway I am deeply familiar with. The opening pages created an immense tension and ...

From the blurb, as I really don’t want to give much away about this magical story: Natasha Pulley returns grateful readers to the singular universe of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street in this bewitching sequel set in a gloriously gothic Japan. Bizarre hauntings and electrical storms blight a Tokyo mired in mystery and mayhem, as The Lost Future of Pepperharrow dazzles and beguiles with fast-paced plotting and quirky characterisation. I was thrilled to be offered this as an ARC from the publishers. It has been a long time since I read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (the prequel to this novel), but the story soon came rushing back to me. The deepening of the relationship between the central characters was very much appreciated, particularly with the addition of Six, the young girl adopted by our favourite couple, who is most likely autistic and having to deal with her differences in a world which truly does not understand her. I would recommend reading The Watchmaker of Filigree Stre...

The Starless Sea is a book I have been looking forward to since finishing those final few pages of The Night Circus, Morgenstern’s magical debut novel.  I was lucky to be able to purchase a special edition from Waterstones with sprayed edges (which I’ve not yet photographed to my satisfaction) which isn’t the edition pictured here, though I think I may prefer the above presentation to the English hardcover edition… The Starless Sea is a book featuring a different type of magic to The Night Circus. To me, it seems a love letter to bibliophiles and storytellers, with more references than I could possibly catalogue (and probably a few I missed!).  Here’s a brief synopsis from the Goodreads page: Far beneath the surface of the earth, upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories. The entryways that lead to this sanctuary are often hidden, sometimes on forest floors, sometimes in private homes, sometimes in plain si...

Although I’ve seen the Studio Ghibli animated movie more times than I can count, I regret not having previously read the novel on which it is based. Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads: In the land of Ingary, where seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, Sophie Hatter attracts the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste, who puts a curse on her. Determined to make the best of things, Sophie travels to the one place where she might get help - the moving castle which hovers on the nearby hills. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the hearts of young girls… I really rather enjoyed this short novel, and there are many differences between this and the animated feature film. Most importantly, we discover where the Wizard Howl originated from, and much more detail as to why The Witch of the Waste hopes to defeat him. In my opinion, the book is more magical, and though undoubtedly I imagined the characters in...

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar Reviewed by Amanda Kennedy on March 24th, 2018 The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock is Hermes Gowar's debut novel, an exquisite, slow-burning story of historical romance set in the late 18th century. Don't be deceived by the title: this is not steeped in magical realism as you may imagine (this theme comes into play very late in the novel, and is executed with deliberate care). Instead, The Mermaid follows the changing lives of characters linked by circumstance and encounters, with the main focus falling upon a defiant courtesan and a widowed merchant, with the legendary titled creature forming the crux of the bond which forms between them. This novel has been highly publicised here in the UK, and has been marketed in the same manner as The Miniaturist and The Essex Serpent. With good reason, I might add. Readers who enjoyed those novels would be well advised to pick this up! I was lucky to secure myself a copy of Waterstones...

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton Reviewed by Amanda Kennedy on 7th March, 2018 This could well be the best book I'll read all year. It is truly a novel which I wish I could go back and revisit all over again with no knowledge of having read it before. And yet, I will read it all over again anyway, having devoured this elegant tome at breakneck speed because I simply could not put it down! Described as Gosford Park meets Inception via Agatha Christie with a dash of Quantum Leap, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a genre-bending masterpiece. At a party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle is welcomed home from her lengthy stay in Paris. But before the night is over, she will be murdered. Again. And again. And again... As she has been murdered every night, hundreds of times over. Aiden Bishop is also doomed to repeat this day, over and over, each time inhabiting the body of a different host as he puzzles to solve the brutal crime. He has only ei...

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale Reviewed by Amanda Kennedy on February 28th, 2018 The Toymakers is a rare and magical piece of literature, one which I feel blessed for having discovered and read. Though I had been approved to review the title on Netgalley, I decided I ought to purchase the beautiful hardcover edition as no doubt this will be a novel read several times, particularly in the run up to Christmas, during which time much of the story is set. The Emporium opens with the first frost of winter. It is the same every year. Across the city, when children wake to see ferns of white stretched across their windows, or walk to school to hear ice crackling underfoot, the whispers begin: the Emporium is open! The novel begins with Kathy's story: she is a 16 year old girl, who - having fallen pregnant - is faced with the decision to give up her child or run away to start a new life in London. She discovers a newspaper ad asking "Are you lost? Are you afraid...?" It p...

The Last Days of Jack Sparks by Jason Arnopp Reviewed by Amanda Kennedy on August 21st, 2017 Published by Orbit Jack Sparks died while writing this book. This is the account of his final days. A rebel in the writing world, Jack Sparks is controversial, unrelenting, and an atheist. Despite his infamous drug habit, everyone was shocked when he died while writing and researching his latest novel, Jack Sparks on the Supernatural, though believers will be forgiven for feeling it was deserved after he laughed during an exorcism in Italy and mocked the event on social media... Then there was that mysterious video on Youtube, those forty seconds of "found footage" he claimed to know nothing about. Many considered this to be the most convincing evidence of the supernatural yet, which is odd considering this was something Jack had hoped to debunk. The novel tells the story of the final forty days of Jack Sparks, beginning with the exorcism and ultimately ending with his (untimely? fate...

The Bedlam Stacks  by Natasha Pulley Published by Bloomsbury Reviewed by Amanda Kennedy on 1st June, 2017 In 1859, ex-East India Company smuggler Merrick Tremayne is trapped at home in Cornwall after sustaining an injury that almost cost him his leg. On the sprawling, crumbling grounds of the old house, something is wrong; a statue moves, his grandfather's pines explode, and his brother accuses him of madness. Thus begins Merrick's expedition to Peru in search of quinine. Despite knowing that every previous attempt has resulted in death, he yearns to escape his English home and discover some truth about the tales of his father and grandfather concerning the fairy-tales he'd heard as a child. The further he explores, the more mysterious and magical the environment becomes. Until he meets Raphael, who claimed to have known his grandfather. How can that be when Raphael appears so young, and with Merrick's grandfather so long departed from this life? The Bedlam Stacks is th...

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Reviewed by Amanda Kennedy on May 1st, 2017 Published by Crown Publishers In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the  OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. Generally speaking, I avoid science-fiction novels. Not that I have any particular aversion to the genre; it's just not really my thing . However, RPO was highly recommended by by book group. I...

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Reviewed by Amanda Kennedy on April 1st, 2017 Published by Penguin “After all, what can a first impression tell us about someone we’ve just met for a minute in the lobby of a hotel? For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone? Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli. By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration—and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour.” The year is 1922 and there are no longer ruling classes in Moscow. Only Comrades. Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov has been sentenced to House arrest at the famed Moscow Hotel Metropol. Once of the landed elite, he is forced to shun his former privilege to spend the remainder of his days in a tiny box room in the serva...

The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova Reviewed by Amanda Kennedy on 15th February, 2017 Years after the loss of her older brother, Jack, Alexandra Boyd travels to Bulgaria to teach English in homage to her beloved sibling. Soon after arriving in the elegant capital, Sophia, Alexandra stops to help an elderly woman and her companions, only to find one of the party's bags has been mixed up with her own. This is not ordinary luggage: she discovers an ornately carved wooden box engraved with a name: Stoyan Lazarov and realises this is a treasured funeral urn. Alexandra sets out to reunite the urn with the family, and finds an unusual companion in her taxi driver, Bobby, whose Bulgarian name she is unable to pronounce. This is not so simple a task as she first hopes: Alexandra and Bobby unwittingly travel the country in search of the Lazarov family, learning long the way of Stovan's life as a musician and as a member of a communist labour camp; the brutality of political disse...

One of Us is Ling by Karen McManus Reviewed by Amanda Kennedy on March 1st, 2017 Published by Delacorte Press We're just entering the second quarter of 2017 and I already know that One of Us is Lying will become a standout book of the year. Described as a cross between The Breakfast Club and Pretty Little Liars , this YA thriller focuses on a group of 5 high school students, strangers to each other at the start of the narrative, attending an after-school detention. By the end, these students know each other much more intimately... But only four of them emerge from the detention alive. I loved this book from start to finish. The characters were so well fleshed out, their narratives believable, though of course with so many twists and turns we cannot fathom the big reveal until it is presented to us. And what a twist it was! I have read many mystery/thriller stories, though can honestly say One of us is Lying  really kept me guessing! Make sure you read this book, no matter what you...