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All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue
Caroline O’Donoghue’s foray into YA will definitely appeal to fans of the genre. Although I do have a few criticisms I can safely say that I found All Our Hidden Gifts to be an entertaining read. Set in Ireland, our narrator and protagonist is sixteen-year old Maeve Chambers, the youngest in a big family. She…
1st pov, 3 STARS, all girls school, All Our Hidden Gifts, Caroline O’Donoghue, coming of age, Contemporary, cults, curses, Dreams, FANTASY, female authors, FOLKLORE, gender identity, IRELAND, IRISH AUTHOR, lgbtq+ side, MAGIC, missing girls, missing persons, PARANORMAL, published in 2021, queer side characters, read in 2020, ROMANCE, social issues, tarots, WITCHES, YOUNG ADULT -
The Searcher by Tana French
“He doesn’t like the feeling, or the fact that he recognises it and understands it perfectly; it’s as familiar to him as hunger or thirst. Cal never could stand to leave a case unresolved.” If I’d read The Searcher without knowing the author’s identity, I’d never have guessed that it was a novel by…
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The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
“We all lived in an unwalled city, that was it. I saw lines scored across the map of Ireland; carved all over the globe. Train tracks, roads, shipping channels, a web of human traffic that connected all all nations into one great suffer body.” This is the third novel I’ve read by Emma Donoghue…
1910s, 1918 influenza, 1st pov, 20th century, abuse, Adult, Dublin, Emma Donoghue, f/f, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, HOSPITAL, illness, IRELAND, IRISH AUTHOR, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, mental health, motherhood, netgalley, no quotations marks, Poverty, pregnancy, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, sapphic, SEXUALITY, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, The Pull of the Stars, tragedy, trauma, war, war related ptsd, wwi -
Scenes of a Graphic Nature by Caroline O’Donoghue — book review
“That’s what it comes down to, I suppose. I was obsessed with what I was, because I had no idea who I was.” Scenes of a Graphic Nature is a thought-provoking and engrossing novel that is far darker than its brightly coloured cover suggests. After reading and being captivated by Caroline O’Donoghue’s debut novel, Promising…
1st pov, 3.5 STARS, abuse, Adult, ALIENATION, arc, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Caroline O’Donoghue, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, creepy setting, cultural dissonance, england, f/f, fathers & daughters, female authors, film industry, films, identity, illness, IRELAND, IRISH AUTHOR, ISLAND, LESBIAN, lgbtq+, loneliness, mental health, MYSTERY, netgalley, queer, read in 2020, sapphic, Scenes of a Graphic Nature, sex, social issues, unrequited love, village -
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan — book review
“I felt I had hitherto woefully misdirected my energies in attempting to cultivate a personality. If you didn’t have one then that left more room for everyone else’s.” With so many professional reviewers hailing Exciting Times as one of the best debut novels of 2020, praising Naoise Dolan for her wit and her razor-sharp social…
1st pov, 2.5 STARS, ALIENATION, ambiguous protagonist, BISEXUAL/PANSEXUAL, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, cheating, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, Dublin, Exciting Times, existentialism, f/f, female authors, hong kong, Hyped new releases, introspective, IRELAND, IRISH AUTHOR, language, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, millennial, mumblecore, Naoise Dolan, navel gazing, Neurodiversity, published in 2020, queer, read in 2020, reading, REVIEWS, ROMANCE, sapphic, teachers -
Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent
The opening lines of this novel are wonderfully theatrical: “All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in a coffin.” Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent is a gleefully dark novel, filled with mean, selfish, and cruel individuals. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Nugent’s latest…
1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 20th century, 3 STARS, addiction, Adult, affairs, BOOK REVIEW, Booklr, brothers, Contemporary, domestic thriller, drama, Dublin, family, female authors, growing up, HISTORICAL FICTION, illness, IRELAND, IRISH AUTHOR, LIZ NUGENT, MELODRAMA, mental health, MYSTERY, netgalley, Our Little Cruelties, psychological, Psychological thriller, published in 2020, read in 2020, REVIEW, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SUSPENSE, THRILLER, unreliable narrators -
The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
At first I was intrigued by the prologue featuring young Garda Cormac Reilly who—after answering a call out—is faced with his first dead body and two neglected children. The rest of the book, which is set years later and follows a newly transferred to Galway Reilly, was markedly less engaging. Maybe readers who haven’t read…
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Normal People by Sally Rooney
Review of Normal People by Sally Rooney ★★✰✰✰ 2 of 5 stars If you believe that characters who dislike themselves, shrug a lot and say “I don’t know” a lot, are very deep and realistic, well this is the perfect read for you. If you are thinking about reading this novel, I suggest you listen…
2 STARS, 2010s, abuse, academia, Adult, ALIENATION, cold tone, coming of age, Contemporary, contemporary malaise, Dublin, IRELAND, IRISH AUTHOR, LITERARY FICTION, navel gazing, no quotations marks, Normal People, published in 2018, read in 2018, ROMANCE, Sally Rooney, UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE, why the hype, will they won't they -
Making It Up As I Go Along by Marian Keyes
In this collection of articles and diary entries, Marian Keyes provides readers with plenty of fun. She writes in a way that is always genuinely relatable; her observations, accounts, ramblings, are witty and heartfelt. It isn’t easy to be consistently funny, but I found myself always smiling, giggling and laughing out loud, while reading Making…
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Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent
I won’t deny that –initially– there is an underlying tension that renders some portions of the story to be gripping. The first opening lines propel us into what promises – and fails – to be an intriguing mystery. My main reservation about this novel is that it switches tones too often: there is an unbalanced…
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