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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 […]
MoreQueen of Coin and Whispers by Helen Corcoran — book review
Queen of Coin and Whispers is a very generic YA fantasy novel. While it is not necessarily badly written, its story, setting, and characters are both forgettable and lacklustre. What initially drew me to Queen of Coin and Whispers was its F/F romance. Once I began reading this book I quickly realised that the queer […]
MoreOur 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 […]
MoreThe 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 […]
MorePromising Young Women by Caroline O’Donoghue — book review
“I was afraid, really, of being the main character in my own life.” Promising Young Women is an intelligent and subversive novel that examines the darker and more twisted aspects of a relationship between a female employee and her boss. There was something about the story and its characters that reminded of Joyce Carol […]
MoreThings in Jars : Book Review
Things in Jars by Jess Kidd ★★★✰✰ 3 stars Throughout Things in Jars Jess Kidd showcases her creativity. This novel imbues its mystery with an intriguing mixture of fantasy and science. Kidd’s main character is a tour de force. Bridie Devine is an experienced detective. Her strength, her resilience, and her sharp-wit, made her […]
MoreNormal 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 […]
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