I read because one life is just not enough for me
Synopsis: AN INTIMATE, STIRRING PORTRAIT OF A COUNTRY AT WAR AND A FAMILY'S BATTLE TO SURVIVE Set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War, The Mountains Sing is the enveloping, multi-generational tale of the Trần family, perfect for fans of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing. Hà Nội, 1972. Hương and her grandmother, Trần Diệu Lan, cling to… Continue reading Review – The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
Synopsis: She doesn’t exist. She can’t exist. ‘A uniquely gothic tale about grief, belonging and hiding in plain sight’ Jess Kidd, author of Things in Jars ’Those who live in the walls must adjust, must twist themselves around in their home, stretching themselves until they’re as thin as air. Not everyone can do what they can. … Continue reading Review – Girl in The Walls by A.J. Gnuse
Synopsis: The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives… Continue reading Review – The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Synopsis: Mercy is hard in a place like this. I wished him dead before I ever saw his face… Mary Rose Whitehead isn’t looking for trouble – but when it shows up at her front door, she finds she can’t turn away. Corinne Shepherd, newly widowed, wants nothing more than to mind her… Continue reading Review – Valentin by Elizabeth Wetmore
Synopsis: TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART. On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home? Their mother, Agnes, is over a… Continue reading Review – Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
Synopsis: A sweeping, uplifting story of how a boy from Brixton and a girl from Lagos escape their dark past to find themselves a bright future. 1981: England looks forward to a new decade. But on the streets of Brixton, it’s hard to hold onto your dreams, especially if you are a young black man.… Continue reading Review – The Book of Echoes by Rosanna Amaka
| A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara | I will keep it short. A Little Life has become my top 3 favourite books of all time. This is a masterpiece of writing and a story like no other. It has completely destroyed me and broken my heart. But I am so glad I have finally… Continue reading Review – A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Synopsis: Three generations of Palestinian-American women living in Brooklyn are torn between individual desire and the strict mores of Arab culture in this heart-wrenching story of love, intrigue and courage. Palestine, 1990. Seventeen-year-old Isra prefers reading books to entertaining the suitors her father has chosen for her. Over the course of a week, the naïve… Continue reading Review – A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
Synopsis: An era-defining novel about the relationship between a fifteen-year-old girl and her teacher Vanessa Wye was fifteen-years-old when she first had sex with her English teacher. She is now thirty-two and the teacher, Jacob Strane, has just been accused of sexual abuse by another former student of his. Vanessa is horrified by this news,… Continue reading Review – My Dark Vanessa by Kate Russell
Synopsis: A tense, provocative and nuanced novel about a rape accusation in an idyllic commune I was in my sixth month when the girl came knocking. The girl came empty handed. On the threshold, her hair down, her jeans tight. 'Are you the professor’s wife?' the girl asked me. 'I have to speak to you,'… Continue reading Review – The Girl At The Door by Veronica Raimo
Sissi Reads 