Death on Cromer Beach - Ross Greenwood

 51%

26.03.24

This really put the procedure into police procedural. The author clearly did his research and wanted us to know it. If only it had put the thrill into thriller as well. Still, the local (to me) setting lent added a little something and my town, which is usually ignored, even got a dishonourable mention.

Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo

 64%

17.03.24

This was a mess - complicated, confusing and with a timeline that was all over the place. The characters were annoying and didn't communicate like normal people. It assumed that nothing important happened outside the USA. Only one of the various plotlines resolved, and that was in a weird and coincidental way. And yet... and yet, I really enjoyed reading it. Why? Well, because it was well written and also I suppose because it wasn't as worthy and boring as that other hyped "magic college" novel, Babel. This, you just had to take as it came: a wild ride.

The Maid - Nita Prose

 52%

09.03.24

I'm going against the grain here but I didn't find the (neurodiverse?) main character sweet and endearing; I found her distractingly annoying and in need of some proper therapy. It was also pretty dark in places, rather than 'a cosy mystery' (how I hate that phrase), which made the ridiculously happy ending, while not unexpected, rather tacked on. There were surprising layers, but the 'naive narrator' trope was a bit too heavy handed.

Pineapple Street - Jenny Jackson

 56%

08.03.24

An admittedly illuminating glimpse into the lives of crazy rich WASPs, who are hard to warm to or care about even when they're trying to divest themselves of their millions. The three main women seem to be defined entirely by their relationships to men (and don't often pass the Bechdel test). And, apparently, rich people don't 'say' much - they tease, they admit, they muse, they spit. It does make me want to visit Brooklyn Heights, though, and not just because it really does have a district called Dumbo.

Ordinary Monsters - JM Miro

 53%

04.03.24

On the one hand, this was astonishingly well written, each sentence carefully crafted for the perfect balance of poetry and rhythm. That's what most of my points are for. On the other hand, it was astonishingly badly paced - even the action sequences were interminable and ultimately pointless. Clocking up nearly 700 pages, it was so boring and humour-free that I had to force myself to get past the confusing plot, two-dimensional characters, British people speaking like Americans (again!) and clichéd worldbuilding that's been done many times before.

Unravelling Oliver - Liz Nugent

 63%

02.03.24

Another distraction from the slog of Ordinary Monsters, this was deceptively engaging - it was only afterwards that I realised what a dark story it was. But then it wasn't particularly realistic or subtle - Oliver was such a pantomime villain and most of the other narrators were so 'nice' that their behaviour wasn't very convincing and 'what happened and why' wasn't very satisfying. But it was a good read.

Cousin Kate - Georgette Heyer

 61%

28.02.24

As usual, I found myself reading Heyer as a relief from a couple of rather more hardgoing novels. This had its moments of brilliance, especially in its characterisation and dialogue, and it even had rather higher stakes than usual - but overall I don't think it will stick out among the many other Heyers. (Not really a spoiler: Despite the title, she doesn't marry her cousin, which is a relief.)

Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

 62%

09.02.24

This was just as ridiculous and inconsistent as other books I've read recently and yet I am much more willing to forgive its flaws. Why? I think because, unlike Cockleberry Bay or Lessons in Chemistry, it wasn't cynical. The characters were actually people you might want to spend time with, and the antagonists were not people at all - they were time and grief and the pressures of everyday life. It was very silly but also very engaging, and that's a win for me.

The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay - Nicola May

41%
05.02.24

I heard the author being interviewed and was intrigued. Was this bestseller really as cynically dashed off as I suspected? Yes, of course it was. It's (very) poorly written, oddly paced, and has a completely unsympathetic heroine. In fact, all the characters were horrible, probably because most were stereotypes that literally made me cringe as I read. The descriptions of the gay and fat characters in particular were downright offensive. Even the endless stream of dogs was annoying. But kudos to May for finding a formula that works for her.

Really Good, Actually - Monica Heisey

 51%

04.02.24

The quality of the writing was indeed really good. But not the awful, self-obsessed narrator, who did female characters as much of a disservice as those written by the male authors I've read recently. There was no conflict or plot or anything relatable to anyone who's not a white middle-class 20-something living in Toronto. It just went on and on. And on. And on a bit more.

In the Blink of an Eye - Jo Callaghan

52%

01.02.24

It sounds like a minor thing but, when a book has so many factual and continuity errors, you're wrenched from the story world. Especially when you have to stop reading to Google something that doesn't seem quite right. I'm pretty sure you don't get your A Level results from the UCAS website. And that white wine doesn't turn red within a few minutes. And that professors aren't described as tenured in the UK. Aside from that, the idea was interesting but the characters were annoying, the plot predictable and the AI not interesting enough. More editing required!

Stephen King - Fairy Tale

56%
29.01.23

This was a well-written, well-researched (if consciously derivative) take on the hero's journey but it's all undermined by the fact that King clearly regards women as a necessary inconvenience. Example after example of the few women in the story shrieking and crying and generally spoiling things for all the brave men (unless they have a bit of sex appeal) gets wearing after 500 slowly unfolding pages. Oh, and did I mention the breasts? Apparently all women have them, wouldn't you know, so they have to be mentioned in every description. Strange that he doesn't describe the male characters' willies at all opportunities. Strange too that I can't find any other reviews that mention this obvious misogyny. 

Fool Me Once - Harlan Coben

 45%

18.01.24

I won't be watching the new Netflix adaptation if the protagonist is as spectacularly unlikable (has the author ever met a woman?) and the story is as muddled and boring as in the book.

What the Hell Did I Just Read - David Wang/Jason Pargin

 63%

14.01.24

The title isn't a question but I'll answer it anyway. It defines itself as cosmic horror, which is partially accurate, but it's also a surreal and madcap supernatural adventure, the protagonists/narrators all so unreliable that it's not clear whether or not the story has been resolved at the end. It's also a deceptively clever, funny and well-structured novel, despite its pretentions of randomness. 

(The protagonist's girlfriend was a manic pixie dream girl, who would never be the protagonist's girlfriend in real life, which was annoying but did fit into the narrative style.)

(My library book has the narrator David Wang as the author on the cover, with a rather concerning note from actual author Jason Pargin at the back explaining that it is entirely fiction and to seek help if you think it isn't.)

A Murder of Crows - Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

 43%

10.01.24

If The Daily Telegraph wrote a novel, this would be it. It was fairly well written but the ideology was cringeworthy and the characters, police procedural and little England setting were all unconvincing. Of the many other elements that annoyed me, I'll pick out the assumption that the reader will sympathise with the 'plight' of modern aristocrats, and the patronising treatment of all women characters under 30. At least it was free.

Sorrow and Bliss - Meg Mason

 59%

04.01.24

Towards the end of this book, the protagonist (and simultaneous antagonist) comments on her 'striking unlikeability and attention-seeking punctuation'. Both these things are true, although we are apparently supposed to believe she is an unreliable narrator, safe in the unquestioning love of her family and (second) husband. The structure was circular and meandering, presumably like the narrator's mind, but that didn't bother me as much as the entitled middle-classness of it all.

The Space Between Us - Doug Johnstone

 59%

30.12.23

The last book of the year and it was a pretty good one - although I've deducted marks for the incessant comma splices that made it a struggle to read - I wouldn't have liked to have been the copy editor having that argument with the author. But the story - Scottish sci-fi road trip - was fun (if emotion-free) and raised some interesting metaphysical points. I even liked the open ending - perhaps a bit of a cop out but it could go anywhere from here.

The Giver of Stars - Jojo Moyes

61%

26.12.23

Reviews want to categorise this as a romance but that wasn't really what is was about. The main story covered a surprisingly neglected historical moment that centralised books - and women. The details of the hard lives and harder climate of the area were pretty vivid, although the ramping up of the plot towards the end was probably unnecessary.
 

The Last Dance - Mark Billingham

 53%

19.12.23

File under 'quirky police procedural' with another of the traumatised, probably neurodiverse (ADHD?) protagonists that seem popular these days. It was diverting as far as it went, but all extremely unlikely - OK, so it was a work of fiction, but the world- and character-building wasn't strong enough for me to completely suspend my disbelief.

The Only One Left - Riley Sager

 61%

12.12.23

As you'd expect from the cover, this '80s-set thriller ramped up the gothic mystery factor before unapologetically going all out at the end. You could call it twisty but twisty does not necessarily a good book make - the last 10% or so was a case of "Really? Come on! Give the reader some agency!" Credit for the variety of female characters, though (all the male ones were pretty one dimensional), and for the quality of the writing - except for the irritating overuse of "atop" instead of "on".