Bloomsbury ANZ Archives

ARC review: The Last Encore by Rebecca Heath

November 17, 20252 min read

The Last Encore by Rebecca Heath features the gathering of surviving members of a once-popular band on a remote island to play one last concert with the daughter of the lead singer replacing her father (the aptly-named Jonny Rake) who died tragically 18 years before. Heath offers us an interesting group of rather unlikeable characters including three remaining band members who seemingly do not get on at all and their manager who grates on everyone’s nerves. Then there’s Ivy, Jonny’s former partner and mother of his daughter (Monet) who seems to have inherited her parents’ talent. We also meet the fame-hungry wife of one of the band members, the owners of the resort and a documentary-maker and his wife, there to capture the reunion and live concert.

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Book review: Water by John Boyne

December 1, 20233 min read

Water by John Boyne is the first book I’ve read by the respected Irish novelist. And it’s going to be a difficult book to describe because much of made is special is the way its secrets unfold, which means I don’t want to share any here. It was also a deceptive read – slow, meandering between the present and past – but here’s an almost-addictive rhythm to Boyne’s writing and the way this book reveals itself.

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Book review: Lioness by Emily Perkins

September 26, 20233 min read

Lioness by Emily Perkins is a beautifully written book. I’ve bookmarked a lot of pages featuring phrasing or passages that leapt out at me – as being eloquent, or perhaps relatable for me personally. Which is interesting, as though I could relate to some elements of this and its lead characters (who are similar in age to me), I really did not connect with them in the way I expected. In fact, I did not like them at all. Therese our narrator seems surprisingly enamoured by her neighbour Claire and I confess I did not see the allure.

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Book review: The Summer Party by Rebecca Heath

January 2, 20232 min read

Fun fact: I’m rethinking the way I review books and decided I’d switch to instagram predominantly. The Summer Party by Rebecca Heath was to be my first attempt. So I jotted down some thoughts. I did pretty well initially with this…

Quick take: fascinating characters – some more twisted than others, long-kept secrets, dual timelines that intersect perfectly, well-paced with a series of twists that would not make Ben Shapiro* happy because author Rebecca Heath has kept secrets from us! Egad!

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Book review: Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson

May 1, 20212 min read

Although I’m really REALLY tired of books about mothers and children: those going missing, squabbling between couples, parenting issues and the like, this book is very much in my wheelhouse. I hadn’t planned to read the entire thing when I got into the bath with my copy but – for the first time in a long time – I deferred cooking dinner to keep reading.

I read Jackson’s previous book Never Have I Ever and it was similarly themed around motherhood, relationships, secrets and revenge. For most of this novel I was riveted and and it was really only the direction this book takes that left me disappointed, which (I guess) means Jackson sucked me in big-time.

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Book review: Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner

April 28, 20213 min read

Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner comes recommended by many of my favourite thriller writers. In fact quotes take up the entire back cover so I didn’t read the blurb before diving in. I’m assuming I did so before requesting it, but that was probably a few months ago.

I was worried then when the book opened with a fertility-challenged woman (Helen) who’s seven months pregnant. At her first antenatal class she meets a snarky young woman (Rachel) who quickly insinuates herself into Helen’s world. I imagined several tropes that have been done-to-death: the single-white-female thing with Rachel coveting Helen’s life; Rachel faking a pregnancy for nefarious reasons; or Rachel seeking revenge for a long past deed.

However, though this novel touches on a couple of those scenarios, Faulkner takes us in an unexpected direction. So, although it seems obvious where our suspicion and mistrust should lie, there are some twists which kept me turning page after page, keen to see where we’d be taken.

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Book review: The Flower Girls by Alice Clark-Platts

January 15, 20204 min read

Not only has Alice Clark-Platts authored police procedurals, but in her former day job she was a human rights lawyer who worked at the UN International Crime Tribunal.

I only discovered that fact after reading this book though I can better understand the reflection in this book on the concept of retribution as well as some debate over punishment fitting the crime – and if it’s even possible.

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Book review: Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

August 16, 20192 min read

I’ve actually never played Never Have I Ever, but this book by Joshilyn Jackson leverages off an adult version of the game… unexpectedly played by a group of inebriated women – who (I felt) interestingly see themselves as wives and mothers, rather than independent beings. And yes, that’s a bit judge-y but all definitions of the ‘book club’ early on suggest it’s the club of mothers with young children. There’s a SEPARATE group for the mothers of teens. (Of course that is completely irrelevant, but just kinda weird for this middle-aged singleton.)

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