PanMacmillan Archives - Page 7 of 12

Book review: Fierce Fragile Hearts by Sara Barnard

March 1, 20194 min read

I don’t read a lot of young adult novels but Sara Barnard’s Beautiful Broken Things, published in 2016 was one of my favourite books that year. It scored a very rare 5-stars from me and you’ll see from my review I go into GREAT detail about the addictive writing and complex characters.

When I saw that Barnard had a new book out, requesting it was a no-brainer though I had no idea it was a follow-up to BBT. In reality it doesn’t matter if you haven’t read the first as this can easily be read as a standalone.

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Book review: The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

January 28, 20194 min read

Sally Hepworth’s books seem to be getting better and better… or more likely, they were always good and perhaps my taste is changing or evolving.

I usually prefer mysteries or thrillers and The Mother-in-Law isn’t quite that. I mean, it is about a death – a potential murder and the lead-up to it… so there’s an element of suspense, but it’s so much more. In many ways it’s a complex study of relationships: those between husband and wife or lovers; between parents and children; between siblings; between colleagues and friends; and (of course) those with our in-laws.

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Book review: An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

December 21, 20183 min read

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen was a book I rated highly last year (4.5 stars which is rare for me). It was delightfully twisty and offered up some complex (and not always likeable) characters.

I can’t quite fathom how two authors can co-write a novel. Indeed, my childhood bestie and I attempted that very thing when we were 8 or 9 years old and it didn’t end well. (I ripped up the book and threw it away. Thankfully she resurrected it from our rubbish bin and stuck it back together and it became a gift we ‘gave’ each other every few years. And I’m fairly certain she must still have it as I last gifted it to her in the 1990s sometime!)

Anyhoo… Hendricks and Pekkanen seem to make it work.

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Book review: Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci

October 30, 20185 min read

In almost every David Baldacci book review I write I comment on how much I love his Amos Decker (Memory Man) series, as well as the Will Robie and John Puller series. And I always mention I’m not a fan of his earlier Camel Club series. I’d say that I won’t do that this time around but I already have, plus it’s a little relevant.

Baldacci’s latest book is prefaced by a letter to readers, introducing his first female lead – FBI Agent Atlee Pine. Obviously he’s written other female characters but Atlee is the standalone lead and he comments that she’s one of the most unique characters he’s created. (This from the man who gave us Amos Decker and his hyperthymesia!) Obviously my expectations were high. I’ve read some AMAZING female leads – Candice Fox delivers many, and just recently I revisited Michael Connelly’s Renee Ballard. And on the character front Baldacci certainly offers up a wonderful new protagonist in Atlee (or Pine, as Baldacci calls her).

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Book review: The Lost Man by Jane Harper

October 22, 20184 min read

I enjoyed The Dry and Force of Nature, and felt both were complex / multilayered mysteries (more robust than most) and think Harper does an amazing job of placing readers in the harsh Aussie outback, but I’ve not been as frantic a fan as many.

Although there’s a vague reference to her former novels (via the locale of The Dry) The Lost Man by Jane Harper is seemingly a standalone. It’s a mystery, but not in the traditional sense and it’s actually my favourite book of hers so far.

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Book review: Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

October 9, 20185 min read

I probably should start this review by confessing that I haven’t read the much-lauded The Book Thief (regular readers of my reviews will know how I feel about historical fiction!). I did see the movie however and yes, know it’s not the same thing, though it did give me a sense of the book’s themes.

I was happy to receive an advance copy of Markus Zusak’s Bridge of Clay, but it wasn’t until I read this interview with him the weekend before its release that I REALLY wanted to read this book which was 13 years in the making.

And I was most certainly not disappointed.

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Book review: Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

September 17, 20183 min read

I started reading this new release by the ever-popular Liane Moriarty after a dinner out with friends during which I spoke about a health retreat I’d been to in 2000. I’d planned four weeks in Italy (which is where I’ll be FINALLY when this review goes live) but at the time I was living in East Timor (in my previous life as a diplomat) and stressed out of my little brain; so instead blew the same amount of money on three weeks at a health retreat in the hinterland of the Gold Coast, called The Golden Door (which has now closed).

The experience was life-changing. At the time.

So it was very freaky when I lolled in the bath at 10pm after the dinner to make a start on Nine Perfect Strangers (not remembering anything about the blurb or the book) to discover it is – in fact – centred around the lives of nine (not-so-perfect) strangers who attend a health retreat. WAAAAAY freaky!

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Book review: Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott

August 1, 20182 min read

There’s something different about this book. It’s certainly enjoyable. In fact, at several points I assumed it was going to go down a certain route and was surprised. Again and again. Not by the twists as such but by the author (Megan Abbott’s) decisions to not head in an obvious direction and her ability to make her characters nice and not-so-nice at the same time.

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