Category: Coming of age story

Recent Reads: All Girls by Emily Layden

Posted on by Pam

My review:???

All Girls by Emily Layden is set in an all girls boarding school in Connecticut, and happens over a year, starting with the first day, where students are being dropped off, and drive past posters that declare a past student is making allegations of sexual misconduct against a teacher, who is rumoured to still be at the school.

This sets the tone for the year, with more information coming out about the past student, and then about the staff, with the school administration striving to keep ahead of the gossip.

The students are finding themselves, and so there are sexual experiences, consent, anxiety, secrets and a lot of emotions. Trigger warning, there is sexual assault in the book.

There are nine girls that we see the story from their perspective, and that’s a lot of different characters to try to keep straight in your head.  I didn’t manage it for all of them, and I think that’s telling in itself.  If I care about a book, I’ll be able to keep the characters straight, or I’ll go back and check what’s going on.  In this book, I just kept going.

All Girls by Emily Layden was published on 18th February 2021, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Emily Layden on Instagram and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to John Murray Press.

Recent Reads: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Legacy of Orïsha 1)

Posted on by Pam

(My review: ?????

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi is set in Orïsha, where maji people, who can have powers like a Burner who can summon flame, live.  But this all changed years ago when the king had maji slaughtered, and now magic is no longer around.

Zélie remembers the night her mother died, and struggles with her brother and father to survive.  And then a chance to help bring magic back arrives, and with the help of a princess and persued by the crown prince, there is hope that magic can return.

This is a great book, with the inspiration being African rather than Western culture, which is something that is become more popular.  You might have heard about Black Leopard, Red Wolf (it’s on my Kindle, ready to be read!) or Raybearer, which I’ve reviewed an extract of!

This is the first book in the Orïsha series, and I have the second book ready to listen to, so my review for that will be soon as well!

Children of Blood and Bone was published on 6th March 2018, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones, your local independent bookshop and most likely your library!  I read this through my local library BorrowBox app, and listened to the audiobook.

You can follow Tomi Adeyemi on her website, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

 

Recent Reads: The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle by Neil Blackmore

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle by Neil Blackmore starts with brothers Edgar and Benjamin being declared ready by their mother to go on The Grand Tour, where the young and rich would visit Europe, meet people, see historic sites, and make mistakes.  Above all, their mother makes them swear that they will look after each other, and she is sure that this tour will be the making of them in society.

Benjamin is our protagonist, and so it’s his experiences on the journey that we see, along with his meeting Mr Lavelle, which changes so many things for Benjamin, and for Edgar.

It is a story of love, of changes, and of consequences.  I thought it was good, and uncomfortable in places, but didn’t want to put it down.  

The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle was published on 13th August 2020, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and your local independent bookshop.

You can follow Neil Blackmore on his website and on Twitter.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Penguin Random House, Cornerstone (the publishers).

Recent Reads: The Furies by Katie Lowe

Posted on by Pam

 My review: ????

The Furies by Katie Lowe is set in 1998, in the UK, in a coastal town of no name.  Violet is 16, and has just changed schools after a car accident which killed her father and baby sister, and from which she walked away.  Her mother is seeking forgetfulness from the horrific accident by drinking all the time.

The new school is a private one, called Elm Hollow Academy.  Violet has the usual problems changing school, of not knowing anyone, and feeling like she doesn’t fit in.  Then she becomes part of a group of 3 other girls, who have special lessons from the art teacher, Annabel, but these aren’t art lessons.

This is a story of teenagers trying to take control of their lives, drinking, taking drugs, and taking out their anger and confusion on rituals that might actually have power.  And at the same time, we know where it’s going to lead to, as it’s at the very beginning of the book: a young woman found dead on a swing.

This is Katie Lowe’s debut novel, and it’s powerful!  You are swept along with them on their adventure, and as the book is from Violet’s perspective, and we have an older Violet telling the story.  I haven’t watched the Craft, but it felt like a mixture of the Heathers (actions have consequences), and Gossip Girl (for the bitchy, private school).  The fact that my two reference points for this are TV and film shows I haven’t read many books like this.

The Furies was published on 2nd May 2019,  and is available to buy on Amazon  and on Waterstones.  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!


I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Harper Collins (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!


Recent Reads: Boy Swallows Universe brings a bit of magic to a coming of age story

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton is quite a harrowing read which tells the tale of the life of a 13 year old boy, Eli, and his mute brother August, set in Queensland, Australia.

There are other characters, like his mother and her boyfriend, Lyle, who are both drug dealers, a father who he can’t ask about, and Slim, who is a convicted murderer, Eli’s best friend and baby sitter.

A red telephone, prophecies drawn in the air by August, and drugs are key points in the book, and there’s a hint of magic, but not enough to turn you off this book if you don’t like fantasy.  It’s not a fantasy book.  It’s a coming of age tale, where you see everything from Eli’s perspective, and sometimes he isn’t sure what’s happened.  Or he is, but lies to himself.

Boy Swallows Universe is Trent Dalton’s debut novel, but he’s an accomplished journalist, having been nominated for awards in Australia.

This is partly based on Dalton’s own childhood, and he talks about it in a post for HarperCollins.  This put a whole new spin on the book for me!

I enjoyed Boy Swallows Universe, and if you like coming of age stories, with some crime mixed in, you’ll enjoy this!

Boy Swallows Universe was published on 5th July 2018, and is available on Amazon  to buy on Kindle and on Waterstones to pre-order the hardback, which is coming out on 16th May this year.  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HarperCollins (the publishers) for this book.

Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!