Category: Contemporary

‘I’m Glad My Mom Died’ – Jennette McCurdy

This book made me angry and sad. I’m sure it’s not an uncommon story, but it’s rather depressing that nothing appears to change.

I’ve never heard of Jennette McCurdy or seen the show she talks at length about, but it’s a fascinating insight into an industry that – at its heart – seems callous and uncaring, exploiting people for what it can and not caring what happens next.

From the outset it was clear that McCurdy’s story would not be a wholly positive one. She touches on the abusive mother, her eating disorder and experience of therapy with unflinching honesty. Yet there’s always a sense of brittleness, of something being held back – and perhaps this is a coping mechanism, but it did on occasion feel like a rather superficial look at some elements of her experience.

I found myself constantly wondering just how many people were complicit in her abuse. It was evident that some had concerns, from when she was six, but nobody stepped in and did anything. That’s obscene!

The real positive that I took from this was of the signs of someone starting to form a sense of their own identity. It might not be a fully finished journey, but it seems she finishes in a more healthy mindset than she began.

 

‘Becoming Ted’ – Matt Cain

I always take it as a sign of a great read when I’ve never read anything by the author beforehand and then find myself checking out their other titles and thinking about reading them before I’ve finished the book in question. This was my first Matt Cain read, and I’m so grateful to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this. It certainly won’t be my last!

A coming-of-age story with a difference. Tender, heartwarming and genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, Becoming Ted is a story that needs to be told.

Ted works in his family’s ice-cream business. He hates ice-cream. He has been happily (he thinks) married for decades and is shocked when his husband says he’s found another man and wants to split up. Such a period of upheaval would derail most people, but this begins a period of growth where Ted reflects on himself and his relationships before starting to live a life true to himself.

We follow Ted as he learns what makes him happy, finds a new love and works out what to do about his family and the pressure he feels to stay in a business he hates.

There’s a large assortment of characters, a thoughtful examination of attitudes to homosexuality over time and an interesting insight into the process of drag. Occasionally some events/interactions seem a little contrived, but this was a story that it’s hard not to open your heart to. Is it wrong to say I’d love to see this as a movie?

‘Austenland’ – Shannon Hale

I’m really not sure what to make of this. I picked up Austenland as it fulfilled a prompt for the 2023 PopSugar challenge, and I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have read it otherwise.

Much as I like Austen, the thought of people being so obsessed with her works that they will pay to take part in an immersive Regency experience seems odd. Jane is a successful woman, living in New York, but she is presented as lacking something because of her infatuation with Colin Firth as Mr Darcy. When a relative dies, the one thing she leaves in her will is a paid trip for Jane to Austenland.

What follows is just bizarre. Jane and other paying guests spend their days living as the kind of characters Austen would focus on. There are many rules, and Jane finds this hard to manage. Determined to not be a cliché she ends up acting in a way that marks her as the very character she’s determined not to be.

There is a love interest, but it felt a little contrived (perhaps because it wasn’t clear what was performance and what was real). So, not quite what I expected but an entertaining enough read.

 

‘The Snowstorm’ – Triona Walsh

I was able to read and review this thanks to NetGalley.
A remote Aran island. A storm cutting the island off from the outside world. Six friends gather to mark the anniversary of a terrible tragedy that changed them all, and one of them is found dead. The killer was someone on the island, so it’s up to Garda Cara to try to work out what happened.
I like a locked-room story as much as anyone. Unfortunately, our locked room was an island so the tension was somewhat dissipated by the comings and goings, and endless scenes involving a search of yet another potential site of interest.
The group of friends consists of Cara, the outsider whose position is reinforced by her job, and her childhood friends. Each of them has their history and this is exploited as Cara tries to work out who killed her best friend, Maura.
While the story sounded tense, the pacing of the story was not quite what I thought. Events took a while to unfold, the additional characters muddied the water and delayed the truth being discovered, and the resolution felt like something that would have been known on some level a lot earlier. I found the characterisation of all but Cara quite superficial, and I always felt as if something was being held back.
There were some evocative descriptions of the storm, and I found the creation of the environment in which the story took place quite intriguing. The inclusion of two languages is integral to the book, though this in itself started to feel like another detail included simply to serve a point later on.

 

‘Still Alice’ – Lisa Genova

Still Alice tells the story of Harvard Professor Alice Howland. Published author, celebrated scholar, trusted professor…as she approaches fifty she starts to become increasingly disorientated and forgetful. Always used to being busy, she sees this as part of her lifestyle and a warning to slow down. Thinking she may be menopausal she goes to her doctor for advice.

Then Alice is told she has early onset Alzheimer’s.

Told from her perspective – which becomes increasingly vague as she degenerates – there is no doubt that this book highlights the cruelty of Alzheimer’s. At any age this is a horrible disease to watch progress, and it’s particularly scary in the way it’s presented in someone who has a clear neurological advantage over many.

Watching Alice slowly withdraw from everything that made her who she was felt tough. Seeing the way her family responded to her illness felt authentic, and it is a definite emotional ride.

This is certainly a story that sticks. I was frustrated by the ending, though I’m not sure I’d have enjoyed reading further into Alice’s decline. It was good to see some of her wishes fulfilled, and be left to wonder what came next.

 

‘The Ex Hex’ – Erin Sterling

At the age of nineteen Vivienne falls hard for Rhys, and is devastated when he tells her that his father expects him to marry someone of his choosing. Though she is a witch, she believes she has no powers and is amused by the curse she places on her ex.

Unfortunately, years later Rhys has to return to the town to carry out part of some ritual. Upon his arrival it’s clear that the strange accidents taking place around him are not something he has experienced before. The curse seems to have worked, but only if he’s in the town where Vivienne lives.

What follows is a rather mixed bag. They have to work together to defeat the curse, and along the way be honest about their feelings. We watch their attempts, some of which work better than others.

This was a romance with a little extra, but I’d hope that this element could be more developed.

 

‘How to Fake it in Hollywood’ – Ava Wilder

Two Hollywood actors – one TV fodder and one A-list – have their reasons for needing their career kickstarted, so when their publicist comes up with the plan for them to fake-date they’re willing to go along with it. What neither Grey nor Ethan realise is that this will be the start of something very special…
From the outset it’s clear these two are going to hit it off. However, this was no lightweight romcom…there’s plenty of baggage on both sides and a fair amount of angst to work through.
I enjoyed the verbal sparring between these two. There was chemistry between them, but the best moments came when they were working through things. There’s a fairly big cast of additional characters, some of whom were discarded once their part was played, and I do feel that some of the bigger issues being faced by these two were rather overlooked.
All in all, an entertaining read that delivered what it promised.

 

‘Learning to Swim’ – Clare Chambers

Families are a funny thing. You never know what goes on behind closed doors, and never has this been more true than in the story of Abigail Jex (née Onions) and her memories of her childhood friend Frances Radley.

Abigail, when we meet her, is a cellist in an established orchestra and it is not until she attends an after show party and is introduced to Marcus Radley that we start to get a glimpse into the life of this young woman. When she was younger, Abigail was reserved and had few friends. An only child she was serious and had little in common with her peers. Then we are told of her fledgling friendship with the new girl, Frances.

Before we know it Abigail has found herself taken under the wing of this family. She is in awe of Frances’ brother, Marcus (known only as Rad), and finds herself subsumed into the daily lives of the Radley family. As an honorary member of the family she is privy to much of their daily life, but some of the intricacies are lost on her.

While we get to glimpse this family from the outside, we also see into the life of Abigail and her family. Nothing is quite what eleven year old Abigail realised, and we watch as she slowly becomes aware of the shifting nature of her relationships. There are moments of beauty as Abigail observes these colourful characters, never quite realising the significance of some of her interactions. As she grows up and realises how fragile some of these relationships are we watch Abigail mature. The focus really is on Abigail’s shifting relationship to those around her, and though the plot was a little rushed towards the end it had a hopeful quality to it that I found quite endearing.

 

‘Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone’ – Benjamin Stevenson

As soon as I saw the title while bookstore browsing, I was intrigued. This is the kind of book that won’t necessarily be one I’ll rave about but it was darkly humorous and cleverly put together.

The story itself focuses on a decades-old crime and a rather common situation. However, when we begin it’s fair to say that the links between this past crime and the present are not apparent.

Ernest Cunningham is something of a fan of crime books. He has got used to life as one of the Cunninghams, a family that have had their share of hard luck. However, when we’re told that every member of the family has killed someone I couldn’t help but wonder what we were about to get. The truth is not something you’d easily come to, so it’s best to sit back and enjoy the ride.

From the moment we know Erin was caught up in a shooting and that he is sitting on several hundred thousand dollars for his brother I really couldn’t have guessed where this would end up. As the bodies pile up and we start to learn exactly who the mysterious body at this holiday resort is, I was desperate to learn exactly what had happened.

 

‘Going Dark’ – Melissa de la Cruz

Going Dark begins with Josh Reuter returning from his trip to Rome without his girlfriend, influencer Amelia Ashley. This might seem innocuous…but they argued before Josh left Rome and nobody has heard from Amelia since.
When Josh’s missing suitcase is returned, the police discover Amelia’s blood on a T-shirt inside. Suddenly Josh has gone from concerned boyfriend to suspect in a missing person’s case. He seems stunned by this twist in events, but there’s niggles of doubt from those around him.

Just as we have the shock news of Amelia’s blood revealed, we then shift viewpoints and start to learn a little more about Amelia. She is not who we thought…and sometimes going dark may be done for a very specific reason.

It was at this point that things become a little less predictable. While the story itself hinted at a darker and much more interesting focus – the way the media report on missing person’s cases and how easy it is for money to buy you anonymity – this shift in events made a tenser read than that which I originally thought we were in for.

The premise for this story really was absorbing, and it might have been nice to have some elements examined in greater depth. However, this was a tense and neatly plotted read, if a little predictable.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.