Book Review: Burnt Paper Sky/What She Knew by Gilly MacMillan

Read: 18-29 August   Verdict: 5 Stars

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.

Rachel’s 8-year-old son Ben is missing. One moment he was with her, the next he ran around the corner and vanished. Now Rachel is trying to hold it together while the police desperately try to find him before it’s too late. This has also been published under the title What She Knew.

This book was absolutely excellent and I just couldn’t put it down! I read the majority of it in more or less one sitting. I was immediately sucked into the story - the pain and anguish pouring out of the words from Rachel’s POV - was agonising yet addictive to read. I felt her pain as a mother who didn’t know where her son was was done really well - the range of emotions, the desperation, the media’s vilification of her for her reactions. All done great.

Burnt Paper Sky is highly descriptive and at first I thought it might be too much but then after a couple of chapters it began working really well. I feel like i got a good feel of Rachel and the other POV in the book - the detective James ‘Jim’ Clemo. Clemo’s chapters really wrapped up the police investigation for me, seeing how they were pursuing leads and filling in what Rachel couldn’t tell the readers. His back and forth storyline of how the case affected him was done very well and i think highlighted an important point that different cases can affect different police officers and it’s not just the parents or family who suffered from PTSD, depression or anxiety after such an incident (I think Clemo’s chapters with a therapist also highlight how important it is to talk about your feelings and thoughts as well.)

There was a great point in this book as well in how the media treated Rachel as a single mother who had lost her son. Within a day the media and public had turned on her because she didn’t act like the meek, crying woman they wanted her to be. She showed anger and appeared a bit unstable (all understandable really given the situation) and suddenly she was acting oddly while the crying father who had walked away from his wife and son for another woman was shown in a good light. I think it highlighted the gap in how media sometimes treats women versus men very well. And it also highlighted how social media today and comments under articles affect people in the middle of the story and how hard it is to get away from them.

I was a bit surprised by the outcome but not too surprised as it’s the type of story that really makes you suspect everyone! I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. Fantastic read.

Book Review and Author Q&A: The Salt Marsh by Clare Carson

Read:July 5-7    Verdict: 3 Stars


Sam Coyle’s father was an undercover cop and her whole life he taught her to be wary of everyone and everything. Now her father is dead and Sam is having a hard time getting over it. Then Sam’s boyfriend disappears, she gets strange messages on her answering machine and it appears like someone is after her. Sam ends up on a mission to find out what’s going on and just might end up leaving a trail of bodies in her wake.

This is a suspenseful mystery novel that manages to tie in the fear of nuclear disaster with family ties and legacy as one woman figures out who she is and if she really is her father’ daughter. Sam is a thoughtful, mature character who despite only being 20, seems to be able to look after herself and doesn’t hesitate to get things done. There were times she could be a bit hasty in going and leaving places but that was okay in the end. I enjoyed getting glimpses of her relationships with the men in her life - her dad, Luke, Dave and eventually even Sonny, and how they all ended up shaping her a little bit and helping her. This book definitely had me suspecting everyone all the time though I wasn’t that surprised at the conclusion.

The book’s plot around the nuclear power plants and protests went a bit over my head as it’s set in the 80s and I wasn’t even born yet so I don’t have a really clear idea of the time when people were protesting Sellafield and Chernobyl was still a clear memory for everyone. It was definitely interesting and it set the scene a lot. There were times I forgot the book was set in the 80s as it was a bit timeless like that and I’d only remember when she checked the answering machine at her house.

I really loved Sonny and thought he was a mysterious, anti-hero character. He was dark and handsome but he was also ruthless. Yet, he showed remorse for the things he’d done from crying after he finished ‘a job’, to his renewed faith and the crosses on his arms for his victims. I think I would have liked more flashbacks or something with Sam’s previous history with Sonny and how it all went down with her dad. I’m very surprised we didn’t get an actual flashback of that day.

Overall, this was tense and suspenseful with also a hint of the supernatural about it. Sam is a bit obsessed with witches and witchcraft and some of her interactions with people definitely left me feeling a bit spooked. Everything tied in nicely at the end and I enjoyed it.


Q&A with author Clare Carson

1. What inspired the idea of this book?

This is the second book I’ve written about Sam, the daughter of a police spy. Orkney Twilight, the first book dealt with Sam finding out about her father’s work. It was partly inspired by my own childhood – my dad was an undercover policeman - as well as my love of spy thrillers. The Salt Marsh comes from the same sources of inspiration – but in this book, Sam has to deal with the legacy of her father’s enemies.


2. Crime/mystery novels often have complex plots and a lot of little things that lead into big reveals. Did it take you long to map out how everything would come together?

I spent a week or so mapping out the plot – but I changed it as I went along. And then I changed things around again when other people read it and gave me helpful feedback. Working out what goes where and when to reveal details is one of the hardest things, I find, about writing a crime/mystery. I definitely need somebody else to read my draft with a fresh pair of eyes to help get it right.

3. The Salt Marsh is set in the backdrop of people protesting the nuclear power plants in the 80s. Was the small power movements around the nuclear power plants, such as the protests planned by Sam and Luke, something you wanted to educate your readers on?
I write about things that interest me and I like characters – particularly women - and plots that have one foot in relationships and one foot in politics. They are easier to find on TV than in contemporary crime/thriller fiction: the German TV show Deutschland 83 - about the son of a Stasi spy and German peace movements - was great. I also loved Grace, the police spy’s daughter, in Peaky Blinders. Sam is a similar character – the daughter of a police spy, she is pulled in different directions by her politics and her personal loyalties. The Salt Marsh is set in 1986. Protest movements around nuclear power and weapons were a big part of the eighties, so those issues were a good entry point for the story. I do think, though, that the people’s power politics of the eighties and the issues around nuclear power and safety have a lot of resonance with the politics of today – so I hope readers find it interesting and can relate to it.

4. There's a feel of the supernatural in this book with mentions of witches, light and dark magic and crow dancers. What made you decide to add this to the book and give Sam 'a witch's mark' in the form of her birth mark?

I like to weave mythology and magic in my plots because, as Sam discovers, in the world of spying it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between fact and fiction. The idea for the witch’s mark came from a book called Daemonologie which was written by King James 1 in 1597. He writes that you can tell a witch by her mark, and when you find the mark, burn the witch. Sam is worried that she has inherited her father’s sins and enemies – so the birthmark seemed like a good way of conveying those fears.

5. Sonny is an intriguing character. He's dark and handsome but also a killer. How was it developing his character and turning him into a partner in crime in a way for Sam.
I like difficult characters from tough backgrounds who are trying to make sense of their own history. They are interesting to write. During the eighties and early nineties I met quite a few men who were damaged by their part in the fight against the racist apartheid regime in South Africa: deserters from the brutal South African army who didn’t want to fight for apartheid, and African National Congress exiles who had been traumatized fighting against the apartheid government. The character of Sonny draws on these people in different ways. So it was interesting for me to build Sonny’s story, show both his strengths and his flaws, and explore his relationship with Sam.

Book Review: The Girls by Emma Cline

Read: June 4-6   Verdict:4 Stars
Published on: June 14th 2016

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.

It's the summer of 1969 and 14-year-old Evie Boyd is about to go through a troublesome transition from teenage child to young woman. Dreading the introduction of boarding school, bored with her best friend, Evie becomes enamoured with a group of young women who seem confident and carefree. Soon Evie is sucked into their world and falls under the control of an older man called Russell. Based on the Charles Manson/Manson Family murders, this is a story of growing up, exploring yourself and the dangers of seduction.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I found young Evie's voice very easy to read and I read the story a lot quicker than I thought I would. I really got sucked into Evie's tales of The Ranch and how she she was looked after by Russell and Suzanne. The storytelling was so vivid and I really felt like i was there with Evie through everything.Evie was going through a transition - noticing the older boys around her, exploring her own body with both sexual acts and drug use and realising what it was like to be a girl in the world. 

"That was part of being a girl - you were resigned to whatever feedback you'd get. If you get mad, you were crazy, and if you didn't react, you were a bitch. The only thing you could was smile from the corner they'd backed you into. Implicate yourself in the joke even if the joke was always on you."

This novel is loosely based on the Manson Family murders, which I believe also happened in 1969 and about a commune or family that were all under the control of a man called Charles Manson. I found Russell in this to be very scary but at the same time I could see how he could gather young girls into his arms and brainwash them into staying and cherishing him. His character was very well-developed and even though he didn't actually appear in a lot of scenes himself, it still felt like he was there.

"They didn't have very far to fall - I knew just being a girl in the world handicapped your ability to believe yourself."
Evie's sexuality and her foray into her sexuality was interesting to follow. I would come to the conclusion that she was bisexual considering her feelings towards Pete but then the stronger ones with Suzanne. But she also did live with a man afterwards though at times, I felt a sexual chemistry between older Evie and Sasha. There is a lot of drug use and some graphic sex scenes in this so warning to anyone who doesn't like this kind of stuff. I thought it was written well though and was vivid without being too vulgar.

The only real problem I had with the book was older Evie's POV. I felt like it took away at times from the story. I would have preferred to stay in '69 rather than jump forward 20 years and see Evie look on at Julian and Sasha. I do feel like Cline was trying to show a parallel between Russell and his girls and the way Julian acted with Sasha - a casual control and an edge of cruelty. There wasn't a whole lot separating them yet Evie couldn't do anything to save Sasha, much like she couldn't do anything to save Suzanne from Russell's influence.

Book Review: Tales From the Kingdom by Sarah Pinborough

Read: May 24-26  Verdict: 4 Stars

Tales From the Kingdom is a set of three 200-300 page retellings of Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. Let’s just call it the overall idea of Disney, with a terrifying touch of Grimms Fairy Tales and the drama and spice of Once Upon a Time. i felt like all the stories had a really great mix of the idea of ‘happily ever after’ with the stark realities of real life and the idea of monsters hiding in the closet. There was some romance, lust, sex as well as friendship, danger and lunacy. 

I think my overall favourite of the three was Charm which was Cinderella’s retelling. Cinderella was a complex character with ideas above her station and she wasn’t a simpering, charming girl the way I always thought to be. She had unkind thoughts as well as kind and was a bit selfish in ways her step-sisters were not. That brings me to Cinderella’s family and the backstory of her family which was great. There was a real history there that I loved and I really liked that the step-mother and step-sister weren’t these ugly and wicked people like they’re always portrayed. Cinderella’s character development was the best out of all the characters in the tales (frankly I feel like the Prince learnt absolutely nothing but thank goodness he married someone who could give him the kick up the bum he would need now and again) and I really saw her grow from a selfish girl with selfish ideals into a young woman with a better idea of the world and that sometimes dreams should stay as dreams.

I really loved the inclusion of other fairytales within the three tales such as the mention of the gingerbread house, Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Robin Hood and even Rapunzel. They were all wrapped up as part of the story really well and I enjoyed the subtle way they were connected.

I would definitely recommend reading the three tales one after another as they read as one big book with three different parts and they are all connected to each other in a way that may be confusing if you read them out of order. 

Book Review: The Good Goodbye by Carla Buckley

Read: May 17-18   Verdict: 4 Stars

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest feedback.

The Good Goodbye is a dramatic and suspenseful novel about two girls and a family full of secrets. Arden and Rory Falcone are cousins and best friends, born only four months apart. They have been together their whole lives but when a fire breaks out in their dorm room leaving the girls in critical condition and another student dead, Arden and Rory's parents end up with a lot of questions and wonder if they ever even knew their daughters at all.

This ended up being way better than I thought it would be. I wasn't expecting anything bad but I definitely got a lot more sucked in than I originally thought I would be. The family dynamic in this book alone is something that gripped me and figuring out how everyone was related and the history between everyone, the secrets, the romances. Arden and Rory are both complex characters who are hiding things and everything comes to light really slowly in a great way over the novel and through flashbacks. The girls were definitely not as perfect as they originally appeared to be, Rory not as pristine and Arden not quite as innocent and I really enjoyed reading along to figure out why they were the way they were.

I really love how little tidbits were given here and there among the story that really made me o "whatttt!" in shock and just really made it hard to put down the book. There's definitely a delightful amount of mystery in the book and I seriously suspected everyone from Arden, Rory, Hunter, DD, Gabrielle. No-one was safe!

The timeline could get confusing at times as there was no point where the reader was told we were heading into a flashback, we kind of had to figure it out but other than that the reading was easy, fast and gripping. I really enjoyed the ride.

Book Review: The Girl In 6E by A.R Torre

Read: May 16-17    Verdict: 4 Stars

The Girl in 6E is about a woman called Deanna, who is also known as Jessica by a plethora of online friends - mostly men. Deanna has locked herself into her apartment for three years...because she has an uncontrollable urge to kill people. She makes her money as a sex cam girl but when a little girl goes missing, Deanna believes one of her clients may be behind it and she goes out to save the day, and possibly kill while doing so.

This ended up being a pretty enjoyable book though I would say for anyone looking for really gory, disturbing scenes of murder or crime, there's not much in this one. Surprisingly for me, Deanna ended up being an extremely likable character. Despite her urges to kill people, she's actually a pretty decent human being. She goes out of her way to avoid being in situations where she could end up hurting others, she deals with disturbed individuals like 'Ralph' to make sure he doesn't transfer his fantasies to another living person who could get hurt and she strikes up genuine friendships with people like Mike and Paul. She also warns clients on different occasions about being taken advantage of by other sex cam girls. So yeah, I actually ended up warming a lot to her.

There's a lot of graphic sexual content in this book because of Deanna's job and her interaction with clients so if anyone doesn't like reading that kind of stuff, maybe stay clear of this one. I'm normally fine with reading such content but even I was blushing a bit at the start and attempting to hide my pages from other people on the train in case they saw what I was reading. I do think there may have been a few times where there was explicit content just to have it for shock value, rather than it benefiting the plot of the story.

In a way, Deanna really takes control of her situation and confronts her mental illness. She accepts that it's there and that she needs to take control of it, or at least make sure it doesn't control her. While locking herself up the way she does may not be the healthiest option in terms of mental health, the fact that she acknowledged the problem, rather than ignoring it was refreshing.

I do think there were some unrealistic bits when it came to Deanna's eventual showdown with you know who but overall, I was enjoying the book too much to care. This was a fast and thrilling read and I can't wait to pick up more.

Book Review: The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

Read: April 30 - May 1 Verdict: 4.5 Stars

The Museum of Extraordinary Things tells the dual tale of Coralie and Eddie. Coralie's father owns The Museum of Extraordinary Things, located near the historical Dreamland amusement park on Coney Island, Brooklyn, in 1911. Coralie was born with webbed fingers and has to pose as 'human mermaid' in the museum. Eddie is running away from an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle and is a photographer. Coralie and Eddie's lives become intertwined the same year as the Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the Dreamland Fire.

It took me a while to get into this book but once I did it was beautiful. The story is told perfectly in between these two major historical fires in New York in the same year and I really love how the fires symbolised something big in the character's lives (the factory fire was the start of Eddie's journey finding Hannah and, in a way, coming back to himself. The Dreamland fire was an escape for both Eddie and Coralie.) There was a real sense of magic in the ordinary in this writing, and the imagery and words were just beautiful. I loved how Coralie and Eddie's story came together. I love how they were struck dumb with love by each other the moment they saw each other (at different times) and I think this story proves that the concept of insta-love is believable and enjoyable when it's done well.

There was a perfect sense of atmosphere in this book. The amusement park on and off seasons, the build up of Dreamland and the tensions it caused the Professor. I loved Eddie's descriptions of the Yiddish community he grew up in and how he wandered back from time to time. It was a 1900's New York I haven't seen a lot of before in books and I loved it. I think people who know and have grown up in New York would love this book and there is a sense of history that's really interesting, even for someone like me who has never been.

I think this book would be perfect for fans of The Night Circus. It doesn't have the real magic like The Night Circus but there's something about it that has the same spark and feeling.