Jenni from the book

Another beautiful summer of reading is over and I'm here with the usual round up, reviews, and cutting verdict. Which ones did I love, which ones did I hate, and which ones do I think you need to grab yourself a copy of ASAP? Read on to find out but watch out for spoilers.

Boy do I always love a split timeline book. This 600-and-something-page monster is the dual story of a Christmas Eve tragedy in rural Australia in 1959, and of an ex-pat journalist coming home in search of a story. The former half of the story is that of the Turner family, and the other residents of Tambilla on one fated Christmas. When a mother and all of her young children are found dead by a local man, the small town becomes engulfed by a murder case that continues to draw attention for decades to come. Never truly solved, is there more to this story than the police ruled at the time? That's certainly what Jess decides, when she flies home to Australia from London when her grandmother Nora falls ill. Investigative by nature and by profession, Jess is trying to work out what led to Nora's sudden illness when she happens upon the Turner case from the past. Given that it's so closely linked to her own family, she finds herself desperate to know more, but will she like what she finds?

At first, I found Homecoming a little confusing and overwhelming. There are loads of details about Australia, and the time the story is set in, and you're introduced to loads of different characters within the first couple of chapters without the link between any of them seeming clear. Trying to understand how the puzzle fit together at first was really difficult. But the author did a great job of world building in the end; the characters were compelling and interesting, and the whole mystery at the root of it all was fascinating.

I would say that the style of the book was a little unusual. First of all, we have the split timeline, seen through the eyes of Jess (and occasionally her mum) in the present, and through the eyes of a variety of characters in the past. But then we also have a true crime book, which is essentially written by another third party character, and created through a series of interviews with the townsfolk. I know it was necessary in one way to allow Jess to solve the mystery, but it was literally inserted in the book in full for us as the reader too. So it was a bit jarring as to what viewpoint you were currently in. I would've kept it to the 2 timelines, and have Jess read the book without us in the present.

Having said that, the mystery, the murder, the investigation - it was all very enticing. I guessed a large part of the mystery fairly early on, but even I was still surprised by some bits in the big reveal in the end. The characters were all really well developed and intriguing. Perhaps to a level of overkill sometimes (we literally find out all about the childhood of Percy, the man who finds the dead Turner family). But the book does a great job of exploring relationships and family rifts.

The only thing I was disappointed in is that Nora's character wasn't explored or exploited to its full potential. Jess' grandmother Nora has always been a force to be reckoned with. She raised Jess when her mum couldn't, she faced immense grief in the wake of the Turner tragedy, and she was also a very successful woman. But if I had to pin her, I'd say she was kind of the villain of the story. I thought there would be a really thought provoking passage when Jess learns the full truth, and realises her grandmother wasn't the hero she believed, and that maybe her mum wasn't the loser she thought. It touched on the reconcoliation between Jess and her mum, but any deep-dive stuff on Nora was sadly lacking. That's something I would've loved to see to take this book from a 4 to a 5 star rating; a little less description of the Australian outback, and a little more exploration of complex female characters.

I think the mark of a good book is how long it stays with you after reading. How memorable it is, how much of an impact it makes. And when I tell you I literally have no idea what this was about, only a couple of months after reading?? Well, that should be a pretty damning review. But don't worry, I've looked it up and jogged my memory. Liv Is Not a Loser is the story of commitment-phobe Liv. Not only can she not sign up for a long term relationship, she also can't commit to a career, a hobby, or even a fixed address. When her brother gets engaged, she figures it's time to get her act together, and so her oldest family friend, Henry, helps her write a list of 10 things to help her get her life in order. But is the road to self improvement really just the road to self acceptance? Liv is about to find out - and maybe she's about to find out that what she wants has been staring her in the face all along.

Okay so this book wasn't terrible. Not anger-inducing. But in a way, would that be better? It would still be capable of making me feel something. Whereas this one was fine. It was wishy washy. The author was working way too hard to push Liv and Henry together at literally every opportunity, although I did actually like them together.

The main problem with this book for me was that it had very little substance. All of the "problems" were not really problems, Liv's character was about as deep as a children's paddling pool, and the plot all fell a bit flat. The idea that a wedding would or should be the main point of the whole book should tell it all really. The way that Liv realises all her problems come back to her parents very amicable divorce just made absolutely no sense to me, given that it was meant to have happened like 20 years ago. 

It felt like the author just came up with a fun little concept of her main character doing a loser list and falling in love in a classic friends-to-lovers trope, and then her editor added 'depth??' in red pen on it so she attempted to inject some. If we're going Bridget Jones, just go Bridget Jones. It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that, and attempting to add some sob story here actually made it worse.

Wow what an addictive read this was. Which is ironic, because it's literally a book about addiction. When heartbroken Kat meets charming Charlie, she's instantly smitten. Despite living an ocean apart, the two of them begin a whirlwind romance, and Kat is certain she's found the one. Her ex Jonathan had a drinking/drug/partying problem and so Kat loves that Charlie is 15 years sober. However, she wasn't prepared for him to have an addiction of another kind; a sex addiction. And as there relationship steps up a gear, will she realise she has an addiction problem of her own... an addiction to him?

Ninety Days Without You was an absolutely amazing read. It was so thought-provoking and interesting and compelling. It really felt like you couldn't put it down. I love that everything about it felt chaotic and charged, from the sped up timeline, to the haphazard dialogue, even down to the length of the chapters and passages. It's like the author was taking you on a crazy journey with every decision she made about this book.

There was a lot of intelligent exploration of addiction, but also mental illness as a whole. Sometimes it feels like mental health is added into books in a very shallow and over glamourised way, but this book really did it justice with Kat's brother Mattie, and also her old friends. It felt well researched and really carefully handled with intelligent storytelling. There were even passages in therapy sessions and things like that which I found really interesting.

Sometimes with quickfire, whirlwind romances, it's hard to believe in them or the connection between the characters. But I really felt right there with Kat as she fell for Charlie. And right there hating him when he'd have outbursts or start arguments. Probably laughably from my end, it wasn't any cheating or sex addiction stuff that made me hate Charlie at times. It was the way he was capable of being so mean and cutting! Their relationship was so chaotic and toxic but somehow you still felt yourself rooting for their happy ending. Just like Kat was.

I guess my only criticism is that it doesn't do a very good job of warning you of the very serious tone of the book and the very heavy subject matter. We're literally talking about suicide, bipolar disorder, sexual assault and child abuse. That's not mentioned anywhere within the blurb, and if anything it just makes it sound like a classic romance novel. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the heavy subject matter. It was what made the book so powerful in my eyes. But would that be true for everyone, without warning? Maybe not.

I don't want to completely spoil this book, because I'd definitely recommend reading it. But ultimately, the story was one of self discovery, self acceptance, self respect, and self love. So it has a happy ending.

This is probably the shortest book I've ever read. At under 220 pages, this is more like a novella (or maybe even a chunky leaflet?). Having already seen the Netflix film, I knew I would like the general rom-com-ness of it, and also the connection between Hadley and Oliver. When these 2 teenagers meet while waiting for their flight from New York to London, they never imagine that their connection will last longer than the flight. But fate has a funny way of surprising you and when some small world coincidences put the possibility of a reunion in their path, Hadley decides to follow her heart on an adventure all over London.

I will say that I actually think the film version of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is better. Which is literally never the case. Normally any film or TV adaptation leaves out loads of details and misses important character arcs. But the whole 'statistical probability' part that's literally right there in the title is never mentioned in the book. However, it's cleverly woven into the film with a sort of 'fate' character and some fun added narration. Which felt very lacking from the book actually, and it was a part of the film that I really enjoyed and really felt like it added something.

So what you're left with is a classic story of boy meets girl. Which is fine. It just isn't groundbreaking. It was a young adult novel so obviously quite basic and young-leaning (probably too young-leaning for my taste but I won't mark it down for that). There was still some interesting character development of both Hadley and Oliver, as they both juggle with their damaged relationships with their dads. Somehow meeting each other and seeing each others perspective actually helps them on their individual journeys. Which I thought was nice.

There's not a whole lot to hate within 220 pages. There's just also not a whole lot to love either. It was a fun little read that was over as soon as it began, and basically just lasted me for my plane ride to Italy. A book about a plane ride that only lasts a plane ride; does that count as ironic?

Who doesn't love a bit of summer smut? The Sweetest Oblivion transports you to the underbelly of New York City where the mafia families rule and there's no room for romance. Especially for an oldest daughter of a powerful family. Elena may be a romantic at heart, but she's under no illusions that she could have true love for herself one day. Instead she lives her life to please. Nicknamed the Sweet Abelli for her charming nature, Elena is used to plastering on a smile, acting as her family expects, and never putting a foot out of line. That was until 6 months ago, when she tried to break free, damaged her reputation and got a man killed in the process. In bad books with her Papa for her reckless behaviour, the duty for an arranged marriage to the don of the Russo family then falls to her younger sister Adriana. At first, Elena thinks she's had a lucky escape. Nico's reputation precedes him; a Made Man, a boss, a cheat (even by mafia standards). But when they meet, Elena finds herself drawn to his dark suits, his dark nature, and his whiskey-coloured eyes. Even if he were hers, Elena wouldn't want to be married to a man like that. Would she?

The first thing I have to say about this book is that the chemistry is electric. The connection between Elena and Nico just sizzles off the pages and I found myself pulled into their long drawn-out foreplay sequence almost immediately. It's atleast 100 pages until anything happens between them, and yet the author was able to craft these amazing little moments and dialogue between them to just keep you hanging on their every move. I loved that you got a few chapters from Nico's perspective too (probably 80% Elena as storyteller and 20% Nico) so you could see how the connection was unfolding. Unfolding is probably an extremely good word to describe them actually. In most romance novels, especially smutty ones, the author rushes to throw the two characters together immediately (EL James, I'm looking at you). But Elena and Nico are kept deliciously close yet deliciously far apart until at least the midway point of the book, so I really felt bought into their romance.

I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that they do indeed end up together. But the plot of how they do it is really intriguing and I loved that it was effectively a tale of two halves; half wanting what they couldn't have, and half getting to grips with what having each other really meant.

Like most romance novels, this book did rely on miscommunication as a major hurdle in this couple's love story, but not in the kind of frustrating way where a quick sentence or two would clear up any confusion. It was more around the lack of vulnerability of these two characters and their inability to be 100% honest with each other, which actually felt quite authentic and well developed. 

Both Elena and Nico were very well developed actually, and I really loved them both as characters. Nico and his darkness to Elena and her light. The author really felt like she wrote two believable points of view, and I liked how vulgar and profane Nico's inner dialogue was. Elena felt quite immature and petulant at times, but it's revealed at the end of the book that she's only supposed to be 21 so that all made sense then.

I haven't read any mafia stories before but I really enjoyed that aspect of this book. The sharp dialogue and the drama and the violence. It all made for quite a thrilling story with lots of twists and interesting side characters. Although I did question Nico's authenticity as the Most Dangerous Man in New York, when he seemed to be very progressive of mind, always interested in express consent, and completely against ever harming women. But you know, I let that slide in the interest of having a good male love interest.

The only way it fell down for me was the ending. Dare I say, it was... anticlimactic. Which has a certain kind of irony for a book with so much sex in it. But to say the book starts with a guy getting shot in the head at a family lunch, I was expecting an ending with just as many fireworks. Instead, it sort of ended with a fizzle. A happy fizzle, but just less than I expected. Instead of a happily ever after, I actually thought one of them was going to die in the end (probably Nico), because there's lots of conversations peppered throughout about how they would be the death of each other, and she'd still be his even if he died, and how she would never survive being with him etc. There almost felt like too much of it to not be a hint at the ending. But no, it ended up just being a classic bit of dramatic storytelling. Without the dramatic ending, I guess.