I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

A cursed film.
A haunted past.
A deadly secret.

The Baroness, an infamous exploitation film long thought destroyed by Nazi fire, is discovered fifty years later. When lonely archivist Ellen Kramer - deeply closeted and pathologically repressed - begins restoring the hedonistic movie, it unspools dark desires from deep within her.

As Ellen is consumed by visions and voices, she becomes convinced the movie is real, and is happening to her - and that frame by frame, she is unleashing its occult horrors on the world. Her life quickly begins to spiral out of control.

Until it all fades to black, and all that remains is a voice asking a question Ellen can’t answer but can’t get out of her mind.

Do you want it?
More than anything?

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The Verdict:

Gretchen Filker-Martin’s historical horror novel is a short but tightly written take on the cursed movie trope that incorporates queer identity, religious hypocrisy, the continuing effects of the Holocaust on survivors and sets it against Reagan’s America. I wished it had been a little longer to explore Ellen’s family history and more of her family relationships, there is something about it that stays with you long after you finish reading it.

The Blurb On The Back:

”I did an evil thing to be put in here, and I’m going to do an evil thing to get out.”

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House, where unwed mothers have their babies in secret. During the summer of 1970, fifteen-year-old Fern arrives, pregnant, terrified and alone. There, she meets other girls in the same predicament. Rose, a hippie who insists she’ll keep her baby and escape. Zinnia, a musician who plans to marry her baby’s father. And Holly, barely fourteen, mute, and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Every moment of their day is controlled by adults who claim to know what’s best for them - until Fern is given an occult book about witchcraft and discovers power for the first time. But power is never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid … and it’s usually paid in blood.

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The Verdict:

Grady Hendrix’s horror novel revolves around the attitudes to and experiences of unwed young women before Roe -v- Wade and throws in stomach churning body horror with a depiction of witchcraft firmly rooted in feminism. Hendrix writes with empathy and nuance for both the young girls in the home and the two main antagonists and the period detail is well researched while the plot has an urgency that ensures that I will check out Hendrix’s other work.

The Blurb On The Back:

Russia is an exceptional country, the biggest in the world. It is both European and exotic, powerful and weak, brilliant and flawed. Why are we so afraid of it?

Time and again, we judge Russia by unique standards. We have usually assumed that it possesses higher levels of cunning, malevolence and brutality. Yet the country has more often than not been a crucial ally, not least against Napoleon and in the two world wars. We admire its music and its writers. We lavish praise on the Russian soul. And we still think of Russia as a unique menace. What is it about this extraordinary country that consistently provokes such excessive responses? And why is this so dangerous?

Ranging from the earliest times to the present, Mark B Smith’s remarkable new book is a history of this ‘Russia Anxiety’. Whether ally or enemy, superpower or failing state, Russia grips our imagination and fuels our fears unlike any other country. This book shows how history itself offers a clearer view and a better future.

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The Verdict:

Mark B Smith is Associate Professor in History at Cambridge University. Published in 2019, this book argues that western approaches to Russia are based on a fear-driven misreading of Russia’s history, politics and culture. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine undermines this while Smith’s analogies between Russian and Western horrors at times read as apology and whataboutism rather than a serious re-evauation of relations between Russia and the West.

The Blurb On The Back:

What doesn’t kill you makes you weaker.
Always trust your feelings.
Life is a battle between good people and evil people.

These three Great Untruths contradict basic psychological principles about well-being, as well as ancient wisdom from many cultures. And yet they have become increasingly woven into education, culminating in a stifling culture of safety that began on American college campuses and is spreading throughout academic institutions in the English-speaking world.

In this book, free speech campaigners Greg Lukianoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt investigate what has caused the spread of these untruths, from the decline of unsupervised plan to the corporatization of universities and the rise of new ideas about identity and justice.

Lukianoff and Haidt argue that misguided attempts to protect young people can hamper their development, with devastating consequences for them, their parents and for democracy itself.

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The Verdict:

Jonathan Haidt is Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University. Greg Lukianoff is president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. This US-centric polemic claims that by refusing to platform right wing speakers, US students are hindering their own resilience. For a book that wants students to give people the benefit of the doubt, it is founded in bad faith but has interesting material on CBT theory and child development.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Twelve-year-old Ella Jones has been blind for two years and is navigating her new world with the help of her guide dog, Maisie, her sister, Poppy, and her best friend, Finn. When a perfectly normal day is thrown into chaos by all the lights on the planet suddenly going out, everyone panics at the total darkness. But not Ella: she is able to keep calm and work out what has caused this blackout … an evil villain out for ultimate power and a vengeful god mighty enough to steal the sun.

Join Ella on an edge-of-your-seat adventure with epic twists and turns - starring a brave new hero who won’t let her disability stop her from saving the day.

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The Verdict:

Lucy Edwards’s debut fantasy novel for readers aged 9+ (the first in a duology and co-written with Katy Birchall) is good at showing the lived experience of blind people and I liked the relationship between Ella and Poppy. However despite Caroline Garcia’s atmospheric illustrations and an underlying theme of empathy, the story itself is heavy-handed and clunky with an antagonist who is far too easy to guess so I probably won’t read the sequel.

ELLA JONES VS THE SUN STEALER was released in the United Kingdom on 13 February 2026. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Izzy Dobson has a few problems:

1) School is the WORST.
2) Making friends is HARD.
3) Her VERY TOP SECRET EMBARRASSING DIARY is MISSING!

Can Izzy retrace her steps before the diary falls into the wrong hands? Or has its fate already been sealed by a SINISTER DIARY THIEF?

Izzy records her investigation in this Very Normal Notebook. (Definitely NOT another diary!)

Expect cat doodles, brilliant(ish) brainwaves and hilarious observations on life as Izzy searches not just for her diary, but also her place in this Very Confusing World.

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The Verdict:

Abigail Balfe’s debut self-illustrated novel for readers aged 8+ (the first in a series) is a sensitive and funny book about a girl with autism and ADHD who’s trying to make sense of the world around her and find her place within it. I think that many readers will relate to Izzy’s loneliness and sense of isolation (which draws on the author’s own experiences) while the fab illustrations add character and humour.

THIS IS NOT THE DIARY OF IZZY DOBSON was released in the United Kingdom on 2 April 2026. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Everything is changing for eleven-year-old Evan. His family is split down the middle, and lately Grandad hasn’t been himself. But Evan can always depend on best friend Okie Dokie, his lovable dog.

When a school trip takes Evan to an old mine where Grandad used to work, things go disastrously wrong. Grandad used to work, things go disastrously wrong. Grandad refuses to talk to Evan about the mine, and especially about the pit ponies that worked down there in the dark. But Evan is desperate to know more. Can he uncover Grandad’s secrets before they are lost forever.

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The Verdict:

Olivia Wakeford’s novel for readers aged 9+ is a sensitive look at memory, loneliness and adapting to change that comes with a sprinkling of the supernatural and atmospheric illustrations by David Litchfield. Evan is well rounded and easy to empathise with, particularly his love of his Grandad and his jealousy of Melly and I think young readers will understand what it’s like to know that things are changing but not being given a say in them.

THE SHADOW PONY was released in the United Kingdom on 26 February 2026. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

The Royal Waterloo Hospital, London in the 1960s. Six young women lie asleep on low beds. Day and night no longer exist, extinguished by a potent cocktail of antipsychotic, sedative and anti-depressant drugs. The women are taken from their beds by the nurses and given electroconvulsive therapy before being put to sleep again. All under the watchful eye of Dr William Sargant.

THE SLEEP ROOM is a chilling expose of Sargant’s bizarre psychiatric treatments, which were inflicted on hundreds of women with mental illness - among them the actor Celia Imrie. At the story’s centre is a sinister and charismatic doctor, who was a hugely influential figure in post-war British society - lauded by Robert Graves and Aldous Huxley as well as regularly appearing on the BBC. When Sargant died in 1988, the obituaries were glowing.

But since then, women treated without their consent and with often horrific side-effects lasting decades have been campaigning to tell the truth about Sargant. Author Jon Stock tells these women’s stories as well as delving into the murky history of Sargant’s links with MI5 and the CIA, both of which took a close interest in his disturbing efforts to reprogram the human mind.

As compulsive as a thriller, THE SLEEP ROOM finally gets to the truth of a scandal at the heart of the British medical establishment.

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The Verdict:

Jon Stock is a novelist and journalist. This book is strongest when describing the ECT and narcotherapy treatments to which psychiatrist Dr William Sargant subjected patients - generally women - and includes first person accounts, including from Celia Imrie. However Stock’s argument that Sargant worked for the CIA and the MI5 on brainwashing using these techniques is circumstantial, as is his suggestion that Sargant sexually abused patients.

The Blurb On The Back:

He might be her sworn enemy, but perhaps it’s better the Devil you know …

Parker Darling is ready to take centre ice now that his older brothers have left to play hockey in college. But he shows up to the first practice only to find a new coach at the rink - one who already hates him for a dumb mistake he made years ago, with the held of the coach’s daughter, Mackenzie.

Kenzie Foster loves hockey too and she’s a ruthless goalie. If only her dad hadn’t forbidden her from playing - not that she’d want to be on any team with that arrogant jerk Parker Darling. She can’t believe she’s stuck on the bench at a new school, watching the Devils lose.

But when the team’s goalie is injured, Parker’s plan to turn things around gives Kenzie the chance to prove her dad wrong. They’ll need to work together to reach their goals - without getting too close to making another big mistake …

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The Verdict:

The conclusion to Alexandra Moody’s YA hockey romance trilogy is a well-paced enemies-to-lovers affair that hits all the beats you expect. Kenzie’s relationship with her dad is unconvincing with the reason for his over-protectiveness coming too late while Parker’s struggle to live up to his brothers reputation while making his own name is superficial. However, the hockey scenes are convincing and there was enough here to keep me turning the pages.

WILD DARLING was released in the United Kingdom on 12 March 2026. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Do you want to be … an astronaut? A YouTuber? A footballer?

This step-by-step workbook can help

MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!

Simon Squibb is famous for asking people what their dreams are, and for helping them make it happen. Now he wants to help YOU unlock your potential, turn doing what you LOVE into your job, and build a HAPPY life for your future self.

So, pick up a pencil and let’s begin … What’s your dream?

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The Verdict:

Simon Squibb is an entrepreneur turned influencer who helps people start their own businesses and follow their dreams. This well structured, illustrated workbook couples encouragement with practical advice for readers aged 8+ to help them identify what they want to do with their lives and how best to achieve it. My only criticism is that it is aimed at work and I wish Squibb had applied it to non-work-related ambitions, which are equally important.

WHAT’S YOUR DREAM? THE WORKBOOK was released in the United Kingdom on 12 March 2026. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.