Yellowhammer by James Henry

The Blurb On The Back:

July 1983, Essex. Fox Farm is, thanks to two corpses, neither picturesque nor peaceful. The body in its kitchen belongs to eminent historian Christopher Cliff, who has taken his own life with an antique shotgun. The second, found on the property boundary, remains unidentified.

DI Nick Lowry’s summer is neither sleepy nor serene. And the two deaths are just the half of it. The fact County Chief Merrydown was a college friend of Cliff’s means Lowry is now, in turn, under scrutiny from his severely stressed and singularly unsympathetic boss, Sparks.

To catalyse his investigation, Lowry enlists the services of DC Daniel Kenton and WPC Jane Gabriel. Gabriel needs direction, if she is to begin a career as a detective. While Kenton, who appears solely focused on beginning a relationship with Gabriel, needs distraction.

Both the heat and the investigation soon intensify. The team find themselves interrogating enigmatic neighbours, shady businessmen, jilted lovers and wronged relatives; all the while negotiating the caprices of Sparks – whose attitudes remain as dated as Fox Farm’s antiques.

Only when they fully open their eyes and minds will they begin to see a web of rural politics, dodgy dealings and fragmented families – one that they must unpick before it ensnares them.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The second in James Henry’s DI LOWRY SERIES is a disappointing historical crime novel that fails to build on the promise of the first novel with a plodding central mystery that takes an abrupt turn about half way through and gets bogged down in Lowry’s marriage break up (with Jacqui in particular losing a lot of her nuanced characterisation) and Kenton’s pursuit of Gabriel such that I’m not sure I’d rush to read the next in the series.

YELLOWHAMMER was released in the United Kingdom on 26th July 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon

The Blurb On The Back:

They can’t send you away. What will we do? We need us. I stop your angry, Jack. And you make me strong. You make me Rosie.

Rosie loves Jack. Jack loves Rosie.

So when they’re separated, Rosie will do anything to find the boy who makes the sun shine in her head.

Even run away from home.

Even struggle across London and travel to Brighton, though the trains are cancelled and the snow is falling.

Even though people might think a girl with Down’s syndrome could never survive on her own.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

It’s difficult to review Mel Darbon’s debut YA contemporary romance. Although she convincingly portrays a young girl with Down’s syndrome as a person with ambitions and emotions, a sex trade plotline struck me as implausible and seemed to show Rosie more as a victim driven by others than by her own desires, which undermined her agency such that the book ends up being about the reactions to Rosie and how they drive her than about Rosie herself.

ROSIE LOVES JACK was released in the United Kingdom on 6th September 2018. Thanks to Usborne Books for the review copy of this book.

Trans Global: Transgender Then, Now And Around The World by Honor Head

The Blurb On The Back:

TRANS GLOBAL explores the fascinating long history of transgender around the world. This book uncovers the cultures and people of the past and present who have embraced, challenged or quietly subverted society’s expectations about gender. Find out:

- which cultures accepted a non-binary lifestyle for centuries before ‘transgender’ became a label;
- who fights for the acceptance of the trans community;
- what it is like for young trans people just starting out on their journey.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Honor Head’s non-fiction LGBTQ+ book for children aged 12+ (with a foreword by Jake Graf and Hannah Winterbourne) highlights the history of transgender people and the different attitudes towards them around the world but while it’s strong on showing the attitudes of different cultures, some of the descriptions of gender behaviour and issues such as transgender sports people are too simplistic, which affects its usefulness as a primer.

TRANS GLOBAL: TRANSGENDER THEN, NOW AND AROUND THE WORLD was released in the United Kingdom on 13th September 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

What Is Race? by Claire Heuchan & Nikesh Shukla

The Blurb On The Back:

Why is it important to talk about race?
How does it feel to experience racism?
Why does skin colour matter?

Talking about race is often discouraged, but in this book we’re aiming to bring everyone into the conversation. We explore the history of race and society and discuss how racist attitudes come into being. We look at belonging and identity, the damaging effects of stereotyping and the benefits of positive representation. We talk about why its important to identify and challenge racist behaviour, wherever it exists.

Together with contributions from a range of writers of colour, including Inua Ellams, Derek Owusu, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Asim Chaudhry, Wei Ming Kam, Chitra Ramaswamy and Becky Olaniyi, we talk about our experiences relating to race and racism and discuss why skin colour matters.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Claire Heuchan is an award-winning feminist blogger and author and Nikesh Shukla a writer, editor and co-founder of The Good Journal and Good Literary Agency. In this necessary, fascinating and thought-provoking must-read non-fiction book for children aged 10+ they aim to start a conversation about race and racism and why it’s important to identify and challenge racist behaviour and include moving personal experiences from guest contributors.

WHAT IS RACE? WHO ARE RACISTS? WHY DOES SKIN COLOUR MATTER? AND OTHER BIG QUESTIONS was released in the United Kingdom on 11th October 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

Winnie-The-Pooh Gloom & Doom For Pessimists by A. A. Milne

The Blurb On The Back:

’Good morning, Eeyore,’ shouted Piglet.
‘Good morning, Little Piglet,’ said Eeyore.
‘If it is a good a good morning,’ he said.
‘Which I doubt,’ said he.
‘Not that it matters,’ he said.

This gently-humorous collection of A. A. Milne’s most melancholy moanings will bring a smile to the face of even the grumpiest Eeyore.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

This gift book is a collection of extracts from A A Milne’s classic Winnie-the-Pooh books (complete with the original charming illustrations by E H Shepard) themed around gloom and pessimism. Eeyore naturally dominates proceedings so this would be a good gift for Eeyore fans but to be honest, it’s such an obvious cash-in on the Milne titles that I couldn’t help but think you’d be better off just buying the originals.

WINNIE-THE-POOH GLOOM & DOOM FOR PESSIMISTS was released in the United Kingdom on 1st November 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.