I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

At Whisper Cove,
what the sea wants,
the sea will have

When Avril was a child, her mother drowned at Whisper Cove. Local legend claims that the women in the waves called her into the ocean with their whispering.

Now Avril is seventeen and as she investigates what happened all those years ago, Whisper Cove reveals itself to her. Distances shift in the strange fog. Echoes of the past rebound from the ocean. And Avril is sure she’s met Cole - the gorgeous but disturbed boy she can’t seem to keep away from - late at night at the edge of the ocean.

The truth Avril seeks is ready to be discovered. But will come at a terrible cost.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Ginny Myers Sain’s paranormal YA thriller is a slow-paced affair populated with generic characters (with the exception of Avril) structured around a central play that simply didn’t convince me as being something so extraordinary as to be Tony Award winning. Worse, the twists (with one exception) are telegraphed too early and the paranormal elements too wishy-washy. It isn’t a bad book, but it did struggle to hold my attention.

SECRETS SO DEEP was released in the United Kingdom on 29th September 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Ella sits alone in her little boat, struggling to find the courage to set sail. But then a white bird breaks through the clouds, bringing with it light and the promise of hope.

A beautiful and timely story about turning fear into courage.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Britta Teckentrup’s self-illustrated picture book is a beautiful, lyrical story about finding your courage and conquering adversity. The illustrations are gorgeous and the message about persevering because there will always be someone to help you is a sensible one. Although the central metaphor may go over young readers heads, it does give them something to talk about with parents/care-givers, which adds a dimension to the book.

ELLA AND THE WAVES was released in the United Kingdom on 4th August 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

The worlds of business, politics and crime collide when two men with the same name, from the same family, die on the same night - one death is a gangland murder, the other, apparently, a road accident. Was it a coincidence? That’s the official version of events. But then a family member, Gina Rafferty, starts asking questions.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Alan Glynn’s crime thriller makes good use of its Irish setting and the impact of property development on the economy and society but the initial murder twist is quite contrived and the plot becomes more contrived as it goes on. It’s not helped by the fact that neither Gina, Norton nor Bolger really feel like fully realised characters, which makes it difficult to empathise with them. Ultimately it’s not a bad read but it didn’t really gel for me.

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2. Rag And Bone by Lisa Woollett.

3. Rules For Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall.

4. Be An Eco Hero! At Home by Florence Urquhart and Lisa Koesterke.

5. Saturday Night Live And Philosophy edited by Jason Southworth and Ruth Tallman.

6. Dark And Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain.

7. Mickey7 by Edward Ashton.

8. 25 Myths About Bullying And Cyberbullying by Elizabeth K. Englander.

9. Tiger Warrior: Rise Of The Lion Beast by M. Chan.

10. Queer Up: An Uplifting Guide To LGBTQ+ Love, Life And Mental Health by Alexis Caught.

11. Urban Shaman by C. E. Murphy.

12. If I Ran The Country by Rich Knight.

13. The Blue Death by Joan Brady.

14. Sex Ed: An Inclusive Teenage Guide To Sex And Relationships by The School of Sexuality Education.

15. Kissing Emma by Shappi Khorsandi.

16. Stand Out: 5 Key Skills to Advance Your Career by Debra Stevens.

17. Roxy by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman.

18. Hello Dubai by Joe Bennett.

19. Anansi And The Golden Pot by Taiye Selasi.

20. Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson.

21. The Return Of The Russian Leviathan by Sergei Medvedev.

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29. Marv And The Mega Robot by Alex Falase-Koya and Paula Bowles.

30. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

31. Marv And The Dino Attack by Alex Falase-Koya and Paula Bowles.

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34. Do One Thing: The Breakthrough You Need For The Progress You Want by Dr Geraint Evans.

35. Ambrose Follows His Nose by Dick King-Smith and Josie Rogers.

36. Rainbow Magic: Frenchie The Bulldog Fairy by Daisy Meadows.

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41. Bad Actors by Mick Herron.

42. Big Sister: Ruby And The New Baby by Fiona Munro.

43. Doing Philosophy: From Common Curiosity To Logical Reasoning by Timothy Williamson.

44. Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin.

45. Mr Men And Little Miss: The Royal Party by Roger Hargreaves and Adam Hargreaves.

46. Ten Minutes To Bed Little Fairy by Rhiannon Fielding and Chris Chatterton.

47. Buzz! Inside The Minds Of Thrill-Seekers, Daredevils, And Adrenaline Junkies by Kenneth Carter.

48. Sustainable Planet: How Respecting The Earth Is Protecting Our Future by Anna Claybourne.

49. Forgotten Bastards Of The Eastern Front by Serhii Plokhy.

50. I Don’t Have Enough by Pat Thomas and Claire Keay.

51. Listen, Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied.

52. Civil Rights Stories – Racial Equality by Anita Ganeri and Toby Newsome.

53. Artifictional Intelligence: Against Humanity’s Surrender To Computers by Harry Collins.

54. Tame Your Emotions – Feeling Angry by Susie Williams.

55. My Friends by Sarah Ridley and Ryan Wheatcroft .

56. You’re The One That I Want by Simon James Green.

57. Shy And Mighty: Your Shyness Is A Superpower by Nadia Finer.

58. Rise Above by John Jupp.

59. Did Vikings Have Horns On Their Helmets? by Tim Cooke.

60. Why Did Ancient Greeks Ride Elephants Into Battle? by Tim Cooke.

61. The Great Wall Through Time: A 2,700 Journey Along The World’s Greatest Wall illustrated by Du Fei.

62. Auntie Poldi And The Fruits Of The Lord by Mario Giordano.

63. JoJo & Gran Gran Go To The Hairdresser by Pat-A-Cake Books.

64. Pandemic Planet – How Diseases Impact Our World by Anna Claybourne.

65. Lego Star Wars: Awesome Vehicles.

66. The Knave Of Secrets by Alex Livingston.

67. Only On The Weekends by Dean Atta.

68. Marie Curie by Nell Walker.

69. ABC Pride by Dr Elly Barnes and Louie Stowell.

70. Me And My World: Life Online by Sarah Ridley, Anne Rooney and Ryan Wheatcroft.

71. Pick A Story: A Pirate + Alien + Jungle Adventure by Sarah Coyle and Adam Walker-Parker.

72. Mr Men Little Miss – Go To School by Roger Hargreaves.

73. Mr Men Little Miss – Be Kind by Roger Hargreaves.

74. Mr Men Little Miss – All Different by Roger Hargreaves.

75. Lost In The City by Alice Courtley.

76. Silk Fire by Zabé Ellor.

77. The Uncounted by Alex Cobham.

78. Space Blasters: Suzie Saves The Universe by Katie & Kevin Tsang.

79. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu.

80. Be Climate Clever by Amy and Ella Meek.

81. Find Out About Worries by Mandy Archer.

82. Mr Men Little Miss – Try Again by Roger Hargreaves.

83. Enemies And Neighbours: Arabs And Jews In Palestine And Israel, 1917 – 2017 by Ian Black.

84. The Carnival Of Ash by Tom Beckerlegge.

85. Lost Kingdom: A History Of Russian Nationalism From Ivan The Great To Vladimir Putin by Serhii Plokhy.

86. A Hero Born by Jin Yong.

87. Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy Of White Male Power by Ijeoma Oluo.

88. Mr Men Little Miss – Worries by Roger Hargreaves.

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91. Our Tower by Joseph Coelho and Richard Johnson.

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93. Dealing With Divorce by Tim Collins.

94. The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin.

95. The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman.

96. What You Did Not Tell: A Russian Past And The Journey Home by Mark Mazower.

97. Artists: Inspiring Stories Of Their Lives And Works by Susie Hodge.

98. Legacies: Black British Pioneers by Lania Narjee.

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100. Murder Before Evensong by Richard Coles.

101. Six Wicked Reasons by Jo Spain.

102. The Immortality Thief by Taran Hunt.

103. Beano Dennis & Gnasher: Super Slime Spectacular by Craig Graham and Mike Stirling.

104. Adventures With Finn and Skip: Bird by Brendan Kearney.

105. You Need To Chill by Juno Dawson.

106. Critical Thinking: The Essential Guide by Tom Chatfield.

107. Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri.

108. The Lost Man by Jane Harper.

109. The Future Of Capitalism by Paul Collier.

110. Xtinct! Tiger Hunt by Ash Stone.

111. The Very Merry Murder Club edited by Serena Patel and Robin Stevens.

112. Well Documented: The Essential Documentaries That Prove The Truth Is More Fascinating Than Fiction by Ian Haydn Smith.

113. Five Survive by Holly Jackson.

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115. Beano Dennis & Gnasher: The Bogeyman Of Bunkerton Castle by Craig Graham and Mike Stirling.

117. Whiteout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk and Nicola Yoon.

118. Raise Your Voice curated by Nadia Jae.



If you fancy buying any of these books based on my reviews, then you can do so through Amazon UK, Waterstone's, or Bookshop.org UK. Please note that I earn commission on any purchases made via these links.

The Blurb On The Back:

It’s just before Christmas and no one is prepared for this whiteout … But sometimes the most magical moments are a total surprise!

As the city grinds to a halt, twelve teenagers band together to help a friend pull off the most epic apology of her life. Will they be able to make it happen in spite of the storm?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk and Nicola Yoon’s YA romance follow-up to BLACKOUT has another all Black cast and good lesbian and gender-non-conforming representation but one of the chapters veers towards bi-erasure and I just couldn’t take to Stevie or empathise with her (despite her neurodiversity). Ultimately it’s okay, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as BLACKOUT.

WHITEOUT was released in the United Kingdom on 10th November 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Is it a comic? Is it a book!? No, it’s a Beano boom!

Are you afraid of the Bogeyman?!

After Lord Snooty flees Bunkerton Castle, Dennis, Gnasher and friends are invited to attend the ultimate spooky sleepover. Will they last until morning?

We dare you to find out!

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The 5th in Craig Graham and Mike Stirling’s “Boomic” Beano spin-off series for readers aged 8+ is a spooky affair filled with more snot than you can shake a Kleenex at. Nigel Parkinson’s illustrations work well with the text and although some of the characters look different to when I read the comics *cough cough* years ago but that’s no bad thing. This is a great, silly series that would work well with reluctant readers.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

You can’t see me but I can see you. If you try to run, I will shoot.

Red Kenny is on a road trip for spring break with five friends: Red’s best friend, her older brother, his perfect girlfriend and a classmate.

When their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere, they soon realise that this is no accident. They have been trapped by someone out there in the dark, someone who clearly wants one of them dead.

With eight hours until dawn, the six friends must escape, or work out which one of them is the target. Buried secrets will be forced to light and tensions inside the RV will reach deadly levels.

Now all of them will survive the night …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Holly Jackson’s standalone YA thriller is a disappointing misfire. I get what Jackson was going for - an external threat becoming less dangerous than the internal threat that emerges within the group. Unfortunately the characterisation is poor, especially Red whose guilt comes across as flakiness while Oliver’s mummy issues never convinced me while the plot points and motivations don’t make a whole lot of sense when you think about them.

FIVE SURVIVE was released in the United Kingdom on 8th December 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Join The Frosty Foul Play

Cat-napping and crazy heists, suspicious Santas and scrabble games, frost fairs and fancy dress … join the Very Merry Murder Club and put your detective skills to the test with these fiendishly fun and festive mysteries.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Serena Patel and Robin Stevens’s anthology of 13 winter-themed crime short stories for readers aged 9+ is a disappointing affair. None of the stories are bad but equally none of them really gripped me or stood out. I liked Harry Woodgate’s illustrations, which bring scenes from some of the stories to life and the diversity of characters and backgrounds is good but ultimately this was a collection that left me cold rather than cheered.

The Blurb On The Back:

Deep new rifts are tearing apart the fabric of Britain and other Western societies: thriving cities versus the provinces, the highly skilled elite versus the less-educated, wealthy versus developing countries. So far these rifts have been answered only by the stale politics of left vs right. We have heard many critiques of capitalism but no one has laid out a realistic way to fix it, until now.

In this passionate and polemical book, Paul Collier outlines original and ethical ways of healing these rifts with the cool head of pragmatism, rather than the fervour of ideological revivalism. He reveals how he has personally lived across these three divides, moving from working class Sheffield to hyper-competitive Oxford, and working between Britain and Africa. Drawing on his own solutions as well as ideas from some of the world’s greatest social scientists, he shows us how to save capitalism from itself.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Oxford University. This centrist polemic is smug, politically naive and offers weirdly paternalistic “solutions” that fail to tackle the structural issues responsible for the rifts in society that he professes to want to resolve. As a lawyer, I also found his constant digs at lawyers to be dull and uninformed and I was really uncomfortable with the revelations about his family.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

Straightened. Stigmatised. “Tamed”. Celebrated. Fetishised. Forever misunderstood.

Black hair is never ‘just hair’. It’s time we understood why.

Recent years have seen the conversation around black hair reach tipping point, yet detractors still proclaim “It’s only hair!” when it never is. This book is about why black hair matters and how it can be viewed as a blueprint for decolonisation. Emma Dabiri takes us from pre-colonial Africa, through the Harlem Renaissance, Black Power and into today’s Natural Hair Movement, the Cultural Appropriation Wars and beyond.

Touching on everything from women’s solidarity and friendship, to forgotten African scholars, to the dubious provenance of Kim Kardashian’s braids, Don’t Touch My Hair proves that far from being only hair, black hairstyling culture can be understood as an allegory for black oppression and, ultimately, liberation.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Emma Dabiri is a teaching fellow in the Africa Department at SOAs and a Visual Sociology PhD researcher at Goldsmith’s College. This passionate, fascinating and very interesting book uses black hair as the basis for examining racial attitudes, colonial attitudes, double standards and how it damages Black people and mixes Dabiri’s personal experience with history, sociology, and anthropology to produce a nuanced, thought-provoking read.

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