quippe | Recent Entries

The Blurb On The Back:

We have no need to protect ourselves from the bad sort because WE are the bad sort …

The year is 1831. Down the murk alleyways of London, acts of unspeakable wickedness are taking place and no one is willing to speak out on behalf of the city’s vulnerable poor as they disappear from the streets.

Out of these shadows comes Hester White, a bright young woman who is desperate to escape the slums by any means possible …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Laura Carlin’s debut novel is a gothic historical thriller that effectively recreates the squalor of the 1830s but relies heavily on credibility-defying contrivance to drive the plot. The romance between Hester and Rebekah doesn’t convince due to its ‘insta love’ beginnings and the failure of either woman to question it in the context of the period. Ultimately this just wasn’t for me and I can’t say I’d rush to read Carlin’s other work.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

You might want to read this book because your parents are splitting up. Or maybe you know someone whose parents are separating and you want to help them.

This book contains practical, straightforward information and advice to help you to understand why families break-up and what you can do to get through this stressful time.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Tim Collins is an award-winning children’s author of both fiction and non-fiction. This sensitive book (part of a series) guides readers aged 9+ through what happens when their parents split up and their emotional response to the same and Scott Garrett’s illustrations complement the text well. However although there is good advice here I wanted some recognition of when a divorce is happening due to abuse due to the challenges it throws up.

THE KIDS’ GUIDE: DEALING WITH DIVORCE was released in the United Kingdom on 22nd September 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Maybe you are being bullied and you think it could be racial bullying. Perhaps you know someone who is being treated badly because of racism and you want to help them.

Being anti-racist means being active against racism. This books gives some tips about how to be anti-racist in a positive and safe way.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Arike Oke is the former Managing Director for Black Cultural Archives. This guide for readers aged 9+ on how to stop racism (illustrated by Scott Garrett) is well intentioned and good at describing the emotional effects of racism, bullying and micro aggressions but some of the metaphors on the dangerous effects of racism didn’t quite work and the advice on how to counter it doesn’t take into account structural racism within institutions.

THE KIDS’ GUIDE: ANTI-RACISM was released in the United Kingdom on 22nd September 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

And then we’ll all see
The beauty of Our Tower
And together we’ll all remember
Our own deep hidden power.

Three friends feel the call of the wild whipping past their high windows. They creep out of their block, in search of adventure, only to find that the magic of the ancient forest is not so different from the magic right at home, in their Tower.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Joseph Coelho and Richard Johnson’s picture book for readers aged 6+ is a beautiful read that shows both the wonders of the natural world and the community within city tower blocks. Coelho brings an evocative lyricism to the text (although having stayed in a tower block, I did find myself having to suspend disbelief at times) while Johnson’s illustrations are extraordinarily beautiful, using a muted palate to bring nature and city to life.

OUR TOWER was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd August 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Lucile is on a search for her perfect cabin so she sets off on an exciting trip around the world, looking for ideas. Travelling from the forests of Sweden to the comfort of snowy Siberia and the enchanting caves in Turkey, will Lucile find her dream home?

A stunning book that shows how people live around the world, while presenting the beauty of our planet.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Emmanuelle Mardesson’s picture book (translated from French) is a thoughtful and informative look at the types of places where people around the world live. Sarah Loulendo’s illustrations are excellent - rich in detail and expression and really conveying the landscape in which each type of cabin is set. It’s a beautifully put together book that will make young readers think about the world around us and how people live.

MY PERFECT CABIN was released in the United Kingdom on 7th April 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Our planet is in peril and it needs your help!

But the good news is that there are loads of easy ways that you can get involved and make a difference!

From ditching straws and banning glitter to appointing yourself chief of recycling or hosting a plastic-free birthday party, helping to save the planet is not as difficult as you think.

So take control of your future! Become an eco-warrior not an eco-worrier and help to save the world from rubbish!

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Isabel Thomas is an award-winning science writer. This punchily written book for readers aged 9+ (illustrated by Alex Paterson) offers 50 ways to help save the planet, from increasing the amount of vegetables that you eat to reducing plastic consumption, recycling clothes and saving energy but seems written for more middle class readers and I can’t see some of the suggestions (e.g. clothes swaps and giving up video games) being popular.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

Discover more about you with the Mr Men and Little Miss

A new series to encourage children to understand more about their own emotions and how to manage them with the help of the Mr Men and Little Miss.

A book about feeling anxious.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Roger Hargreaves and Elizabeth Kilbey’s picture book (part of the DISCOVER MORE ABOUT YOU SERIES) is a thoughtful guide for young readers about what to do if you feel worried or anxious and although it doesn’t have a lot of the trade mark MR MEN AND LITTLE MISS silly humour, it’s very reassuring and shows a lot of sympathy to the type of concerns that young readers have. As such, it’s definitely worth your time.

MR MEN LITTLE MISS - WORRIES 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:

Introducing:
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male Power

White men lead our ineffective government with almost guaranteed re-election.

They lead our corrupt and violent criminal justice system with little risk of facing justice themselves.

And they run our increasingly polarised and misinforming media, winning awards for perpetrating the idea that things run best when white men are in charge.

This is not a stroke of white male luck; this is how our white male supremacist systems have been designed to work.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Ijeoma Oluo is a journalist and best-selling author. This book draws on US history to provide a devastating examination of the USA’s systems which created and reinforce white, male mediocrity as a means of retaining white power. It is clearly written and makes a lot of interesting points but is very US-centric and although it discusses intersectionality at length, I wondered how much of this is grounded in patriarchy more than in race.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

China: 1200AD.

The peaceful Song Empire has been invaded by the warlike Jurchen tribes from the north. Meanwhile, on the Mongolian steppes, a disparate nation of great warriors is about to be united by a chieftain whose name will endure for eternity: Genghis Khan.

Our hero, Guo Jing, son of a murdered Song warrior, grows up with Genghis Khan’s army. He is humble, loyal, perhaps not altogether wise, and is fated from birth to one day confront an opponent who is the opposite of him in every way: privileged, cunning and flawlessly trained in the martial arts.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

This is the first ever English translation from Chinese of Jin Yong’s classic historical fantasy tale of kung fu masters and evil empires by Anna Holmwood. Originally published in 1958 (the first in a quartet), it has an action-driven, energetic plot and although the portrayal of grumpy kung-fu masters seems stereotypical now, it was innovative at the time and there’s a lot of fun to be had in seeing the various masters compete with each other.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

An astonishing wide-ranging history of Russian nationalism from a pre-eminent scholar of Eastern Europe.

In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea and attempted to seize a portion of Ukraine. While the world watched in outrage, this violation of national sovereignty was in fact only the latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russian nation. In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues that we can only understand the merging of imperialism and nationalism in Russia today by delving into its history. Spanning over two thousand years, from the end of the Mongol rule to the present day, Plokhy shows how leaders from Ivan the Terrible to Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putin have exploited existing forms of identity, warfare and territorial expansion to achieve imperial supremacy. A strikingly ambitious book, Lost Kingdom chronicles the long and belligerent history of Russia’s empire and nation-building quest.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Serhii Plokhy is Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University, director of its Ukrainian Research Institute and a leading authority on Eastern Europe. This book, written after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, Donbas and Luhansk, examines Russian history to explain its nationalistic view of Ukraine but although it’s informative, you need a background in the subject to keep up with Plokhy’s arguments and at times I was left confused.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

Cadenza is the City of Words. Run by poets, its skyline is dominated by the towers of its libraries, its heart beats to the stamping thrum of the Printing Quarter.

Young wordsmith Carlo Mazzoni arrives intent on making his name, but as the bells ring out mourning the death of the city’s poet-leader he finds himself embroiled in the city’s turmoil. A war threatens not only to destroy Cadenza, but remove it from, history altogether.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Tom Beckerlegge’s alternative historical novel has beautiful imagery and grounds the fictional city of Cadenza with an authentic sense of place. I enjoyed the conceit of dividing the city’s overarching story between 12 individual stories (or Cantos), but too many lacked a resolution (notably the one about the Ink Maiden Hypatia) and while some characters appear in multiple Cantos, none of them are as well developed as they could be.

Thanks to Rebellion Publishing for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

On the centenary of Britain’s Balfour Declaration - promising a Jewish ‘national home’ in Palestine - comes a major new history of the Palestinians and Israelis.

In Enemies and Neighbours, Ian Black has written a gripping and timely account of the most polarising conflict of our age: the unresolved and unequal struggle between Arabs and Jews in the Holy Land. Beginning in the final years of Ottoman rule, he sheds fresh light on critical developments from the Arab rebellion of the 1930s and the watersheds of the 1948 and 1967 wars up to the present day. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from oral testimonies to Black’s own decades of reporting, Enemies and Neighbours illuminates a bitter conflict that shows no sign of ending - which is why it is essential that we understand it.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Ian Black is a visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics and former Middle East editor for The Guardian. Published in 2017 to coincide with the Balfour Declaration’s centenary (although the book begins in 1882 and the arrival of Zionist settlers), this book provides a plain facts account of the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians that explains what happened but doesn’t elucidate on why, leaving me with half the story.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

Discover more about you with the Mr Men and Little Miss

A new series to encourage children to understand more about their own emotions and how to manage them with the help of the Mr Men and Little Miss.

A book about resilience.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Roger Hargreaves and Elizabeth Kilbey’s picture book (part of the DISCOVER MORE ABOUT YOU SERIES) is a misfire as it lacks a lot of the MR MEN AND LITTLE MISS silly humour, Mr Bump is under-used and it confuses resilience and persistence. I needed a scene where Mr Bump explains to Little Miss Brave why it’s important to keep going and how he keeps going even when he’s hurt himself. As such, it’s okay but, for me, doesn’t achieve what it wants to.

MR MEN LITTLE MISS - TRY AGAIN 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:

Worries

Everybody worries sometimes, but it’s important to talk about how you are feeling.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Mandy Archer is an editorial director and experienced writer of children’s books. This board book for readers aged 3+ (part of a series) uses sympathetic illustrations by Louise Forshaw to explain to readers why feeling worried or anxious is perfectly normal and how it’s important to talk about any worries that you have. The flaps add a fun element to the book and there’s a little game for readers at the end to test them on what they’ve read.

THE WORRIES 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:

Everything you need to know about climate change!

Join teenage activists Amy and Ella Meek on their mission to save the planet in this inspiring book, perfect for budding eco-warriors.

Be Climate Clever teaches young activists about the need to tackle global warning and cut carbon emissions. It shows kids what they can do to help and how to find their voice.

Along the way, Amy and Ella will share stories about their incredible journey from starting the charity Kids Against Plastic to winning the Pride of Britain Green Champion award.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Amy and Ella Meek founded Kids Against Plastic in 2016 to tackle plastic waste. This informative book for readers aged 7+ (illustrated by Sarah Goodreau) uses interviews with campaigners and scientists to explain the science of climate change, debunk climate skeptic arguments while advising readers who want to become activists but I wish the Meeks had used examples (particularly failures) from their own campaign to motivate readers.

BE CLIMATE CLEVER was released in the United Kingdom on 7th April 2022. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

1967: Ye Wenjie witnesses Red Guards beat her father to death during China’s Cultural Revolution. This singular event will shape not only the rest of her life but also the future of mankind.

Four decades later, Beijing police ask nanotech engineer Wang Miao to infiltrate a secretive cabal of scientists after a spate of inexplicable suicides. Wang’s investigation will lead him to a mysterious virtual world ruled by the intractable and unpredictable interaction of its three suns.

This is the Three-body Problem and it is the key to everything: the key to the scientists’ death, the key to a conspiracy that spans light years and the key to the extinction-level threat humanity now faces.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Cixin Liu’s award winning SF novel (the first in a trilogy) rises above dull characterisation and inconsistencies in plotting in part due to excellent translation by Ken Liu (who provides some context via footnotes), but also by the way the story uses both the horrors of the Cultural Revolution and the three-body problem from orbital mechanics to ground the rest of the plot. It held my attention but I don’t know if I would automatically read on.

The Blurb On The Back:

Suzie Wen LOVES inventing things - but after one of her inventions goes wrong, Suzie finds herself sucked into her favourite TV show - SPACE BLASTERS!

Now on board AN ACTUAL SPACESHIP with her new friends, Suzie is exploring strange planets and meeting plenty of aliens.

But when moons start disappearing, it’s up to Suzie and the Space Blasters to …

SAVE THE UNIVERSE!

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Katie and Kevin Tsang’s SF adventure for readers aged 6+ (the first in a series) has a lot of set-up, which distorts the pacing, and hand waves over how Suzie has found herself in a TV show that’s actually real. That said there is a lot of humour, it conveys how cool science and inventions are (provides bonus facts for readers), Amy Nguyen’s illustrations are lively and fun and there’s a lot of potential for future books, which I would check out.

SPACE BLASTERS: SUZIE SAVES THE UNIVERSE 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:

What we count matters - and, in a world where policies and decisions are underpinned by numbers, statistics, and data, if you’re not counted, you don’t count.

Alex Cobham argues that systematic gaps in economic and demographic data lead us not only to understate a wide range of damaging inequalities, but also to actively exacerbate them. He shows how, in statistics ranging from electoral registers to household surveys and census data, people from disadvantaged groups, such as indigenous populations, women and people living with disabilities, are consistently underrepresented. This further marginalises them, reducing everything from their political power to their weight in public spending decisions. Meanwhile, corporations and the ultra rich seek ever greater complexity and opacity in their financial affairs - and when their wealth goes unallied, it means they can avoid regulation and taxation.

This brilliantly researched book shows how what we do and don’t count is not a neutral or ‘technical’ question: the numbers that rule our world are skewed by raw politics. Cobham forensically lays bare how these issues strike at the heart of our democracy, entrenching inequality and injustice - and outlines what we can do about it.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Alex Cobham is an economist and chief executive of the Tax Justice Network. This deep dive into failures in collating economic and demographic data argues that official figures are skewered against society’s most disadvantaged and increase inequality, which is further exacerbated by multinational tax avoidance. However, the tone here assumes familiarity with the underlying subject matter and is quite academic, making it difficult to get into.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

Koré knew that meddling in politics could end badly, particularly when trying to sabotage his aristocratic father’s campaign before it destroys the city he has come to love. When a chance encounter with a dying god imbues him with magic-breathing powers, it gets worse: he suddenly becomes a commodity - and a political player.

But the corruption in his city runs deeper than just one man, and an ally’s betrayal unleashes an army of the dead on his home street. Koré must trust the world with his deepest secret to stand beside the woman and man he’s finally let himself love, as only the bright truth of dragon’s fire can break the iron fist of a necromancer’s hold.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Zabé Ellor’s debut novel mixes fantasy and SF with LGBTQ+ characters and erotic romance to dull effect. There are too many ideas for the storyline to be coherent or gripping and the self-pitying Koré swerves between seeing sex work as a salvation and as something done by broken people. Twists are telegraphed far too early, the antagonists are caricatures and I simply didn’t get what Ria or Faziz see in Koré beyond the physical.

SILK FIRE by Alex Livingston was released in the United States on 5th July 2022 and in the United Kingdom on 7th July 2022. Thanks to Rebellion Publishing for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Maya and Gran are off on an adventure to the big city … but what about their kitten Sammy?

When Maya finds Sammy stowed away in her bag, she must be brave and look after him.

A fast-paced search-and-find chase through the city, proving no one is too small for adventure!

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Alice Courtley’s self-illustrated picture book is a celebration of the life and diversity that can be found within cities while also acknowledging how overwhelming they can be. Maya’s relationship with her Gran is warmly depicted and I liked the little game you play where you have to spot where Sammy is. The illustrations are bold and have a lot of diversity and I enjoyed how Courtley highlights some of the different things to do.

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

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January 2026

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Page Summary

The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin
Dealing With Divorce by Tim Collins
Anti-Racism by Arike Oke
Our Tower by Joseph Coelho and Richard Johnson
My Perfect Cabin by Emmanuelle Mardesson & Sarah Loulendo
This Book Is Not Rubbish by Isabel Thomas
Mr Men Little Miss – Worries by Roger Hargreaves
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy Of White Male Power by Ijeoma Oluo
A Hero Born by Jin Yong
Lost Kingdom by Serhii Plokhy
The Carnival Of Ash by Tom Beckerlegge
Enemies And Neighbours: Arabs And Jews In Palestine And Israel, 1917 – 2017 by Ian Black
Mr Men Little Miss – Try Again by Roger Hargreaves
Find Out About Worries by Mandy Archer
Be Climate Clever by Amy and Ella Meek
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Space Blasters: Suzie Saves The Universe by Katie & Kevin Tsang
The Uncounted by Alex Cobham
Silk Fire by Zabé Ellor
Lost In The City by Alice Courtley

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I Read, Therefore I Blog

A Book Review Blog Belonging to Caroline Hooton

Recent Entries

The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin

Dealing With Divorce by Tim Collins

Anti-Racism by Arike Oke

Our Tower by Joseph Coelho and Richard Johnson

My Perfect Cabin by Emmanuelle Mardesson & Sarah Loulendo

This Book Is Not Rubbish by Isabel Thomas

Mr Men Little Miss – Worries by Roger Hargreaves

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

A Hero Born by Jin Yong

Lost Kingdom by Serhii Plokhy

The Carnival Of Ash by Tom Beckerlegge

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

Mr Men Little Miss – Try Again by Roger Hargreaves

Find Out About Worries by Mandy Archer

Be Climate Clever by Amy and Ella Meek

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

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

The Uncounted by Alex Cobham

Silk Fire by Zabé Ellor

Lost In The City by Alice Courtley