I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

Do opposites ever really attract?
When Karim and Zara’s works collide, they have to work out just how far they’re willing to go to give their love a chance.

They’ve got nothing in common: Karim is a globally renowned influencer while Zara is just a normal teen.

With Zara, Karim can finally let his guard down, and his glamorous world offers Zara an escape.

But someone has their eye on them - a secret gossip who’s been spilling truths for years.

As their dates get swooned, the blogger’s posts get more personal - and more threatening.

Can they unmask their tormentor in time to get their happily ever after?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Anam Iqbal’s thoughtful debut YA romance uses the opposites attract trope to explore issues relevant to the British Muslim community. However, even for me there’s a lot of plot here while the book’s key mystery goes unresolved (albeit there’s scope for a sequel) and the privilege porn wasn’t questioned enough for me. That said, it’s good to see a YA romance with Muslim characters and there’s enough here for me to want to Iqbal’s next book.

THE EXES was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd May 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

November 1999
North Dana, Massachusetts.

Nesbit Nuñez discovers the partially devoured body of Bastion Attia - star quarterback, secret witch and Nesbitt’s even-more-secret boyfriend.

Now the remaining members of North Coven - Nesbit, Dove, Drea and Brandy - vow to get answers. Nothing can prepare them for what they uncover. Nesbitt’s nightmare is only just beginning …

An ancient evil. A coven bound in blood.
A love that death cannot destroy.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Freddie Kölsch’s debut YA historical dark fantasy/horror mixes THE CRAFT with IT in an engrossing tale of love, sacrifice and ancient evil. I believed in Nesbit’s relationship with the charismatic but tragic Bastion and the way Kölsch reveals North Dana’s dark history is well done. However I wonder how well modern teenagers will relate to the 90s setting and Cameron didn’t quite work for me in terms of his role in the story.

NOW, CONJURERS was released in the United Kingdom on 6th June 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

The Squirrels need to be QUIET while watching a butterfly but Roly’s being LOUD - which is the opposite!

Join everyone’s favourite dog in this up-and-down tale for budding young Squirrels.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

This entertaining educational board book that explains what “opposite” means and gives a number of examples. The illustrations are jolly and young readers will learn about big and small, young and old (although learning that 42 and 3 quarters is old felt like a significant kick in the guts), wet and dry among others. All in all it’s a book that young readers will enjoy and learn something from and perfect for Hey Duggee fans.

HEY DUGGEE - THE OPPOSITES BADGE was released in the United Kingdom on 13th June 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

”Fish and chips, bacon and curry in particular … These meals are more than food - more even than good food. They’re soul. Heart. Comfort. Home. They’re who I really am, and possibly, who many of us really are.”

In Britain, we have always had an awkward relationship with food. We’ve been told for so long that we are terrible cooks and yet according to a 2012 YouGov survey, our traditional food and drink are more important than the monarchy and at least as significant as our landscape and national monuments in defining a collective notion of who we are. Taking nine archetypically British dishes - Pie and Peas, A Cheese Sandwich, Fish and Chips, Spag Bol, Devonshire Cream Tea, Curry, The Full English, The Sunday Roast and a Crumble with Custard - and examining them in their perfect context, Pete Brown reveals just how fundamental food is to our sense of identity, perhaps even our sense of pride, and the ways in which we understand our place in the world.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Pete Brown is a food and drink commentator and food award judge. This is a fascinating look at 9 dishes that have come to be regarded as quintessentially British (including curry, cream teas and fish and chips) with Brown mixing comment on their development, place in British society, questions of authenticity and what they say about British class and culture with his own relationship with food, having grown up working class in Barnsley.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

A timely and unprecedented examination of how the modern Middle East unravelled, and why it started with the pivotal year of 1979.

“What happened to us?”

For decades, the question has haunted the Arab and Muslim world, heard across Iran and Syria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and in the author’s home country of Lebanon. Was it always so? When did the extremism, intolerance and bloodletting of today become the norm?

In Black Wave, award-winning journalist and author Kim Ghattas argues that the turning point in the once-promising history of the Middle East can be located in the toxic confluence of three major events in 1979: the Iranian revolution; the siege of the Holy Mosque in Mecca; and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Before this year, Saudi Arabia and Iran has been working allies and twin pillars of US strategy in the region - but the radical legacy of these events made mortal enemies of both, unleashing a process that transformed culture, society, religion and geopolitics across the region for decades to come.

Drawing on a sweeping cast of characters across seven countries over four decades, Ghattas demonstrates how this rivalry for religious and cultural supremacy has fed intolerance, suppressed cultural expression, encouraged sectarian violence, birthed groups like Hezbollah and ISIS and, ultimately, upended to the lives of millions. At once bold an intimate, Black Wave is a remarkable and engrossing story of the Middle East as it has never been told before.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Kim Ghattas is an Emmy Award-winning journalist born and raised in Lebanon who has spent 20 years covering the Middle East for the BBC and Financial Times. This well-researched book argues that 1979 set Saudi Arabia and Iran on a path that’s shaped the Middle East. Ghattas has a readable style and I came away feeling but there are a lot of figures in play here and despite a useful list, I sometimes found myself confused about who was who.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

Ten years ago an obsessed fangirl known as Gottie set out to prove that two male actors were dating. But her online investigations uncovered far more than she bargained for.

In the ensuring frenzy, one of the Hollywood actors was killed. The other was charged with his murder.

And Gottie disappeared without a trace.

Now it’s time to crack the case wide open …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Lauren James’s standalone YA thriller is very strong on fame, fandoms and toxic fan behaviour but the murder aspect was under-powered for me with the villain too easy to guess and a final twist that didn’t ring true. At the same time, Delilah’s backstory was too busy and a sub-plot involving her best friend Nida feeling superfluous. That said, it is a fast-paced read and James has something to say so I would check out her next book.

LAST SEEN ONLINE was released in the United Kingdom on 1st August 2024. Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

A financial expert explores the transformational power of the fourth age of humanity.

We are in the midst of a revolution of humanity. The impact of the digital revolution, creating the fourth age of humanity, is that we are all connected one-to-one in real time for the first time in history. Digital Humanoffers a much-needed exploration of how the digital age is affecting human and business relationships and offers guidance that shows how companies of all sizes can adapt to become forward-thinking digital businesses.

Digital Human explores the implications of the digitalisation for humanity, trade, commerce and our future. The mobile network is achieving the goal of eroding boundaries and inclusion of everyone. This digitalisation of our planet is bringing about a major transformation. Everyone on the planet will soon be included in the network and everyone on the planet will get the change to talk, trade and transact with everyone else in real time.

This book offers insight into a number of intriguing topics that stem from the digitalisation of humanity such as how bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are challenging government and control mechanisms and why the Chinese tech giants are more imaginative than their Western counterparts.

Chris Skinner also explores the rise of the most fundamental innovations in emerging markets and examines the challenge to govern a globalised world when we live in nation states. In addition, Skinner includes the first-ever in-depth English-language case study of Ant Financial and Alipay; the mobile wallet that aims to be used by over two billion humans.

Digital Human explains why the fourth revolution of humanity will include everyone, no matter where they live or how they live.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Chris Skinner is a financial markets commentator and former advisor to the White House and the World Bank. In this book he makes some interesting arguments about the future of technology and there’s an interesting case study of Ant Financial and Alipay but he simply down’t want to consider the dangers of the tech he evangelises here, which was a big negative for me - especially when he uses examples from China, where it is part of state control.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

Last night Wesley and his friends Josephine and Margot threw their neighbour Rachel a surprise birthday party.

This morning Rachel is dead. And Wesley is the one who finds her body.

Rachel’s friends throw a traditional Caribbean Nine Night celebration to help guide her soul to the next world. But Wesley, Margot and Josephine don’t have time to mourn Rachel. They are determined to find out what has happened - and what secrets Rachel was keeping …

A brilliantly sharp and funny whodunnit that will keep you guessing till the end, from the queen of twisting murder mysteries.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Sharna Jackson’s mystery sequel for readers aged 9+ is an emotionally sophisticated affair that deals with grief, regret and betrayal in a way that the target readership can relate to. The 9 night structure gives the Copseys plenty of scope to dig into the suspects, including Wesley’s mum which lends tension and the mystery itself is more about Rachel herself than her death. All in all it’s a solid read and I’d check out Jackson’s other books.

THE NINE NIGHT MYSTERY was released in the United Kingdom on 6th June 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Pen in one hand,
On my wrist,
A ticking clock
I’ve got to make this work,
Just need
A little luck …

When fourteen-year-old Ronny’s life is struck by tragedy, his mum decides it’s finally time they move from East London to East Anglia.

In his new city, as a Black teenager in a mostly white school, Ronny feels like a complete outsider and struggled to balance keeping his head down with his ambition of becoming a rapper.

But when a local poet comes into class, Ronny discovers and opportunity he never considered before. Rap is like spoken word, bars equal poetry - and maybe the combination of both could be the key to achieving his dreams?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Ashley Hickson-Lovence’s YA novel effectively uses its verse narrative to tell a compelling story of a boy who learns how to tap into his creativity to express himself. However I don’t think that the Malachi storyline had the intended impact and nor did Ronny’s friendship with the extroverted Leigh. That said, the use of language is great and Ronny’s guilt over Maz holds true. I’d definitely check out the author’s other work on the basis of this.

WILD EAST was released in the United Kingdom on 23rd May 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Come to the circus.
Scream at the monster.

Beaked. Feathered. Monstrous. Avita Fortuna was born to be a star. Her show sells out nightly and every performance incites blood-curdling screams. But when a handsome young artist arrives to create posters of the performers, she’s appalled by his portrayal of her.

Avita is much more than razor-sharp teeth and ruffled feathers - and she’ll risk everything to prove it.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

I feared that Lindsay Eagar’s standalone YA historical novel was going to be bogged down with an obligatory romance element but it’s actually a much more compelling coming of age tale with a melodrama vibe. Avita is a compelling main character whose crush on Tomás makes her chafe against the public perception of her but it’s the family dynamics that held my attention as each member of the family has a reckoning with the brilliant but flawed Arturo.

THE FAMILY FORTUNA was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd May 2024. Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.