I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

Together they stand. Together they fall.

Southall, West London. After being released from prison Zaq Khan is lucky to land a dead-end job at a builders’ yard. All he wants to do is keep his head down and put his past behind him.

But when Zaq is forced to search for his boss’s runaway daughter, he quickly finds himself caught up in a deadly web of deception, murder and revenge.

With time running out and pressure mounting, can he find the missing girl before it’s too late? And if he does, can he keep her - and himself - alive long enough to deal with the people who want them both dead.

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The Verdict:

It’s not hard to see why Amer Anwar’s debut crime novel won the CWA Debut Dagger Award. Setting his story within the British Asian community offers a fresh take on the detective format and he’s created an interesting main character in Zaq, who makes the most of what he learned and who he met in prison. What lifts the story is Zaq’s relationship with best friend Jag, which brings in humour and humanity when at times the plot begins to creak.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

First they killed my father.
Then they threatened my family.
Now I’m coming for them.

Aihui Ying’s life is viciously torn apart when her father is killed by a masked assassin. Left with only his journal and a jade pendant snatched from his killer, she vows to take her revenge.

Seeking answers, King infiltrates the prestigious Engineers Guild - the ancient institution home to her father’s secret past. With the help of an unlikely ally - Aogiya Ye-yang, the nation’s cold but distractingly handsome prince - she begins to navigate a world fraught with politics and treachery.

Soon though, Ying’s quest for vengeance turns into a fight for survival and she’ll have to stay one step ahead of everyone … if she’s to make it out alive.

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The Verdict:

Amber Chen’s Chinese-inspired YA fantasy (the first in a duology) has interesting world-building and I liked the focus on engineering. However the pacing is inconsistent (especially in the final quarter), the plot relies heavily on things happening to Ying rather than her agency and her romance with Ye-yang is unconvincing, in part because Ye-yang is under-drawn as a character. That said, the ending is interesting and I would read the sequel.

OF JADE AND DRAGONS was released in the United Kingdom on 20th June 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

I am Layla Kareem Abdul-Hafiz Hussein, the greatest Sudanese Australian inventor the world has ever seen. And if they don’t know my name yet, they soon will. Inshallah!

School’s out for the summer! And Layla’s going to spend it getting her inventions ready for the grand design competition. But when her grandmother falls ill and her family must rush to Sudan to be with her, Layla feels like she’s being pulled in many different directions.

Family, friends, home, inventions - there’s a lot to navigate. With big protests looming in Sudan, could Layla save the day with her revolutionary ideas?

Exploring the diaspora experience, Listen, Layla is an own voices novel for young readers bursting with passion, humour and truth.

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The Verdict:

Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s sequel to YOU MUST BE LAYLA is a solid contemporary book for readers aged 12+ that gives insight into the diaspora experience and what’s happening in Sudan. I enjoyed Layla’s enthusiasm and ambition for inventing while the scenes involving her family convey the difference in generational attitudes really well but I would have liked more dialogue between Layla and her parents on what she wants and why it’s important to her.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

Go deeper, they said. Look closer.

Pleo Tanza is a survivor. Her father was broken by tragedy, her twin sister is dead - chewed up and spat out by the corruption and injustice of Chatoyance - but she’s going to make it, whatever it takes. She’s going to get off this rock.

But escape is for the rich or lucky. Pleo’s framed for the murder of a rival student - the daughter of one of the colony’s wealthy, squabbling clans - and goes on the run, setting off a chain of events that could destroy the fragile balance of the old colony forever …

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The Verdict:

Eeleen Lee’s debut SF thriller (the first in duology) successfully creates a future that feels very alien while also facing similar issues of unaccountable corporations, unchecked oligarchies and systemic corruption. However the thriller part didn’t work as there’s so much world building that the pacing falls away while the mystery is a little obvious but there’s a lot of interesting ideas here such that I’d definitely read the sequel.

LIQUID CRYSTAL NIGHTINGALE was released in the United Kingdom on 19th March 2020. Thanks to Abaddon Books for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

There’s a murderer amongst them, and everyone’s a suspect …

Frank is a criminal. He and a select group of inmates have been offered the same deal: die in prison or live on Mars.

They’ve been recruited to build the first Mars base, and they’ll have to learn to trust each other if they want to survive. Not easy when your crewmates are convicts.

Then the first accident happens, and the next. Until Frank begins to suspect they might not be accidents at all …

Time is running out. But how do you stop a killer when it could be any one of you?

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The Verdict:

S J Morden’s SF thriller has a fantastic set-up and convinces on both the difficulties and practicalities of setting up a colony on Mars and the rationales for using convicts but the thriller element is disappointing, partly because the supporting characters are thinly drawn so their deaths lack impact but mainly because the antagonist is so obvious from the start, which means that the book lacks necessary tension but I would still read the sequel.

The Blurb On The Back:

Izzy O’Neill.
Impoverished orphan.
Aspiring comedian.
Slut extraordinaire – apparently …

Izzy never expected to be eighteen and internationally reviled. But when photos involving her, a politician’s son and a garden bench emerge, the trolls set out to take her apart.

Armed with best friend Ajita and a metric ton of nachos, she must figure out who’s behind the vicious website – while keeping her sanity intact.

Izzy is about to find out that the way the world treats girls is not okay.

It’s the Exact Opposite of Okay.

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The Verdict:

Laura Steven’s debut YA contemporary novel is a feminist polemic against toxic masculinity, revenge porn and slut-shaming but while I cheered its feminism and liked the fact that Izzy is not perfect and has real money worries, Ajita exists only so Izzy can learn from making mistakes at her expense while a disabled character exists solely to bolster Izzy’s self-esteem and the men are almost all creeps while the humour just didn’t work for me.

THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF OKAY was released in the United Kingdom on 8th March 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

The trials of high school start to feel like a modern-day witch hunt for Samantha Mather, who has all the wrong connections to Salem’s past …

When a centuries-old curse is rekindled, Sam finds herself at the centre of it. Can she stop history repeating itself?

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The Verdict:

Adriana Mather’s YA paranormal novel has a great premise but is spoilt by a tedious plot lacking consistent, internal logic; a tired, clichéd love triangle with two bland male leads; a main character who’s clumsy for no reason but also secretly special an often completely irrational; supporting characters who are little more than sketches and a ridiculous climax that had me rolling my eyes and ensued I won’t be reading the sequel.

HOW TO HANG A WITCH will be released in the United Kingdom on 4th January 2018. Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Maureen didn’t mean to kill a man, but what can a poor dear do when she’s surprised by an intruder and has only a holy stone to hand? Lucky that she’s just reconnected with her estranged son Jimmy because, as the most feared gangster in Cork, he certainly has the tools to sort out the mess.

So Jimmy enlists his boyhood buddy Tony who, with six kids and a love of the bottle, could certainly do with the money, even if his teenage son, Ryan, is far too keen to grow up so he can become a gangster himself. And all is going to plan until Georgie, the girlfriend of the hapless intruder, starts to wonder where he went …

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The Verdict:

Lisa McInerney’s multi-award winning debut novel is a smart, intricately plotted novel that marries a black comedy crime caper with a coming of age story while also commenting on the state of Ireland, written in a crackling voice that makes excellent use of Irish slang to add authenticity and which kept me engaged from beginning to end. The main story belongs to Ryan and the pull he feels between life as a drug dealer, love for his girlfriend Karine and the tantalising possibility of life as a musician – I believed in him and his emotional journey, for all the melodrama with Karine (who is a little bland). Relationships are at the heart of the book and my favourite scenes were those between Jimmy and Maureen (easily my favourite character as her actions become darker and deranged as she seeks revenge on the suffocating Ireland she grew up in) but I also came to feel some sympathy for Tony who does want to protect his son, even if he can’t express those feelings and frequently gives in to addiction. Tara Duane makes a sinister antagonist whose manipulation of Ryan, Tony and Georgie (who for me never really rose above her role as a prostitute and drug addict) drives the plot at key sections. I loved the way McInerney peppers the dialogue with slang because it makes the whole thing so authentic and even though I didn’t immediately get all of it, the context means you can understand it. I don’t think that McInerney had anything new or original to say about Ireland or the influence of Catholicism on Irish society but it was entertaining and heart felt and I can fully understand why it won both the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Desmond Elliot Prize in 2016.

The Blurb On The Back:

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny isle of Trisda, pining from afar for the wonder of Caraval, a once-a-year, five-day performance where the audience participates in the show.

Caraval is Magic. Mystery. Adventure. And for Scarlett and her beloved sister Tella it represents freedom and an escape from their ruthless, abusive father.

When the sisters’ long-awaited invitations to Caraval finally arrive, it seems their dreams have come true. But no sooner have they arrived than Tella vanishes, kidnapped by the show’s mastermind organiser, Legend.

Scarlett has been told over and over that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But nonetheless she quickly becomes enmeshed in a dangerous game of love, magic and heartbreak. And real or not, she must find Tella before the game is over, and her sister disappears forever …

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The Verdict:

Stephanie Garber’s debut YA fantasy novel (the first in a duology) has an interesting premise and some creative world building but is ultimately a glib affair with a disturbing message that it’s okay to lie, manipulate and emotionally abuse someone (including showing no respect of physical boundaries) provided it’s ultimately for their own good and there’s True Love at the end. While I could believe in Scarlett and Tella as being abuse victims and have that shape their characters (especially Scarlett’s desire to keep Tella safe), I never got a sense that they actually cared for each other – especially given the final reveal. Scarlett is a passive character, led around by her nose and making bad decision after bad decision. Her romance with Julian is very much an insta-love affair based on him being hot, sexually aggressive and invading her personal space when she asks him not to so the fact that he’s her reward for being put through every kind of hell left a very sour taste. The father is two-dimensional and the count similarly underdrawn. There are some neat ideas in the world-building of Caraval but the dubious sexual politics means that despite the open ending I won’t be reading on.

CARAVAL will be released in the United Kingdom on 26th January 2016. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off the most daring heist imaginable.

But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, they’re low on resources, allies and hope.

While a war rages on the city’s streets, the team’s fragile loyalties are stretched to breaking point.

Kaz and his crew will have to make sure they’re on the winning side … no matter what the cost.

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The Verdict:

The sequel to Leigh Bardugo’s SIX OF CROWS is a thrilling YA fantasy crime caper with excellent world building, plenty of twists, humour, sadness and betrayal that had me desperately turning the pages until the end. All of the clever ploys and scams that made SIX OF CROWS so exciting are present here and I really enjoyed trying to work out what Kaz’s real move was. I enjoyed the friendships that grow here in the gang especially Inej and Nina as the only female characters and the way Bardugo fleshes out Jesper both through his relationship with his father and his interactions with Wylan (who also grows here). I welcomed the appearance of some old friends from THE GRISHA TRILOGY, who are used well and serve the plot and I thought Van Eck was an effective villain – smart, cruel and well resourced and yet whose weakness is his own contempt for the criminal element. There are some heart breaking scenes in the book, which I can imagine upsetting some fans but which I think are justified and well executed and I can also see some fans being disappointed with the underplayed romance between Kaz and Inej but I think it was really well written and completely true for each of them and each does develop in their own way. If I’m being critical then I did guess some of the developments (but not all) and I thought that the introduction of Dunyasha and the Kherguud soldiers came a little too late for them to be truly effective antagonists but none of this spoilt my enjoyment of what’s genuinely an excellent book and I really look forward to reading what Bardugo does next.