If I Never Met You By Mhairi McFarlane

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via Netgalley included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

I wrote a newsletter a few months ago about the fact that I was wrong about chick lit and how my judgement of the entire genre was misguided and, to be honest, ridiculous. What better way to correct my mistake than by reading and reviewing more contemporary rom-coms, which seems to be what the industry is calling chick lit these days. 

First up we have If I Never Met You* by Mhairi McFarlane.

When Laurie's partner of 18 years breaks up with her, she is left trying to figure out where it all went wrong. How could the man she has been with since university suddenly decide that children, marriage and settling down are not for him?

Within a few months Dan announces that his new girlfriend is pregnant and Laurie's confusion turns to frustration and anger.

Enter Jamie - a work colleague Laurie doesn't particularly like, not least because of his reputation as a womaniser.

When they are stuck in a lift together Jamie proposes they start a fake/for show romantic relationship. His motivation is to impress their bosses in a bid to become the next partner at their law firm. Laurie is hesitant, but agrees because she could do with some fun. That it will likely make her ex jealous doesn't hurt either!

While the faux-romance is central to the story, Mhairi McFarlane brilliantly weaves female friendships, feminism and Laurie's experience of being biracial into the plot giving us realistic characters even if the initial premise seems far-fetched. I really enjoyed it!

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane is published by Harper Collins and is available in paperback and ebook format.

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Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger Edited By Lilly Dancyger

Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger edited by Lilly Dancyger. No Advance Reader Copies included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here. 

Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger edited by Lilly Dancyger is full of anger, yes, but also nuance. The essays in this collection explore what it means to be angry, accepting your anger, how your anger is perceived by society depending on your race, religion or gender identity and so much more. 

In her introduction, Lilly Dancyger mentions that her early edit suggestions for a lot of writers were about getting them to express their anger more rather than simply write around it, as many had been doing, which I think shows why this collection is so necessary. We do not talk about women’s anger enough. 

The stand out essays for me are Lungs Full of Burning by Leslie Jamison, My Body Is A Sickness Called Anger by Lisa Marie Basile, On Transfeminine Anger by Samantha Riedel, My Name and My Voice by Reema Zaman, and The Colour Of Being Muslim by Shaheen Pasha.

Lungs Full of Burning sees Leslie Jamison realise that she is, in fact, angry despite years of insisting she wasn’t. 

My Body Is A Sickness Called Anger is a must read for anyone wanting to better understand the experience of being a woman living with chronic illness and dealing with a medical system intent on disbelieving your pain. 

In On Transfeminine Anger, Samantha Riedel writes brilliantly about how her relationship with anger changed before, during and after her transition. 

My Name and My Voice is a powerful essay about how anger can be liberating.

The Colour of Being Muslim is an insightful look at Shaheen Pasha’s lived experience and the balancing act involved in expressing anger as a Muslim woman; being too confrontational risks being considered a terrorist, but being too quiet means being seen as an oppressed woman in need of saving. 

Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger edited by Lilly Dancyger is published by Seal Press and is available in hardback and ebook format.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here. 

Best Books Of 2019

Some Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) included. They are marked with an *. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Original Photo by Plush Design Studio on Unsplash

I was going to begin this blog post with a few words about how I read less books this year than I have in previous years, but when I double checked on Goodreads it turns out that’s not true. I actually read more books than I did in 2018. 

I think the fact that so many of them were read during insomnia fuelled nights meant I wasn’t paying close attention to numbers. Which is no bad thing! The numbers thing, that is. I could do without the insomnia. 

In keeping with previous years, this list is a mix of books published this year and backlist titles that have been on my to-read list for a while. 

The Art Of Misdiagnosis:Surviving My Mother’s Suicide by Gayle Brandeis

This book hit me hard, in the best possible way. It’s a reading experience I won’t forget. 

When Gayle Brandeis’s mother dies by suicide, she naturally wants to understand why. Weaving together the details of the weeks surrounding her mother’s death, transcripts from the documentary about rare illnesses her mother was working on, and Brandeis’s own experience with illness and misdiagnosis, The Art of Misdiagnosis is a compelling look at the devastating effects of a complicated family history. 

How To Write An Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee

Y’know that feeling you get when you read the first few pages of something and immediately know it’s a book you’ll hold close to your heart and reread multiple times? That’s how I feel about How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. 

The essays in this collection explore Chee’s experiences of being Korean American, a gay man, an activist and a writer. How to Write an Autobiographical Novel is poignant, nuanced and full of empathy. 

It’s OK That You’re Not OK by Megan Devine

Following the sudden death of her partner, Matt, Megan Devine, who is a trained psychotherapist, realised that how we talk about grief isn’t always in the best interest of people who are grieving. Rather than seeing grief as a problem to be solved, It’s OK That You’re Not OK views grief as an emotion people learn to live with not move on from. 

A friend recommended It’s OK That You’re Not OK because they thought Megan Devine’s approach to grief would resonate with me. They were right. 

The Year Of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

In December 2003, Joan Didion’s husband John Gregory Dunne died suddenly. A few days previously their daughter Quintana was admitted to hospital and placed in an induced coma due to septic shock. In the weeks following Dunne’s death, Quintana made a recovery only to fall seriously ill again a few months later. 

The Year of Magical Thinking is Didion’s experience of this heartbreaking period of her life. Didion writes about early grief with honesty and clarity many do not have when processing their grief. 

All The Bad Apples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle

All The Bad Apples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle is a beautifully written magical realism novel - full of witches, ghosts and banshees - about familial bonds, queerness, rage, generational trauma and the impact of the shame, stigma and silence surrounding it.

Deena's older sister Mandy is missing, presumed dead. Mandy's life has always been complicated, to put it mildly, so many view her death as the natural conclusion to her troubled ways. But Deena knows Mandy isn't dead.

Then letters from Mandy start arriving, explaining that their family is cursed and has been for generations. Deena sets off in search of Mandy and to put an end to the curse.

Is she prepared for the revelations that await her?

Constellations by Sinéad Gleeson*

Constellations* is the latest in a long line of books by Irish women writers that I struggle to review because I can’t get past screaming “you need to read this immediately” at people. Seriously, go read it. NOW!

Dealing with themes of illness, pain, motherhood, and bodies, Gleeson’s essays are personal, political and cultural. Gleeson writes about her own experiences in the wider context of a changing society, with an eye both on the past and the future.

Other Words For Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin

When their house burns down, Rita Frost and her teenage ward, Bevan, are never seen again. The only people who know what happened are Mae and her twin brother Rossa. 

Having spent two summers at their aunt’s house, Mae and Rossa learn that nothing is ever quite what it seems. For starters, Rita and Bevan are witches and there appears to be something or someone living in the walls. 

Other Words for Smoke is a gloriously odd story about love (particularly queer love), obsession, fear, the occult, and power.

Make It Scream, Make It Burn by Leslie Jamison

Make It Scream, Make It Burn by Leslie Jamison is not only one of my favourite books of the year, but also one of the best essay collections I have read in a while.

Jamison's subjects include a whale deemed "the loneliest whale in the world", children who claim to remember their past lives, people who use the online community Second Life and the impact it has on their real life, and a museum dedicated to relationship breakups.

These essays are about connection, longing and obsession. Jamison writes with a caring yet critical eye and explores her motivations for covering the stories she does and how she chooses to shape the narrative of people's lives.

Anseo by Úna-Minh Kavanagh

I read Anseo in one sitting. That's how compelling it is.

From Úna-Minh's adoption in Vietnam and her childhood in Kerry to her experience of racism in Ireland—particularly an incident in Dublin where she was not only verbally abused, but spat on—and her desire to make the Irish language accessible to as many people as possible; Anseo packs a lot into less than 200 pages.

Yet it doesn't feel rushed. Its conversational tone makes it feel like you're having a long chat over coffee—or something stronger—with Úna-Minh Kavanagh. Úna-Minh's love of her mother, Noreen and grandfather, Paddy leaps off the page.

Minor Monuments by Ian Maleney 

I read Minor Monuments after I saw Ian Maleney speak at an event during Listowel Writers’ Week. This collection of essays, stemming from Maleney’s grandfather having Alzheimer’s disease, explores memory, family and what we mean when we talk about home. 

These essays are so devastatingly beautiful I took a break between reading each one. I wanted time to sit with them before moving on to the next. I didn’t want them to end and I'm already planning a reread. 

Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

Ghost Wall* by Sarah Moss is a beautifully written strange and twisted tale of Silvie who is spending the summer with her parents in the Northumberland countryside. Thanks to her father’s obsession with the Iron Age, they are taking part in an experimental archaeology exercise to see what life was like then. Just how far will he go in pursuit of an authentic experience?

Follow Me To Ground by Sue Rainsford

I read Follow Me To Ground without knowing much about the plot beforehand. I gathered there were some supernatural or magical realism elements, but that was about it. I won’t give too much away here because I think the not knowing enhances the reading experience.

Ada and her father aren’t like everyone else. People generally avoid them, unless they are in need of healing when necessity outways fear. Soon Ada finds yourself forced to make a decision that will not only change her life, but drastically alter the world around her.

Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan

Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan is an engrossing witchy tale about connection, familial bonds, secrets, queerness, and what it’s like to be a teenage girl in a small town dealing (or not dealing) with the shadow of bodies found in the nearby mountains. 

When 15 year-old Madeline and Catlin move to Ballyfran, with their mother and step-father, they are unsure what to expect. It soon becomes apparent that the town is full of secrets. As Catlin quickly falls in love with a local boy, Madeline has more than a few misgivings. 

Can their sisterly bond withstand the strange forces at play in Ballyfran? 

Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino*

I’ve been a fan of Jia Tolentino’s work for a while, so I was excited to get my hands on an advance copy of her debut essay collection Trick Mirror* earlier in the year. The nine essays did not disappoint.

Trick Mirror*is a perfect blend of personal, cultural and political writing, which looks at everything from the rise of the internet, social media and Tolentino’s experience as a reality TV contest to what makes a successful American scammer and sexual harassment.

The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang

The Collected Schizophrenias is a collection of essays about Esmé Weijun Wang’s experience of living with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type and a commentary on the continued stigmatisation of the “collected schizophrenias”.

Wang writes about her diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type), involuntary hospitalisation, differing opinions among the medical community as to whether schizophrenia is a single diagnosis or a collection of similar mental illnesses, how schizophrenia is portrayed in pop culture, and dealing with PTSD and Lyme disease honestly and sensitively.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

Black Wood By Derek Flynn

Black Wood by Derek Flynn. Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from the author included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

How far would you go to get out? And once you get out, how far would you go to protect the secrets from your past?

When our unnamed narrator receives an unexpected phone call from Samantha, someone he went to school with it, he knows something must be wrong. He is right and they need to find a way of their past remaining as just that, in the past.

Split between their school days in Concord and 25 years later, Black Wood is a tale of conspiracy, obsession and what happens when life in a small town gets complicated. But can our narrator’s version of events be trusted? Has his need, as a writer, for the perfect story clouded his judgement so much that we never get a clear picture of what happened in the Black Wood all those years ago?

In a break from his popular John Ryan series, Black Wood is a standalone thriller where the action takes place without much input from cops. That is actually where its beauty lies, in the spaces between law and order. The spaces between things that happen to us and the things we choose to do. The spaces between our past actions and their impact on our future lives.

Black Wood is unsettling and compelling, a must read!

Black Wood is available in paperback and as an ebook from Amazon here and here.

About the author

Derek Flynn is an Irish writer and musician with a Masters in Creative Writing from Trinity College, Dublin. BLACK WOOD is his third novel. His previous books BROKEN FALLS and THE DEAD GIRLS have been a big hit with readers – THE DEAD GIRLS featured on a number of book blogger’s “Best of 2018” lists and came in at number 11 in the Rick O’Shea Book Club poll of the “Best Irish Books of 2018”.

He is also a regular contributor to Writing.ie, where he writes his “Songbook” column.

Like most writers, he is fuelled solely by caffeine and self-doubt.

You’ll find him on Twitter as @DerekFlynn03

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

Best Books of 2018

Some Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) included. They are marked with an *. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Original Photo by Mahendra Kumar on Unsplash

A more accurate title for this post would be My Favourite Books of 2018 because not all of them were published in 2018, but I called my first yearly book round-up the ‘Best Books of’ back in 2015 and feel the need to be consistent so we’re just going to go with it.

2018 was the year I stopped rating books by stars on Goodreads. I still list the books I’ve read (you can find me here), but I realised that star ratings are not something I judge books on and, to be honest, there can be so little difference between four and five stars that they feel pointless.

It was also the year of reading to my own schedule instead of feeling that I needed to read the latest releases all the time. That said, by being more selective with the advance reader copies I accepted six of my top ten were books I was sent for review purposes (they’re marked with an * throughout the post). Turns out I quite enjoy reading new releases, even when it is at my own pace!

This Really Isn’t About You by Jean Hannah Edelstein*

This Really Isn’t About You* is my sleeper hit of the year. I enjoyed it when I read it, but I wasn’t the expecting to still have a book hangover months later. After years abroad Jean Hannah Edelstein moves back to the US because her father has terminal cancer. Shortly after her return, he dies. Edelstein is faced with the possibility that she has inherited a gene that makes her more susceptible to cancer and the decision of whether or not to find out for sure.

Pain Woman Takes Your Keys, and Other Essays from a Nervous System by Sonya Huber

A collection of essays about living with chronic pain, particularly the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis, sounds right up my street. So much so, that I am surprised I haven’t come across Sonya Huber’s work before. No matter, I’m glad I finally have! Pain Woman Takes Your Keys struck so many chords with me that I basically highlighted the entire the book. Hearing someone else express the same frustrations I regularly experience, like struggling to rate my pain on the ridiculous scale doctors insist on using or not really knowing how to navigate talking about your chronic pain on social media, was genuinely life changing. Objectively I knew I wasn’t the only one to feel these things, but Huber writes in a way that feels like she is inside my head. I’ll be recommending this one to people with chronic pain, as well as people who want to learn more about what living with an invisible illness is like, for years to come.

The Hoarder by Jess Kidd*

The Hoarder* is a wonderfully strange tale full of secrets, betrayal and humour. Maud Drennan is a carer with a difference; she spends her days surrounded by the ghosts of saints and being far more psychic than she would like. When she meets her newest client, Cathal Flood, she finds herself drawn to the secrets his house full of junk might hold. But Cathal’s temperament mean it’s best not too ask him too many questions. So, it’s up to Maud and her agoraphobic landlady, Renata, to get to the bottom of why Cathal is living the way he is.

The Water Cure by Sophie Macintosh*

Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Sophie Mackintosh’s debut The Water Cure* is a coming-of-age story with power, survival and sisterhood at its heart. Grace, Lia and Sky are sisters who are kept away from the outside world. This is for their own protection according to their mother and father, King. The world makes women physically sick and men are not to be trusted, but as long as the sisters do things their parent’s way everything will be alright. However, the arrival of a group of men will change their lives forever.

Skin Deep by Liz Nugent*

Liz Nugent’s appearance on my best of list is something of a tradition, but she has yet to have a misstep as far as I’m concerned. Cordelia Russell is a woman who drinks too much, perhaps because her life is, to put it mildly, complicated. Throw in the dead body in her apartment and the word ‘complicated’ no longer even begins to cover it. Skin Deep* is a devilishly good read about a woman who appears not to have a caring, or a likeable, bone in her body!

Promising Young Women by Caroline O’Donoghue

There was a time when I would have described Promising Young Women as chick-lit with a difference or chick-lit but better. That is until Caroline O’Donoghue and her Sentimental Garbage podcast made me rethink why I saw chick-lit as something less than. Chick-lit is now a badge I intend to use with the pride it is intended! Promising Young Women is brilliant chick-lit. What starts as a, seemingly, familiar story about a young woman starting an ill-advised relationship with an older man from work soon takes a Gothic turn. You may not make the same choices Jane does (or, hey, maybe you would!), but there is a lot we can learn about ourselves from her mistakes.

Almost Love by Louise O’Neill*

I never did complete that review of Almost Love* that I promised back in March. I’m still gathering my thoughts about Sarah’s relationship with Matthew and the impact it has not only on her relationship with her boyfriend, Oisin, but with herself. That’s what makes it a must-read. It messes with your head and, if you’re anything like me, makes you question the narratives we are fed about obsessive love and self-worth.

Notes to Self by Emilie Pine

Essays made up a not insignificant amount of the reading I did this year. I’m a huge fan of Narratively’s Memoir Monday newsletter, which makes finding the best of the best personal essays a whole lot easier. When it comes to essay collections Notes to Self left a lot for others to live up to. Ranging from her father’s alcoholism, infertility, mental ill-health, to feminism and rape culture these essays are deeply personal. Yet they strike the right tone and never feel like oversharing. Emilie Pine’s writing is honest, confronting, reflective and absorbing.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Another one from the Man Booker Prize longlist, Normal People follows Marianne and Connell from their childhood in rural Ireland to their college days in Dublin. Their relationship has always been complicated and adulthood doesn’t make it any less so. Sally Rooney has a way of writing characters that get under your skin and refuse to leave. It seems simple, but takes a great deal of skill.

People Like Me by Lynn Ruane

Senator Lynn Ruane is not what most people expect a politician to be like. That is not to do Ruane a disservice, she makes no secret of the fact that she never expected people like her to become politicians much less become a politician herself. From her experience with addiction, to becoming a mother at the age of 15, to returning to education and finding her voice through student politics People Like Me may be a personal story, but it explores issues that affect wider society. Issues around class and whose stories get to be told.

The Books That Made Me Who I Am

We are all shaped by the world around us. In positive ways, negative ways and complicated ways. When you read a lot, words on pages help shape your thinking and experiences. Sometimes you understand why. Sometimes books affect you in ways you cannot fully explain or understand.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

How, Laura wonders, could someone who was able to write a sentence like that—who was able to feel everything contained in a sentence like that—come to kill herself?

This definitely falls into the “I do not completely understand why this book gets under my skin the way it does” category, but if books lived in blood streams The Hours would be found in mine. If I’ve ever bought you a book, loaned you a book, or gushed about a book over coffee/drinks with you there is a good chance this was it. It reduced me to tears the first time I read and continues to do so with every re-read.

Zlata’s Diary by Zlata Filipović

War is no joke, it seems. It destroys, kills, burns, separates, brings unhappiness.

I read Zlata’s Diary in primary school. A group of Bosnian refugees were staying in a nearby hospital so my teacher added this to our reading list in an effort to help us understand what they had gone through. It was my first realisation that war wasn’t always confined to the pages of history books.

365 Bedtime Stories by Nan Gilbert

This collection of short stories and poetry turned me into a reader. My Dad used to read them to and with me, as the title suggests, at bedtime. Reading has played a large part in my life ever since.

Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt

They can’t push women all the way back, but they can use women’s bodies to keep them under surveillance and control.

I haven’t always been pro-choice, so it would be impossible to write this list without including a book about abortion rights. I chose Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Right because it completely changed my thinking on the phrase “abortion on demand” and informed me of its pro-choice roots.

The Book of Brave by Laura Jane Williams

There is no “good” and “bad”. It all just is. You just are. We all just are.

The Book of Brave is an ebook which is no longer available, but I need to include it because these essays genuinely changed my life. Laura Jane Williams’ emphasis on the importance of not beating yourself up for things you’ve done in past may sound simple, but it was exactly what I needed to hear when I first read it. You cannot change things after they have happened. You can only learn from them, but you can’t erase them.

Mercury By Margot Livesey

Mercury by Margot Livesey. Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher, Sceptre, via bookbridgr. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Donald thought he had it all; a thriving marriage, happy children and a job as an optometrist he loves. Sight is his thing, yet he failed to see his wife Viv’s obsession with a horse named Mercury until it was too late. He couldn’t have predicted that he would end up drawn to Bonnie, who is one of his patients. How did things end up this way?

Yes, the arrival of Mercury marked the biggest change but when did Donald and Viv stop communicating with each other. When did they stop listening to each other? Told in three parts, Mercury is a novel full of questions. Perhaps the most important of which is how far will Donald go to save his marriage and protect his children?

Margot Livesey’s writing is full of quiet moments and observations on life. The result being that Mercury is a slow moving, yet enthralling, exploration of love, marriage, obsession and deceit. With a side of crime.

Mercury by Margot Livesey is published by Sceptre, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, and is available in trade paperback and ebook format.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

Best Books Of 2017

Some Advance Reader Copies (ARCs), via Bookbridgr, Netgalley, authors and publishers, included. They will be marked with an *. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Original photo: Viktor Hanacek from picjumbo

Now that we’re in 2018, it’s safe to talk about my best books of 2017. I made the mistake of sharing my favourite reads of 2016 before Christmas and then read All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan, so lesson learned; do not write end of year favourites when there is still time in the year.

In keeping with my previous yearly round-ups, most of the books I read were written by women. What started as a conscious effort has become second nature. I rated more books five stars on Goodreads (you can find me here) this year, than the previous two combined. I’ve been more selective with my choices, especially when it comes to advance reader copies, which explains it. I read less crime fiction than I have in a long time, which is something I’ll be writing about soon.

A Line Made by Walking by Sara Baume

Some of these books made me laugh. Some made me cry. Some managed to do both. They all made me think. They all made me want to seek out people who had read them, so we could discuss the stories at length.

When I reviewed this back in September I struggled to get past “this book, oh this book” and that’s still true. A Line Made by Walking is a haunting story about one woman’s love of art and her experience of mental illness. Sara Baume has a way of getting under your skin and never leaving. Go read it.

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay

I’ve mentioned my love of Roxane Gay numerous times; her writing is thought-provoking, raw, confronting and necessary. The subtitle A Memoir of (My) Body sets the tone of Hunger – this is Gay at her most vulnerable and also most powerful.

Hunger is an exploration of the trauma following rape and sexual assault, food as comfort and crutch, sexuality, and the reality of being a fat woman, particularly a fat black woman, in today’s society.

Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin

In the aftermath of the Turn, a world changing event where our reliance on computers comes back to bite us, Nell is trying desperately to live up to the achievements of her father and deceased mother. But post-apocalyptic Dublin is a lonely place when you’re scrambling to figure out who you are and what you can contribute to the good of society. When she finds a mannequin hand, Nell has a moment of inspiration – what if she builds herself a companion?

Spare and Found Parts is strange, wonderful and beautifully written. Nell Crane will forever have a special place in my heart.

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman*

This is story of Frances, Jet and their brother Vincent. Frances and Jet will be familiar to fans of Practical Magic, they’re the Aunts. Here we see them grow up, discover their powers and grapple with the curse that has haunted the women of the Owens family since 1620.

The Rules of Magic is the perfect blend darkness and light; full of humour, while being heart-wrenching. Vincent, in particular, is someone I won’t forget about in a hurry.

I’ve struggled with Hoffman in recent years, but this is a return to form. It lived up to all my expectations and then some.

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison

As a world renowned clinic psychologist, Kay Redfield Jamison literally wrote the book on manic depression, Manic-Depressive Illness which she co-authored with Fredrick K. Goodwin. A few years later Jamison spoke about her own illness in An Unquiet Mind, changing how many view manic depression.

It’s easy to see why. As someone who has experience of manic depression (she makes a strong case for her dislike of the switch to the term bipolar disorder) from both and clinical and patient perspective, Jamison’s memoir is a unique look at psychiatry, the first-hand experience and how the two do or don’t meet.

Himself by Jess Kidd*

Mulderrig isn’t a particularly welcoming village to outsiders, something Mahony discovers early on. Mahony is determined to find out what happened to his mother, an event the residents of Mulderrig want left untouched at all costs. But someone knows the truth and Mahony isn’t leaving until he finds it. Aided by the flamboyant Mrs. Cauley, Mahony sets about questioning everyone about their whereabouts on that fateful night. But, much like Mulderrig itself, there is more to Mahony than meets the eye…namely the dead. But will they help or hinder him?

A must read that is as breathtakingly creepy as it is full of humour. Kidd weaves a web of magical realism around a mystery with its roots firmly planted in Ireland’s dark past.

My Lovely Wife: A Memoir of Madness and Hope by Mark Lukach

When I read Mark’s initial article , I would have liked to hear more from Giulia about her experience. While that’s still true, I’ve a new found appreciation for Mark’s perspective.

As an exploration of the changing power dynamics within a relationship and marriage when one person has a mental illness, I know I’ll be re-reading My Lovely Wife, probably multiple times.

I’ll have a full length review of The Argonauts once I figure out how to do more than gush about it, endlessly. Gorgeous, glorious and thought-provoking come to mind, but they don’t truly do it justice. My copy is covered in tabs and I know I’ll re-read it multiple times and gain something new with each reading.

Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt

Roe v. Wade may have been over forty years ago, but access to abortion in the US is constantly under threat from Republican politicians. Pollitt makes the moral case for abortion. She takes on the personhood arguments and places lived experiences of women front and centre.

This book completely changed my thinking on the phrase “abortion on demand” and reminded me of its pro-choice roots.

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

Frances and her best friend Bobbi regularly perform spoken-word poetry together at literary events around Dublin. When they attract the attention of Melissa, a photographer and journalist, Bobbi is drawn to Melissa and Frances finds herself falling for Nick, Melissa’s husband.

Conversation with Friends is an intimate look at relationships, life and figuring out who you are. I read it in September and it’s still on my mind. It’s that good.

5 Books About Abortion Rights

My current reading list is a deep dive into abortion rights and pro-choice movements both here and abroad.

The Moral Case for Abortion by Ann Furedi

Ann Furedi is the CEO of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), a not-for-profit provider of abortion in the UK. In The Moral Case for Abortion she discusses the importance of bodily autonomy when it comes to making personal decisions about reproductive intentions. Supporting women who choose to have abortions is the right thing to do.

Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt

Roe v. Wade may have been over forty years ago, but access to abortion in the US is constantly under threat from Republican politicians. Like Furedi, Pollitt makes the moral case for abortion. She takes on the personhood arguments and places lived experiences of women front and centre.

Ireland’s Hidden Diaspora: the ‘abortion trail’ and the making of the London-Irish underground, 1980-2000 by Ann Rossiter

An oral history of the Irish Women’s Abortion Support Group (IWASG) and the Irish Abortion Solidarity Campaign (Iasc) and the women who, for over 20 years, supported thousands of women a year who travelled from Ireland and Northern Ireland to have abortions in the UK.

The Abortion Papers Ireland: Volume 1 edited by Ailbhe Smyth

Written in the aftermath of the X-Case, this collection of essays combines activism and scholarship to give an overview of the Eighth Amendment and the fight for reproductive rights in Ireland.

The Abortion Papers Ireland: Volume 2 edited by Aideen Quilty, Sinead Kennedy and Catherine Conlon

The Abortion Papers Ireland: Volume 2 looks at the Eighth Amendment, its affects on pregnancy and abortion and the ongoing efforts by pro-choice activists to have it repealed. It also delves into the expansion of the modern pro-choice movement in Ireland.

5 Books About Bipolar Disorder

When I first wrote about being diagnosed with bipolar disorder my inboxes were flooded with recommendations for books I just had to read.

I can understand why, reading about something we are experiencing is almost instinctual for some people. I am one of those people. Many of the books people recommended were already on my radar. Some were already on my Kindle. Some had a bigger impact on me than others. All taught me something about bipolar disorder or myself. The really good ones did both.

Tristimania: A Diary of Manic Depression by Jay Griffiths

Tristimania is Jay Griffiths preferred term for her mixed-state bipolar episode; the 18th-century word was used to describe a specific combination of melancholia and mania.

Griffiths sets out specifically to capture the experience of mania while still in the midst of it. Tristimania is an unflinching account of manic depression as well as an exploration of the perceived link(s) between mental illness and creativity.

Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher

By her early 20s Marya Hornbacher had written and published a memoir about living with and beginning to recover from anorexia and bulimia. That book, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia became an international bestseller. Hornbacher was subsequently diagnosed with bipolar I disorder, something which had likely gone undetected since childhood. Undetected in the sense that it was undiagnosed, but as Madness shows Hornbacher has been living with mental illness from a young age.

Hornbacher doesn’t shy away from the realities of manic depression, particularly when it is rapid cycling and features psychosis.

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness by Kay Redfield Jamison

As a world renowned clinic psychologist, Kay Redfield Jamison literally wrote the book on manic depression, Manic-Depressive Illness which she co-authored with Fredrick K. Goodwin. A few years later Jamison spoke about her own illness in An Unquiet Mind, changing how many view manic depression.

It’s easy to see why. As someone who has experience of manic depression (she makes a strong case for her dislike of the switch to the term bipolar disorder) from both a clinical and a patient perspective, Jamison’s memoir is a unique look at psychiatry, the first-hand experience and how the two do or don’t meet.

My Lovely Wife: A Memoir of Madness and Hope by Mark Lukach

When I read Mark’s initial article , I would have liked to hear more from Giulia about her experience. While that’s still true, I’ve a new found appreciation for Mark’s perspective.

As an exploration of the changing power dynamics within a relationship and marriage when one person has a mental illness, I know I’ll be re-reading My Lovely Wife, probably multiple times.

A Beginner’s Guide to Losing Your Mind: My road to staying sane, and how to navigate yours by Emily Reynolds

A Beginner’s Guide to Losing Your Mind is one of the best books I’ve read about mental illness. It’s thoughtful and insightful, while understanding that there is no one size fits all answer. Emily Reynolds balances the personal, the private and the practical in a sensitive way.

The Couple Next Door By Shari Lapena

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via Netgalley included. No affiliate links used.  You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Would you leave your baby at home alone while you attended a dinner party next door? That’s exactly what Anne and Marco decide to do with their six month old daughter when their babysitter cancels at short notice.

When they return home from dinner their front door is open and Cora is missing. How could this have happened? They had the baby monitor with them and checked on Cora every half hour.

Why does Anne doubt her own account of what happened? What is Marco hiding? Is Detective Rashbach correct in his assumption that Anne and Marco are responsible for their daughter’s disappearance? How well do Anne and Marco really know their neighbours?

Told from multiple points of view, The Couple Next Door makes you question everything. This aspect worked well because as the story unravelled my loyalties to characters switched depending on whose eyes I was seeing them through.

This is difficult to discuss without wandering into spoiler territory, but I couldn’t let the often problematic portrayal of mental health issues pass without comment. While the tone was necessary, to a degree, there are times when it’s so over the top it borders on caricature. I don’t know whether this was Shari Lapena’s intention, but it didn’t sit well with me.

The Couple Next Door is full of unreliable narrators and characters that all seem to have something to hide. Lapena’s concise style ensures that this web of intrigue remains tense until the final page.

The Couple Next Door is published by Bantam Press an imprint of Transworld Publishers and is available in hardback and ebook format.

Difficult Women By Roxane Gay

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher, via Netgalley, included. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

A powerful collection of stories centred on the theme of the difficulties women face when they search for or assert their independence.

Roxane Gay is not afraid to take risks. Her exploration of the multi-faceted lives women lead questions our preconceptions about likeability. What makes women likeable? More importantly, why are women who do not fit the restrictive mould society expects them to adhere to labelled “difficult”?

Anyone familiar with Gay’s writing, particularly her essay collection Bad Feminist and debut novel An Untamed State, won’t be surprised by the intertwining of sex and violence. These are stories of love, loss, trauma, abuse, motherhood and sex. They feature women who have privilege, women who live in poverty, women who are single, in relationships or who are married, and women who are dealing with past trauma.

The standout stories for me are I Will Follow You and Requiem for a Glass Heart. I Will Follow You sees two sisters, who survived being held captive as teenagers, struggle with relationships in adulthood. Their experience has obviously changed their perception of men. Requiem for a Glass Heart, with its glass woman married to a flesh and blood man, has a touch of magical realism about it.

That some of them were previously published in places like the Oxford American, The Mississippi Review Online and the Minnesota Review left the collection with the potential to feel disjointed. Almost in defiance, Gay weaves her words in a manner that asks “why did you ever doubt me?” Difficult Women is as cohesive as it is masterfully written.

These women are not difficult, but if society insists on viewing them as such then you can expect them to act “crazy”, “loose” or “frigid”. Ask and you shall receive, right? And, yes, this is Gay at her sarcastic best.

Gay deftly switches between the first and third person, ensuring each of these women is distinctive in the process. Gay’s deep dive into what it means to be a “difficult woman” and its intersection with race and social class is as haunting as it is captivating.

Difficult Women is published by Corsair, an imprint of the Little, Brown Book Group, and is available in hardback, paperback and ebook format.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

The Lauras By Sara Taylor

The Lauras by Sara Taylor. Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher, Windmill Books, via lovereading.co.uk included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

On the surface The Lauras is a mother – child road trip novel. So far so easy, right? Not quite. Ma is restless and after one fight to many with her husband she bundles Alex into the car in the middle of the night and takes off.

Narrated by Alex we watch Ma’s story unfold through Alex’s eyes. We’re one step removed, yet we’re in the thick of it because it is Alex’s story too. As they make their way across the country Alex learns about Ma’s life. A complicated, often times messy life that has left its mark. A life full of people, places and experiences that have stayed with Ma. We learn about the Lauras and the non-Lauras and are reminded that sometimes the people who are in your life for only a short time have the biggest impact. Ma is ready to confront her past in an effort to heal those wounds and reconnect with her former self. The self she pushed aside when she met Alex’s Dad.

All the while Alex is facing uncertainty. Where will their next school be and how long will they be staying? I’ve used ‘they’ as a singular pronoun because Alex does not identify as either male or female. Whether they view themselves as non-binary or agender is never explicitly stated. We see some the difficulties Alex faces, particularly at school, but more importantly we see the freedom Alex has to explore their gender identity and learn to feel comfortable in their own skin.

The Lauras is a sensitive, moving, compelling and nuanced look at gender, sexuality, how the past affects our present and questions how well we really know our parents.

The Lauras by Sara Taylor is published by Windmill Books, an imprint of the Penguin Random House, and is in hardback, paperback and ebook format.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

Burned and Broken By Mark Hardie

Burned and Broken by Mark Hardie. Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher, Sphere, included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

When the remains of a policeman are found in a burnt out car DS Pearson and DC Russell know they will be under extra scrutiny as they try to solve the case. The powers that be will want answers that don’t damage the reputation of the police force.

Simultaneously, a young woman who has recently left the care system is trying to find out what happened to her best friend.

Are both cases linked? As Pearson and Russell uncover new details and evidence they wonder just how much information their bosses need to know.

My main issue was the pacing. Some chapters were full of fast moving information, while others seemed to drag on as little or nothing happened. I know the mix of tempos is meant to mirror the difficulties the police face when working on a case, but as a reader the balance was a little off. The prologue sucked me in, but it didn’t always hold my attention which makes tension building difficult.

Despites its flaws; Hardie has created a good working relationship between DS Pearson and DC Russell. A relationship that makes me want to see where Hardie takes them next and how his writing style develops.

Burned and Broken by Mark Hardie is published by Sphere, an imprint of the Little, Brown Book Group and is available in hardback and ebook format. The paperback edition will be published on the 4th May.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

Relativity By Antonia Hayes

Relativity by Antonia Hayes. Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher, Corsair, included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Sometimes you come across a book that is so completely worth the hype you half suspect anyone who doesn’t like it is deliberately going against the grain. It seems almost impossible that everyone wouldn’t fall in love with it as much as you. Relativity by Antonia Hayes is that book.

Relativity is a story about family bonds, the lengths we’ll go to for the people we love and physics. Yes, you read that correctly. 12 year-old Ethan loves physics and astronomy. His talent for and obsession with physics are stitched into the narrative in a way that draws even the least science minded, namely myself, in.

Claire is protective of her son, but she can’t shield him from the truth forever especially when he starts asking questions about his father.

I went into the book knowing nothing about it apart from the blurb on the back. I recommend you do the same, which is why this review is short on synopsis. The characters are as complex as the plot and Hayes’ inhabits them all with skill. That the story is told from multiple perspectives only adds another layer to this rich and absorbing tale.

Hayes’ debut novel is a gorgeous exploration of how the past is a place we can no longer visit. But it still plays a part on our future, even if we’d like to be able to leave it behind completely.It was only afterwards I discovered that some of the events in the novel mirror something Antonia Hayes experienced.

Relativity is as thought-provoking as it is compelling. A must read.

Relativity by Antonia Hayes is published by Corsair an imprint of the Little, Brown Book Group and is available in hardback and ebook format. The paperback edition is published on the 19th January.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

All We Shall Know By Donal Ryan

All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) via Netgalley included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Melody Shee is pregnant and alone. Her husband, Pat, left her when she told him about her affair. But even he doesn’t know the truth. Melody doesn’t dare tell anyone that she slept with 17 year-old Martin Toppy. She was supposed to be teaching him to read and write.

Melody doesn’t know what to do. She is angry; at Pat and at the world, but mostly at herself. How has she ended up like this? She has no-one to turn to except her Dad, but she doesn’t want to break his heart. Other people have friends, but not Melody.

Enter Mary Crothery, a young Traveller woman who has a way of seeing through the walls Mary has built around herself. As an unlikely friendship is formed, Melody finds herself being drawn to into the Travelling community more and more. She cares about what happens to Melody. She also cares about what happens to Martin, despite everything that has happened. Or maybe because of it, she’s not really sure.

Ryan has a great way with the Irish dialect that draws you in and makes his exploration of rural communities in contemporary Ireland a joy to read. His prose is lyrical, yet concise. At less than 200 pages, All We Shall Know packs an emotional punch.

All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan is published by Doubleday an imprint of Transworld Publishers and part of the Penguin Random House group and is available and hardback and ebook format.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

Through The Barricades By Denise Deegan

Through the Barricades by Denise Deegan. Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from the author included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Maggie Gilligan wants to make a difference in the world. She has to, for her father. She is willing to do whatever it takes.

When Maggie meets Daniel, she thinks he is nothing more than a privileged boy who has no clue what is really going on. She dares him to join her in volunteering at a food kitchen. Daniel accepts and a friendship is formed.

When Maggie realises that volunteering at the soup kitchen isn’t enough, that she needs to do more, Daniel is at her side. As their relationship grows, Daniel promises to do everything he can to keep her safe. Even the one thing Maggie does not want him to do, enlisting in the British Army.

Spanning the 1913 Lockout, the First World War and the Easter Rising, Through the Barricades by Denise Deegan is an evocative look at a period that helped shape Ireland. Deegan’s fictional characters leap off the page just as much as the historical ones.

Through the Barricades is a story about love and revolution. It is a story about making your voice heard. It is a story about trying to make a difference. We see Maggie and Daniel try to balance their love for each other with their respective sense of duty. We experience a country divided, the effects of poverty, the realities of war and the lengths Maggie and others will go to in order to secure an Irish Republic.

Maggie Gilligan is a character who will stay with me. I know she’ll cross my mind from time to time, I’ll wonder how she’s doing and whether her life is going the way she hopes.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

Best Books of 2016

Some Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) via lovereading.co.uk, Netgalley and publishers included. They will be marked with an *. No affiliate links included. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Last year I made a conscious decision to read more books written by women, something I continued to do this year. Of the 80+ books I’ve read, 60+ were written by women, so it’s no surprise that my best books of 2016 list is comprised solely of women.

I’ve read and enjoyed many books, both fiction and non-fiction, but these are the six I gave five star ratings to. These are the six that affected me the most. In a year that saw me rediscover my love of crime fiction it will surprise no one to see half the list made up of crime novels.

Some of these books made me laugh. Some made me cry. Some managed to do both. They all made me think. They all made me want to seek out people who had read them, so we could discuss the stories at length. They are all books I know I will re-read, which may sound strange when it comes to crime fiction but the three I’ve chosen are full of nuance and little details that lend themselves well to being re-visited.

Different Class by Joanne Harris*

Told by two narrators; Roy Straitley in 2005 and an unnamed student in 1981, Different Class* is dark, twisty, menacing and often times claustrophobic. It is a slow burning, yet character driven psychological thriller that will leave you with your heart in your mouth on more than one occasion. Joanne Harris skilfully controls a plot full of complex characters and sinister events. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard*

Distress Signals* is well paced and full of tension; what makes it stand out is the significant role the cruise ship plays. What happens when a crime happens on a cruise ship? Which country has jurisdiction and how many resources do they actually dedicate to crimes committed miles from land? These are the issues that Adam finds himself up against. These are questions that add an extra layer of intrigue to Catherine Ryan Howard’s confident debut.

The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel*

The Summer That Melted Everything* is an incredible piece of literary fiction. That it is a debut novel makes it even more so. Tiffany McDaniel’s writing is evocative, complex and full of confidence.

The summer of 1984 brings an intense heat wave to Breathed, Ohio. It also brings the devil. Things will never be the same again. Fielding Bliss has never forgotten that summer and it is through his eyes that we learn what happened. The novel alternates between 1984 and an unspecified year in the future.

It is a thought-provoking novel that deals with religion, racism, homophobia and mob mentality amongst other things.  It’s a novel I’ll be recommending for a long time to come.

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent*

Told from multiple points of view; Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent* skilfully weaves a web of deceit, showing the fallout one incident has for two families. Just when you think you’ve figured everything out, Nugent skilfully takes the story in a different direction.

It is an engrossing psychological thriller. Liz Nugent has once again written a world full of complexity, depravity, secrets and the central question of whether ‘badness’ is a case of nature or nurture.

Needlework by Deirdre Sullivan

Dealing with the aftermath of abuse, Needlework by Deirdre Sullivan begins where many other novels would end.

Ces is smart, vulnerable and understandably angry a lot of the time. She may no longer be in the abusive situation, but it still has a hold over her. What follows is an unflinching, powerful, haunting, often times harrowing and poetic look at a teenage girl trying to get her life back.

My words can’t do Needlework justice, but trust me you need to read it.

Becoming: Sex, Second Chances & Figuring Out Who The Hell I Am by Laura Jane Williams

After being dumped by her childhood sweetheart, the man she thought she was going to marry, Laura Jane Williams turns to excess in order to deal with heartache. Drink? Check. One night stands? Check. Having a good time is nothing to be ashamed of. But what happens when you are no longer having a good time? What happens when you realise that you haven’t really dealt with the fact your ex-boyfriend is marrying your friend? What happens when you realise that you don’t really like who you’ve become?

These questions are at the heart of Becoming: Sex, Second Chances and Figuring Out Who The Hell I Am. Laura decides to take a vow of celibacy, one year without sex or dating. A year where she can focus on processing the emotions she’d previously been fighting against, however messy those emotions may become.

Laura’s writing is raw, honest and often times heartbreaking. Becoming is poignant, thought-provoking, funny, heartbreaking and above all an exploration of the work that’s sometimes involved in truly liking yourself.

Death At The Seaside by Frances Brody

Death at the Seaside by Frances Brody. Advance Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher, Piatkus, included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m a fan of mysteries and thrillers. So, when Piatkus contacted me about taking part in the blog tour for Frances Brody’s latest novel, Death at the Seaside, I jumped at the chance.

Nothing ever happens in August, so it seems like the perfect time for sleuth Kate Shackleton and her colleagues to take a break. Shackleton heads to Whitby to catch up with an old school friend Alma Turner.

What was supposed to be a relaxing holiday turns out to be anything but for Shackleton. First she stumbles across a crime at the local jewellers’ then she discovers that Alma’s daughter Felicity has disappeared leaving only a note and the pawn ticket a watch-guard behind her.

Are the crime at the jewellers and Felicity’s departure from Whitby related? Where has Felicity gone? What has Alma’s gentlemen friend and jeweller Jack Phillips got to do with it all? And how far will a town go in order to keep its secrets? When the town closes ranks, Kate Shackleton turns to her colleagues for help.

Death at the Seaside sits firmly in the cosy mysteries category. If you like your crime fiction with a hard edge, this isn’t the book for you. I really enjoyed it. The story is a slow burner, but it was well paced with enough strands to the story to keep you guessing as to what will happen next.

There is something special about mysteries set in close knit communities and Frances Brody captures it well. I felt like I was in 1920s Whitby. While experiencing things from an outsider’s point of view, I got a good sense of how the residents of Whitby felt about the events that were unfolding. That is often a hard thing to achieve, but Brody got the balance just right.

Death at the Seaside is the eighth book in the Kate Shackleton mystery series, but they work as standalone novels. Death at the Seaside explores the dynamics of life in a small town and how newcomers and outsiders are perceived, especially once a crime has been committed.

About the author

Frances Brody is the author of the Kate Shackleton mysteries, as well as many stories and plays for BBC Radio, scripts for television and four saga, one of which one the HaperCollins Elizabeth Elgin Award. Her stage plays have been toured by several theatre companies and produced at Manchester Library Theatre, the Gate and Nottingham Playhouse, and Jehad was nominated for a Time Out Award.

Death at the Seaside by Frances Brody is published by Piatkus part of the Little, Brown Book Group and is available in paperback and ebook format.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

Nina is Not OK By Shappi Khorsandi

Nina is Not OK by Shappi Khorsandi. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via Netgalley included. No affiliate links used. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

‘Do you think your drinking is a problem? Do you get drunk when you don’t mean to?’ I always mean to.

You can’t be an alcoholic at 17, can you? Nina enjoys a drink; she’s hardly alone in that and her friends are always on hand to fill in any blanks she has from the night before. Nina’s mother is simply being oversensitive because Nina’s father was an alcoholic, right?

When no-one can help her remember the events of a particular night, Nina is forced to confront her drinking in a way she never has before. She is also left with a feeling that something bad happened. A feeling of shame that will not go away. A feeling that leads her to blame herself for the actions of others. A feeling that has far reaching consequences.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I finished Nina is Not OK and it is still playing on my mind. That’s because Shappi Khorsandi has written characters that I ended up caring deeply for, even if I didn’t always like them.

For so long there has been an assumption that characters, particularly women and girls, must be likeable (a) for readers to actually enjoy reading about them and (b) in order for readers to empathise with them. This isn’t always true. Some of my favourite books in recent years have had characters that were either (a) downright unlikeable or (b) said and did unlikeable things at some point.

I’m reminded of a speech Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave last year where she told young girls to forget about likeability. Solid advice for life and for writing fiction.

Like Asking For It by Louise O’Neill and All The Rage by Courtney Summers, Nina is Not OK is an exploration of consent and the role alcohol plays, rape culture, victim blaming and the politics of teenage girls. Not always an easy read, subject wise, but that is exactly what makes them essential reading.

Shappi Khorsandi has written a powerful and complex debut novel (her first book is a memoir) that is as funny as it is thought-provoking. More of this, please.

Nina is Not OK is published by Ebury Press part of the Penguin Random House Group and is available in hardback and ebook format.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you like what I do you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.