Firstly, we’d like to apologise for the late post – April was an incredibly busy month, from assessments to Easter celebrations to reading all of your wonderful submissions to the blog! But in the midst of everything, we still found time to read. Scroll down to see what we thought of our April reads…
Editor: Rachel
Book: The Vanished Bride by Bella Ellis
Genre: Historical Fiction and Crime
Page count: 337
Favourite Quote: “Behind the veil Anne quietly seethed, and made several rapid and fairly violent plans to do serious injury to her big brother in the space of but a few moments.”
Rating: 5/5
The Vanished Bride is the first in a series by author Bella Ellis called the Brontë Sisters Mystery. During the Yorkshire summer when all three Brontë sisters are under one roof, their brother hurtles into their writing room to inform them of a newsworthy horror! The second wife of Mr Chester of Arunton has gone missing, presumed dead, and a pool of blood has been left in the room and found by the governess. The governess happens to be a school friend of Charlotte and Emily’s and so, with Anne, all three sisters set out to comfort their friend and try to find out what has really happened to Elizabeth Chester.
The book is brilliant with the depictions of realistic sisterly, and brotherly, love. Each sister has her own perspective in the novel and each is rich and in keeping with their own personality as well as easily identifiable as from the same family. Each chapter is short and easy to read, but filled with information. The crime-solving aspect does not bog anything down but is played out realistically and succinctly. And for all the fans of the Brontës, there are nods to their real lives and writings. There are also some easter eggs for Brontë nerds in the author’s pen name and interactions with other real-life people such as between Charlotte Brontë and her father’s curate Mr Nicholls (which is amusing for those who know a little of the life of Charlotte Brontë).
It also organically becomes a novel where they meet multiple women through their detecting. Through this, they learn of women living independent or different lives that would be considered unusual or radical to the patriarchal, Victorian society. Without feeling forced, it’s an enjoyable read when finding a variety of women in different situations going after what they want and it feels natural to end the book with the Brontë sisters working towards their goal of publishing.
Editor: Becca
Book: The Ophelia Letters by Rebecca Tamás
Page Count: 27
Favourite Quote: “He had a mountain range folded in his pocket, amongst the ticket stubs.”
Rating: 4/5
Intertwined with elegance and the sense of new beginnings, Rebecca Tamás creates a collection like no other in her poetry pamphlet The Ophelia Letters. Each poem, although short in length is amplified by her devoted choice of language. Her poems speak loudly through metaphors and allusions, detailing moments of an intricate relationship, and personal connections to her memories all the while encompassing a journey through earth’s most beautiful and honourable qualities. Tamás holds beauty in such a small space, allowing her short pamphlet to offer you enough, but keep you longing for more. As her first pamphlet of work, you can tell just how much potential her writing has to transport you somewhere new. Her writing is inspiring through its formal qualities, with her free verse flowing naturally like water which reflects her naturistic tones. This collection was so enjoyable and easy to read, and I loved how free her writing felt. As a poetry writer myself, her work has allowed me to explore new forms and elements of writing and enabled me to enhance the diction that I write with. Similarly, her voice is so unique to her collection, that it is hard not to feel unified with it and discover your own writing voice and style in the process of reading each poem. The title of the collection stood out to me immediately. As I am currently studying Shakespeare, the use of the Character Ophelia from Hamlet gave a clear indication of the direction this collection would go. Taking a silenced voice in a play dominated be a masculine atmosphere and transforming it into a powerful symphony of finding yourself and empowering femininity allowed the collection to thrive. I would recommend this collection to anyone who is discovering their own voice, their love for poetry or those who want to feel completely embodied by imagery when reading poetry.
Editor: Rosie
Book: Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
Page Count: 430
Favourite quote: “I had the lonely feeling that I was the only one around who didn’t know the rules.”
Rating: 4/5
Breasts and Eggs primarily follows Natsu, a woman living in Tokyo chasing her dream of becoming a novelist. We first meet Natsu as she meets up with her sister, who is obsessed with the idea of breast implants, and her niece, who no longer talks as a result of the shame she feels about her mother. This first section of the novel explores the complexities and confusion in women’s relationship with their body, and the shame and despair of growing up in an environment so focussed on that. The next section is set some years after the first, with Natsu now an established writer. This section heavily focuses on Natsu’s desire to have a child, despite her aversion to sex and romantic relationships. Throughout both sections, Natsu has eye-opening conversations with the women around her, painting a picture of what it means to be a woman in Japan.
This novel is definitely on the strange side, with little plot and long meandering thoughts about seemingly simple things. This is a very interior novel, following Natsu’s stream of consciousness as she goes through life and engages with the women around her. Breasts and Eggs explores unattainable beauty standards, and societal expectations of women to be mothers and wives while maintaining this. There are some discussions of nature and religion with many of the characters strongly against Natsu’s ideas of artificial insemination in order to have a child. While the idea that women are made to have children is pushed throughout, Natsu is often ostracised for her want of a child as a single woman. The way these topics are handled, primarily through women’s conversations or Natsu’s thoughts, gives them a sense of reality that is almost heartbreaking, as the reader experiences the impossibilities of womanhood through the interiority of Natsu’s character. The novel is wonderfully written, and though poignant and often heart-wrenching, is threaded with love and hope.
Editor: Brigitta
Book: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
Genre: Fantasy
Page count: 1008
Favourite Quote: Even in soiled pink satin and torn lace, Brienne looked more like a man in a gown than a proper woman. “I am grateful but… you were well away. Why come back?”
A dozen quips came to mind, each crueler than the one before, but Jaime only shrugged. “I dreamed of you,” he said.
Rating: 5/5
A Storm of Swords is the third book in George R.R. Martin’s series A Song of Ice and Fire, and my favourite in the series so far. While the second book in the series, A Clash of Kings, was slightly more character driven (which I did thoroughly enjoy), A Storm of Swords is a perfect mix of great character beats and jaw-dropping action. And jaw-dropping is no exaggeration – the second half of this book is absolutely packed with twists and major character deaths that make it impossible to put down.
A Storm of Swords benefits hugely from the introduction of Jaime Lannister’s point-of-view chapters. Before this book, readers only saw glimpses of Jaime, mostly getting to know him through his reputation as the ‘kingslayer’ and a few scattered moments with other point-of-view characters. It’s incredibly satisfying to finally get inside his head and to see all the complexities of such an initially detestable character. The odd companionship between Jaime and Brienne is also a very interesting way to explore both characters and was one of my favourite parts of the novel.
Overall, A Storm of Swords delivers excellent payoff for much of the build-up of the first two books, and sets the stakes even higher for the following entries in the series. While some chapters drag a bit (Daenerys’ chapters in particular are disappointingly repetitive for one of the most interesting characters in the series), the overall quality of this book makes it impossible for me to rate it under 5 stars. Reading this was one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I’ve ever had, and it has fully convinced me of the hype surrounding A Song of Ice and Fire.
Editor: Luciana
Book: Nothing Like The Movies by Lynn Painter
Genre/category: Young Adult romance
Page count: 448
Synopsis: In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Better than the Movies, Wes and Liz struggle to balance their feelings for each other with the growing pains of being a college student.
For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.
Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.
Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend.
Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good. (Goodreads)
Favourite quote: “I’m not sure if things got quiet or loud, blurry or hyperfocused, but I know the universe changed as I looked at Liz, everything melting into impressionistic streaks of fuzzy background colors.”
Rating: 2.75/5
Better Than The Movies, the first book in this romance duology, was an instant 5-star read for me. It ticked all the boxes a fluffy young adult romance novel could ask for. So when I found out that there was going to be a sequel, I was super excited. Until I learned that it was about the boy main character, Wes, trying to win Liz, the girl main character, all over again after a break-up that happens in the invisible middle between the two books. Don’t get me wrong, the second-chance trope can be done well. But not when it means the same story is being told again, except this time the characters lose their personality and essence from the first book along the way. I found some other things to be unnecessary, such as the abundance of Taylor Swift quotes and songs that were meant to pass as casual and match the situations. They didn’t, and I say that as a swiftie. Many of the plot points were also left hanging, they began but were never really explored, and that left a sense of anti-closure.
To stop being a hater, there were some aspects of the book I really enjoyed. Painter’s writing style is really captivating, so it’s easy to get enthralled in the story and keep passing the pages. It was also nice seeing how the characters changed from the first book to this one, passing from naive high schoolers to ambition-driven university students. Both main characters, but especially Wes, went through deep character arcs related to the personal experiences they go through.
In conclusion, if you read the first book and loved it, my advice would be to forget this sequel exists.
Editor: Anna
Book: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Genre: Historical fiction
Page count: 261
Rating: 5/5
Girl with a Pearl Earring is a historical fictional novel that reimagines the story behind Johannes Vermeer’s famous painting. It is set in 17th century Delft, and the narrative follows Griet, a 16 year old girl who becomes a maid in Vermeer’s turbulent household. After being given the job to tidy Vermeer’s workroom, she and Vermeer begin a complex relationship with the painter that results in her posing for the painting, with tension building throughout the novel.
Chevalier is brilliant at describing the atmosphere of the time and the intricacies of the artistic process, paying much attention to colour and technique, the story unfolding like paint layered onto a canvas to reveal the final masterpiece. Girl with a Pearl Earring delves into themes of power dynamics, gender roles, the sacrifices made for art, and the downfall of relationships and reputation. Though the novel is a fictional, imagined retelling, it is full of rich storytelling and it offers a glimpse into the life of a young woman navigating a world of social hierarchy. Throughout reading the book, I often flicked back to look at the front cover, to look into the eyes of Vermeer’s subject and wonder what her true story was. It has certainly made me want to see the painting in real life.
Girl with a Pearl Earring is perfect for other readers who are interested in character driven stories, art, and history.