MAY

 

Malibu Rising ~ Taylor Jenkins Reid

 NO (make that NoNoNo)

What a load of shite writing.  Totally "tell not show". Just bland exposition storytelling, probably aiming for a tv takeup.  Shallow has too many letters in it to describe it.

Mercy (Dept Q #1) ~ Jussi Adler-Olsen

 ****

OK, so I picked the perp very close to the beginning (and felt it was a clumsy insertion) but that was easily overlooked because of the excellent writing, great fleshing out of characters, fast pace of the plot.

The Frozen River ~ Ariel Lawhon

 DNF

OMG ... this rated so well but was totally irksome.

Once I had the image of Snidely Whiplash in my head, I couldn't shake it.  The Villain was sooo bad.  The Husband was soooo good.  She is so brave and full of herself. It was all soooo sanctimonious and shallow

Dream Hotel ~ Laila Lalami

A Black Mirror Dystopian story.

APRIL

 

Heartwood ~ Amity Grange

 ****

Light but gets you in with fast pace, descriptive location, good POV characters 

Broken Country ~ Clare Leslie Hall

 

**

Eminently forgettable lightweight read

Village romance, crime coverup, cardboard characters bleh 

The Berry Pickers ~ Amanda Peters

 

Fugitive Telemetry (Murderbot #6) ~ Martha Wells

 

Beautyland ~ Marie-Helene Bertino

 

Network Effect (Murderbot #5) ~ Martha Wells

 

MARCH

 

Wild Dark Shore ~ Charlotte McConaghy

 ****

A Wild and refreshing novel, a delight the read.

The Snow Child ~ Eowyn Ivey

 Grrr ... thought this seemed cliched ... and it was ... but also familiar because I had read it before (and wasn't impressed the first time)

Exit Strategy (Murderbot #4) ~ Martha Wells

 

Dream Count ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

Rogue Protocol (Murderbot #3) ~ Martha Wells

 

The Strange Case of Jane O ~ Karen Thompson Walker

 

Artificial Condition (Murderbot DIaries #2) ~ Martha Wells

 Like #1, a reading palate cleanser ... a quick and enjoyable read, immersive sci-fi world. Fun Murderbot

The Incarnations ~ Susan Barker

 Only just hit **OK

Really shouldn't have bothered finishing ... it was just that I so loved the previous work of hers (Old Soul).

It rated an **OK because of the snippets of Chinese history but the packaging was too long, mostly boring

FEBRUARY

 

All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries 1) ~ Martha Wells

 Rogue Robot

Enjoyable, engaging, snappy sci-fi

I was just looking for a little palate cleanser and this was perfect.  A short book, a quick read ... and have ordered the next in the series!

Let Us Descend ~ Jesmyn Ward

 This really should have been a DNF.

What was meant to pass for magic realism was more like continuing dream-sequences followed by and-then-I-woke-up

Don't know wtf I kept reading

Old Soul ~ Susan Barker

 

Homeseeking ~ Karissa Chen

 

JANUARY

 

The Wedding People ~ Alison Espach

 

The Sequel ~ Jean Hanff Korelitz

 

Fun, fast paced sequel to The Plot : a novel about a novel.

A little repetitive of the first book with characterisation

Margo's Got Money Troubles ~ Rufi Thorpe