Stay in the Light by A.M. Shine

Rating:

4 Stars

Themes:

Horror, Fantasy, Irish

Thoughts:

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is the second installment about the Watchers and sort of feels even creepier with them being out in our world. It jumped straight back into the action which I was glad for after the last page of the first book. This one builds more on the Irish folklore/mythology than the brief mention before which was a great touch, making the Watchers/changelings feel even more real. I also found the developing relationships, especially between Madeline and Mina. I found the small town Irish touches fun and grounding. I found Sean insufferable, especially with his misogyny, but I have a feeling that he was written that way on purpose so that his ending felt better and as a contrast with the strong female leads.

Favourite Quote:

“Time did more than kill. It had the power to erase people out of existence entirely. The happiness, the sorrow – the highs and lows of a life seen through to its end – all of it had been reduced to this: a pile of dust and bone heaped into the darkest corner.”

Comments

Mint and Murder by Carly Winter

Rating: Stars Themes: Short Story, Cosy Mystery Thoughts: Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I had to read this book, seeing it was available, after reading Pipers Piping and Puppies last year. I did read it as a standalone (it’s not the first time I’ve read a series out of order and likely won’t be the last) I managed to follow along fine although I’m sure I’d have understood the relationship dynamics better had I read it in the correct order. I found the story great and as for the mystery I was guessing myself right the way through until Sam figured it out. Sam is a strong female main character who feels worth investing in so I may have to go search some more of the Heywood Herbalist series out. I enjoyed seeing Sam interact with her friends as they had great chemistry and it felt real, and also really liked Sam’s interactions with Doug as it added another layer of humanity to her and reality to the town. I would love ...

Shame-Sex Attraction by Lucas Wilson

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+ Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is definitely a difficult read and it took me quite a while to get through it for that very reason. It is split up into 17 different peoples experiences with a foreword and afterword. It’s definitely an important read for many as these practices are still legal in many countries, including my own, and without knowledge of the damage of the practices many may not join in the protests or sign the petitions to try to get laws in place. As a member of the community myself I found some of these stories such as the ‘Sniffing the Gay Away’ and ‘Convert’ especially difficult to read and reminded me just how lucky I was to have such a supportive and loving community around me. I appreciated that the afterword highlighted the limitations of the collection such as having little to no religious, geographical or racial diversity but that they did try to ga...

Broken Glass by Sarah Kay

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This collection is mixed for me, some of the poems were really good and all were definitely emotive but I think so many poems on the Hamas attack and subsequent war which is highly politically charged a little difficult to tackle. Favourite Quote: "What good is it to open my heart when in the end, you will stab it in the back?"

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