The Motive by Khurrum Rahman

Rating:

4 Stars

Themes:

Short Story, Thriller, Mystery

Thoughts:

It’s interesting that the book is called The Motive when the motive itself seems consistent but the perpetrator is the one in question. I found Jay an interesting, almost morally grey character as although he is a drug dealer and thus a criminal he does what he can to help the situation as soon as the stabbing happens. Idris himself is much more of a straightforward character but I felt his conflict with his partner’s potential racism, especially when deciding which one should stay with the victim or question certain suspects. The dynamics of their friendship felt so relatable although there were definitely a few conflicting elements that I’m sure will come up again later in the series. I found the racist elements of the story really well timed/placed as a Brit myself, some of the country did take that approach following the Brexit referendum and with the riots a few years ago this is unfortunately still timely.

Favourite Quote:

“I was proud of him - obviously I'd never say that to him, it's not the kind of relationship we have. Like most good friends, we're more comfortable ripping each other to shreds.”

Comments

Mint and Murder by Carly Winter

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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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