Heatstroke by Hazel Barkworth

Rating:

3 Stars

Themes:

Fiction, Mystery

Thoughts:

I don’t quite know what to think about this one. I went in thinking it was a thriller mystery type book but while a child does go missing in the first chapter, the story felt like it was missing those elements for me. Especially when we were getting towards the end of the book as Lily’s being found/rescued wasn’t really covered and was more of an afterthought in Rachel’s story. Rachel herself was a character I really couldn’t get along with, while I can see where her dissatisfaction could be coming from she seemed to be completely selfish and centering herself in everyone else's (especially that of Deborah and Mia) trauma. The way in which she spoke about Mia centered herself and almost reduced her as if Rachel had really wanted a doll she could dress and control forever and not an actual child who would grow and develop their own mind. I also disliked the way that as soon as she knew who it was with Lily, she tried to reconstruct reality as if Lily was the one who could manipulate the situation and not the victim which is an especially dangerous attitude for a teacher to have. The book did a great job of conveying the stuffy atmosphere of the heatwave with such long chapters with flipping perspectives in one chapter increasing the tension.

Favourite Quote:

“Neither was what the other had expected. Those hot days had contorted everything; melted it down and reset it into odd new shapes. They had no secrets left to tell. Everything was on the outside. There was no going back.”

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...

Porn is Not Sex Ed! by Jessica Melendez

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Young Adult Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. In the age of lessening sex education this book could be a great tool to help bridge the gap. I appreciate the talk to an adult bits that can encourage children to start to have conversations that are important but they often think are cringy. The note to trusted adults bit at the end is great too and there’s quite a few useful activities to help the messages really sink in. Some of the points here such as fetishisation and body image are really important ones that I never learned that young (which could be the reason I had such poor body image as a teen) and for the most part the book talks to kids on their level although some areas may feel a little immaturely worded for older teens. With thanks to Hachette UK and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy of this book.

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