September 2022 Mini Reviews

 The Dictator's Wife by Freya Barry

Published: 17th February 2022 by Headline

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review.

I feel like this had the potential to blow me away but unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me. I did like the angle that Berry took in the whole lawyer dynamic within the greater political sphere, as I thought that was a unique take on this type of story. However, I ultimately felt that, while the story started and ended on stronger notes, the majority of the book became overcomplicated, introducing lots of characters and information that I felt made the novel too dense and oversaturated. The concept of The Dictator's Wife is very strong, but I did just feel that there was too much going on. The combination of Marija's upcoming trial and all the work the lawyers were doing for that, as well as Laura's own investigations and her internal struggle with being back in her home country just made the story hard to follow in the end. The twist at the end had the potential to be great but it did just feel like too much to pack into one book.

3 stars

Small Miracles by Anne Booth

Published: 4th August 2022 by Vintage

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review.

I'm actually a massive fan of Call the Midwife, so I was really hoping for something similar to that, a book that was heartwarming and cosy. Small Miracles was definitely that, especially in the very neat way in which everything was tied up in the end, but unfortunately, I found the storylines to be quite hit-and-miss, to the point where I definitely paid way more attention to skim, and almost completely skimmed others. I didn't really warm to the 1990s setting, maybe because the nuns had less of an impact in the community by this point, but I would've liked it to be more impactful to the story in some way. I also found the story to be slipping in the second half, with the nuns' trip to Rome seemingly coming out of nowhere. I appreciated the more human sides shown by the nuns, but the ending felt too convenient for me in its attempt to have a dramatic twist.

3 stars

Twelve Days in May by Niamh Hargan

Published: 28th April 2022 by HarperCollins

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review.

This felt like the perfect summer romance to read, especially in the last dregs of the hot weather. I thought the Cannes Film Festival setting was unique, definitely not one I've come across before, and one I thought I would enjoy, which I did! There were a couple of big things that I wasn't a fan of which ultimately lowered my enjoyment of reading Twelve Days in May overall. One was the extent to which the Bordeaux backstory was told - obviously Ciaran and Lizzy's origin story needed to be told, but as I much preferred the present-day setting of Cannes I couldn't help but feel that too much time was spent telling the story of the past. Despite the book being longer than a lot of other contemporary romances, I did find myself flying through it, but I think that had more to do with Hargan's strong writing than being personally invested in the romance.

3 stars

Mad About You by Mhairi McFarlane

Published: 14th April 2022 by HarperCollins

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affects my review.

I have such mixed feelings about this book! On the one hand, the writing was great and the overall story was refreshing and satisfying, but the anger and frustration I felt throughout the course of reading Mad About You did actively take away from my enjoyment of it at times. I have read one other Mhairi McFarlane book before, If I Never Met You, and really enjoyed it, and I know she is so well-regarded as a Romance author, so I was excited going into this one. I do think my main issue with the book is just that I ended up feeling more frustrated than happy about the ending, and I feel as though the huge buildup of the endless horrible experiences Harriet had to endure wasn't met with a big enough happy ending. I can appreciate the slow-burn of the romance, but it felt like it barely existed in comparison to the never-ending knockbacks Harriet had to go through. The writing can't be faulted as it produced such strong emotions in me though!

3.5 stars