October 2023 Mini reviews

 Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu

Published: 14th September 2023 by Picador

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

This has been quite an anticipated read for me, as I have heard nothing but great things about this memoir, and I really liked the sound of its focus on a blossoming friendship cut short in such a formative time of someone's life. Seeing that it has since won the Pulitzer Prize spurred me to finally pick this up, and I am so glad that I did. Hsu's narrative voice is so strong that it transports you to his time as a college student at Berkeley, and it feels as though you are fully immersed in his friendship group and his conversations with his friend Ken, talking about everything from films to philosophy and everything in between. The grief felt at losing his friend in such a brutal and unexpected way is palpable, and the ways in which he carried his friend with him in the years that followed was beautiful. This were such an incredible testament to a friendship, not only for what it was but for the potential of what it could have been.

5 stars

Hollywood Park by Mikel Jollett

Published: 1st October 2020 by Sceptre

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

I have clearly really been enjoying reading some heartbreaking memoirs lately! I am fascinated by cults, and love hearing from the perspective of people who have since left those environments and speak about what life was like for them - Educated by Tara Westover is one of my favourite books and so I was excited to read Hollywood Park as it covered similar topics. However, I think comparing it to this, and to the other incredible memoirs I have read recently, was possibly placing unrealistic expectations on this book to live up to. I did really enjoy its exploration of boyhood and growing up with difficult parental relationships and addiction struggles, but I found the narrative to be confusing at times, and it being sold as a cult memoir seemed a bit misleading to me as it was about so much more than that.

4 stars

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

Published: 28th September 2023 by Macmillan

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

This was a really interesting concept of a book - taking the popularity of true crime cases and creating a fictionalised one and the same vein, and for the most part, I really enjoyed it. I haven't read Knoll's other work, Luckiest Girl Alive, but I am aware of how many people have enjoyed it, and its subsequent film adaptation, so I tentatively had quite high expectations for this newest work of hers. I enjoyed the different narratives, the time jumps between Pamela in the present-day and at the time of the attack, contrasted with Ruth's chapters, and how their respective relationships with Tina and the Defendant connected them. However, I found the ending to be a bit disappointing - it didn't give me that huge moment of satisfaction or a grand reveal that I was waiting for, and I found the role of Tina, and even Carl, to be confusing at times.

3.5 stars

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

The Ex Hex #1

Published: 28th September 2021 by Headline Eternal

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

Seeing this being sold as Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls makes me wonder why it took me so long to read it when those are two of my favourite things ever! Also knowing that Erin Sterling is the pseudonym for Rachel Hawkins, who I feel is one of the original YA paranormal authors, made me even more excited to read this. This was so much fun - everything from the small-town setting to the close-knit female family bonds between Vivi and her cousin and aunt, to the great chemistry between her and Rhys, the brooding Welsh witch who comes back to town after nine years. I really enjoyed the writing and the pacing of the story, with the overarching curse allowing for secondary characters to be introduced, and I cannot wait to read the sequel and see what happens next!

4 stars