A Brief History of Living Forever by Jaroslav Kalfar

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton 

Released: 28th of March 2023 

Set in a near-future America under the dual manipulations of technology and surveillance, A Brief History of Living Forever tells the epic, exhilarating story of a long-lost brother and sister on a mission to reclaim their mother from oblivion.

 

When Adela discovers she has a terminal illness, her thoughts turn to Tereza, the American-raised daughter she gave up at birth. Leaving behind her moody, grown son, Roman, in their native Czech village, she flies to the United States to find the long-lost daughter who never knew her. Yet the country, in the year 2029, is steeped in surveillance and has adopted an unapologetic nationalism—a very different place from the open and accepting one Adela experienced decades earlier, when, as a teenager high on the promise of America, she eloped with a filmmaker and starred in his cult sci-fi movie.

 

Now, in New York City, with time running out, Adela reunites with Tereza, who is working as the star researcher for two suspicious biotech moguls hellbent on developing a “god pill” to extend human life indefinitely. But before Tereza can find a cure for Adela, her mother dies mysteriously. Unbeknownst to Tereza, her body is whisked away by the American government to a mass grave for undocumented immigrants in the swampy wastelands of what was once Florida. Distraught, Tereza travels to the Czech Republic to convince Roman, the brother she’s never met, to join her in rescuing their mother’s remains from oblivion, with the intent of bringing her home to rest in Czech soil.

 

Narrated from the beyond by Adela, A Brief History of Living Forever is a high-wire act of storytelling that demonstrates once more Jaroslav Kalfar’s endless powers of invention. By turns insightful, moving, and funny, the novel blends an immigrant mother’s heartbreaking journey through the American dream with her children’s quest to reclaim her from a country that would erase any record of her existence. Above all, it is a reminder that neither space nor time can sever our connection to the ones we love.

What I Have to Say 

This book was so depressing. I didn't dislike it, I actually really liked some parts of it. But man, it was a grim look at what our future can be. 

I  really liked Adela a lot. She had an interesting perspective on things and she was honestly a really lovable character to get to know. It was really interesting seeing her narrative considering the things that happen in the book. I also really liked parts of her back story. The bits where they were filming the newt movie were really entertaining to read, not least of all because it was a really bizarre concept for a film. 

The ending was just really really grim and quite frankly terrifying. It really made me think about where the world is going right now and I really really do not want it to end up like this book. 

Overall, I enjoyed the book somewhat, but it really depressed me. 

3 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for providing me with this copy for review. 

Are You Happy Now by Hannah Jameson

Pages: 352 

Publisher: Viking 

Released: 2nd of February 2023 

DO YOU FEEL NOTHING? OR DO YOU FEEL EVERYTHING?

It all began at a wedding. A smile across the room. A moment of lust. A separation long overdue. Then a woman sat down . . . and never stood up again.

Suddenly hundreds, then thousands of people are sitting down. Is it a sickness - or are they simply giving up?

In the search for love, or happiness, or anything at all, is living a choice? Or is it just something that happens to us?

TW: Death, mental illness, medical content, suicidal thoughts, drug abuse

What I Have to Say 

This is not a  book to read when you're depressed, but I really enjoyed it. It was a really interesting look at how the world views mental illness and how it would view a mass suicide pandemic in a fictional scenario. I was disappointed at how quickly the world wrote it off as a choice, but I think that's a reflection on the world itself really. 

I really liked the characters and seeing how they each reacted to the situation. I would have really liked to see a bit more from the journalist character, seeing as she brought us into the book. I also thought that it would be really interesting to see the conflict between reporting on this, especially as there was the question of whether people were being influenced by seeing reports of others sitting down. But the author drifted away from her story and started to look at other characters instead. I liked the other characters and I especially liked the LGBTQ+ representation, but I would have liked to see more of that thread of the story. 

The ending really hit me hard. I saw it coming, especially as the author started to build up to it, but that didn't make it any less hard hitting. I would like to see more of what happened after, but I do think that was the right place to end.  

All in all, my advice is to only read this when you're in a good place but it is well worth the read. 

 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Valkyrie by Kate Heartfield

Pages: 314 

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Released: 30th of March 2023 

Brynhild is a Valkyrie: shieldmaiden of the All-Father, chooser of the slain. But now she too has fallen, flightless in her exile.

Gudrun is a princess of Burgundy, a daughter of the Rhine, a prize for an invading king – a king whose brother Attila has other plans, and a dragon to call upon.

And in the songs to be sung, there is another hero: Sigurd, a warrior with a sword sharper than the new moon.

As the legends tell, these names are destined to be rivals, fated as enemies. But here on Midgard, legends can be lies…

For not all heroes are heroic, nor all monsters monstrous. And a shieldmaiden may yet find that love is the greatest weapon of all.

From Sunday Times bestselling author Kate Heartfield comes a glorious, lyrical retelling of one of Norse mythology’s greatest epics.

What I Have to Say 

This was a good story but I found that I couldn't connect to the characters or the plot at all. Normally when I read, I feel like I'm in the head of the characters and seeing the action through their eyes, but for some reason with this one, I just didn't connect this way. I tried and tried to work out the reason why, but I honestly don't have one. This book just didn't hit home. 

I loved the author's version of the myth, probably a lot more than I'd have liked the original myth. She changed a lot to give Brynhild more agency and then to make it more gay, which is always an improvement. I loved the magic that Gudrun had as well. It was a really interesting way of doing magic. 

The ending felt a bit off though. It made sense that she set up loads of threads to make the story bigger. But it kind of felt like she got to the end of the myth and then panicked because the book was too short and so put in extra stuff to make it longer. It just didn't feel so connected to the original myth. 

If you're interested in Norse Mythology it might be worth a read. 

Like a Curse by Elle McNicholl

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Knights Of 

Released: 2nd of February 2023 

Stuck in Loch Ness while Edinburgh falls under the control of a terrifyingly powerful Siren, Ramya Knox is frustrated. She's supposed to be learning magic from her Aunt Opal, but that isn't going as smoothly as she'd hoped. As she pushes to rescue her Hidden Folk friends in the city, long-buried secrets come to light and legends come to life.

Ramya knows she's different; she knows she's a witch. But now she must learn the true meaning of her powers... before all she loves is lost

What I Have to Say 

I loved everything about this book, except for the ending. It was everything I've come to expect from Elle McNicholl. Brave, bold neurodiverse characters, interesting and unexpected plots and for this series all sorts of exciting mythical creatures!! But the ending just let it down completely. I understand why it ended this way from the perspective of things that Ramya needed to learn. But I just don't think it's the right ending for a book of this genre. 

I was so excited to be near Lock Ness! Lock Ness means one thing. The Lock Ness monster. And if you're reading a book about hidden creatures and it's set near Lock Ness then obviously it has to be the Lock Ness Monster, even if all the characters say it doesn't exist. I won't say much about what kind of creature it is, but I will see that I was very happy. 

As always, I loved Elle McNicoll's characters and how neurodiverse they were. I am very happy to see myself represented in these books for my autism and dyspraxia. It means so much to me to see these things. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Knights Of as well as Ed Pr for providing me with this copy for review. 

White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

Pages: 272 

Publisher: Head of Zeus 

Released: 28th of March 2023 

Seven ingeniously reinvented fairy tales that play out with astonishing consequences in the modern world, from one of today's finest short story writers - MacArthur 'Genius Grant' Fellow Kelly Link, bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Get in Trouble.

Finding seeds of inspiration in the Brothers Grimm, seventeenth-century French lore, and Scottish ballads, Kelly Link spins classic fairy tales into utterly original stories of seekers - characters on the hunt for love, connection, revenge, or their own sense of purpose.

In 'The White Cat's Divorce', an aging billionaire sends his three sons on a series of absurd goose chases to decide which will become his heir. In 'The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear', a professor with a delicate health condition becomes stranded for days in an airport hotel after a conference, desperate to get home to her wife and young daughter, and in acute danger of being late for an appointment that cannot be missed. In 'Skinder's Veil', a young man agrees to take over a remote house-sitting gig for a friend. But what should be a chance to focus on his long-avoided dissertation instead becomes a wildly unexpected journey, as the house seems to be a portal for otherworldly travelers - or perhaps a door into his own mysterious psyche.

Twisting and winding in astonishing ways, expertly blending realism and the speculative, witty, empathetic, and never predictable - these stories remind us once again of why Kelly Link is incomparable in the art of short fiction.

What I Have to Say 

This is it. This is the weird and slightly disturbing short story collection that's going to haunt me until the end of my days. So this was a mixed bag. The writing wasn't great. There was a lot of stuff that wasn't needed in the stories and honestly some of the stories bored me completely, probably because they were trying to say something that I didn't get. But I enjoyed some of them and the last story Skinder's Veil, I am obsessed with. 

Skinder's Veil is about a PHD student who goes to housesit for someone to get away from his annoying roommate. I didn't need to know all the stuff about how the roommate had so much sex and that his girlfriend was haunted by a ghost. That all bogged down the story. It could have easily been summed up in a couple of lines. But the actual bits in the house and the descriptions of the visitors and the magic of it all completely captivated me. I've been thinking about it since I read it and I definitely want to read it again some time. 

The rest of the book, I will not revisit. I enjoyed some of the stories well enough, but not enough to read again. but the weirdness of it all and that last story is gonna be something that I think I'm gonna remember for a long time. 

3 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

This Is How You Fall In Love by Anika Hussain

Pages: 352 

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 2nd of February 2023 

Zara and Adnan are just friends. Always have been, always will be. Even if they have to pretend to be girlfriend and boyfriend...

Zara loves love in all forms: 90s romcoms and romance novels and grand sweeping gestures. And she's desperate to have her own great love story. Crucially, a real one. So when her best friend Adnan begs her to pretend to date him to cover up his new top-secret relationship, Zara is hesitant. This isn't the kind of thing she had in mind. But there's something in it for Zara too: making her parents, who love Adnan, happy might just stop them arguing for a while. She may not be getting her own love story, but she could save theirs.

So Zara agrees and the act begins: after all, how different can pretending to be in a relationship with your best friend be to just hanging around with them like usual? Turns out, a lot. With fake dating comes fake hand-holding and fake kissing and real feelings... And when a new boy turns up in Zara's life, things get more confusing than ever.

The course of true love never did run smooth, but Zara's love story is messier than most...

What I Have to Say 

This book was a love letter to love. Romantic love, platonic love, friendship and family, it leaves no kind of love out. The ending really touched me a lot with how positive it was a about friendships and familial love. 

It amused me a lot that she met the new boy playing Pokemon Go. As a Pokemon Go player myself I really appreciated the references, but I'm not sure if it would be too technical for people who don't play. It really endeared me towards Yahya though. I really liked him a lot. 

I do feel though that it was maybe a bit predictable because of which characters were fleshed out and which weren't. Although I was fearful that she would get together with the wrong boy at the end, I kind of felt like I knew how it would end. 

I really, really enjoyed it though and I hope you do too. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hot Key Books for providing this copy for review. 

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix

Pages: 416 

Publisher: Gollancz 

Released: 23rd of March 2023 

There is often trouble of a mythical sort in Bath. The booksellers who police the Old World keep a careful watch there, particularly on the entity who inhabits the ancient hot spring. Yet this time it is not from Sulis Minerva that trouble starts. It comes from the discovery of a sorcerous map, leading left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger. A desperate rescue is attempted by his sister the right-handed bookseller Vivien and their friend, art student Susan Arkshaw, who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage.

The map takes the trio to a place separated from this world, maintained by deadly sorcery performed by an ancient sovereign and guarded by monstrous living statues of Portland Stone. But this is only the beginning, as the booksellers investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths and try to unravel the secrets of the murderous Lady of Stone, a serial killer of awesome powers.

If they do not stop her, she will soon kill again. And this time, her target is not an ordinary mortal.

What I Have to Say 

I'm really enjoying this series. The characters are fantastic, the story has enough twists an turns to make the ending unexpected without making it seem too far out and it has wonderful pop culture references that make the 80s setting pop with life. 

Merlin is a fantastic character. His quirky fashion sense, unpredictability and hints and gender fluidity come together to form a character who I very quickly came to love. Along with Susan and Vivien, he fends off threats that come after them. 

Parts of this book took place in Bath, as you can tell from the title and it really did well to show off the wonderful bits of a city I love. I loved reading about bits of the city I knew, though it left me desperately craving Sally Lunn's buns! 

If you haven't started this series yet, I would really recommend you do so ASAP! 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Gollancz and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Pages: 296 

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Released: 19th of January 2023 

You are not welcome here, godkiller

Kissen’s family were killed by zealots of a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing gods, and enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skedi, a god of white lies, has somehow bound himself to a young noble, and they are both on the run from unknown assassins.

Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, they must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favour.

Pursued by demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning – something is rotting at the heart of their world, and only they can be the ones to stop it.

What I Have to Say 

This book killed me! It was so sad! My first mistake was getting so attached to Skedi, but in my defence if you have a little rabbit creature in a book who can talk and is attached to another character, I'm going to very quickly fall in love. 

My second mistake was assuming for even a second that I knew where it was going to go. This book had more twists and turns that anything I have ever read. It shocked me and surprised me and generally made for a very enjoyable read. 

I am really looking forward to the next book in the series because I can tell that this is going to be good. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper for providing me with this copy for review. 

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley

Pages: 400

Publisher: Gollancz 

Released: 7th of March 2023 

Mariel Spark knows not to trust a demon, especially one that wants her soul, but what’s a witch to do when he won’t leave her side—and she kind of doesn’t want him to?

Mariel Spark is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen in centuries of the famed Spark family, but to the displeasure of her mother, she prefers baking to brewing potions and gardening to casting hexes. When a spell to summon flour goes very wrong, Mariel finds herself staring down a demon—one she inadvertently summoned for a soul bargain.

Ozroth the Ruthless is a legend among demons. Powerful and merciless, he drives hard bargains to collect mortal souls. But his reputation has suffered ever since a bargain went awry—if he can strike a bargain with Mariel, he will earn back his deadly reputation. Ozroth can’t leave Mariel’s side until they complete a bargain, which she refuses to do (turns out some humans are attached to their souls).

But the witch is funny. And curvy. And disgustingly yet endearingly cheerful. Becoming awkward roommates quickly escalates when Mariel, terrified to confess the inadvertent summoning to her mother, blurts out that she’s dating Ozroth. As Ozroth and Mariel struggle with their opposing goals and maintaining a fake relationship, real attraction blooms between them. But Ozroth has a limited amount of time to strike the deal, and if Mariel gives up her soul, she’ll lose all her emotions—including love—which will only spell disaster for them both.

What I Have to Say 

This was a funny, easy read. It was full of wit and charm. While it was a bit too horny for me, I appreciated that most romance fans like a bit more sex in their books than me. There were parts that were predictable, but all in all I had a good time reading the book. 

I really liked the characters. They were both relatable and had a good amount of humour in them. It felt like they were nice well rounded characters who had decent backstories. Though the backing characters were a little more like caricature, they were also fun to read about. 

I loved Mariel's plant magic so much. I loved that she was so good at it even though she couldn't see it and how Ozroth saw it instantly. I also like how the demon realm was made out to be this society that was so much better than ours despite the whole soulless demon thing. 

I don't know if I will read on or not. I might do out of curiosity, though I do think this would have worked well as a standalone. 

 

4 stars

My thanks go to Netgalley and Gollancz for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Headmaster's List by Melissa de la Cruz

Pages: 400 

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books 

Released: 2nd of March 2023 

Four students. A fatal car crash. Three come out alive – and they will do anything to bury the truth.

One of them was driving.

One of them was high.

One of them screamed.

And one of them died.

When one of their own is tragically killed in a car crash, Argyle Prep is full of questions. Who was at the wheel? And more importantly, who was at fault?

But in a place ruled by pedigree and privilege, the answers can only come at a price.

Set against the glitz and glamour of an elite LA private school The Headmaster's List , Melissa de la Cruz's first YA thriller, is an addictive whodunit perfect for fans of Gossip Girl and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder 

What I Have to Say 

Mysterious, privilege and full of gossip, this book delivered on all fronts. The mystery was intriguing enough to keep me reading and I was interested in the characters and their lives. I really warmed to Spencer quickly and wanted her to succeed in getting to the bottom of the accident. 

It was really wonderful to see a service dog! Service dogs work really hard and can be useful plot devices but I rarely see them in books! I think this is only the second book I've read where the character has a service animal! So that was really good to see, 

 I guessed a couple of the plot points which made me feel really clever but I always question whether that means that they were obvious because I am not good at guessing plot points usually! But I do think in this case that I just picked up on one or two clues in the text. Maybe I'm just getting better at guessing! 

If you, like me, eat up books about terrible things happening to privileged teenagers, this might be the book for you. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Macmillan and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten

Pages: 480 

Publishers: Orbit 

Released: 9th of March 2023 

When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city.

Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die.

Lore is thrust into the Sainted King’s glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and continually running up against Bastian, August’s ne'er-do-well heir, Lore tangles in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society.

But the life she left behind in the catacombs is catching up with her. And even as Lore makes her way through the Sainted court above, they might be drawing closer than she thinks.

In this lush, romantic new epic fantasy series from New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten, a young woman’s secret power to raise the dead plunges her into the dangerous and glamorous world of the Sainted King’s royal court.

What I Have to Say 

This took a little while to warm up, but once I got into it, I was very into it. The lies, the manipulation, the secrets and betrayals! This book was a ride. I honestly don't think I could have predicted what was going to happen at any point in the book! 

The magic and the way the gods came to play in it were my favourite things about the book. The death magic was so creative. I really liked the idea of threads of death and the idea of mortem and spiritum. I liked the balance between them a lot. It really spoke to me. 

I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes next from this series. The way the book ended definitely left me intrigued for more. 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Orbit for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

The Nowhere Thief

Pages: 256 

Publisher: Nosy Crow 

Released: 2nd of March 2023 

A mind-bending multiverse adventure about theft, family, and finding your home.

Twelve-year-old Elsbeth has an extraordinary power: she can travel to parallel worlds and bring objects back with her. But as freak weather events become more frequent and a strange boy, Idris, starts to turn up everywhere she travels, she has to ask herself: does her gift come with a price?

What I Have to Say 

I really enjoyed this book, but it was a little disappointing. I wanted more time to explore the worlds that Elsbeth and Idris were going to but most of them they spent barely any time in. Even the main worlds they were in, Elsbeth's and Idris's own two worlds, were only sketchily made. 

I was really sucked into the story though. I felt the characters were really sympathetic and I loved the description of the little cat like animals that existed in Idris' world. 

The ending was another disappointment though. I felt that it all wrapped up a little too conveniently and without that much impact of the kids. Everything just fell into place and was fixed. 

I would like to see more in this universe though as the concept and the characters were really intriguing. 

3.5 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Nosy Crow for providing me with this copy for review. 

Catfish Rolling by Clara Kumagai

Pages: 384 

Publisher: Zephyr 

Released: 2nd of March 

Magic-realism blends with Japanese myth and legend in an original story about grief, memory, time and an earthquake that shook a nation.

There's a catfish under the islands of Japan and when it rolls the land rises and falls.

Sora hates the catfish whose rolling caused an earthquake so powerful it cracked time itself. It destroyed her home and took her mother. Now Sora and her scientist father live close to the zones – the wild and abandoned places where time runs faster or slower than normal. Sora is sensitive to the shifts, and her father recruits her help in exploring these liminal spaces.

But it's dangerous there – and as she strays further inside in search of her mother, she finds that time distorts, memories fracture and shadows, a glimmer of things not entirely human, linger. After Sora's father goes missing, she has no choice but to venture into uncharted spaces within the time zones to find him, her mother and perhaps even the catfish itself...

What I Have to Say 

This book was beautiful. It was the perfect blend of a sort of science fiction style premise and magical realism. It also delved deep into scientific and philosophical questions about what time is and how we related to it. 

I loved the way the myths and religion of Japan were interwoven into this premise. It showed how important little things like shrines and protection spirits are to the daily life of many Japanese people. It really gave insight into how the Japanese people deal with the tragedies of earthquakes and other disasters. 

It was also a tiny bit gay! Nothing I read anywhere said it was LGBTQ+ but from reading it, I believe the character is bisexual! It was a nice little surprise for me. 

I don't think this review really does it justice, but all I can really say is read this book, it's so good!! 

5 stars

My thanks go to Zephyr and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

Someone is Watching You by Tess

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books 

Released: 2nd of February 2023 

An abandoned prison. A deadly game. How far would you go for a dare?

Nia would do anything to win the approval of her boyfriend Scott and his friends, especially mean girl Olivia. When Olivia dares Nia to explore an abandoned prison, she sees it as the perfect opportunity to prove herself. Facing dark tunnels, distant noises and creepy mementoes left behind by incarcerated criminals will surely all be worth it.

But it isn't long before Nia and her little sister, Kayla, find themselves trapped inside. And then Kayla vanishes.

Suddenly, this feels like more than a game gone wrong. Someone is hellbent on making Nia and Kayla the prison's last inmates ...

An utterly compelling, terrifying thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat, from remarkable new author Tess James-Mackey.

What I Have to Say 

This book was really tense. It was so enthralling that I read it in a day. I really wanted the main character to get out from under her "friends'" control and it hurt a bit when she kept doing what they said. 

It was however a bit predictable. The was only one or two twists that I didn't see coming. It made me feel good to guess them, but it also felt a bit disappointing because I felt like I knew what was coming. 

I liked the theme of bullying and toxic friendships though. I really liked the characters a lot even when I didn't agree with their actions (except the toxic friends obviously). Kayla was my favourite because she was such a sweet little girl, even if her character was a bit flat. 

All in all, I'm glad I read it, but it's not one I'll pick up again, 

3 stars 

My thanks go to Hodder and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.