JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Seven Lies by Elizabeth Kay

It all started with one little lie . . .

Jane and Marnie have been inseparable since they were eleven years old. They have a lot in common. In their early twenties they both fell in love and married handsome young men.

But Jane never liked Marnie’s husband. He was always so loud and obnoxious, so much larger than life. Which is rather ironic now, of course.

Because if Jane had been honest – if she hadn’t lied – then perhaps her best friend’s husband might still be alive . . .

This is Jane’s opportunity to tell the truth, the question is: Do you believe her?

Elizabeth Kay’s Seven Lies is a mystery thriller novel exploring two women and their incredibly complex bond. One woman’s desire to maintain their friendship quickly turns into a deadly, unpredictable obsession with frightening consequences.

Seven Lies explores jealousy, love and grief, and the thin line between devotion and obsession. The book is written from Jane’s perspective, who is an unreliable protagonist — she’s a compulsive liar and she twists events to make herself look better, so the reader is never really sure what’s true.

There is a frequent amount of foreshadowing in the novel, which successfully builds tension and anxiety and plants this seed of dread with the reader that just keeps on growing with every passing chapter. Honourable mention goes to the ending of every chapter — there’s always some plot progression or stylistic manipulation to keep the reader engaged and desperate to keep going.

“I had discovered the ring a few months earlier. Marnie and Charles were about to go on a holiday for a week. They were going to the Seychelles, I think — or perhaps it was Mauritius — and we were due to have a heatwave in London.”

Slowly, Elizabeth moves the plot towards present day so we come to understand all about Jane’s friendship with Marnie — their history — and Marnie’s marriage to the insufferable Charles.

The further we progress through the story, the more unhinged and dangerous Jane seems. But she’ll never know it. She’s conceited and self-centred, always making excuses for her behaviour. She lets her emotions control her, and she can never seem to understand her actions or what causes them.

Seven Lies is the kind of book you devour on a plane or on the beach, when you have a dedicated length of time and you’re in the right space to be sucked into a really great mystery. Is the story flawless? No, a couple of the secondary characters — including Marnie — feel like cardboard cut-outs and there’s an anorexia storyline that seems to heighten just for dramatic effect.

But Seven Lies will draw in a wide readership, and keep them hooked. Jane and Marnie don’t have a lot in common, but both of their husbands are dead. And that alone will make you want to know more.

“It had always been that way. I was loved too little and she was loved too much, and it might surprise you to know that both are equally unbearable. She was often seeking space, suffocated by being the favourite. I became her ally, her safe place.”

Jane is unapologetic. If she were an animal, I’d imagine her as a shark or a killer whale — intelligent, ruthless and quick. She thinks ahead and she plans, and she’s not about to trip up and derail all that she’s worked hard to build.

We see other characters through Jane’s perspective, so it’s hard to know if she’s giving us the entire picture. Is Charles as awful as Jane makes him out to be? Is Marnie really as naive as Jane thinks she is? Elizabeth Kay crafts a storyline and a protagonist that really forces us to doubt what we’re reading. What is the truth, and will we ever find out?

“I let myself into their flat that evening and stood again in the dark hallway. This would be my home now — just for the week, but my home nonetheless. I turned on all the lights — exactly how Marnie liked it — and made up their bed with my own sheets and pillowcases.”

Stylistically, the novel moves between past and present frequently and it’s often a little clunky. Chunks of prose will take you out of the present and to a time in Jane’s life from years earlier. And then just as quickly as we left the present, we’re back. The transitions were rarely seamless.

Additionally, and without giving too much away, I felt the ending and final climax was a little brief. The pacing of the novel is quite slow — careful, full of anticipation — but those final couple of chapters move through at speed. It’s unexpected, and doesn’t feel like a natural conclusion.

An impressive, whirlwind debut. Recommended for fans of crime, thriller and mystery novels.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Seven Lies
Elizabeth Kay
April 2020
Hachette Book Publishers

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica

Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore. His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that animals had been infected with a virus and their meat had become poisonous. Then governments initiated the Transition. Now, human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a specimen of the finest quality. He leaves her in his barn, tied up, a problem to be disposed of later. But she haunts Marcos. Her trembling body, her watchful, knowing eyes. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.

Tender is the Flesh by Argentinian author Agustina Bazterrica is a dystopian horror novel set in a world where humans are being bred and harvested for food. Translated from Spanish by Sarah Moses, the novel explores what society would be like if animals couldn’t be eaten — a virus that is fatal to humans spreads through them all — and humans relied on cannibalism to survive.

This novel explores themes of consumption and greed, and how quickly we’re willing to sever our morals if it means feeling satiated. Tender is the Flesh explores a depressing response from humankind. The world is suffering, people are poor or hungry or neglected, but instead of helping others they do whatever they can to feel comfortable, happy, and content. And that’s to eat other humans.

Tender is the Flesh explores society’s priorities — what’s important to us? what would we fight for if animal meat was suddenly fatal? Would we adapt, and eat plant-based meals? Or would we kill others to continue our lifestyles?

The book is a short read — approx. 200 pages —and you feel ensnared in the story and intrigued by the plot progression. The intensity of this story is maintained throughout the entire novel; you can’t look away from what’s happening.

The setting is bleak. Marcos’ father is in a nursing home and requires a lot of care, he has a strained — and mostly forced — relationship with his insufferable sister, his son died from cot death, and he’s estranged from his wife. And his job is killing humans and preparing them to be eaten.

“He thinks this man is dangerous. Someone who wants to assassinate that badly is someone who’s unstable, who won’t take to the routine of killing, to the automatic and dispassionate act of slaughtering humans.”

Agustina must be commended on the pacing of the novel. The premise of the novel is intense and a little anxiety-inducing, and that never falters throughout the story.

The writing is spectacular. The prose is filled with imagery and metaphors that evoke a crystal clear story. The subject matter in the book may be filled with blood and horror, but the writing feels light, quick, and uplifting — a considerable irony.

There is a key stylistic element to this book that is worth noting — humans are not called humans or even people. They’re called ‘heads’ and they’re housed and transported in ways very similar to how cattle are treated today. Perhaps it’s to illustrate how de-sensitised we are to the killing of animals and how we don’t really take the time to think about what’s being killed and how they’re bred to be killed. And so when it’s humans, which should repulse or disgust the reader, the complete omission of the word ‘human’ or even ‘person’ clouds the image and makes the characters seem like the ‘meat’ we all know in the present.

“He explains that when the heads arrive, they’re given a spray wash and then examined. They need to fast, he adds, and are given a liquid diet to reduce intestinal content and lower the risk of contamination when they’re handled after slaughter.”

Tender is the Flesh delves deep into the meat industry, and how the killings occur. Trucks bring humans to Marcos’ factory, and it’s clear the poor and the marginalised have very little chance of surviving in this world. The rich have means to work and live without being eaten — the struggling do not.

There is an underlying political element to this book as well. The powerful decision-makers weave in and out of the story. They’re greedy, unfeeling, and treat the business of slaughtering humans as just that — business.

“El Gringo tells him that this female is a luxury, repeats that she’s got pure genes, as if he didn’t know it, and says that she’s from a consignment that’s been given almond-based feed for over a year now.”

At times, hard to stomach. Terrifying, gut-renching and chilling, Tender is the Flesh will entice and excite readers as much as it will repulse them. Recommended for adults, 18+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Tender is the Flesh
Agustina Bazterrica
April 2020
Allen & Unwin Publishers

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

They were the Chosen Ones. Saving the world made them heroes. Saving it again might destroy them.

When Sloane Andrews and her friends defeated the Dark One, and saved the world, it nearly cost them everything. Ten years later, they are still struggling to put the battle behind them and reclaim their lives. After all, the rest of the world has moved on . . . so why can’t they?

Of the five, Sloane has had the hardest time adjusting. Everyone else blames the PTSD – and her huge attitude problem – but really, she’s hiding secrets from them . . . secrets that keep her tied to the past and alienate her from the only four people in the world who understand her.

On the tenth anniversary of the Dark One’s defeat, something unthinkable happens: one of the Chosen Ones dies. When the others gather for the funeral, they discover the Dark One’s ultimate goal was much bigger than they, the government, or even prophecy could have foretold – bigger than the world itself.

Last time, it took everything she had. This time, it might not be enough.

Veronica Roth’s Chosen Ones is a standalone fantasy novel that reimagines the stereotypical plot device of the ‘chosen one’, flipping it on its head and fast-forwarding 10 years into the future. When a chosen one, or chosen ones, have completed their destiny and saved the world, what happens next?

Chosen Ones illustrates the mental, physical and emotional strain that would be placed on young people if they were expected to save the world like they do in books and movies. Ten years after defeating the Dark One, Sloane and her four friends are still trying to adapt and move on from what happened. Not all of them have thrived since they defeated the Dark One.

“She wanted to comfort him, but she didn’t know how. She had never seem him so tired, so…disappointed. In the world, in himself, even in her. She sat next to him on the couch, her hands clasped over her knees.”

Structurally, the book switches between prose in Sloane’s POV, and document clippings — articles, essays, news reports, interviews, classified government files, and police investigations. Whilst it doesn’t necessarily feel like it adds much to the plot, the documents help give context to the setting and the ‘world’ that they’re in, and will give readers a greater understanding of the danger that Sloane faces.

Unique, interesting and well-paced fiction, Chosen Ones feels fresh. Stereotypes are challenged, and the novel plays with the concept of alternate universes. With transformative imagery and descriptive locations, the novel’s setting feel grand, in-depth and well-developed, something that allows the reader to sink into and devour with each passing page.

At times, Chosen Ones is dark and complex. Explored themes include drug use, mental health, torture and physical disability, among many others. Fans who grew up with Veronica’s young adult novels will feel this is a natural progression — Chosen Ones is diverse and inclusive, with a strong core cast of characters and engrossing magic woven throughout.

“The Drain had driven a crater deep into the ground, so deep that some of the workers looked child-size from where she stood. When Sloane first saw a Drain site, she had expected it to be a uniform substance, like the surface of the moon. But there were still remnants of what had been there: broken planks, crumbling bricks, chunks of asphalt, bits of old fabric.”

Set in Chicago, readers will appreciate that this is a standalone novel. Veronica draws out as much from the world and the storyline as she possibly can, and pulls all threads together for an explosive finale.

Stylistically, whilst the book follows the five Chosen Ones, the book focuses primarily on the character of Sloane. Written in third person, Sloane is sharp, bitter and at times unpredictable, desperately trying to understand where she now fits in the world and how to process her life up until this point. Over time, the reader comes to understand the other characters through Sloane and her experiences, allowing for a greater understanding of her motivations.

“Sloane reached for words and came up empty. He had a point — she had been kidnapped by the Dark One, too, but he hadn’t done to her what he had done to Albie, hadn’t attacked her body and left her with no feeling in her hands and no way to rejoin the fight.”

At times, the science behind the world and the explanations behind the magic felt a little too complex and hard to swallow. Additionally, there were a couple of twists that felt a little predictable and were foreshadowed too much for an adult readership — particularly around the character of Mox — but there are definitely enough surprises in the plot to intrigue readers and keep them enthralled in the story.

Whilst this is being marketed as Veronica Roth’s first book for adults, young adult readers will also enjoy Chosen Ones. Truthfully, it feels more YA than adult. The concept of superheroes and the ‘chosen ones’, the magical elements woven throughout the book, the emotional angst between the characters, and the budding relationship between two characters felt reminiscent of a YA novel.

Recommended for fans of fantasy, speculative fiction and young adult. Aged 14+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Chosen Ones
Veronica Roth
April 2020
Hachette Book Publishers

Pretending by Holly Bourne

He said he was looking for a ‘partner in crime’ which everyone knows is shorthand for ‘a woman who isn’t real’.

April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal – yet she can’t seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she’s found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry.

If only April could be more like Gretel.

Gretel is exactly what men want – she’s a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems. The problem is, Gretel isn’t real. And April is now claiming to be her.

As soon as April starts ‘being’ Gretel, dating becomes much more fun – especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua.

Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending?

Holly Bourne’s Pretending is contemporary fiction about online dating and the risks you take when you pursue a new relationship with someone — the book explores themes of identity, self-worth, but also trauma and grief.

April struggles with who she has to ‘be’ in order for a guy to like her and want to progress past date number five. Being herself certainly isn’t working, so she takes on this fake ‘Gretel’ persona to see if new guy Joshua will last longer than the guys before him.

Pretending explores online dating for women, and illustrates the truth can be twisted when you meet someone digitally. There are certainly some heavy moments throughout the book, but Holly also weaves in a lot of humour and heart — Pretending is an emotional rollercoaster worth reading.

“Joshua wants me there at seven. So Gretel should turn up at around seven fifteen. I wonder if he wants us to have sex before, or after, dinner. I’d rather before, if I’m being honest with you. I still don’t understand how anyone can be in the mood with a full, swollen stomach digesting a hunk of beef or whatever it is he’s going to cook to impress me.”

Pretending explores sexual violence within relationships, and how boundaries can be blurred in the midst of a loving relationship. Boyfriends can cross a line when it comes to sex, leaving their girlfriend hurt and confused and unsure of what has happened.

Rape and the unprocessed trauma of sexual assault is a major thread in the book; I’m surprised how the blurb of the book completely hides this. April previously dated a guy who raped her twice, and she is still finding it difficult to process it. She didn’t realise it was sexual assault until some time after the incidents, and now she works at a charity organisation where she comes into contact with women all the time who have gone through the same thing she has and are incredibly confused about what they’ve experienced.

April feels like her role at the charity helps women who have experienced what she experienced, but at the same time, it means she is constantly reminded about what happened to her and she feels anxious and uneasy most of the time.

When April is with men, memories from those nights will come back to her and she finds it difficult to confide in other people about how she’s feeling. Under the surface, she has a lot of anger and rage about men that threatens to come to the surface at any moment.

This book may encourage female readers to acknowledge if they’ve ever had an experience like April’s that perhaps they haven’t really processed yet. It’s a really confronting experience, but moulded within a contemporary romance novel.

“What if revenge is good? Do we ever allow ourselves to ask that question? What if turning the other cheek is not the answer? Because I’ll tell you what. I’ve lived my whole life as a girl and I’ve turned so many goddamned cheeks I’m surprised I have any skin left on my face. And yet it’s never once made me feel better. Not like how I feel when I think about Gretel.”

April and her roommate Meghan have pretty solid characterisation — I feel like we’ve all known someone with their personalities in our lives. Their ‘voices’ are also incredibly different, and Holly is able to craft such vivid characters but also portray them to be completely seperate from one another.

April and Meghan are both vulnerable in different ways, and female readers will sympathise. Joshua doesn’t always feel believable or ‘real’ as a man on the dating scene, but he’s a welcome addition to the core cast of characters.

“We launch into mutually drunken conversation, becoming one of those pissed couples you see, standing outside a pub on a summer’s evening, leaning in a bit too much to hear what the other is saying. He asks me about my plans for the summer, and I say I’m saving up for Africa.”

Admittedly, the premise of the book is a little absurd and predictable. How is she going to weave her way out of this relationship when she’s been telling the guy a fake name? How will he explain it to his friends? How awkward is this entire situation!

Readers will find similarities in April — some more than others — but she can also be quite insufferable. She can be a bit tiresome and she doesn’t really think ahead. For example, she spends the majority of the book dating a guy who thinks she’s called Gretel. She invites him to be her +1 at a wedding, and naturally, it left me wondering how she could possibly go the entire evening without something calling her April and giving away her secret? Spoiler alert: many people call her April and her secret is ruined.

Additionally, I did find the book to be a bit ‘preachy’ at times. The messages in the book are already very clear, and I think readers will take a lot away from the story. But there were times where it felt like April was ‘teaching’ the reader and it wasn’t necessary. It made me feel like I was ‘supposed’ to feel a certain way, and I wanted to come to my own conclusions about the situation. I don’t think this is a book for reluctant readers.

Recommended for contemporary romance readers. At over 400 pages, it’s an unexpectedly emotional and heavy novel, but at its core it holds some really valuable messages for readers.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Pretending
Holly Bourne
April 2020
Hachette Book Publishers

The Sin Eater by Megan Campisi

A Sin Eater’s duty is a necessary evil: she hears the final private confessions of the dying, eats their sins as a funeral rite, and so guarantees their souls access to heaven. It is always women who eat sins – since it was Eve who first ate the Forbidden Fruit – and every town has at least one, not that they are publicly acknowledged. Stained by the sins they are obliged to consume, the Sin Eater is shunned and silenced, doomed to live in exile at the edge of town.

Recently orphaned May Owens is just fourteen, and has never considered what it might be like to be so ostracized; she’s more concerned with where her next meal is coming from. When she’s arrested for stealing a loaf of bread, however, and subsequently sentenced to become a Sin Eater, finding food is suddenly the last of her worries.

It’s a devastating sentence, but May’s new invisibility opens new doors. And when first one then two of the Queen’s courtiers suddenly grow ill, May hears their deathbed confessions – and begins to investigate a terrible rumour that is only whispered of amid palace corridors.

The Sin Eater by Megan Campisi is a contemporary fiction novel, drawing inspiration from history — sin eaters existed in parts of Britain until roughly a century ago. They ate a piece of bread beside people’s coffins to absolve their sins in a folk ritual with Christian resonances. Campisi’s The Sin Eater is a fictional story spun out of fantasy.

Imaginative, seductive and enticing, The Sin Eater was a surprise delight. Set in 16-century England, the story follows orphaned May Owens after she is forced to be a sin eater. She’s shunned and feared by townsfolk, and over the course of the novel, she grows suspicious of multiple deaths happening in the Queen’s Court.

“The Makerman places the collar around my neck. It’s heavy and cold, except where his hands touched it, and I have a sudden image of a horse’s bit, like he might slide it up into my mouth. But it’s worse what happens next. The second Makerman takes hold of the collar’s lock and shoves the shackle in. Even my guts feel the wards catch.”

The Sin Eater explores themes of destiny, expectation and superstition, and highlights an obsession over sins and lies, and where our indiscretions will lead us to after we die. Additionally, the novel explores class, gender and wealth.

The setting is despondent and lacks any hope of improvement. Food is scarce, and money even more so. May spends every day visiting the dying, listening to their sins so their family or friends can prepare the food. Illness doesn’t spare the wealthy, and women and babies are especially vulnerable during childbirth.

“Treason is death. And under Queen Bethany that’s not by a noose and the gallows but by gutting or burning or worse. I wait for the Sin Eater to move. When she doesn’t, I do something plain foolish. I take my hand and place it on hers. I expect it to be cool and hard like the wood of the pews, but heat pulses off it.”

Megan Campisi paints a very realistic 16th Century — her prose is tight and her descriptions vivid. Readers will find themselves absorbed in the setting and the characters. The pacing quickens as the novel progresses, drawing us deep into the mysterious deaths that surround the Queen. What secret is someone trying to unearth? And how many people are they willing to kill to achieve that?

May is really engrossing protagonist. She’s young and naive, a little too unaware, but she’s also quick to learn and fast to act. She’s got good instincts and there are a couple of times in the novel where those instincts save her life.

Admittedly, there are a lot of secondary characters in the novel and history — past mistakes — come into the plot quite a bit. The conclusion was a little hard to swallow, I had to read the ending a couple of times to grasp the twist.

“It’s always women who eats sins, since it was Eve who first ate a sin: the Forbidden Fruit. Some say that’s why so many foods for sins are fruits. But there’s other foods as well, like cream and leeks, that aren’t fruit at all.”

Perfect for readers of historical fiction and contemporary fiction, any tale with a drop of fantasy mixed in. Young readers will also love this tale.

Dark, moving, and gripping. Highly recommended. 14+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Sin Eater
Megan Campisi
April 2020
Pan Macmillan Publishers Australia