JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Catch Us The Foxes by Nicola West

Some secrets you try to hide. Others you don’t dare let out …

Ambitious young journalist Marlowe ‘Lo’ Robertson would do anything to escape the suffocating confines of her small home town. While begrudgingly covering the annual show for the local newspaper, Lo is horrified to discover the mutilated corpse of her best friend – the town’s reigning showgirl, Lily Williams.

Seven strange symbols have been ruthlessly carved into Lily’s back. But when Lo reports her grisly find to the town’s police chief, he makes her promise not to tell anyone about the symbols. Lo obliges, though it’s not like she has much of a choice – after all, he is also her father.

When Lily’s murder makes headlines around the country and the town is invaded by the media, Lo seizes the opportunity to track down the killer and make a name for herself by breaking the biggest story of her life.

What Lo uncovers is that her sleepy home town has been harbouring a deadly secret, one so shocking that it will captivate the entire nation. Lo’s story will change the course of her life forever, but in a way she could never have dreamed of.

Catch Us the Foxes is Nicola West’s debut, set in a small coastal town and centring around the murder of a young journalist. When Marlowe discovers best friend Lily’s body, she is expected to hide secrets about the death and so takes it upon herself to follow clues and solve the murder.

Nicola builds tension with each chapter, and she has crafted a strong cast of characters. The pacing is quick and chapters are short, so readers won’t have any problem powering through.

“It wasn’t like I didn’t have a motive. Anyone who knew us would know we’d been competing since childhood. For the most part, things had been pretty equal, particularly at school, but once we entered the real world Lily kept pulling ahead. After a mere month of us both interning, she’d been granted a paid role at the local paper.”

Strengths lie in Nicola’s ability to capture that small-town atmosphere, where everyone knows everyone and gossip spreads fast. People are unforgiving and secrets are buried deep.

Another strength is protagonist Marlowe, who does come across as a sympathetic, reasonable soul. She’s also determined and tenacious – strong and level-headed. You feel confident in her instincts and the direction her story takes in the novel. She knows who to trust and who to be wary of.

“I hauled myself upright and dragged my fingers through my hair. I was still groggy, but I knew I had things to do. I spotted the golden gift bag that had been sitting – untouched – on my dresser since Christmas Eve. It was elegant and understated, just like Lily.”

I think this book will serve a younger audience best, rather than seasoned adult readers of crime and thriller. The writing at times is a bit caricature, and the interactions between characters not entirely realistic. Dialogue is forced at times, and conversations a bit over-the-top. Whilst the premise is interesting and the protagonist engaging, at times the book feels over-written.

Catch Us the Foxes covers a lot of ground in its 370-ish pages – mental illness, murder, satanic cults, friendships, family, relationships, homophobia, to name just a few. Some might feel it spreads itself a bit too thin in its story, and perhaps Nicola could’ve allowed for more exploration of certain issues if she wasn’t trying to cover so much throughout the story.

“Lily’s mum fell to her knees, sobbing violently. She began pounding at her head with her fists and screaming Lily’s name – like she was punishing herself for her daughter’s death. Despite my father and Michael being twice her size, they struggled to subdue her.”

Recommended for younger readers, and those interested in crime and mystery. The characters and relationships read younger. Readership is skewed female, 15+

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

Catch Us The Foxes
Nicola West
July 2021
Simon & Schuster

Loving Lizzie March by Susannah Hardy

Life is not going to plan for failed fashion designer Lizzie March, and then she finds herself pregnant to super-hot bad boy Jake Wheeler.

Convinced that he’s The One, now all she has to do is make him realise that she is The One for him!

But is it possible she’s been looking for love in all the wrong places? Maybe everything she has ever wanted is right under her very own stilettos.

Susannah Hardy’s debut novel Loving Lizzie March is a romantic comedy about life, love and friendship in your 30s. Lizzie’s relationship history is a bit of a trainwreck and her fashion career is on hold. Actually, it seems like her friendship with best friend Clem is the only stable element of her life, but even that’s starting to blow up. Lizzie’s life isn’t heading where she thought it would, and she needs to learn to take control.

Most of the humour in the novel is situational comedy, rather than humour in dialogue. We meet Lizzie as she’s stalking her colleague and former one-night-stand, climbing on top of his bin trying to find out he’s home or not. That opening alone sets the tone for the rest of the novel, and gives us a clear picture of who Lizzie really is.

I would’ve loved a bit more humour in her workplace, if there was capacity. She sells wine over the phone, which is kind of quirky. Her job at the call centre is used as a setting rather than a plot device, so we don’t really get much of a sense of her actual work at the call centre and that could’ve been an opportunity for even more humour in the novel. But I did like how Susannah set up the tension between Lizzie and Jake at work, as well as the other colleagues who weave in and out of the story.

“Most conversations with my mother centre around the same subject: Mr Right. And how and when I’m going to meet him. As far as she’s concerned, being thirty and single is a tragedy. She simply cannot understand why I haven’t been snapped up.”

Pacing is a strength in this novel, and I think that’s an important factor in women’s fiction — especially romantic comedies. We need to move through the story at heightened speed, and it needs to feel like a lot is happening. The protagonist’s life needs to feel chaotic in order to trigger self-reflection, and eventually, self-improvement. Being written in first person allows Lizzie to reflect on her life choices and acknowledge her mistakes. It also allows for an authentic voice to come through, and it aligns with the genre really well.

The nappy bag idea is cute, and the relationship between Lizzie and Clem is one of the strongest components of the plot. The majority of people who read this novel will be women and they’ll be able to relate to Lizzie and Clem’s friendship. It’s long-lasting and it’s secure, but there are also expectations that need to be met. Lizzie tends to railroad conversations and doesn’t really think about what Clem is going through, and Susannah has set up quite a complex dynamic between the two women that reflects everyday life. Their personalities certainly allow for interesting interactions — Clem is the sensible, emotionally secure, level-headed lawyer and Lizzie is…Lizzie.

“I’m thrilled with my idea. I’ve never had any sort of plan before so I’m already one step ahead. Now, all I have to do is be mysterious and aloof — occasionally resist the advances of a devastatingly handsome man to whom I’m pregnant, as well as incredibly attracted and desperate to marry. Piece of cake.”

There is a level of absurdity to the storyline, and things do feel like they wrap up a little too neatly. Whilst Lizzie does grow on the reader over time, she is quite unlikable in the beginning — and dare I say, certifiably bonkers. The segue into the drugs arrest was a bit bizarre, and shoe-horning the storyline about Cherie into the novel felt a bit unnatural. Sometimes the dialogue felt a bit inauthentic, like I couldn’t see the conversation playing out in real life.

But the intended audience for this kind of book won’t care about any of that. They’ll be glad to delve into an easy, light read. Something you could imagine reading on a plane, if we can ever go anywhere again. On a beach somewhere, far away. Loving Lizzie March will take your mind off all that’s going on in the world right now.

“After inheriting my nana’s sewing machine, I chose textiles as my elective and I loved it. My teacher, Miss Wilton, was fantastic. She was young, hip and inspiring, and encouraged me to really push myself and my creativity in all sorts of wacky directions.”

Heartwarming and heartfelt, Loving Lizzie March is for readers of women’s fiction and chick lit. Readership skews female, 25+

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

Loving Lizzie March
Susannah Hardy
July 2021
Pan Macmillan Publishers

Voyeur by Francesca Reece

Leah, a young woman who has found herself ‘ambitioned’ out of London, is now aimlessly adrift in Paris. Tired of odd jobs in cafes and teaching English to unresponsive social media influencers, her heart skips a beat when she spots an advert for a writer seeking an assistant.

Michael was once the bright young star of the London literary scene, now a washed-up author with writer’s block. He doesn’t place much hope in the advert, but after meeting Leah is filled with an inspiration he hasn’t felt in years.

When Michael offers Leah the opportunity to join him and his family in their rambling but glorious property in the south of France for the summer, she finally feels her luck is turning. But as she begins to transcribe the diaries from his debauched life in 1960s Soho, something begins to nag at Leah’s sense of fulfilment; that there might be more to Michael than meets the eye.

Francesca Reece’s debut novel Voyeur is a dual-POV literary novel set between the UK and Europe, and following an aimless young woman’s coming-of-age journey after she is employed as an author’s assistant. When Michael meets Leah through a chance encounter, he’s struck by how familiar she looks – Leah resembles a woman he once loved years earlier, and perhaps still does. But what happened to the young Astrid? And what was Michael’s involvement in their separation?

First of all, what a cracking cover. Whoever designed this cover did a stellar job – I’d pluck this from a bookstore shelf in a heartbeat. It’s bright and bold, and quirky. This cover serves well to attract a young, female audience.

“Astrid had worked in a café on Frith Street. It was a greasy spoon owned by a fat, old Italian man called Giorgio and I’d got into the habit of going there because I thought I was in love with a girl, Kathy, who lived across the street.”

Voyeur is definitely a plot-driven story, with quite a large cast of characters moving in and out of the timelines. I’d describe this novel as quite colourful, because it moves between moments of quiet interaction to more intense moments between multiple characters – loud, chaotic and abrupt. A lot of our experiences with Leah and Michael happen during quiet moments of introspection and reflection, but elements of their personalities are also revealed when they’re surrounded by other people. Moments of outburst force the two characters to confront their insecurities.

Moving between past and present, we get an intimate insight into both Leah and Michael’s lives, before and after they meet each other. Narrative strands are interwoven seamlessly, but I did find Michael’s arc to be a lot more interesting to read than Leah, who felt just a little too aimless to be interesting. A lot of people in this world will be able to relate to Leah, but does that mean we want to read about her?

“I thought a lot at that time about how I would have done university differently. Although I’d been largely unaware of it then, I could see now that I’d spent the first two years in dumb awe.”

Strength lies in the storyline of the past – Michael’s younger self and how his relationship with Agatha unfolds. In the present storyline, there doesn’t feel like much of a connect between him and Leah, and their story seems to be missing something.

Truthfully, Leah is quite a dull character – a bit flat. Michael is an unlikable person but he’s got more depth to him, and he’s more interesting to read about. I’m not sure we get as much insight into who Leah really is. When I read the blurb, I sensed comparisons with Lolita and The Virgin Suicides, but I feel like the novel lost its way and didn’t quite live up to expectation.

“It was only then that her identity became apparent and I realised that as a chronically bored teenager I’d read her newspaper column every Saturday. My brain started to involuntarily access all the images I’d invented and stored, lying on the living room floor on infinitely empty afternoons.”

For readers of literary fiction. Readership skews female, 30+

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

Voyeur
Francesca Reece
June 2021
Hachette Book Publishers

Careless by Kirsty Capes

Sometimes it’s easy to fall between the cracks…

At 3.04 p.m. on a hot, sticky day in June, Bess finds out she’s pregnant.

She could tell her social worker Henry, but he’s useless.

She should tell her foster mother, Lisa, but she won’t understand.

She really ought to tell Boy, but she hasn’t spoken to him in weeks.

Bess knows more than anyone that love doesn’t come without conditions. But this isn’t a love story…

Kirsty Capes’ debut novel Careless is a coming-of-age story about teen pregnancy and children in care.

Observant and heartfelt, Capes’ novel is written in first person from the perspective of fifteen-year-old Bess, who learns she is pregnant in the toilet cubicle of a Golden Grill kebab shop. She can’t tell her foster mum, whose shrill and argumentative nature makes her difficult to confide in, and she can’t tell the boy she’s been dating because he clearly doesn’t care too much for her.

The strongest relationship Bess has in her life is with her best friend Eshal. When the two of them form a plan to solve Bess’ pregnancy problem, it has disastrous consequences.

“That evening, I take the 400 bus home and I watch the shiny, molten surface of the reservoir through the window, milky pinky-blue sky behind it. As the bus rounds the corner onto the estate, I look up at Stage H, thinking someday I’ll be in there, making films.”

Bess and Eshal must learn to navigate their own futures amidst people who think they what’s best for them. It’s refreshing to find a novel focusing on children in care — an aspect of society that feels largely ignored in fiction. And Eshal’s relationship with her family, and the expectation that she’ll enter an arranged marriage, is to be commended. I think Kirsty managed that plot line with sensitivity and compassion.

Many readers will be able to relate to the relationship between Bess and Boy, which unfortunately, appears one-sided. Bess is besotted with Boy, but his attention wavers between hot and cold. I’m sure many readers will have found themselves in a similar position, and be able to recognise Bess’ internal thoughts and feelings.

“I’m gasping for breath. I know he’s listening to my thoughts. I tell him in my head, It’s like Titanic. And he laughs aloud like he heard me and he kisses me. His mouth is warm and there is salt on his lips. A proper kind of kiss. My first.”

Admittedly, this wasn’t quite the story I was expecting. I thought it’d be a comedy, which it isn’t. I anticipated it’d be heartfelt and emotional, which it is, but it’s actually quite grim and dark too. A heavy story.

Bess is, at times, insufferable. Is it terrible that I found myself siding with her mother more often than Bess? Yes, her mother is unreasonable, quick-to-rage, and quick-to-blame, and her actions at the end of the novel are unforgivable, but I found Bess’ immaturity and naivety about pregnancy quite painful in the novel — almost too painful to stomach.

“It’s weird that, considering how much Eshal knows about me and what we’re about to do, I’m shy about changing in front of her. She senses this and steps out of the room, closing the door.”

Raw and dark, Careless is recommended for young readers. I didn’t feel this was the literary novel that the blurb promised — it felt like it will appeal to a younger target audience. Readership skews female, 15+

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

Careless
Kirsty Capes
May 2021
Hachette Book Publishers

Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker

What if Juliet Capulet met someone who made her doubt true love? What if Wuthering Heights was a message to a time traveller?

YEAR: 2083. LOCATION: LONDON. MISSION: WAKE ROMEO.

It’s the end of the world. Literally. Time travel is possible, but only forwards. And only a handful of families choose to remain in the ‘now’, living off the scraps that were left behind. Among these are eighteen-year-old Juliet and the love of her life, Romeo. But things are far from rosy for Jules. Romeo is in a coma and she’s estranged from her friends and family, dealing with the very real fallout of their wild romance. Then a handsome time traveller, Ellis, arrives with an important mission that makes Jules question everything she knows about life and love. Can Jules wake Romeo and rewrite her future?

A YA time-travelling saga that pays homage to two literary classics, Kathryn Barker’s latest novel Waking Romeo is an ambitious, sweeping science fiction saga spanning decades.

The beginning of the novel is the same as the well-known Shakespeare story. Jules and Romeo had a passionate love affair and in a moment of misguided communication, both tried to kill themselves. However, Jules survived, and Romeo’s been in a coma for two years.

Waking Romeo is set in a wasteland where most humans have travelled forward into the future. When Jules meets a group of tech-savvy people that have learnt how to travel forwards and backwards, they embark on a mission to wake Romeo.

“I know one thing definitively. Whatever Frogs is really up to, it all started before these past few hours. Lord, it has been taking place since the very beginning, when I was first recruited. My life has been manipulated for years to accomodate Jules and her love story.”

I loved Kathryn’s last book and so was really excited to delve into this one. Waking Romeo is a fresh take on the literary classics that many people have grown to love.It’s certainly a unique read, and very innovative. It’s quite the twisty read, not one for the distracted. Each chapter switches POV between Jules and time traveller Ellis, and focus must be maintained to follow the plot.

Jules’ character development is one of the strengths in the book. She starts out hurt, bitter, and perhaps a little naive to what’s around her. Over time, she becomes smart and resourceful, and sure of herself. She comes to realise her time with Romeo wasn’t what it seemed. She matures into a conscious young woman.

“After the Fall, you couldn’t keep food in a supermarket — that was the first place hungry Travellers checked in, they tell me. So our ancestors stashed books there instead. Chaucer under pet food, Greek myths in the dairy aisle, fairytales in the frozen food section.”

Whilst the book is incredibly well plotted and the scope is impressive, I found the storyline very convoluted and hard to follow. Between the two main characters travelling divergent storylines — with seperate POV chapters — and the constant jumping between future and past, I think I lost my understanding of the plot at around the halfway mark and just kept reading to find out when they’d wake Romeo.

Additionally, there are quite a few sections of the book where Ellis and Jules’ journey seems unclear, and they’re traipsing through a wasteland without clear direction. And whilst Jules and Ellis’ character developments are strong, the book features such a large cast of characters and the other main players felt a little thinly developed. I feel there could’ve been room for more character exploration.

“If there was a pod that could send me back in time, instead of just forwards? It’d take it. It’d rewind the clock. Back, back, back — all the way to the moment that Romeo and I tried to kill ourselves.”

Waking Romeo tackles themes of love, expectation, friendship and family. And expectations placed upon us by others.

Whilst recommended for teenage readers, I’d be hesitant to recommend this book to a reluctant reader. Seasoned young readers only, who you know are going to persevere with the high concept, complex plotting.

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

Waking Romeo
Kathryn Barker
March 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers