Best Man by Chris Delyani

More LGTBQ+ than the slash fic I often read. This is a serious, often bittersweet romantic novel from the point of view of Frank, a man who has never got over a romantic attachment for a friend and Julio, who is Frank's housemate since he divorced. Poor Frank is in a rather woeful state, locking himself up in his house avoiding Julio, so he is thrown into confusion when Jonathan turns up in his life again planning a wedding to his evil boyfriend Marcus who utterly hates Frank. Julio on the other hand is busy crushing on Marcus at his yoga classes unaware that Marcus is engaged. As a favour for Frank, Julio pretends to be his boyfriend to Jonathan and Marcus. 

I liked the characters in this book and the way that the plot kept me guessing, I thought that the first person narrative worked well in the way that the characters were not necessarily what Frank and Julio thought they were. They are all very human and every one of them does things that they are ashamed of (or should be ashamed of!). I loved the way that Frank and Julio grew as people. This is not an explicit book, but I didn't feel like it needed it, this is a beautifully told story. 

Romanov by Nadine Brandes

A book that I would have probably liked better when I was younger. Brandes takes the story of the last few months of the Romanov's lives and adds magic and a romance between Anastasia and a guard called Zash. She had obviously researched the period thoroughly, but I wasn't entirely convinced by the magical elements. To me it felt like an unfortunate hybrid between real history and fantasy. The magic and the secret magical history of Russia wasn't really explained, and it was as if you were diving into a second book in a series. I wanted a bit more world building and description. Why did the Bolsheviks ban magic? However, this may have been a deliberate choice to normalise the magic elements.

The first part takes place in the quarters where the family is held and can be quite dry at times, contrasting with the fast pace of the second part. First part Nastya is actually quite annoying, but I think she's probably quite true to life!

Anyway, I just want to say that whilst this wasn't my cup of tea, it does have some charming elements particularly in the second half and would probably appeal much more to fans of ya fantasy/magic novels with a romantic twist. This is not a genre I tend to read much of though (I am so old and decrepit ya didn't really exist when I was a young adult!).

The Murder of The Romanovs by Andrew Cook

A history book that uses recently released sources to lay conspiracy theories about the survival of the Romanov family to rest. This is obviously well researched with a full bibliography of sources at the back, and is filled with a surprising number of illustrations for a short book. Cook goes into a great deal of detail about the last few months of the family.

However, I did have reservations about the book. Whilst there is a bibliography of sources divided into themes, I found it strange that there were no proper footnotes or endnotes. Whilst I don't always read all the footnotes, I suppose I find it reassuring to know exactly where the historian has found their information and to tell what angle they are taking with it. Also, I thought this lacked analysis. Most of the book was taken up with the description of what had happened, a small chapter at the end described what was in the newly released documents, then the rest was taken up with the original sources. I felt like I might as well just read the sources direct. The lack of analysis made the history somewhat dry and overall I found this quite an odd book.

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray

I listened to the audiobook of this, which I thought was extremely well done with some really good narrators.

The story centres around a family of three sisters, Althea, Violet and Lilian, and their extended family and how they cope when Althea and her husband are sent to jail for fraud, leaving their two daughters in limbo. Even worse, Althea and Proctor are hated by the community where they live.

The story is narrated first person by the sisters, and in letters from Proctor to Althea. The sisters, along with their brother who is not as prevalent in the story, have all been affected by their unhappy childhood after their mother died leaving them to be looked after by their stern father. Althea has married her childhood sweetheart Procter, and is kind of a pillar of the community until she gets caught, although she has a difficult relationship with her daughter Kim. Lilian lives in the house where she grew up, widowed and caring for her late husband's grandmother. Violet is separated from her wife and struggling with anorexia and bulimia. The brother Joe is the only person who seems to have got off without becoming miserable and he and his wife are pillars of the church. Kim is mixed up and feels like Althea hates her due to her mother's strict attitude to her, and Baby Vi shows signs that she is becoming anorexic as well. Althea refuses to see the girls and Kim feel like it is because she hates her.

Food and hunger is a major theme of the book, as is the imagery of a river that Althea keeps going back to in her mind. The sisters are all forced by circumstances to take responsibility for themselves and their own happiness. The characters are beautifully crafted and you really feel as if you know them and will miss them after the book is finished. Aside from the sisters, I thought the characters in the prison where Althea is incarcerated were great, and Ni Ni the Korea grandmother living in the family home was so fantastically narrated by the voice of Lilian, she really brought her to life. Althea's daughters Kim and Baby Vi also provide pivotal roles to the story.

This was a brilliant book that I really enjoyed listening to, full of beautiful little touches. It explores the history of the characters in detail and why they are the way that they are.

Region 6 by Ian James Krender

Reading alternative history books, a genre I enjoy, the most important thing is to create a believable set up. I think Krender's set up is believable and he creates a vivid dystopian alternative timeline where the Nazis have won the war and have turned 1980s Britain into Region 6, an entirely Nazi controlled outpost where the populace are controlled with water additives to affect behaviour and the people who are not affiliated with the occupiers live and work in dreadful conditions. The story follows Thomas, who is one of the people who lives in a slum and works in a TV factory, and Stephen who has wealthy parents who gift him Nazi party membership for his birthday. Stephen has a good education, living parents and a good life but both men are struggling with forbidden homosexuality. When Thomas becomes involved in a resistance organisation, Stephen is sent to investigate him and the two men form a relationship.

This is not a particularly detailed depiction of their relationship and there are no sex scenes as such. I thought the characters well drawn and their motives well thought out. Thomas in particular is a character who is a bit rough around the edges and seems believable. I liked the way that the resistance fighters were depicted, and it made me think about how we consider terrorists. The plot is good too, although I think the end seemed a little rushed. Overall though I thought this was a very promising novel and I would read more by the author.

#guiltyreadingpleasures

Only kidding, I don't think we should feel ashamed of what we read (except tentacle porn 😉). I'm just talking about the go to books when you can't face anything else. Sometimes it's re-reads for me, but most often it’s m/m fiction from Kindle Unlimited, oozing with angst and sexy times! My favourite author is Sloane Kennedy, but I will read anything that takes my fancy. I don’t take it too seriously though, as with all romantic fiction it has it’s cliches (I constantly roll my eyes at how easy it is to find the prostate). My ratings are based on what I enjoy the best of the genre. IMHO don’t bother rating it if you are just going to sneer at it!

This Saturday was a slash fiction kind of day so I took the opportunity to try a new author, in this case Alessandra Hazard’s Straight Guys series. Short novels linked to one another on the theme of straight men realising they are attracted to men.

Just a Bit Twisted is the tale of Shawn, a college boy who has been left to look after his two four year old twin sister’s since his parents died. He somehow ends up pimping himself to his professor, the chilly Derek Rutledge. Okay, so the beginnings of their relationship does require some suspension of disbelief as Derek puts himself in an incredibly dangerous position but hell I liked both the characters and what she did with them, and I thought the sex was hot! Shawn struggles with his attraction but continually tries to act in a dignified way, especially about the money. The story is from his point of view but we do get to explore why Derek is so cold and against relationships. It left me wanting more. The only criticism I really had was the absence of proper lube in the sex!

Just a Bit Obsessed is the tale of Alexander who is pretty much forced into a threesome with his girlfriend and Christian (friends with Shawn from book 1 of Straight Guys). His girlfriend is bizarre and completely self-obsessed, Alexander REALLY DOESN’T WANT to do a threesome, he has some major issues with his father staying with his mother whilst still dicking around with men. He’s a bit of a control freak too. Yet she still forces him into it as she has a crush on Christian. She’s majorly turned on when he finally loosens up enough to kiss Christian then is surprised when it all goes sour and he only has eyes for the other man! Good characters, some hot sex and it left me wanting more.

The Dollmaker by Nina Allan

A wonderful novel of a dollmaker travelling to meet a woman whom he has fallen in love with who lives in a kind of home for people who are suffering from mental illnesses. The novel combines the story from Andrew Garvie’s perspective, the letters Bramber writes to him telling her about her day to day life and her past, and the beguiling short stories Andrew is reading by the fictional author and dollmaker Ewa Chaplin.

The short stories are original in the way that they leap straight into the stories as if they are almost novels in their own right, and they are full of magic realist wonders, transgressive love stories and populated by little people and people with disabilities and disfigurements. Andrew himself is exceptionally short and I think the way that the characters are portrayed is really well executed. Andrew comes to wonder if the stories are actually influencing his own plot as he sees the similarities in the stories he is reading with what he is currently doing.

Whilst Bramber is afflicted by a sense of guilt Andrew has his own demons to contend with - I liked the parts where he has discussions in his head with the doll ‘the Artist’ who orders him around. This is a magical book I devoured. 

The Trouble with Goodreads and a Review of the Passing Tribute

I recently completed an ARC of this on #Pigeonhole 
It was rather a departure for them and not as well received as many of the books on there which I thought was rather disappointing. A few of the readers complained it was “too wordy” and not for them, so gave it up quickly, which is fair enough. However, what I thought was highly unfair was the subsequent one star reviews on Goodreads, particularly by people who didn't even finish it.

The book currently has an average review of two stars. One of the reviewers has complained that the author should basically be resigned to any level of criticism after he reported her review for spoilers. This must be the ultimate punch in the gut after she's had the opportunity to read his book for free. I can't say that I would feel comfortable doing that even if I disliked the book. I'll write an honest review wherever I can but I have to acknowledge the effort someone has put into it. Maybe if it was poorly edited or factually incorrect or problematic maybe you would be justified, but not on the basis that it was too hard for you to read!

Sorry guys, that's the way it is.

Anyway, on to the review. Yes, this is not a casual read. The author has experimented with the postmodern idea of avoiding 'the tyranny of plot’, comparing this to the work of Virginia Woolf. There are overarching themes and things that happened, but they are not linked together, this is to give a more naturalistic feel to the story. A series of impressions to give a feeling of what is happening. It particularly suits the settings of post war England and Vienna with the themes of desolation and rebuilding. It's an incredibly lyrical, poetic story which does use some words considered archaic or obscure, but I think it's justified. This is a story about two brothers, one living in England, the other in Vienna.

I thought the parts of the story set in Vienna worked better, particularly due to the character of Millie, who works as some light relief in what could have become rather a heavy story. In contrast, I found Richard's parts a bit more difficult due to his relationship with Helene who is enigmatic to the point that I didn't feel like I could get to grips with either her character or their relationship. I feel like I may have read it a bit too quickly and that maybe Pigeonhole didn't really work as a platform for it. This is the kind of book to savour the language, to re-read and to go back to previous parts to link it all together in your mind. It's not really a page turner, but can anybody really say that postmodern novels are? However, the fear of people giving poor reviews should never put an author off experimenting, else we would all still be reading the proto novels of people like Richardson and Defoe or confining ourselves to the same type of books time and time again.I hope that the poor reviews don't put people off reading it.

The Passengers by John Marrs

A very clever set up leads to a fantastic thriller full of twists and turns and unexpected moments.

Set in a future not unlike the present where society has come to rely on autonomous cars to the extent that the government is outlawing the use of non autonomous cars; Libby is participating in a jury considering if an autonomous car is responsible for killing some pedestrians or if it was their own fault when someone hacks into the cars and takes control. What follows is a rollercoaster ride where the jury are forced to decide who lives and who dies. This is all made worse by the inevitable online publicity, and a great feature of this book is online snippets that add to the realistic feel of the novel.

The characters are well drawn and there are some great funny moments particularly with the aging actress trapped in a car who has no idea what's going on. I think the author has made great use of his former experiences of writing articles about celebrities!

Whilst this is a really entertaining read, it does also make you think about reliance on technology and how it can encourage snap judgments based on little more than how a person appears and a mob mentality. The inquest where the jury are deciding is attended by an expert who is more excited by the online stats generated by what's happening than by the thought that someone is about to die.

This month the book is 99p on Kindle and would make a great holiday read.