Out of Love by Hazel Hayes

Out of Love by Hazel Hayes. No Advance Reader Copy was included, and no affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Paula’s Kindle is lying on a black, grey, and white floral patterned duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Out of Love by Hazel Hayes.

Paula’s Kindle is lying on a black, grey, and white floral patterned duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Out of Love by Hazel Hayes

"He stopped loving me a long time ago but wasn't brave enough to tell me."

Hazel Hayes' debut novel Out of Love is a love story told in reverse. Our unnamed Irish protagonist and her English boyfriend, Theo, have just broken up. Theo initially said he wanted a break, and now that break is permanent. Theo never quite felt at home when living in Ireland, and she isn't convinced she fits in now that she is living in London. From here, the novel tracks backwards as each chapter brings the reader closer to the beginning of their relationship.

This narrative structure allows the details of their relationship to unwind slowly – more character-driven than plot-driven – as the reader discovers how they got together, their life together as a couple, their actions, and, ultimately, why they broke them. However, since the story is told from our unnamed protagonist's perspective, we only see Theo through her eyes and experience. I think the novel would have been stronger if told from a dual perspective – hers and Theo's – but I have a soft spot for multiple POV novels, so I am probably in the minority here.

Hayes writes with great warmth and humour while sensitively handling issues such as mental illness, addiction, abuse, the lasting impact of trauma, and toxic relationships. Out of Love is an examination of romantic love, yes, but also sexuality, familial relationships and friendship. I really enjoyed it!

Out of Love by Hazel Hayes is published by Unbound and is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Gender Theory by Madeline Docherty

Gender Theory by Madeline Docherty. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via NetGalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

The cover of Gender Theory by Madeline Docherty against a white background.

The cover of Gender Theory by Madeline Docherty against a white background.

Told entirely in the second person – "You are eighteen and this is the first time you have voiced desire, asked for something that you wanted, and received it." – Gender Theory has a unique narration style that places the reader directly in our unnamed Gen Z protagonist's head. Yet, at times, this narration style seems like we are watching our protagonist from afar. As if our protagonist is watching herself from a dissociated state somewhere else without being completely present in her own life. For me, this dual understanding of the novel’s structure added to the intensity of the downward spiral our protagonist's life is in for much of the story.

Plot-wise, Gender Theory is a Scottish coming-of-age novel about a protagonist who is trying to find her way at university while figuring out what it means to build and live a life.

While my chronic illnesses differ from those portrayed in the novel, I still found a sense of recognition in our protagonist's frequent A&E visits, multiple hospital appointments, and trying to balance needing answers and treatment with not wanting a diagnosis to consume your entire life.

It may sound unusual to describe a novel as an experience, but that's exactly what Gender Theory is – an immersive journey that delves into identity, sexuality, mental health, addiction, chronic illness, female friendship, and codependency. It's a captivating read that I couldn't put down!

Gender Theory by Madeline Docherty is published by John Murray, an imprint of Hachette UK. Gender Theory is available in hardback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel

Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via NetGalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Paula’s e-reader is lying on a denim duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel.

Paula’s e-reader is lying on a denim duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel.

Next up in my 'it took me so long to read this NetGalley advance copy that the book has been published for ages now' series we have Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel. The TL; DR version of my review is that this is a strong contender for my favourite books of the year list!

Phoebe Forde has been living a quiet life in Copenhagen, housing sitting and looking after an anxious dog named Dolly. Phoebe commutes to Sweden, where she is studying and working toward her PhD. Phoebe is a “woman without a past” until her former girlfriend Grace arrives at her door looking for a tour of Copenhagen.

Grace has never met Phoebe as Phoebe. Their relationship ended before Phoebe's transition, and Grace's reappearance brings the life Phoebe left behind in Ireland back into focus.

Set over a long weekend, Wild Geese sees Phoebe and Grace explore Copenhagen as they reflect on their lives and their relationship.

Emmanuel's writing is evocative, humorous – at times darkly so, in the way Irish humour so often is – lyrical, and full of empathy. Wild Geese is a stunning debut, and I can't wait to see what Emmanuel does next!

I highlighted so many sentences and passages, so I'm ending my review with a couple of my favourite lines.

"I am not altering the blueprint of my body – these things were always there, from the day I was born. They just required a certain mature and gentle coaxing, a habitual tensing of the muscle of self-knowledge."

Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel is published by Footnote Press in the UK and Ireland and by Feminist Press in the US. It is available in hardback, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Ruth & Pen by Emilie Pine

Ruth & Pen by Emilie Pine. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via NetGalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Paula’s e-reader is lying on a cream bed sheet beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Ruth & Pen by Emilie Pine.

Paula’s e-reader is lying on a cream bed sheet beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Ruth & Pen by Emilie Pine.

Continuing the adventures of books it took me years to read because I kept picking them up and putting them down, we have Emilie Pine's debut novel Ruth & Pen. I took this photo back in 2022 when I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley. I couldn't connect with the characters when I first started reading, so I set it aside. I enjoyed Pine's writing style, though, so I knew I'd give it another try at some point. I listened to it on audio in March, and I am glad I gave it a second chance because I connected with it much more this time around!

Set over the course of one day, we follow Ruth—a forty-something counsellor whose husband Aidan hasn't come home from a work trip—and Pen—an autistic teenager on her way to a climate protest who has decided to tell her friend Alice the thing she has been keeping secret. The day in question is October 7th, 2019, when Extinction Rebellion Ireland held its climate walk and protest as part of Extinction Rebellion's week of global protests.

Pen's attempts to fit in at school haven't gone as planned. Things at home aren't exactly less anxiety-inducing, as she struggles to connect with her mother and younger sister.

Ruth's marriage is at a crossroads. After multiple rounds of IVF, Ruth has realised that she doesn't want to continue. However, Aidan doesn't want to stop. I don't want to give much more away than the novel’s blurb, but if reading about infertility is something you wish to take care with I would recommend looking up the content warnings beforehand.

Ruth & Pen is a decidedly Dublin novel. The city's landscape is as much a character as Ruth, Pen, Alice, and Aidan are. I really enjoyed the switching points of view. We hear not only from our titular protagonists but also from Alice and Aidan, which adds richness to the story.

Ruth & Pen is a beautifully tender and poignant novel, that deals with complex topics in a nuanced and compassionate way.

Ruth & Pen by Emilie Pine is published by Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It is available in hardback, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats. 

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Wild Things by Laura Kay

Wild Things by Laura Kay. No Advance Reader Copy was included, and no affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Paula’s Kindle lying on a blush-toned and navy duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Wild Things by Laura Kay.

Paula’s Kindle lying on a blush-toned and navy duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Wild Things by Laura Kay.

El makes a New Year's resolution to do one wild thing a month to shake up her life. She is now the proud owner of a (small) tattoo! When a threesome – her next wild thing – doesn't quite go as planned, El wonders if her year of living wildly is worth it.

Then circumstances collide, and El and her friends Ray, Jamie, and Will decide to leave London for a house in the country, which they plan to turn into a queer commune. That will definitely earn El some wild points! The downside? El has been pining over Ray for years. Jamie is aware of this and jokes that El is 'gay for Ray', but will El be able to hide her feelings from Ray now that they're living together?

The story would have been much stronger if we'd heard the points of view of the other characters—particularly Ray, whose actions didn't always make sense to me. We do learn about Ray, Jamie, and Will's lives, but through the eyes of El, so it's a one-sided and subjective narrative.

That said, Wild Things is an enjoyable and cute WLW (women loving women) rom-com with a side of found family! It also amused me that Will is essentially the token straight person of the friendship group when it's usually the LGBTQ+ character who is the token.

Wild Things by Laura Kay is published by Quercus, an imprint of Hachette UK. It is available in hardback, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Mudflowers by Aley Waterman

Mudflowers by Aley Waterman. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via NetGalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Paula’s e-reader is lying on a black, grey, and white floral patterned duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Mudflowers by Aley Waterman.

Paula’s e-reader is lying on a black, grey, and white floral patterned duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Mudflowers by Aley Waterman.

Set mainly in Toronto's art scene, Aley Waterman's debut novel follows 27-year-old Sophie in the year after her mother's death. She is grieving and trying her best to navigate all of the messiness that grief entails. She is also in an on-and-off relationship with her childhood friend Alex.

Enter Maggie, a poet Sophie immediately falls for, complicating her relationship with Alex. The blurb describes it as a 'complicated love triangle,' so you can probably guess how at least some of the plot goes.

I liked Mudflowers well enough while I was reading it – that's the category I put it in my April wrap-up. Yet, nothing about the story or the characters has stuck with me in any way. Overall, I'd sum Mudflowers up as grand (in the Irish sense of okay/fine) but bland.

I read an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley, but my TBR list is out of control, so Mudflowers was already published by the time I picked it up.

Mudflowers by Aley Waterman is published by Rare Machines, an imprint of Dundurn Press. It is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you enjoy my book reviews you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin. No Advance Reader Copy was included, and no affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Paula’s Kindle lying on a fluffy grey blanket beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Big Swiss by Jen Beagin.

Paula’s Kindle lying on a fluffy grey blanket beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Big Swiss by Jen Beagin.

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin is such a strange novel! It is absurd, surreal, and shot through with dark, dark humour. For chunks of the book, I had no idea what the hell was happening! I kept having to scroll back to see what I had missed, only to realise that I hadn't missed anything because the thing the characters were reacting to happened off the page.

But what about the plot? Greta rents a room in a friend's crumbling-down house. She works from home as a transcriptionist for a sex and relationship coach named Om. As she listens to the sessions, Greta is drawn to one of Om's clients, who she nicknames Big Swiss because, well, she is tall and from Switzerland! Big Swiss doesn't know who Greta is. Yet, when they bump into each other at the dog park, Greta panics, and their relationship doesn't exactly get off to an honest start.

What follows is a whirlwind of a novel that is difficult to explain. Greta and Big Swiss are opposites in many ways, but they cannot keep away from each other.

Big Swiss is a novel that questions how we – as a society – view both big T and little t trauma. To be honest, I am unsure how I feel about the story. I didn't dislike it, but I am not entirely convinced I liked it either!

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin is published by Faber & Faber and is available in hardback, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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These Days Are Numbered: Diary of a High-Rise Lockdown by Rebecca Rosenblum

These Days Are Numbered: Diary of a High-Rise Lockdown by Rebecca Rosenblum. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via NetGalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Paula’s e-reader is lying on a black, grey, and white floral patterned duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of These Days Are Numbered by Rebecca Rosenblum.

Paula’s e-reader is lying on a black, grey, and white floral patterned duvet cover beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of These Days Are Numbered by Rebecca Rosenblum.

When the world began to shut down because of Covid-19, writer Rebecca Rosenblum posted on Facebook about her days in Toronto, Canada. These Days Are Numbered is an edited volume of those public diary entries.

Rosenblum's writing is humorous and, at times, poignant. At its heart, Rosenblum's memoir is about searching for community and connection in the strange new world we all found ourselves adjusting to.

More than once, I thought some variation of 'how odd that she keeps referring to her husband by his full name?!' before remembering that this is because he was tagged in the original Facebook posts! So, the transfer from social media to book isn't seamless, although I understand the decision to leave things like this in place.

I know reading about the pandemic (particularly in non-fiction) isn't for everyone, but I am glad I spent time with Rosenblum's lockdown diary. If only because it reassured me that forgetting how to have 'normal' conversation with people post-lockdowns wasn't just a me problem! 

These Days Are Numbered: Diary of a High-Rise Lockdown by Rebecca Rosenblum is published by Dundurn Press and is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

I don’t use affiliate links, but if you enjoy my book reviews you can show your support by buying me a coffee here.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. No Advance Reader Copy was included, and no affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

The paperback edition cover of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid against a white background.

The paperback edition cover of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid against a white background.

What I love about the bookish corner of the internet is that different books appeal to different people. Yet I feel like I should be handing back my book reviewer and bisexual credentials or something (lol) before saying this: I didn't enjoy The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

I shouldn't be overly surprised since I DNFed the other TJR books I tried (Daisy Jones & The Six and Malibu Rising). The number of people still recommending I read Evelyn Hugo made me want to give TJR another shot. While I made it to the end of this one, it was not the book for me.

The novel is a sweeping epic covering Evelyn's Hollywood career and later life, but sections of the story managed to drag on for me while the ending felt rushed (there was way too much trying to wrap up every little thing). Most of the characters felt underdeveloped to me. Some of this is because it's from Evelyn's point of view, but Celia St. James didn't feel like a fully-rounded character. I wasn't invested in their relationship, and since it is the central relationship, you can see why I struggled to enjoy the book.

The framing of the novel is that Evelyn sits down with a journalist to share her life story, so I understand Monique Grant's role. But she was also really underdeveloped, so the subplot about the breakdown of her own marriage felt like we were going off on an unnecessary tangent. As a result, I couldn't buy the impact interviewing Evelyn had on Monique's ability to believe in and stand up for herself in work and personal relationship situations because I had no deep sense of Monique as a person before Evelyn came into her life.

I wonder whether the fact that I went through a phase of reading non-fiction and watching documentaries about Hollywood actresses from this time affected my reading of Evelyn Hugo. The elements based on Elizabeth Taylor are obvious, down to Evelyn being known for her eyebrows instead of Taylor's eyelashes! TJR has also stated that the initial framing device is based on Ava Gardner's interview with Peter Evans. There is nothing wrong with any of this; it's just that for me, TJR didn't build on these elements in a way that worked as a complete novel.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is published by Simon & Schuster and is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne

Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via NetGalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Paula’s e-reader is lying on a grey blanket beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne.

Paula’s e-reader is lying on a grey blanket beside a cup of coffee. The e-reader is open on the title page of Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne.

Patric Gagne is a child when she first hears the word sociopath and instinctively knows that it applies to her and her compulsions. Yet, finding accurate information about sociopathy is difficult. She cannot even find a definition in the dictionary. She checked multiple editions.

Gagne is upfront about who she is. Some of the ways she describes herself include 'a passionate mother and wife', 'an engaging therapist', 'a writer', 'a liar', 'a thief', 'highly manipulative', 'friendly', 'a criminal without a record', and 'a master of disguise'. Given this, the reader may question how reliable a narrator of her life Gagne is. For me, Gagne engages in self and critical reflection about her actions without excusing them.

Still lacking information and resources by the time she attends college, Gagne focuses her academic and clinical work on helping other sociopaths especially now that she has received a formal diagnosis. She seeks the diagnosis while being critical of psychiatric pathologisation. Not least because there are no specific diagnostic criteria for sociopathy. Sociopathy and psychopathy are assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), which is used in a forensic mental health setting and focuses on criminality and violence. There is an adapted version called the PCL-SV (Screening Version), which removes the need for a criminal record that is used in clinical and research settings.

It's a minefield that doesn't do much to counter the misunderstandings, misinformation, and disinformation about sociopathy and psychopathy. Honestly, based on news media and pop culture portrayals of sociopaths and psychopaths most of us have little accurate understanding of either. This is where I think Gagne's memoir will have the most impact. It adds to the growing discussions around mental illness and psychiatric pathologisation. While Gagne doesn't mention neurodivergence by name, her exploration of the failings of the pathology model reminds me of the ongoing discussions around what fits under the neurodivergent umbrella.

Sociopath: A Memoir by Patric Gagne is published by Bluebird, an imprint of Pan Macmillian. It is available in hardback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Like Love: Essays and Conversations by Maggie Nelson

Like Love: Essays and Conversations by Maggie Nelson. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via NetGalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

The UK cover of Like Love by Maggie Nelson against a white background.

The UK cover of Like Love by Maggie Nelson against a white background.

If you, like me, got excited at the prospect of a new Maggie Nelson book, I feel obliged to temper your expectations. Like Love is a collection of Nelson’s previously published essays, profiles, conversations, and interviews. I still enjoyed reading it. However, Nelson’s work spans 20+ years, so Like Love is a bit hit-and-miss in a way that essays written to be part of the same collection from the outset aren’t.

It was fascinating to see the evolution of how Nelson writes about similar themes, including feminist and queer experiences and theory, subversion, and the role of art and art criticism in society throughout her career.

If you are already a Maggie Nelson fan, you'll enjoy Like Love. If you are coming to Nelson for the first time, I'd recommend beginning with Bluets, Jane, The Red Parts, or The Argonauts.

Like Love: Essays and Conversations by Maggie Nelson is published by Fern Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in the UK and Ireland and by Graywolf Press in the US. It is available in hardback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief by Katriona O’Sullivan

Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief by Katriona O’Sullivan. No Advance Reader Copy included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Dr Katriona O’Sullivan is a lecturer at Maynooth University, where her work in MU’s Department of Psychology Assisting Living & Learning Institute focuses on digital skills and social inclusion. O’Sullivan grew up in abject poverty and deprivation as one of five children raised in the UK by parents who both lived with addiction issues. The chaos of O’Sullivan’s home life as her parents cycled through active addiction, periods of sobriety, and back to active addiction meant that she and her siblings were left essentially to fend for themselves. 

In Poor, O’Sullivan takes us back to her childhood as she shares her memories of the neglect and abuse, including sexual abuse by a family friend, she experienced. I use the word memories deliberately because early in the book, Katriona states that there are memories she wants to keep and is happy to talk about, and there are memories she wants to let go. She writes, “I want to tell you about these too, so I can leave them here and move on from them.” What follows is a matter-of-fact recounting of her childhood and teenage years, including becoming homeless and a single mother at 15, her own experience with addiction, and attending university as an adult while raising her young son. 

The thing about memoirs is that it is impossible to cover everything about your life in one book, so choices are made about which aspects to focus on the most. The latter section about O’Sullivan attending Trinity College Dublin through the Trinity Access Programme and continuing to obtain her PhD felt rushed compared to the earlier section. That said, Poor is a testament to Katriona’s determination, the power of education, and the lasting impact of teachers who go out of their way to support their students who have otherwise fallen through the cracks. 

Poor can be a challenging read, subject-wise. We shouldn’t shy away from the realities and consequences of poverty and addiction, so I recommend picking up a copy. O’Sullivan has written a memoir full of compassion and empathy towards herself and her parents. But also the compassion and empathy Katriona received from the teachers and care workers who helped shape her life. 

Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief by Katriona O’Sullivan is published by Sandycove, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Poor is available in trade paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Shame by Annie Ernaux

Shame by Annie Ernaux, translated by Tanya Leslie. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via NetGalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

‘My father tried to kill my mother one Sunday in June, in the early afternoon.’ 

Annie Ernaux’s Shame, translated from French by Tanya Leslie, opens with the directness readers have come to expect from her work. Ernaux was twelve when she witnessed her father’s attempt to kill her mother. This traumatic event divided her life into before and after as she ‘waited for the scene to be repeated.’ It did not happen again, but the expectation compounded the shame that Ernaux ‘began living in.’

Shame is Ernaux’s exploration of the aftermath of that June 1952 afternoon as she tries to understand why shame was her overriding reaction. Shame is not an easy emotion to share with other people. Or yourself. Ernaux spent years downplaying shame’s impact on her life and relationships. Her relationship with her parents, but since shame is far-reaching, it impacts every relationship. It was not always to the same degree or in obvious ways, but it was under the surface. 

Yet, shame thrives in silence. It convinces us that no one will understand. It tricks us into thinking we are alone. As Ernaux discovers through confronting her shame, people may not completely understand your experience, just as you may not fully understand theirs, but that does not mean we are alone. Or that shame is something we can never shake. 

In Shame, Ernaux carefully excavates her trauma, interrogates her memories, and shows people’s shame is interlinked, regardless of our differing root causes. I used excavates deliberately because, to the reader, it feels like Ernaux is removing layers of earth to uncover the core of what makes us human. I highly recommend it! 

Shame by Annie Ernaux, translated by Tanya Leslie, is published by Fitzcarraldo Editions in the UK & Ireland and by Seven Stories Press elsewhere. Happenings is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Penance by Eliza Clark

Penance by Eliza Clark. No Advance Reader Copy included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Eliza Clark’s sophomore novel Penance is a book within a book. The story is framed as a true crime book detailing the murder of teenager Joan Wilson by three of her classmates written by journalist Alec Z. Carelli. From the beginning, we know that Carelli was accused of fabricating quotes and deliberately misrepresenting people. We also know that he illegally obtained some of the material he used. After being pulled from the shelves by its original publisher, it has been republished with an explanation in the introduction, but much of the text remains in its original form. 

Carelli’s book follows, drawing on court testimony, interviews, podcast transcriptions, emails, group chats and social media posts. The perpetrators, Angelica, Violet, and Dolly, are painted as unreliable narrators as they scramble to distance themselves from Joan’s horrific and violent murder on the night of the Brexit vote. Clark’s depiction of the crime is particularly gruesome. Joan is also considered an unreliable narrator of her own life. Yet, this ‘definitive account’ of Joan’s murder is written by a journalist who the reader knows is also an unreliable narrator. Throughout Carelli’s book, true-crime podcast transcripts add their own layer of confusion to the ‘what the hell is happening?’ of it all. 

Crime fiction, which examines our obsession with true crime as entertainment, has proliferated in the last couple of years. Clark’s Penance is among the best of them. The writing is engrossing, incisive, and compellingly depicts the unethical nature of the true-crime industry.

Penance by Eliza Clark is published by Faber & Faber and is available in hardback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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The Woman In Me by Britney Spears

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears. No Advance Reader Copy included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

In that moment, I made peace with my family—by which I mean that I realized I never wanted to see them again, and I was at peace with that.

The Woman in Me understandably covers a lot of ground, as Britney Spears tells her story on her terms for the first time. The media has also extensively covered aspects of Spears’ memoir, so even if you haven’t read it, you have some idea of what happened. Given this, knowing where to begin my review is difficult. So, I am focusing on the things that struck me most and have stayed with me in the weeks since reading it. I also have a piece coming up in my newsletter, specifically about Britney’s decision to share her abortion experience. 

When I was diagnosed with bipolar, Britney Spears was regularly mentioned to me in an ‘Oh, like Britney!’ way. ‘Yes, like Britney!’ I’m pretty sure I replied because, like everyone else, I had absorbed the narrative that Britney having bipolar disorder was the reason for her conservatorship. And while the conservatorship being abusive and bullshit was clear, I never questioned whether Britney had bipolar disorder. The Woman in Me shows that Britney experienced multiple periods of mental ill-health. However, It quickly becomes apparent that they were likely either post-natal depression, post-natal anxiety, or a combination of both rather than bipolar. The upshot of this misdiagnosis is that whatever psychiatric care (and, to be honest, not a lot of it sounded like it was rooted in actually caring for her) Britney received was treating the wrong condition.

It is difficult to untangle Britney’s psychiatric mistreatment from the weaponisation of addiction and forcing her into recovery when it's not at all clear whether addiction was ever truly a problem for her. This ambiguity may be deliberate, especially around using the unnamed energy supplements, and Britney deserves her privacy. It is also possible that the ambiguity is an accurate representation of the fact that, yes, there were times when she leaned on alcohol or drugs more than others that never reached the level of addiction. Britney speaks about finding connections at 12-step meetings (the ones she was forced to attend) that she never felt elsewhere, which is such a tender moment in the book, and it's good that she has positive experiences of this time. But, again, I want to emphasise that she was forced to be there. She wasn’t even allowed to choose which meetings to attend. Her father did. THIS IS NOT HOW 12-STEP PROGRAMMES ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK!!! He used them as another way of controlling Britney's life. He used his alcoholism against her by trotting out the fact alcoholism is in the family, so she has it as well. Which may or may not be true.

If I sound annoyed, it's because I am. I finished The Woman in Me a few weeks ago, and the longer I think about it the more furious I get. None of what Britney was put through is how you should treat mental illness or addiction. I added an expletive-laden comment for every part I highlighted because almost everyone in Britney’s life failed her. 

I don't subscribe to the notion that memoir writing is automatically cathartic, but I hope this experience was for Britney. Although, I know The Woman in Me was ghostwritten by Sam Lansky. I am pleased Britney is finally telling us what she was forced to endure. It's important to hear from Britney herself.


The Woman in Me by Britney Spears is published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The Woman in Me is available in hardback, ebook and audiobook formats.

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Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America by Lauren Rankin

Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America by Lauren Rankin. No Advance Reader Copy included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America by Lauren Rankin charts the fight for abortion rights in America through the eyes of abortion clinic escorts, abortion clinic defenders, and grassroots activists and organisers. Rankin is a former volunteer clinic escort at a New Jersey abortion clinic. 

Rankin is clear-eyed in her assessment of anti-abortion groups tactics, which in the US included murdering abortion providers, and how they changed over time. Their changing tactics take into account legislative changes designed to end their harassment and intimidation of pregnant people seeking healthcare. 

Bodies on the Line is a powerful tribute to the ordinary everyday people who continuously show up to ensure people access abortion care without facing intimidation from anti-abortion protesters. The hardback edition was published before SCOTUS overturned Roe v. Wade, but the paperback includes a post-Roe update.

Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America by Lauren Rankin is published by Counterpoint and is available in hardback, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Main Character Energy by Jamie Varon

Main Character Energy by Jamie Varon. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via Netgalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

I've been a fan of Jamie Varon’s non-fiction writing for years, so when I spotted her debut novel, Main Character Energy, on NetGalley, I was delighted to be approved! 

Poppy Banks has what should be her dream job writing for Thought Buzz (excellent naming choice for a Buzzfeed and Thought Catalog mash-up! ). Yet, she would rather write mystery novels than endless listicles accompanied by pressure to hit a number of clicks.

When Poppy's aunt, Margot, dies (it's in the blurb, so not a spoiler), she leaves Poppy a trip to the French Riviera. Once there, Poppy realises that Margot has also left her an incredible villa. There is just one catch! In order to inherit the villa, Poppy has six months to write her novel. Can she do it, or will procrastination and self-sabotage rule the day again?

What follows is a captivating novel about figuring out who you really are, what you want, and living with intention (side note, this is also the name of Varon's brilliant online course). What happens if you do it for the plot twist? Main Character Energy has creativity, romance, complicated familial relationships, and working towards your dreams.

Poppy Banks leaps off the page as a woman intent – again, a word I have chosen deliberately – on making the most of her life after years of simply doing the bare minimum. I loved it! 

Main Character Energy by Jamie Varon is published by Headline Eternal, an imprint of Hachette UK, in Europe and Park Row Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, in the US. Main Character Energy is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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What Walks These Halls by Amy Clarkin

What Walks These Halls by Amy Clarkin. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via Netgalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Raven O'Sullivan doesn't remember what happened in Hyacinth House five years ago, but she knows her father’s death was her fault even though everyone says it was an accident. Raven's parents were paranormal investigators with Paranormal Surveyance Ireland (PSI), and Raven was eager to work cases with them. 

Her brother, Archer, wasn't in Hyacinth House that day, but he won't stop searching for answers. Hell-bent on reopening their parent's business, Archer jumps at the chance to head to Hyacinth House when a new case lands on his desk. 

Raven wants to say no, but as she is drawn deeper into the mystery, she knows there is only one way of getting answers. By confronting whatever inhabits Hyacinth House.

Éabha McLoughlin hears and sees things no one does. When a late-night internet search leads to Archer and co at PSI, Éabha thinks she might finally get some answers. But at what cost? 

With What Walks These Halls, Amy Clarkin has created a captivating cast of characters full of LGBTQ+ and disability representation. Given that What Walks These Halls is a YA novel, I wasn’t expecting to be as freaked out as I was by the novel’s conclusion. Overall, I really enjoyed it and look forward to What Walks These Halls 2.

What Walks These Halls by Amy Clarkin is published by O’Brien Press and is available in paperback and ebook formats.

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Social Capital by Aoife Barry

Social Capital: Life online in the shadow of Ireland’s tech boom by Aoife Barry. No Advance Reader Copy included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

I read Social Capital in two sittings, stopping only to eat dinner; that’s how compelling it is. Blending her personal experiences online with reportage and cultural criticism, journalist Aoife Barry questions whether any of us, including social media companies, knew what we were in for when we logged onto the internet for the first time. 

Like most people, I have a complicated relationship with social media. Some days I long to delete everything and live in an app-free world. I know this isn’t a realistic prospect. Although I deleted my Twitter account a few years ago, which was the best decision, even though it is where I met my husband, P. I’ll always have a soft spot for the Irish Twitter of the 2010s, but that is not today's Twitter. But Social Capital isn’t a call for everyone to delete social media. 

Instead, Barry provides a nuanced look at social media's role in our lives and explores what it means for Ireland that many tech companies have their European headquarters in Dublin. We know social media needs improving, but how do we ensure tech companies do it? And where should legislation come into play, or should it? These are big questions with no easy answers, but Barry’s considered approach reminds us that social media is a lifeline for so many people, so it is not as simple as telling everyone to log the fuck off. 

This nuance is especially relevant when discussing anonymity online. Some people hide behind their anonymity to say and do horrific things, but there are also people —particularly people from marginalised groups — for whom anonymity online is vital. We see this in Barry’s interview with Aoife Martin. I also appreciated Aoife, Kate McEvoy, and Sarah Maria Griffin sharing their experiences of being harassed online by a man who targeted several Irish women. He was convicted in 2019. 

So much of the talk around social media is filtered through an American or British lens, so it is great to see life online examined from an Irish perspective. Aoife’s walk through the Silicon Docks in the final chapter is so vividly depicted that I felt like I had taken the walk myself.

Social Capital: Life online in the shadow of Ireland’s tech boom by Aoife Barry is published by HarperCollins Ireland, an imprint of HarperCollins. Social Capital is available in trade paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang

Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via Netgalley included. No affiliate links were used. Read my full disclosure policy here.

Billed as a literary thriller about a stolen manuscript and a satirical look at the darker side of the publishing world, the premise of Yellowface drew me in immediately. I haven’t read R.F. Kuang's previous books for no reason other than their blurbs never appealed to me. 

Yellowface is an intense and compelling read, but for me, it tried to do too much and fell flat as a result. The tl;dr is that I loved the premise, but not the execution! 

June Hayward's debut novel wasn’t exactly a hit. Athena Liu is a bestselling author and literary darling. Their relationship is complicated. They are not quite friends but not quite colleagues either. When Athena dies (it's in the blurb, so not a spoiler), June steals her unpublished manuscript and sets out to have the career she feels she should have from the beginning. Say goodbye to June Hayward and hello to Juniper Song.

I don't subscribe to the notion that everything a fictional character does or says is rooted in the author's beliefs. But here, I found it difficult to separate what I know about Kuang's opinions on people writing whatever they want instead of solely writing what they know regarding race, gender, sexuality, etc. Yellowface didn't feel like an exploration of racism in publishing, cancel culture, and white privilege so much as being whacked over the head repeatedly by 'the point'. 

There is nothing wrong with an author setting out to make a specific point; I love a good issue-focused novel. But with Yellowface straddling two genres – literary fiction and satire – the balance between them got lost, which left me wishing the story was wrapped up much sooner than it was.

In the weeks since reading it, I have returned to one question; who was Yellowface written for? The novel is an international bestseller, so it has an audience. However, I'd love to know what people who aren't terminally online or knowledgeable about the publishing industry discourse of the last few years think about social media's role in the story. Some of Kuang's best writing is during the online cancellation campaign. But does that seem as equally far-fetched to people not in the know as the rest of the novel? Even though the accuracy of Kuang's portrayal of social media cancel culture is the novel’s strength.

It is also fascinating to watch the publicity campaigns around Yellowface and how they echo some of what Kuang discusses in the novel about how publishers decide to put their money into massive PR campaigns for X novel versus barely promoting Y novel.

Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang is published by The Borough Press in Europe and William Morrow in the US, both imprints of HarperCollins. Yellowface is available in hardback, trade paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

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