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#WomensPrize
review
Kitta
In Defence of the Act | Effie Black
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had no idea how to rate this because I thought it was nonfiction, it had me so believing the storyline.

What a gut punch.

Jess is a lesbian and a scientist, studying altruistic suicidal behaviours in spiders (of all things). The novel discusses her personal relationships - touching on mental illness, trauma, queer love, and family dynamics.

Overall a moving and captivating story that will stay with me for a long time.

Kitta Trigger warnings: suicide, abuse, drug use, alcoholism, mental illness. 1mo
squirrelbrain This was my (joint) favourite on the Women‘s Prize list. It was so unusual but compelling. 1mo
Kitta Ooo what was your other favourite #womensprize novel @squirrelbrain? (edited) 1mo
See All 9 Comments
squirrelbrain Brotherless Night. I was a bit disappointed in the list overall this year -usually 5 or 6 would make my overall ‘favourites of the year‘ list, but this year only these two. 1mo
Kitta @squirrelbrain added to my TBR! I was drawn to In Defence for its unusual take on a difficult subject matter, I usually only read 1-2 from the women‘s prize list, and had to stop reading several times because it was overwhelming. I‘ve lost a lot of friends and family members to suicide and her rationalizations made it hard to read, but definitely an interesting and compelling novel. I felt really uncomfortable by the narrator‘s views, but sort of 1mo
Kitta @squirrelbrain understand her logic at the same time. It‘s definitely made me think a lot and will stay with me. (edited) 1mo
squirrelbrain I‘m sorry you‘ve lost people to suicide, Kitta. That must have made it a *really* tough read. BN is also a tough subject matter - the Sri Lankan civil war - but is also very muchworth reading. 1mo
Kitta @squirrelbrain thanks, it was tough but I thought it was a worthwhile read. I‘ll definitely check out 1mo
BarbaraBB This was a five star read for me too. Like you I lost people to suicide which made it a hard read yet so good. 1mo
27 likes9 comments
review
rmaclean4
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Pickpick

What a suprise this novel was to me. It starts so bleak and desperate. This novel follows an Irish family as they relocate to London where a tragic event happens. Imagine my suprise as the book takes a major turn near the end. Loved it! So glad the #womensprize brought this novel to my attention. 3.5 🌟

15 likes1 stack add
blurb
charl08
Brotherless Night: A Novel | V. V. Ganeshananthan
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BarbaraBB So glad!! 1mo
Jas16 I am really happy with this. 1mo
Deblovestoread Love this!! 1mo
ChaoticMissAdventures I forgot that is today! So excited this was my pick for my favorite! 1mo
AnneCecilie I‘m so happy this one. I loved it 1mo
43 likes5 comments
review
squirrelbrain
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Pickpick

Mei is the titular mongrel - a child of a Japanese mother, who she loses when she‘s just six, and a white father. Yuki leaves Japan to study music in London and falls in love with her older teacher. Haruka works as a hostess in Tokyo‘s sex district.

I loved this tangle of narratives and couldn‘t put it down at times.

If you liked #womensprize nominee River East, River West then I think you‘ll like this too. For me, this one is slightly better.

Cathythoughts Wonderful review ♥️ and picture 🐶 Stacked. 2mo
LeahBergen Someone‘s not impressed that they‘ve been chosen to model something titled Mongrel. 🤣 2mo
squirrelbrain I did tell him he isn‘t a mongrel! @LeahBergen 🤣 I nearly used the photo where he‘s sliding off the sofa in disgust! 2mo
See All 11 Comments
Hooked_on_books He‘s so cute! I called Bindi my little mongrel all the time. I use it as a term of endearment. (And she is a mixed breed, after all. 😬) 2mo
sarahbarnes This sounds very interesting! Adding to my list. Adorable pic. 🩵 2mo
LeahBergen 😆😆 2mo
Cupcake12 Great photo x 2mo
BarbaraBB Thank you for recommending this. Sounds like my kind of book indeed. Stacking (and probably buying later today 🤷🏻‍♀️) 2mo
squirrelbrain @Hooked_on_books - I call Henry my little menace! He‘s not a posh dog (no Kennel Club here!) but he‘s not a mix - both his parents are black labs. Although on of his brothers is a yellow lab. 2mo
squirrelbrain I hope you like it if you do buy it! @BarbaraBB 2mo
Velvetfur That book sounds really good and the doggie is gorgeous 🥰 2mo
77 likes6 stack adds11 comments
review
jlhammar
Restless Dolly Maunder | Kate Grenville
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Pickpick

Restless indeed! I thought this was terrific. Captivating and heartfelt historical fiction inspired by the life of Grenville‘s maternal grandmother. Now I‘m very interested to read One Life: My Mother‘s Story, nonfiction about her mother Nance.

#WomensPrize

80 likes2 stack adds1 comment
review
BarbaraBB
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Bailedbailed

There are so many books I‘d rather read than this #womensprize longlisted books in which some short stories are rather artificially sold as a novel. Too far fetched, maybe entertaining but man, why this nomination? There are so many books much, much better than this one. It‘s a fast easy read but I just don‘t bother enough to finish it.

squirrelbrain This did get better as it went along, but I can see why you would bail. 2mo
ChaoticMissAdventures I wish I would have bailed. It was so disjointed, I kept waiting for the stories to build on each other or connect in some way, and they (in my opinion) didn't. I think it had potential but the way it was laid out diminished the impact. 2mo
BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain I was more than halfway through and I did like some stories but I was annoyed by the disjointed chapters, like @ChaoticMissAdventures 2mo
See All 6 Comments
Deblovestoread You didn‘t miss much. I finished but remember next to nothing. So many better books out there. 2mo
dabbe #hailthebail! 🤩🤩🤩 2mo
vivastory I saw a review of this several days ago and was intrigued but after your review & the consensus on the comments I think I'll be sitting out this one 2mo
75 likes6 comments
review
Deblovestoread
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Pickpick

I am DNFing at about 50% but not marking it as a bail. It is totally me, not the book. The writing is good, the short chapters make it an easy, fast read. I can easily see why it‘s on the #WomensPrize longlist. The mental health cycle it deals with is hard and I am avoiding picking it back up. Time to call it.

squirrelbrain I didn‘t love this either, although I think others did. I too found the unremitting grimness hard, and it didn‘t get any better, so you‘re right to bail. 3mo
BarbaraBB I loved it but it is very hard indeed and heartbreaking. I can see why you put it aside 3mo
Deblovestoread @squirrelbrain Thanks for letting me know it doesn‘t get better. It helps to know I made the right decision. 😊 3mo
67 likes3 comments
blurb
jlhammar
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#bookmail! Tagged and The Anomaly are for book club. River for my #WomensPrize reading. And Nightwatching just because - sounds like a page-turner!

Tamra I love book mail days. 💙 3mo
marleed Night Watching won Jimmy Fallen‘s MarchMadness book game to become his summer bookclub read! 3mo
jlhammar @marleed I‘ll have to watch when he has the author on. I just read that Fallon picking the book led it to jump from No. 20,143 on Amazon to No. 46 - wow! 3mo
marleed @jlhammar OMG! Oh and hey, as I was reading Long Island I was thinking it surprised me the book hadn‘t received more buzz. And because my internet connection seems to even hear my inner thoughts, I open Instagram and it‘s Oprah‘s new Bookclub pick! 3mo
57 likes4 comments
blurb
BarbaraBB
Six Stories | Matt Wesolowski
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#WeeklyForecast 20/24

I am reading The Good Samaritan and it is as engaging as I expected. Next will be Six Stories because of @Reggie ‘s review. And I have one more book to read from the #womensprize longlist. I haven‘t heard much about it but it does sound good.

Reggie I hope you like it! 3mo
62 likes1 comment
review
Deblovestoread
The Maiden | Kate Foster
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Pickpick

Although The Maiden in the title refers to Scotland‘s guillotine it is a story of women in 1600‘s whose lives are dictated by the men and fate. A mother trying to raise two daughters after the father gambles away their funds, a man grooming a young girl for his future pleasure and abusing every other female in his path, a man who needs a wife but doesn‘t want one. The women trying to survive the hand they‘ve been dealt. 4🌟

#WomensPrize