“Laura Clark Is Away From Her Desk” by Helen Russell: Sorry, Be Back Never! (BOOK REVIEW)
I have always been fascinated by the idea of disappearing for a while. Not forever. Just long enough to interrupt the daily rhythm of others and see what happens once I am no longer available to everybody around me. Would people panic? Would they search for me? Or would life continue uninterrupted? […]
“Sail Away Land” by Ben Pester: An Invitation To Get Lost (BOOK REVIEW)
As a reader, I often find myself drifting away while reading. I sit down with a book, turn two pages, and come to realise that although my eyes are moving across the words, my mind has wandered somewhere else – I replay memories from my own life, imagine conversations, think about things that have nothing to do with the story in front of me […]
“Natural Disaster” by Lisa Owens: Motherhood At Its Realest (BOOK REVIEW)
Confession time: I work at a nursery in London. Every week children grow up in real time around me while I also observe the adults that pick them up. Some parents run in late from work, exhausted. Some mothers hold two children at once, push a stroller and talk on the phone at the same time […]
“Kitten” by Stacey Yu: The Purrfection of Living Uncertainly (BOOK REVIEW)
I have been following Stacey Yu online since before she announced her upcoming novel, Kitten, that was given to me in advance by NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton (Sceptre). So reading Kitten was sort of personal to me. This is the first time I have watched a bookish creator I followed shift from reviewing novels to writing one of their own and sharing pieces of the publishing journey […]
“Molka” by Monika Kim: Peeping Tom Finds Femme Fatale (BOOK REVIEW)
I’ve been having an eye on Monika Kim for a while, even though Molka is the first of her books I read. It had been sitting on my TBR since last October because the plot sounded too good to miss out: fast-paced Seoul, spy cameras, sexual assault, women taking justice into their own hands. Yes. Immediate yes […]
“Upward Bound” by Woody Brown: On Challenging Life And Feeling Alive (BOOK REVIEW)
Upward Bound by Woody Brown was one of those titles that immediately caught my eye. This year I told myself I wanted to read more debut authors and pick up stories centred on experiences I haven’t explored much before. This novel ticked both boxes, and I am so glad it found its way to me. Funny, moving, and unexpectedly sharp […]
“Workhorse” by Caroline Palmer: Long Live The Nobody (BOOK REVIEW)
I went into Workhorse fully convinced this was going to be my book. New York, fashion, an ambitious woman clawing her way up in a world built on connections? Let me have a seat. Caroline Palmer had all the ingredients to create a sharp but cautionary tale with a pinch of drama, gloss, and uncomfortable truths. I expected it to read like stepping into The Devil Wears Prada, but from Emily’s diary. […]
“Piñen” by Daniela Catrileo: The Poetics of Generational Pain (BOOK REVIEW)
To be entirely honest, I picked this book because of its curious title. Piñen refers to the dust and grime that sticks to the body. Based on its meaning, I imagined I was in for a tale of sun-soaked nostalgia, teenage boredom, long days outside, melancholy…the sort of atmosphere that could soundtrack a Guitarricadelafuente song. I got something far richer. […]
“Bad Habit” by Alana S. Portero: In Between Self-Acceptance And Self-Erasure (BOOK REVIEW)
I finally got around to reading Bad Habit by Alana S. Portero, which is funny because I bought my copy nearly a year ago for two resons: 1) Dua Lipa has read it, and 2) the cover. They say never judge a book by its cover. I say always pick one because of it. I ended up reading Bad Habit earlier this April while I was in Madrid […]
“Transcription” by Ben Lerner: The Burden To Memorise (BOOK REVIEW)
I picked up Transcription because of the clever way it was presented to me. A minimalistic cover, and a QR code on the very first page leading to a transcript from Ben Lerner himself, reflecting on the novel, its themes, and why he wrote it. It felt intentional […]
“As If” by Isabel Waidner: I Want Your Life (BOOK REVIEW)
The first thing that pulled me into the world of As If was the cover: a forlorn-looking cafeteria that evokes familiarity, loneliness and the idea of being worn down. It’s a building you’ve passed a hundred times on the street without noticing or stepping a foot inside […]
“Everything I Know About Love” by Dolly Alderton: Love Letter To Your Twenties (BOOK REVIEW)
If I got a pound for every time I laughed out loud while reading Dolly Alderton on the tube, I wouldn’t be a millionaire, but I’d be a rich man nonetheless. This book is that funny, that sharp, and that alive. What pulled me in wasn’t just Alderton’s voice (which I find instantly addictive), but her ability to recount […]
“Waking Romeo” by Kathryn Barker: Losing The Love of Your Life (BOOK REVIEW)
I am nothing but an open book. Give me a stunning cover and a bold concept, and I will simply fold. Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker caught my eye immediately – a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet, wrapped in sci-fi, time travel, and post-apocalyptic chaos? Say less. Reading it felt like a return to a former version of myself[…]
“Main Characters” by Bobby Palmer: Fall In Love With Falling In Love (BOOK REVIEW)
In 2026, I cried because of a man. That man is called Bobby Palmer. I rarely pick up a book because of its blurb, but Main Charactersby Bobby Palmer was the exception: “This is a love story, told by everyone but the main characters. Clara and Seb are about to fall in love. They don’t know it yet. But everybody else does.” .[…]
“Dandelion Is Dead” by Rosie Storey: It Is Never Too Late To Be Alive (BOOK REVIEW)
I am a sucker for a beautiful book cover, and when it looks like a literal piece of art, there is simply no universe in which I am not requesting it. Enter Dandelion Is Dead by Rosie Storey – immediate yes, immediate intrigue, immediate “this is going to hurt me, isn’t it?” […]
“Bright Young Women” by Jessica Knoll: Charms Can’t Kill, Can They? (BOOK REVIEW)
Every year after Halloween I slip into a very specific mood: thrillers, crime stories, and anything that lets me sit with fear and unresolved rage. 2025 was no different. It was time I picked up Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll – a book that’s been haunting my TBR for nearly two years. […]
“Butter” by Asako Yuzuki: To Conform is To Self-Murder (BOOK REVIEW)
I finally worked my way through "Butter" by Asako Yuzuki: a book I was honestly a little scared to pick up. The reviews I read were all collectively agreeing that this is a slow, boring read where the second half of the novel could have been scrapped altogether. […]
“Sea, Poison” by Caren Beilin: Revisioning The One That’s Always Watching (BOOK REVIEW)
I just finished "Sea, Poison" by Caren Beilin and… wow. What a wild little book this is. Just under 150 pages, razor sharp, and disorienting, this is the kind of novella that sweeps you off your feet, spins you around a few times, and then drops you somewhere unfamiliar without bothering to explain where you are. […]
“Holy Boy” by Lee Heejoo: Kill Your K-Pop Darlings (BOOK REVIEW)
Ever felt like, on paper, a book has all the components to become your next favourite read? That’s how I thought of “Holy Boy” by Lee Heejoo, which I got to dive into ahead of publication through NetGalley. There is drama, there is tension, there is murder. I can’t think of asking for much more. […]
“Jackson Alone” by Jose Ando: To Lose And To Find Oneself Through Reflection (BOOK REVIEW)
I’m proud to share that I read Jackson Alone by Jose Ando in a single sitting. One train ride, and I devoured this sharp and unsettling novella that was sent to me in advance on NetGalley, despite the fact that I like to take my time with books (a.k.a. spend ages getting through them) […]