The Guest List is a book that didn’t grab me at first. In fact, for the first few chapters, I thought I was in for an excruciating read. But once the character introductions are out of the way, Foley gives us a fast-paced web of a story that is almost impossible to put down.

Is Monogamy Dead? is a bit of a strange creature. But anyone who believes in questioning the status quo or feels they haven't managed to work out what they want from their relationships could do a lot worse than to pick this up.

I love Kate Atkinson’s work and have done since I first read Life After Life. But Emotionally Weird is a strange creature. I honestly can’t say I enjoyed it, as the plot and characters go nowhere. But if you’re a fan of hers, it’s fascinating to see how the ideas from his book would fuel her later (much better) work.

In my review of Philippa East's previous novel, “Safe and Sound”, I said I thought it was a big improvement on her debut. And I'm happy to say her follow-up, “I'll Never Tell”, proves that this improvement was no fluke by being a fast-paced thriller I could barely put down.

A Perfect Explanation is an obvious passion project for the author, detailing her own family history. But the problem with true stories is they often lack the narrative and characters that make fiction engaging, and the problem with family history is that it is rarely interesting outside of your own family. And by honouring the truth, Anstruther's obvious talent is unable to overcome these issues.

“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” was recommended to me by a friend as one of those books that you just have to read. And while it’s an engaging story and very well written, I felt something was missing. Something I only figured out once I got to the end.

Queenie is one of those books I picked up because of an undefinable sense that I needed to read it. I didn’t know anything about it or Carty-Williams, other than that a number of people had listed Queenie in their must-read lists over the last couple of years. And boy, reading it was the right choice.

With her debut novel, Jenna Adams takes us right back to the insecurities and struggles of adolescence. And once I reached the halfway point, I literally sat up into the early hours and finished the second half in one single sitting. 

It's been a long time since I picked up a book that hit me so hard as this one. It took me a while to really get hooked, but by the end I literally could not put it down.

A beautifully written book that gives little away at the start yet lays the perfect amount of breadcrumbs to keep you reading. But depending on your taste for literary fiction, I can’t say it would be everyone’s cup of tea.

Sometimes a “classic” is only a classic because uptight literary snobs have decreed it so. Other times, a novel becomes a classic because it tells a universal story that manages to be both readable and universally relatable. “The Remains of the Day” is the latter.

I was recommended Will Storr's The Science of Storytelling as a book on writing. And while it did indeed leave me with a better understanding of storytelling, I wasn't expecting it to be accompanied by an existential crisis.

I absolutely loved My Best Friend's Exorcism. But I went into it thinking I wouldn't. As much as the author clearly loves the '80s horror aesthetic, the B-movie vibe of this book's packaging really undersells it.

The Bees is a well written and fascinating read, with compelling characters and clearly painstaking research. But while it pulled me in from the first page, I finished the book a little disappointed that it wasn't a little more powerful. 

Once more, Laura Purcell demonstrates she a master of the Victoria Gothic. With Bone China, she delivers yet another chilling story that creeps up on you, then leaves you wondering what is true and what is madness. 

I enjoyed Philippa East’s first novel, but I didn’t love it. But with Safe and Sound she’s taken what she had and built on it, hitting all the points that make it incredibly readable and almost impossible to put down. 

Jo Jakeman proves she is an author who just gets better and better. And with her third novel, she shows us she's a master of Domestic Noir.