In July, I read a variety of genres from historical fiction, romance to time travel. These books are written by authors that I hadn’t read before. It is always fun to read new, established and upcoming authors. July saw a small town romance with sprinkle of pumpkin spice, women in World War two reuniting long lost families, relationship drama and secrets. Finally a little bit of time travel to complete the month of immersive reading.
Books of July
Read my full book review here.
*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest opinion.*
Jeanie is gifted her aunt’s cafe and a new start is just what she needs, the looming threat of living an unfulfilled life that is dominated by work and managing other people’s lives propels Jeanie to Dream Harbour. This small town is fiercely protective of their own and especially Logan, orphaned at a young age and lives with his grandparents. Logan’s tragic childhood and evermore humiliating failed romantic relationship is the topic on everyone’s lips. Logan decides to stay away from the centre of town at his grandparent’s farm, until Jeanie nearly decapitates him with a baseball bat.
The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is a beautiful and cosy read that is perfect to curl up in a blanket with a hot drink, the world building is well developed and in depth. The description of the people, places and general atmosphere of the town, Dream Harbour is thought out and helps set the scene for the novel’s action.
The novel’s main protagonists Logan and Jeanie are both flawed characters who don’t have a perfect personality, which creates likeable and also frustrating characters. The fact that these characters have flaws and emotions creates an interesting and realistic dynamic throughout the novel that makes their romantic relationship evermore heart-warming. Initially, I thought the romance between these characters was far too quick but then I realised this is the point and this is a whirlwind romance that ends up as something bigger.
I wanted to learn more about the townspeople and have more interactions where these individuals were meddling in Logan and Jeanie’s potential romance. I also wanted to hear more about the Mayor’s prophetic dreams and see this cause a lot more tension and interference within their relationship – this would have made a funny side plot. I would love to be a fly-on-the-wall in the Book Club’s meetings as they are clearly much more than they seem. If there is a possibility of a sequel I would like to see more of Noah’s character and how he develops, the reader only sees small snippets of him.
Overall, this is a cosy romance novel perfect for autumn and colder evenings. I was compelled to read on and the short chapters made this an easy and light-hearted read!
A historical fiction set in 1941, Liverpool, Cadi joins the WAAF to be closer to her fiancé Jez yet when he volunteers to go to Africa she is further from him and entangled in a battle of wills, lies and truths with her enemy Daphne. Cadi does all this why finding her best friend’s estranged mother.
The novel started off well with the idea of Cadi joining the WAAF and wanting to do something useful and productive during the war effort. However, the plot became messy and small minor incidents became blown out of proportion into drama that divided many characters. The idea that Cadi had nightmares after the explosion at the Greyhound pub was not carried out throughout the rest of the novel, it was mentioned once and never again. I think having a deeper analysis to why Cadi was impacted this way and how she could overcome these scars left by war would have made her character more developed. Cadi also appeared as someone who follows gossip and rumours without seeing the facts; this is evident in her feud with Daphne and her relationship with Aled.
The Winter Rose had many sub-plots that weren’t closed in a satisfying way for example, the Daphne – Aled – Cadi plot, Izzy’s father Eric wasn’t explored – why was he murdered? Who was he involved in? The plot twist of Izzy and Jez as sibling was out of the blue after saving Raquel. I liked the idea of these female characters feeling empowered with their war work, but this empowerment is undermined by their attention to gossip.
I haven’t read a Katie Flynn novel before so I am unsure if this particular one is to the same standard, I think those who enjoy novels set in the second world war will enjoy this one and following these characters on their adventures. I have read other novels set in a similar time period with female protagonists working for the British government that had more danger, context and immersive qualities. Also, the chapters were very long and made the pace slow and tedious. There was a lack of historical context aside from slang or settings of bomb sites, army service bases etc. If the novel had more narrative focus, more world building with historical context this could an interesting read.
Cassandra loses her job, dumped by boyfriend and her favourite cafe has run out of banana muffins. Then one evening she discovers she can time travel. Cassandra travels back to before her boyfriend Will dumps her and attempts to re capture their love and re-do every situation until she reaches the perfect date or day at work. Until she finally realises that she shouldn’t change her life for one person and should pursue what makes her happy – Greek mythology.
I was intrigued to read The Cassandra Complex and thought the premise had a lot of potential. However, by the 50% mark I was finding it difficult to continue, the plot became repetitive, dull and confusing. The narrative voice is in the first person perspective of Cassandra who attempts to navigate the world, life and social situation with difficulty, the reader is continually made aware of Cassandra’s ‘differences’ in how she views the world and her panic attacks. I thought her narrative voice was too noisy and chatty that had too much explanation that distracted from the events that were taking place. At points I wasn’t even sure if Cassandra had travelled back in time, moved forward or whether she was just speculating on the future. The point of having a first person perspective is to have a deeper insight into the character’s thoughts and feelings that creates a deeper understanding. But this didn’t happen, I couldn’t untangle the major plot points from Cassandra’s flashbacks. The supporting characters like her flatmates Sal and Derek were used without any context or personality aside from the creepy and inappropriate conversations Cassandra has with Derek.
The references to Greek mythology was confusing and I felt in places it wasn’t necessary and only showed off the author’s knowledge of ancient history. The storyline with Cassandra’s sister Artemis was out of the blue and I wasn’t sure how this connected to the main plot until the 80% mark of the novel. The revelation of Cassandra and her mother as autistic felt stuck on towards the end, I think the novel and plot would have benefitted from Cassandra/ Artemis returning to their family home and sifting through their parent’s belongings and then Cassandra understanding why her mother acted the way she did and vice versa. This would have created a deeper connection to the past and why Cassandra was constantly running away. Furthermore, when characters acted differently towards Cassandra after she altered their timeline proved that small details matter like communication. However this also proved that some people cannot change irrespective of how differently scenarios play out e.g Derek.
The time travelling element was interesting to a point and the idea of re-doing her day when something goes wrong or not to plan. But the fact that this all centred around a man and trying to change herself to keep the relationship was weak. It is not a message that should be conveyed, the message should be that you shouldn’t change yourself just because you don’t fit someone’s ideals or world view. The denouement of erasing everything Cassandra had worked hard for and just pretending like it didn’t happen all because she wanted her sister to be happy with Will was not well executed.
Overall, I am always disappointed when I struggle to finish a book – especially one that I really wanted to like and enjoy. This book needed straightening out in terms of plot and a clearer time stamp for where Cassandra was in the relationship with Will, her career and general life. The representation of autism and inner monologues were well thought out and highlighted that the world can sometimes be confusing and social interactions are misread.
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