P.J. Skinner's Blog, page 3

Eight Chambers of Love

a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5..." style="float: left; padding-right: 20px">Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I loved this. I didn't know what to expect, but I really enjoyed the multiple POV of richly drawn characters, including Marcellus the octopus. This book is concerns the unlikely friendship between Tova, an elderly cleaner, and the octupus in the aquarium where she works. Their developing relationship opens a window into Tova's grief over the death of her son many years before and a chink of light which refuses to be dimmed. Touching and heartwarming. Wonderful.



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Almost Great

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is immensely readable, for that I give it 3.5 stars. However, there are at least four books shoehorned into one. As an author myself, the whole ghastly reality of watching one of your peers become wildly successful for no particular reason is one I admit made me squirm (a lot). The criticism of social media's ability to cancel people, rebuild them, and re-cancel them reminded me of the treatment of JKR. As a white woman, and a boomer, I feel unqualified to comment on the racism, except that judging people on the basis of their race, religion or skin colour is just plain wrong. Plagiarism is a whole seperate topic. This book is almost great, but it lurches from one topic to the other and then finishes up with a bizarre ghost segment which completely threw me. It's a pity. Any one of the four topics would have made a fantastic book but I felt seasick with the constant lurching between them. Yes, it's easy to read and often fascinating, but it's also a hot mess with no discernable genre. Only famous authors can get away with a book like this (yes, I am envious) and if you write like Kuang can, that's fair enough.



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A Mystery series I will stick with

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm likely to read the whole series, going on this first book. Ruth Galloway is an interesting three dimensional heroine with real world problems and background. A twisty tale of bodies buried in remote places and the anguish of the parents waiting for children who never come home. I did guess the murderer very early on, but it didn't detract from the book for me. I'm not sure about Nelson yet. I am not keen on cheating in real or fictional settings, but I can live with it for now. A great start to a series.



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Maid to please

The Maid by Nita Prose

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A real curate's egg of a book. I tried to enjoy it for what it was, but then I wasn't sure what it was trying to be. In the end, I found it too twee and the plot too absurd for me. I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. Good in parts, and easy to read, but just didn't hit the spot



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Toxic Vows is out today!

Hello Folks,

Great news! Toxic Vows is out today. I’m so excited. Launch day is always a mix of feelings, but mostly I can’t wait to hear what you think of the latest in the Seacastle Mystery series. The ARC readers have been thrilled with it. Here are some quotes from their reviews:

‘A great plot, smooth writing, wit, lovely description, and the wonderful characters keep you turning pages. The best yet in this great series.’

‘The mystery was twisted (in the best way), hilarious, and en...

Slow Horses make everything worse.

London Rules by Mick Herron

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Another complex and dangerous case for the Slow Horses, who never fail to make matters worse by blundering into situations they don't fully understand. I love that they only have one gun between them which is kept in their bosses office. These books are so different, and so much better, than American thrillers full of bullets but lacking in the humour, witty dialoque and genuine angst in Mick Herron's spy novels. Reminding me of Le Carre with his wonderful character descriptions of lost spies and pointless villains. Fantastic.



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River goes AWOL in France

Spook Street by Mick Herron

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another great spy thriller from Mick Herron. River Cartwright's grandfather is targeted by unknown killers despite his decline into a dementia twilight. River goes AWOL on a search to find out why and sinister and emotional secrets seep out through every pore of this book. Enjoyed it very much but felt the premise to be slightly too ludicrous for me to award five stars. Easy and exciting reading.



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Passion and Pain in Ancient Greece

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


An emotional and passionate retelling of the tale of Achilles and the Trojan Wars. Seen through the eyes of his lover Patroclus, it is a lyrical and vivid tale of love and loss in a world of men and Gods where a man's honour is more important than the lives of thousands of young men who go to try and reclaim his stolen wife. I recently read Silence of the Girls and I found it fascinating to reread the same story through different eyes.



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Tiger Fight

Real Tigers by Mick Herron

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm really enjoying this series. I always read too late when I'm at Slough House. I felt like this book was a breather by the author, a consolidation and more physical confrontation than the earlier books in the series. When one of their team disappears, apparently kidnapped, the slow horses find themselves mixed up in political infighting between their superiors at the Park. I loved that the female characters were allowed to come to the fore in an unexpected way, although I hope the physical violence does not replace the subtle human interplay as much in the next book. Four stars.



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Sleeping spooks awake

Dead Lions by Mick Herron

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A second complex tale following the demoted spooks in Slough House. When a long disgarded spy is murdered on a bus in the English countryside, Jackson Lamb knows something is amiss. But how to piece together the clues when they are few and unhelpful. His team of rejects are on the case determined to gain reinstatement at the Park. A modern spy novel with fantastic characters and emerging backstories. Loved it and read too late several nights in a row.



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