Thank you to the author, publishers Faber & Faber and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

When Shauna moved to a new area with her mum the first people she meets are Dean, Mark and Pamela. From the start she is drawn to Dean and he to her. A deep bond tested by family challenges and changes over the years.

Another heartwarming and heartbreaking masterpiece from Fíona Scarlett. The characters are engaging, warm, honest and funny. The depth of relationships depicted in a small community over the years is exceptional. Whether it’s a brief encounter with a widowed customer who used to come to Shauna’s salon with his wife or a friendship visited repeatedly in encounters over the years the author is able to quickly establish a depth of character and understanding which is astonishing.

What I find even more amazing is how a story about missed opportunities, misunderstandings and self-sacrifice manages to avoid any sense of schmaltz or cliché. Partly it’s the vibrancy of the character voices, the accents coming through the writing without ever being forced. Mostly it’s just a sign of a very talented writer who obviously cares deeply about their characters and brings them alive for the readers.

I feel like I grew up with these people and shared their love for each other, their fears and their hopes. Make sure you have the hankies on standby, but don’t miss this book. It will stay with you a long, long time.

Content Warnings

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The Stranger In The Room by Luca Veste

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3.5

Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business by Frances Frei, Anne Morriss

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

While this is part of my re-read of Stephen King books I hadn’t actually read this before. I’d found the first book in The Dark Tower series a slog and only completed it for the first time a couple of years ago - and only then with the help of the audiobook, which I find a good way to get through books I want to finish but struggle with. As I’d found The Dark Tower I better on the second go-round as part of this re-read, I decided to give the next in the series a go when I reached it in the overall King publication order. And I’m so glad I did.

The lack of depth I’d struggled with in the first book is no longer an issue. Here we see Roland make connections with new companions. These companions have autonomy and pull the last gunslinger into modern world experiences. All of which give Roland more texture, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

The Art of Explanation by Ros Atkins

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informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

An in-depth examination of how to communicate clearly and practical steps to improve your written and presentation skills.

BBC journalist Ros Atkins shares his process to refining information to present compelling explanations that cut to the chase and get over the key information.

I’ve delivered a ‘writing for humans’ and report-writing skills learning session at work for years. Reading this I’ve refined some of the steps in that training, but also realised there’s a gap in our training programme for the stage after the report and when presenting it to committee. This comes from the second part of the book which deals with preparing for handling questions about a topic.

It seems daft to say now that it was an aspect I’d never paid much attention to. But, my focus has always been on improving written communication and the delivery of presentations. It felt like answering questions on those was just a natural follow-on that, if the work had been done on the first part, the rest would take care of itself. But, Ros’s breakdown of preparing for questions and guiding the unexpected or irrelevant ones back to the key points that you’re looking to communicate, is invaluable.

Thinner by Stephen King

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The first Stephen King book I ever read and he’s not even writing under his own name.

This tale of curses and revenge and being careful what you wish for is short, punchy and with a killer ending. No wonder I kept coming back to this author for more.

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liseyp's reviews 1386 reviews

liseyp's reviews
1386 reviews