My Review for The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

“Badger hates Society, and invitations, and dinner, and all that sort of thing.” 🦡📚

I love this quote — I think many, many bookish people can identify with Badger and his aversion to socialising. I definitely fall into this camp! 😅

The Wind in the Willows was our choice for May for #classiclitbookclub and I loved it. I thought I’d read it when I was a child, but I must have only read parts of it. I remembered Toad in the motor car and the riverbank, but I think there are many TV adaptations and spin-off stories too that I may be remembering. 🚗🌿

I loved the cosiness of the animals’ homes, the camaraderie as they share a meal, and the stoic way they all look out for one another when something goes wrong. The book is full of nature, and the descriptions are so powerful I felt as though I was living on the riverbank amongst Mole, Ratty, and Badger. 🍃✨

The edition I was reading was gorgeous too, with some beautiful illustrations that brought the story even more to life. 🎨📖 I loved it, and I’m so glad we read it. 💛

About the Book

The Wind in the Willows is a timeless pastoral adventure that celebrates the enduring power of friendship and the quiet beauty of the English countryside. The story follows the gentle Mole as he ventures out from his underground home to join the loyal Ratty, the wise Badger, and the irrepressible, motorcar-obsessed Mr. Toad. Balancing whimsical escapades—like the chaotic reclamation of Toad Hall—with lyrical reflections on nature, Kenneth Grahame’s classic captures a nostalgic world where "messing about in boats" is the highest calling and home is always waiting at the end of the road.

About Kenneth

Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932) was a Scottish writer whose life was defined by a deep-seated love for nature and a successful, if unlikely, career in finance. Born in Edinburgh and orphaned at a young age, he was raised by relatives in the English countryside near the River Thames—a setting that would later become the idyllic backdrop for his stories.

Despite his literary talent, Grahame spent three decades working at the Bank of England, eventually rising to the prestigious position of Secretary. He wrote in his spare time, originally creating the adventures of Mole, Ratty, and Toad as bedtime stories and letters for his young son, Alastair. Although The Wind in the Willows(1908) is now a cornerstone of children’s literature, Grahame chose to live a quiet, reclusive life in Berkshire following its publication. 

Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon US

Read More

My Review for The Shut-Away Sisters by Suzanne Goldring

“She could see the stern schoolmistress, rows of desks, pens dipping into inkwells, tracing the script on straight lines.”

It’s been a few years since I’ve read a book by Suzanne Goldring and this one has been sitting on my NetGalley shelf for a while, so I chose it for May’s read for #kindlecrushchallenge 📚✨ I enjoyed it immensely, just as I have done with the previous two books of hers that I’ve read.

The Shut-Away Sisters is a dual timeline story, split between the Great War and the late 1990s, and it’s a real eye-opener into what was expected of women in the early 1900s. Of course, I knew they were predominantly housewives and brought their daughters up to learn how to keep house, but I don’t think I realised they weren’t supposed to go out unchaperoned unless it was to the shops. Even walks in the park were expected to be taken alongside a male member of the family! 😳

I was intrigued by Kate, in modern-day London, discovering the diaries of Florrie, one of the sisters, and learning how they coped throughout the war — dealing with the huge loss of men and the breakdown of her sister, often at the expense of her own happiness 💔 It was so tragic, the secrets that were kept and the lack of anyone to talk to openly. No wonder so many people ended up so emotionally damaged.

If you enjoy war fiction and dual timeline stories, then I would definitely recommend any of Suzanne Goldring’s books 📖 She’s a phenomenal author and such a gifted storyteller. ✨

A very belated thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Shut-Away Sisters 😊

If you enjoyed my review of this book, you might like these by the same author. 

https://samsfireside.blogspot.com/2022/02/my-review-for-girl-with-scarlet-ribbon.html

https://samsfireside.blogspot.com/2022/10/my-review-for-woman-outside-walls-by.html

About the Book

Two ordinary sisters. A long and brutal war. A heroic sacrifice…

London, 1915. As German bombs rain down on the East End of London and hungry children queue for rations in the blistering cold, fifteen-year-old Florrie is forced to grow up fast. With her father fighting in the muddy trenches, Florrie turns to her older sister Edith for comfort. But the war has changed Edith. She has grown quiet, with dark shadows under her eyes, and has started leaving the house at night in secret. When Florrie follows her sister through the dark and winding streets of London, she is shocked by what she discovers. But she knows she must keep her sister’s secret for the sake of their family, even if she herself must pay the ultimate price…

Years later Kate, running from her broken relationship, is sorting through her dead aunt Florrie’s house, which she shared with her sister Edith. As she sits on the threadbare carpets, looking at photos of Florrie during the war, she notices the change in her aunt – from carefree young girl with a hopeful smile to a hollow-cheeked young woman, with dark sad eyes.

Determined to put her family’s ghosts to rest, Kate must unearth the secret past of her two aunts. Why is there a hidden locked room in the little house they shared? What is the story behind the abandoned wedding dress wrapped in tissue and tied up with a ribbon? And when Kate discovers the tragic secrets that have bound her family together, will she ever be able to move on?

About Suzanne

Following an eventful career as a public relations consultant, specializing in business and travel, Suzanne Goldring turned to writing the kind of novels she likes to read, about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. She writes in a thatched cottage in Hampshire and a cottage by the sea in North Cornwall.

Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon US

Follow Suzanne on Facebook | Follow Suzanne on Instagram

Suzanne's Website

Read More

My Review for The Figurine by Victoria Hislop

“Hamish’s impression was that kindness itself was a cure, and one that was as powerful as any drug.” 💙



The Figurine has been sitting on my NetGalley shelf for a while, and when @megbatsbooks suggested a buddy read, it pushed me to finally pick it up. 😊 Now while I didn't hate it, I didn't love it either. 🤷‍♀️ First off, the title is The Figurine and we see no such thing until approximately 70% into the book, which was strange. 😅 There was a lot of (for want of a better phrase) ‘world-building’ in the story. 📚 We learn about the Greek Junta — the military regime which took place from 1967–1974 — and while it was relevant to the rest of the story, there probably didn't need to be quite so much of it. 🤔



I enjoyed Helena clearing out her grandparents’ apartment, and I was invested in what she was finding. 🏺 I loved the friends she made in Athens, and I was keen to follow along on the investigative journey to search for answers about what was happening in the archaeological digs. 🔎 However, for me, the final third of the book felt rushed, and the author could have made so much more of it. 📖



It's apparent that Greece and Greek history are a real passion of Victoria’s. 🇬🇷 From what I’m aware, the majority of her books are set in Greece and are historical fiction based on real events. ✨ The Figurine, for me, was just a little too heavy on the history, but I’m sure others will absolutely adore it. ❤️



I loved The Island by the same author — in fact, I want to read it again alongside a nonfiction book I have on the subject. 📚 so I’ll definitely be back to you with my thoughts on that at some point. 😊



Thank you to Headline Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Figurine by Victoria Hislop, and thank you to @megbatsbooks for helping me get through this one. 💕

About the Book

Of all the ancient art that captures the imagination, none is more appealing than the Cycladic figurine. An air of mystery swirls around these statuettes from the Bronze Age and they are highly sought after by collectors - and looters - alike.

When Helena inherits her grandparents' apartment in Athens, she is overwhelmed with memories of the summers she spent there as a child, when Greece was under a brutal military dictatorship. Her remote, cruel grandfather was one of the regime's generals and as she sifts through the dusty rooms, Helena discovers an array of valuable objects and antiquities. How did her grandfather amass such a trove? What human price was paid for them?

Helena's desire to find answers about her heritage dovetails with a growing curiosity for archaeology, ignited by a summer spent with volunteers on a dig on an Aegean island. Their finds fuel her determination to protect the precious fragments recovered from the baked earth - and to understand the origins of her grandfather's collection.

Helena's attempt to make amends for some of her grandfather's actions sees her wrestle with the meaning of 'home', both in relation to looted objects of antiquity ... and herself.

About Victoria

Victoria Hislop is an award-winning British author and journalist best known for her bestselling historical novels set in Greece and the Mediterranean. Before becoming a novelist, she worked in publishing, television, and journalism, writing for several national newspapers and magazines. Her debut novel, The Island (2005), achieved international success and was later adapted into a popular Greek television series.

Hislop’s writing is widely praised for its vivid sense of place, emotional storytelling, and exploration of themes such as family, love, resilience, and the impact of history on ordinary lives. Many of her novels, including The Return, The Thread, and Those Who Are Loved, draw inspiration from real historical events and cultures, blending meticulous research with compelling human stories. Through her work, she has developed a strong connection with Greece and its people, becoming one of the country’s most beloved contemporary international authors.

Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon US

Follow Victoria on Facebook | Follow Victoria on Instagram

Victoria's Website

Read More

My Review for La Dolce Veto by Caitlin Alice Gilbert

“Maybe it's not possible to let go of who you used to be and escape old patterns.” 💭

I was lucky enough to receive La Dolce Veto as both a digital and audio ARC, and I chose to read it first. Although I enjoyed it so much, I’ll probably go back and listen at some point too. I always find things I missed the first time around on a second visit. 🎧✨

Pick me up and put me back down in a traditional European village with sunshine, good food, good wine and nosey locals, and I’m in heaven. ☀️🍷 This is exactly what Caitlin’s book did for me. Izzy needs to run away, and so she does — to La Musa in Italy, a place filled with fond memories for her. It’s not quite the same as she remembered, but it’s good enough to hide away from the world for a while. 🇮🇹✨

I don’t usually go for a political romance, but the politics quietly simmered away in the background, which I really enjoyed. The Italian people and countryside are the things that will stay with me most though. The descriptions are so vivid that I felt like I was in La Musa too, drinking coffee, eating all the good food and soaking up the sunshine. ☕🍝🌞

La Dolce Veto is Caitlin’s debut novel, and she’s absolutely smashed it. I can’t wait to see what’s next from her. 📚✨

Thank you to Keeperton/Arndell and NetGalley for the opportunity to read (and listen to) La Dolce Veto by Caitlin Alice Gilbert. 💕

About the Book

When steamy text messages between tenacious US Congresswoman Isabella Rhodes and her opposing candidate, Levi Cross, go public just before the election, Izzy’s reputation takes a nose dive and her political career comes to a crashing end.

Desperate to have some time out she returns to the gorgeous Italian village of La Musa, which she last visited when she was nineteen, to lick her wounds and recover. Welcomed with open arms at the Villa Farentino by matriarch Anita, she doesn’t get the same reception from her grumpy son Benito who’s just returned from England to take over as mayor after his father, Rafaello, left town...and his wife.

But Izzy can’t escape politics or matters of the heart and she quickly becomes embroiled in the village’s mission to stop Rafaello’s greedy development company from building a 5-star hotel, and along the way discovers that there’s a lot more to Benito than she thought.

When Izzy unwittingly becomes the face of the proposed development her cover is blown and she has to decide - can she save the town, mend her broken heart, and have the life she’s worked so hard for or does she want to stay out of the limelight and risk it all?

About Caitlin

Caitlin Alice Gilbert is an author and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. Born in Michigan, she grew up between the Midwest and Fountain Hills, Arizona, home of the third-tallest year-round fountain. 

She is a graduate of the University of Arizona where she studied Film and Television and Creative Writing. She has spent over ten years working in the streaming industry at companies such as Netflix, HBO Max, Disney, and the now defunct Watchable and Quibi, the downfalls of which were not her fault.
When she’s not writing, Caitlin is taking in theatre or live music, playing tennis, cheering for Angel City Football Club, going on a long walk, or watching way too much TV.

Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon US

Follow Caitlin on Facebook | Follow Caitlin on Instagram

Caitlin's Website

Read More

My Review for Alchemised by SenLinYu, read by Saskia Maarleveld

“She couldn’t fix herself anymore, and no one else seemed inclined to even notice she was breaking.”

I had to listen to the book that everyone has been raving about for months. 📚✨ I knew it was a long one, and I had way more listening time than reading time, so I requested it on Libby, waited my turn, and jumped in a couple of weeks ago. 🎧

It’s written in three parts — present, past, and present again, ⏳ — and while I didn’t enjoy the past bit as much, it did explain why everything was happening, and it made things make sense.

The story is pretty dark in a lot of places 🌑⚡ and more than once I had to stop and think, “wtf did I just listen to?!!!”😳 I got confused about the different “mancers” — necromancer, vivimancer, etc. — and what their abilities were. In the end, I gave up and just went with the story. I still couldn’t tell you which characters were alive or dead. 💀🫠

That being said, I enjoyed it, 👍 I just didn’t delve too deeply into the reasoning behind the war, the murders, and the secrets. I listened, I gasped, 😱 I was shocked and fascinated.

If you read this, you’ll fit into one of three camps: you’ll obsess over it, 🤯📖 you’ll think it was a good read, or you’ll hate it. 🚫 Let me know what you thought. 💬

Would I read anything else by this author? Yes, probably — but I wouldn’t be at the front of the queue at the bookstore. 🏃‍♀️📚

About the Book

In this riveting dark fantasy debut, a woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy—and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past.

“What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours? The war is over. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.”

Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed.

In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive.

According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?

To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.

About SenLinYu

SenLinYu (she/they) grew up in the Pacific Northwest and studied classical liberal arts and culture. They started writing in the Notes app of their phone during their baby’s nap time. Their collected online works have garnered over twenty million individual downloads and have been translated into twenty-three languages. They live in Portland with their family. ALCHEMISED is their first novel.

Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon US

Follow SenLinYu on Bluesky | Follow SenLinYu on Instagram

SenLinYu's Website

Read More

My Review for Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

“There’s no need to be afraid of the dead. 👻 It’s the living you have to watch out for. 😬”

I first listened to Daisy Darker back in 2022 when I was on holiday in Cyprus. 🌞 We had moved out of one house and our new one wasn’t ready, so we were nomads for about a month! 🧳 Because I had so much going on, I never got around to writing a review, so when #thatbonkersbookclub decided to read it in April, it was the ideal opportunity to pick the book up again and finally write my thoughts. ✍️

Now, considering I don’t remember what I had for dinner last night, it came as no surprise that I didn’t remember much of what happened. 😅 No spoilers for those of you who haven’t read it, but I did remember all there was to know about Daisy!

It was just as thrilling a read as last time around — characters I wanted to smack, others I felt like throwing in the sea 🌊, and one or two who definitely needed a huge hug. 🤗

I do enjoy a locked-room murder mystery; it often makes me think I’ll be able to work it out… I never do! 🙃 For as idyllic as it sounds, I’m not sure I’d want to live on an island you can only access by boat or foot at low tide. I mean, what do you do if you need a delivery?! 🚤

This is my first Alice Feeney, and I already have a couple more on my shelf that I’m looking forward to. 📚

About the Book

After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.

About Alice

Alice Feeney is the New York Times and Sunday Times multi-million-copy bestselling author of eight novels. Including Sometimes I Lie, His & Hers, Rock Paper Scissors, Daisy Darker and Beautiful Ugly. Her books have been translated into forty languages, and have been optioned for major screen adaptations, with His & Hers coming to Netflix in January 2026 starring Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal, and produced by Jessica Chastain's Freckle Films. 

Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years before becoming an author. 

My Husband’s Wife is her eighth novel, and will be published around the world in 2026.

Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon US

Follow Alice on Bluesky | Follow Alice on Facebook | Follow Alice on Instagram

Alice's Website

Read More

My Review for Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune

“There is magic in the ordinary, magic that has the power to change the world.” ✨💫

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune was our April pick for #thatbonkersbookclub Sequel Shelf, 📚💥 following The House in the Cerulean Sea, which we read at the beginning of the year. This sequel focuses on Arthur’s story and why he returned to Marsyas as an adult. 🏝️🧭

The book is full of magic, wonder, and love, 💙🌈 and picks up where the previous story left off, with the possibility of a new child joining the family. 👀✨ If he does, the question becomes whether he will fit in—and how that journey unfolds. 🧩💛

My heart was completely wrapped up in the idea of a family that can be so full of happiness despite the discrimination, difficulties, and disorder faced by those who are different, 😤💔 all while simply wanting what everyone deserves: love and safety. 🏡💞

Arthur and Linus are funny, 😂💀 the kids are downright hilarious, 🤣🔥 and I found myself giggling constantly while reading. There are characters I absolutely swore at (a lot, 😤🫠) others who irritated me to the point of disgust, 😒🔥but the children’s affection and joy completely won me over. 💛🥹

I really hope Klune is considering another book in this series, because I need to know what happens next for those kids. 📖💥😭✨

About the Book

A magical house. A secret past. A summons that could change everything.

Arthur Parnassus lives a good life built on the ashes of a bad one.

He’s the master of a strange orphanage on a distant and peculiar island, and he hopes to soon be the adoptive father to the six dangerous and magical children who live there.

Arthur works hard and loves with his whole heart so none of the children ever feel the neglect and pain that he once felt as an orphan on that very same island so long ago. He is not alone: joining him is the love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department In Charge of Magical Youth. And there’s the island’s sprite, Zoe Chapelwhite, and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.

But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself at the helm of a fight for the future that his family, and all magical people, deserve.

And when a new magical child hopes to join them on their island home—one who finds power in calling himself monster, a name that Arthur worked so hard to protect his children from—Arthur knows they’re at a breaking point: their family will either grow stronger than ever or fall apart.

Welcome back to Marsyas Island. This is Arthur’s story.

About T.J.

TJ Klune is the #1 New York Times and #1 USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award–winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, In the Lives of Puppets, the Green Creek Series for adults, the Extraordinaries Series for teens, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.

Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon US

Follow T.J. on Facebook | Follow T.J. on Instagram

T.J.s Website

Read More