What I read in January 2024

I want to try to keep on top of book review posts this year, so here is the first. These are the books I read for myself in January – not included are the dozens I read to the toddler!

My Little Brother by Diane Saxon. Caryn was 10 years old the day her little brother went missing while she was supposed to be looking after him. Afterwards, she was sent away to live with her grandmother. Now, 20 years later, someone has summoned her back to the Welsh village where she grew up. Someone who claims to know the truth about what happened that night. What Caryn discovers will shock the small community to its very core. This book was enjoyable enough but I found it a little slow in parts and wasn’t always too sure about the writing style. I guessed the final twist shortly before it was revealed. 3 stars.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira. It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more – though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth she’s been hiding, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she really was – lovely and amazing and deeply flawed – can she begin to discover her own path. This was fine. It did make me tear up at one point and I liked that the love interest couldn’t save Laurel from her grief – she had to work things out for herself. But honestly, as a character Laurel was pretty bland. I think she was supposed to be “quirky” or “different” or something, but she just seemed unsure of who she was and desperate not to be noticed to the point that even as a reader I barely noticed her despite the fact that I was reading her actual letters! The fact that it was written in letters made it a relatively quick read though. 2.5 stars.

Magpie by Eve Ainsworth. It has been a long time since Alice has felt safe. Because of him. Ross. But now she, Mum and her little brother Henry have finally moved far away, where Ross will never find them. It’s a fresh start, Mum says. This time, she is never going back.
Slowly Alice starts to build a life for herself, at a new school with new friends. But she can’t escape the feeling she is being watched. That he might be lurking, waiting to ruin everything again. That Mum might be about to break her promise. That, just when Alice is starting to feel safe, everything will be taken away from her.  This is beautifully written. I would have liked it to be longer and some aspects of the plot more fleshed out, but overall it was enjoyable. I only realised at the end that it’s a sequel (the first book is about the main character’s best friend) so maybe if I had read the books in order some things would have felt more complete. I really felt for Alice and just wanted to give her a big hug. 4 stars.

The Wishing Game by Patrick Redmond. Something terrible happened at Kirkston Abbey school for boys during 1954. More than 40 years later, Tim Webber is determined to find out the truth… Kirkston Abbey is no place for the weak: its rules are harsh and its discipline savage. So the struggling Jonathan Palmer cannot believe his luck when Richard Rokeby – tough, handsome, aloof – befriends him. But Rokeby’s possessive friendship is suffocating and, what starts out as an innocent game amongst friends, takes a shocking turn as Palmer finds himself powerless to stop Rokeby from unleashing a horrifying fate on them all.  I don’t really know what I thought of this book. Parts were boring with way too much description but then others had me hooked. Most of the book read like a straight up thriller so the ending seemed to come out of nowhere and had me completely confused. 3.5 stars.

Dotty Detective by Clara Vulliamy. Meet Dorothy Constance Mae Louise, or Dot as she prefers to be called! Dot loves super-sour apple sherbets, running fast and puzzles – especially if they’re fiendishly tricky. Together with her trusty sidekick and TOP DOG McClusky, she is always ready to sniff out a mystery. So when someone seems set on sabotaging the school talent show, Dot and her new friend Beans are determined to find out how, and save the day.  This is a fun book. It would be a good introduction to the detective story genre for readers from about age 7. I thought Dotty was going to be a bit annoying at first but she ended up being quite fun and a lovely friend. It’s a shame the mystery had to invite a “mean girl” but it’s a good book and would definitely have been a favourite when I was a child. Also, fun fact, Clara Vulliamy is the daughter of beloved children’s author Shirley Hughes (I didn’t know that until I’d finished this book). 4 stars.

So, five books read in January. Not a bad start to the year. Unfortunately none of them were by BAME/BIPOC authors. I’ll try and remedy that in February.