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Malorie Blackman – Knife Edge
I’ve just finished reading this book and I’m seriously in shock. It’s not okay to finish a book like that! I’m only glad that I’m so late to the party that the next 3 books are already released and I don’t have to wait, because the waiting would be unbearable.
This book was pretty much the polar opposite of Noughts and Crosses, which was basically the story of Callum and Sephy’s love. In contrast, this book was filled with so much hate and loathing and struggle.
Sephy is clearly finding it difficult to come to terms with not having Callum around anymore, and even though she loves Callie, having a constant reminder of Callum is not doing her good, especially when she thinks of the life that Callie will have.
We spend a lot of the book inside Sephy’s head, and she’s definitely not in a good place. I was just torn between wanting to give her a hug and wanting to shake her and tell her to pull herself together.
We also spend a lot of time with Callum’s brother Jude, who is thoroughly entrenched in the Liberation Militia and filled with hate for the world that killed his brother, and in particular the girl who he thinks caused it, Sephy.
At the same time, he’s dealing with feelings that he never imagined he would have, and that he’s finding it very hard to fight, until things come to a point that I never imagined.
I have to say, I found it very disturbing reading Jude’s chapters, they were so dark and he’s frankly an incredibly unlikeable person, and I found some of his chapters really hard to read.
And yeah, the ending. Without giving any spoilers, all I can say is that finishing a book like that is not okay. If you’ve read it, you know what I mean. And if you haven’t, you should.
Another amazing book, I’m looking forward to carrying on the series.
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Madeleine Davies – Lights for the Path
I received this book as an advance reading copy from NetGalley, and I’m so glad I requested it. I only wish that this book had been around for me a few years ago.
Although aimed primarily at teenagers who have experienced loss, I think this book is valuable for any age range, I certainly found it so helpful to think about the ways I’ve been experiencing and ‘dealing with’ my grief over the last few years, and I think it would be helpful for anyone else in that situation.
“We were not made for a life narrowed by fear, but one lived with courage, in the knowledge that ultimately, God has conquered every darkness it contains.”
The author has personal experience of the worst kind of loss, losing her mother as a young child, and along with her own experiences, she also talks to other people who have experienced losses of their own, whether sudden or expected, and while these stories are heartbreaking, they really help you to realise that you’re not alone and what you’re feeling is not unusual or wrong.
The writing style was very relatable, perfect for teenagers, but also full of emotion, not afraid to shy away from talking about the hard stuff, like most people do when talking about grief.
Written from a religious perspective, the book may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved how the author talked about how God sees us and is with us in our grief.
“God sees our bruises, even if others don’t, and doesn’t ask anything of us at this time. He doesn’t promise us that bad news will never come to our door, but he does promise to be with us, always.”
As well as people’s stories, the book is filled with practical tips for helping you find your way to a new normal after experiencing a loss, even though things feel like they may never be normal again.
This book is filled with comfort and hope and the reassurance that you’re not alone, even if you’re not experiencing your grief in the same way as everyone else.
“Only you can do your journey through grief”
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She Reads Truth – Promises of God
I feel like this book was so needed during these completely uncertain times.
We’ve been in lockdown for a couple of months now and it’s really easy to start feeling lost and alone, given that I haven’t seen my family for over a month now. But this book was the perfect reminder that among God’s promises is the promise that he will be with us always.
At the end of each SRT book, there’s the question “What did I learn?”.
What I learnt from this book is that God makes so many promises. Some have been fulfilled. Some we are still waiting for. But we can have faith that God will keep every promise he makes to us because He is good.
I’m thinking that this book would be a great one to go through with our youth group, what a great way to teach them about how God loves them than to talk about his promises.
112 pages. Published in: 2020Read in Paperbackon 27th April – 17th May 2020 -
John Smed – Journey in Prayer
Requested as an advance reading copy from NetGalley, this book is sub-titled 7 Days of Praying With Jesus.
I didn’t really know what to expect, and my initial judgements on the cover didn’t really match with what I got inside, if I’m honest I found the cover a little boring, and what was inside was anything but.
Each of the 7 days of the book covers a different section of the Lord’s prayer, breaking it down and getting into what each line actually means; what it meant at the time Jesus said it and how it still applies to our lives now. In the author’s words:
“In this prayer are seven requests. In this prayer is the secret to discovering the heart of God. To pray these seven requests is to journey deeper into life with God and deeper into life in the world.”
There were so many ‘aha!’ moments for me while going through this book, parts of the Lord’s Prayer that I’d never interpreted in that way before. It’s a simple sounding prayer that we pray all the time, but breaking it down and going through it over 7 days really helped me to understand what it is I’m actually praying, for example this quote from the “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” section:
“When we ask God to lead us not into temptation, we are praying that He will give us grace to face, courage to endure, and power to overcome every lie of the enemy that would cause us to question God.”
One of my favourite features of the book was the reflection space at the end of each day. Giving space for personal prayer and reflection on what we have just read, but also providing prompts and starters for those who either are unfamiliar to prayer or just unsure what to pray or can’t find the words.
I think this will be very valuable for both those who are new to praying and the Lord’s prayer, but also for those who have said the prayer so many times it has become almost routine.
I lost count of the amount of quotes that I highlighted through this book, but just know that if I put them all into this review, I’d probably be in danger of publishing the book myself!
One that really stuck in my mind from towards the end was this one:
“Prayer is like a spiritual space telescope, lifting us far above the earth’s perspective to see the entire cosmos similar to the way God sees it. As we pray, glimpses of invisible galaxies come into view.”
I also particularly loved the closing chapter, with all its comparisons to Lord of the Rings. The familiarity made me smile, but also really made me think.
I would really recommend this book to anyone whether they are just starting out praying or long-time Christians. I’ll definitely be recommending it to my church life group as a shared study, it was simply fantastic. The only thing I’d say is that I’d definitely suggest getting this book as a physical copy, not an ebook, as the reflection spaces would definitely benefit from being able to actually write in the book.
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Giovanna & Tom Fletcher – The Eve Illusion
Following the cliffhanger at the end of Eve of Man, I’ve been waiting with baited breath for this to be released as I really needed to know what happened to Eve and Bram.
I was not disappointed, devouring this book in 2 sittings, unable to put it down as I was pulled into the dramatically unfolding story of Eve’s escape.
So Eve is free, but what is she going to do with her freedom? And what about all the people still looking for her? It seems like Eve might not be as safe as she thought she was going to be. And heading back into the tower may seem unthinkable, but what if it’s the only option?
Compared to the first book, I found this book was a bit more ‘adult’, certain parts had me in shock due to the brutality or viciousness of what I was reading – it was slightly unexpected, but not unwelcome. It was hard to read, but certainly kept me gripped.
I loved the different perspectives we got to read this book through. Not just Eve and Bram, but also Michael who is still inside the tower, giving us a unique perspective into what’s going on now that Eve has left.
One thing I struggled with in the first book was the lack of world-building compared to similar books I’ve read before, but I found this much better in this second book in the series, feeling like I was more immersed in Eve and Bram’s world and able to connect with where they were going and what they were doing.
Given it’s a trilogy, you probably won’t be surprised to find out that the book ended with a twist that made me immediately wish for the final book, but I guess I’ll just have to wait impatiently again.
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She Reads Truth – 1, 2 & 3 John
Another fantastic study book from the lovely people at She Reads Truth. As usual, the book was beautifully laid out with imagery that really complimented what was being read.
The study book takes you through the books of 1 John, 2 John and 3 John, which are all fairly short but pack a punch. Like the last study, these are books that I’ve not really read much before, and I really appreciated how the readings for each day were tied back into the gospels with related readings to dive into.
I also loved that each day finished with a prayer prompt and a blank space to allow you to really think about what you’ve just read and pray about it – sometimes the busy-ness of life means this is the bit of bible study that I forget or don’t make time for, so having a space for it was really great.
As with all studies that I’ve read from SRT, I’d really recommend this one – it’s only a 2 week study as well, so much shorter than the Jeremiah one we finished just before!
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Malorie Blackman – Noughts and Crosses
It’s not often a book leaves you heartbroken – most books I read tend to have a fluffy ending where everyone lives happily ever after, but hopefully it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that I wanted to throw this book across the room and cry when I finished reading.
I’ve obviously heard of this book a lot in the past, but never really looked into what it’s about, I think I found this copy in a charity shop and was drawn in by the cover – but I had no idea what to expect, just that people said it was really good.
I think I personally found the start a little slow, and it took me a while to properly ‘get into’ the book – I think I was over a third of the way through when it really pulled me in and gave me an insatiable need to finish it as soon as possible.
I read the last two thirds of the book in one sitting, on a rather sunny Saturday afternoon in the garden. What’s black and white? The book. What’s red all over? Louise. The sunburn was worth it though.
I found the book so eye opening – a society where white people (the noughts) are weak, and the crosses have all the power. This shouldn’t be shocking, but everything in our history sadly points the other direction. A society where the noughts and the crosses are not supposed to intermingle, and doing so has devastating consequences.
“What was it about the differences in others that scared people so much?”
I feel like I could gush about this book and how much it broke me for days and days, but I don’t want to risk giving away any spoilers as I think if you’re reading this review and you haven’t read the book, you should immediately find yourself a copy.
The main characters Callum and Sephy were possibly one of my favourite parts of the book. I found that both of them at times were stupid teenagers that I just wanted to shake when I could see things going wrong, but their growing relationship was a lovely highlight against a dark backdrop of a plot.
As soon as I finished reading, I immediately ordered the next books in the series so that I can see what happens next – where the book ended was not okay with me!!
If I could rate just the last half of the book, I’d give it a full 5 stars, but because it took a while to really draw me in, I’ve settled on 4 – I get the feeling that the next book might be even better though!
479 pages. Published in: 2006Read in Paperbackon 18th-25th April 2020 -
Phil Callaway – Laugh Like a Kid Again
We are in some weird times right now and life doesn’t feel easy, so when I spotted this book title on NetGalley, I immediately requested it – the little cereal smile on the cover definitely drew me in too!
As the author says:
“…how can we laugh when times are hard and people disappoint? How can we lighten up when storms threaten and anxiety reigns? May these stories remind us that we are loved unreasonably, that we are in good hands, that God has always done amazing things in the dark.”
And you know what, the stories in this book did just that. Each chapter not too long, and like the previous book I read, would probably have been better spaced out over a longer period of time, but I read the book over just a few days. But each chapter made me smile and reminded me of the God who loves me and is the source of my joy.
“Lasting joy is elusive until we understand who we are and whose we are.”
Each chapter started with a ‘dad joke’ and then a quote from someone famous, then continued with a personal story from the author. When I imported the preview copy of this book to my kindle, Amazon messed up the formatting which led to a bit of confusion to start with when I thought the joke was attributed to the author of the quote too – it seemed a bit too unlikely!
I do love a good joke though, the ones that are so bad they’re good are my favourites.
“I was sitting on a plane when the guy beside me said, ‘Look at those people down there. They look like ants’. I said ‘They are ants. We haven’t taken off yet’.”
One of my favourite chapters was misheard lyrics for worship songs, like “Behold he comes, riding on a cow” (riding on a cloud) and “Open the Eyes of My Hot Dog” (My Heart Lord). I couldn’t stop laughing!
I did find that at certain points during the book I wasn’t as engaged, and I think that was more a reflection on me and where my head is right now than a judgment on the book, which I thought was genuinely fab and definitely achieved it’s mission of making me laugh again.
But it definitely wasn’t all laughs either and I highlighted a huge amount of quotes that really made me think. This, though, is the one that stuck with me the most – such a lovely way of interpreting our reminder to be salt (and light) in the world.
“Words are like salt. When blurted unwisely they bring sickness, burden the heart and increase blood pressure. When sprinkled rightly they add flavour, preserve life, and melt ice. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of using our words to build up.”
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Skye Jethani – What if Jesus Was Serious?
This book was requested as an advanced-review copy from NetGalley. I’ve not read anything by this author before, so I had no idea what to expect, but the cover and the title instantly drew me in.
The book is written as a series of devotions based around the sermon on the mount, and although I read this book in a few sittings, I think it would probably have benefited from being read more slowly to give me more time to absorb and ponder on what I was reading, so perhaps one in the morning and one in the evening would have been a good pattern to follow.
As I started reading, I started to highlight passages of the book that I wanted to remember, but as I got a few chapters in I realised I was highlighting probably around 70% of the book, so I quickly had to revise that plan, but the truth is that so much of what was written just hit the nail right on the head.
We Christians have probably all read the Sermon on the Mount before, but have we ever really stopped to consider “What if Jesus was serious?”?. In this book, the author breaks the sermon down into bitesize pieces and reflects on what those meant in the time that Jesus preached them, but also what they mean for us now in our modern context which looks nothing like the same.
And as a modern Christian, it may or may not be a shock to find that everything that Jesus said back then sure stands up now too, and if we could just think about what Jesus said and try to live it out, we could make a mighty change to our world.
We who claim to be Jesus’ followers and seek a life shaped by his Kingdom hold the antidote to the division and anger that is poisoning our culture.
The format of the book was excellent, as mentioned before it’s broken down into small chapters that wouldn’t take too long to read (although will definitely give you lots to ponder), and each chapter is started with a drawing designed to illustrate the authors point neatly and succinctly.
If Jesus was serious…then we will make room to cry. Is the Christian life only for happy-clappy people? While the world says the strong, powerful, and happy are “well off”, Jesus turns our expectations upside down by saying it’s the weak, sad, and overlooked who are well off in God’s kingdom.
I will say that unlike most devotionals that I’ve read in the past, this one isn’t designed to give you warm fuzzy feelings and set you up for a day of feeling like you’re the model Christian. This book will challenge you and make you think seriously about how you’re living and where you might be falling short.
I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to every Christian I know, with the caveat that it should not be rushed. Now I’ve finished and can see the immense value in the contents of these pages, I’ll be starting from the beginning and taking a slower journey.
I was going to add some more of my favourite quotes from the book here, but like I said earlier, there were just too many, so all I’ll say is go pick up this book when it’s released, you definitely won’t regret it!
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Graeme Simsion – The Rosie Result
In a complete coincidence, I managed to finish reading this book 7 years to the day that I finished reading The Rosie Project (or so Facebook memories tells me). I still remember being given an advanced reading copy of that first book and loving it so so much.
And here we are, the third and final book in the series, and I have to say, it did not disappoint!
We join Don more than 10 years after the conclusion of The Rosie Effect, and his son Hudson is now in his final year at primary school. He’s showing signs that he might be autistic, and Don desperately wants him to fit in at school, and so starts the ‘Hudson Project’.
Without giving away too many spoilers (because like the previous books in the series, I think this one was fantastic and you should go and read it), we know from the previous two books that Don’s plans never go quite the way he wants them to.
I have to say, this book to me felt a lot less ‘light-hearted’ than the first two – I don’t know if it’s just these weird Covid-times that we’re currently living in, but I felt much more of an emotional pull towards Hudson, and while some of the things that Don did were a bit off the wall, it made me a bit sad that he felt like he had to change Hudson at all.
Perhaps it’s because it’s a child involved, but in previous books I found myself laughing at the crazy situations that Don got himself into, but not so much in this one. That’s not a bad thing though, because my emotional involvement with Hudson made me so tied to this book that I couldn’t stop reading.
In the previous two books, Don never really acknowledges that he has autism (although as readers, it seems pretty obvious to us), but I appreciated how this book tackled the subject a bit more head-on, addressing some of the stereotypes that are commonplace and delving into the topic of trying to change to fit in – why should he?!
After following Don and Rosie’s relationship from the start, it was really nice to see them together 13 years later, and looking at how their relationship has grown. How much they both care for Hudson and are willing to give up so much to see him happy – even if they don’t quite know what that looks like.
I’m at risk of just going on and on and spoiling the book, but all I’ll say is that if you haven’t read this series – seriously, go out and buy it. It’s such a lovely read and if you’re anything like me, you’ll definitely find yourself wanting to be best friends with Don.
I’m just really disappointed to know that this is the final book in the series, but I think it definitely finished in the best way – no third book blues for this book!
Louise Douglas
(I've got no) Shelf Control…
Louise Douglas 