Book Reviews

‘Will you pinch the finger of the hand that feeds you?’ Control and Fanaticism in Purple Hibiscus
‘Will you pinch the finger of the hand that feeds you?’ Control and Fanaticism in Purple Hibiscus
Strong and moving, Purple Hibiscus is a tale that encapsulates the deep-rooted divisions caused by colonisation, religious fanaticism, and domestic violence through the eyes of a young girl gradually nearing... Read more...
A Refugee Dies and the World Should Mourn, Except It Doesn’t
A Refugee Dies and the World Should Mourn, Except It Doesn’t
As 22-year-old Gambian refugee Pateh Sabally drowns in a Venetian canal, bystanders film him, shouting insults from the shore. “African” and “Go on, go back home” can be heard in... Read more...
Cheese, Submarines, and the Shadow of Fascism: “Stay On The Move”
Cheese, Submarines, and the Shadow of Fascism: “Stay On The Move”
I became a Pynchon fan when I first read The Crying of Lot 49 and witnessed a friend at university absolutely despise it, to the point of visible anger. I... Read more...
A Swing and a Miss: Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
A Swing and a Miss: Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
Had the novel chosen to adopt a more conventional structure as well as a more careful selection of the moments to throw punches, it would have been able to offer... Read more...
Can we build ourselves beyond the violence that created us?
Can we build ourselves beyond the violence that created us?
This debut novel by Alice Evelyn Yang, A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing, is a historical family saga that weaves together the stories of a village, a lineage, and the monsters... Read more...
The vulnerability of human communities - Paula Sutton’s The Body in the Kitchen Garden
The vulnerability of human communities - Paula Sutton’s The Body in the Kitchen Garden
What makes Paula Sutton's The Body in the Kitchen Garden especially distinctive is the way in which it weaves in elements of feel-good fiction, balancing the mystery with gentle humour,... Read more...
A very promising premise, interrupted: The Idiot by Elif Batuman
A very promising premise, interrupted: The Idiot by Elif Batuman
The Idiot by Elif Batuman follows a young Turkish-American woman, Selin, during her first year at Harvard University in the 90s. Selin is an aloof, somewhat unremarkable character, often letting... Read more...
A place is nothing without its people
A place is nothing without its people
A review of the Book of Bradford  Read more...
Scent, possession, and death in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Scent, possession, and death in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to literally anyone except children. Whatever you normally like to read, put the next book on your TBR aside and pick this one up... Read more...
Place and Person: Exploring Identity in Amanda Smyth’s Look At You
Place and Person: Exploring Identity in Amanda Smyth’s Look At You
Once in, it’s hard to get out of this book, so absorbing is every aspect of Look at You, so tender and personal and rich is the tapestry Amanda Smyth... Read more...
Calling All Complaints! Review of Sara Ahmed's No is Not a Lonely Utterance
Calling All Complaints! Review of Sara Ahmed's No is Not a Lonely Utterance
Sara Ahmed’s No is Not a Lonely Utterance has the potential to generate real change. In a world that is so turbulent and unpredictable, this book is the hope that... Read more...
Becoming Everything: Arundhati Roy and the Art of Happiness and Survival
Becoming Everything: Arundhati Roy and the Art of Happiness and Survival
Reading The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is like having a bird's-eye view of a world so vast that it overflows the limits of the page. And of course, it is... Read more...