Jasper Fforde’s Shades of Grey (2009) became a literary dystopian fantasy cult classic for good reason. Read our full review. Publication: Penguin Books 2011. First published 2009. Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Adventure, Literature Shades of Grey Book Synopsis The New York Times bestseller hailed as “a rich brew of dystopic fantasy and deadpan goofiness” (The Washington Post) from the author of the Thursday Next series. Welcome to Chromatacia, where the societal hierarchy is strictly regulated by one’s limited color perception. In this world, you are what you can see. But Eddie Russet ..read more

As in years prior, our Best Books of 2023 list includes many books released in 2023 but not exclusively. Top quality fiction has no expiry date, and we try to squeeze novels that have been languishing on our wish list onto our reading pile too. Since we read diversely, our favourite reads of 2023 span a range of genre: Drama and Romance Crime-Detective Literature Thriller and Mystery Fantasy Book rating system We assign each book we review a score out of 5 for The Story and The Writing and then we average these to determine an overall rating score. And, we are notoriously tough markers… B ..read more

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston is a wisely charming novel exploring love and passion, and their inevitable partners in life, loss and grief. Read our review. The Seven Year Slip Book Synopsis An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate… only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the bestselling author of The Dead Romantics. Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it. Six months ago, Clementine West had the ..read more

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is the utterly captivating novel that begins Mark Lawrence’s new fantasy trilogy for book lovers, The Library. Read my full review. The Book That Wouldn’t Burn Synopsis All books, no matter their binding, will fall to dust. The stories they carry may last longer. They might outlive the paper, the library, even the language in which they were first written. The greatest story can reach the stars . . . This is the start of an incredible new journey from the internationally bestselling author of Prince of Thorns, in which, though the pen may be mightier tha ..read more

Thrill Switch is Tim Hawken’s latest thrilling dystopian novel with a kick-arse female protagonist. Read my full review. Thrill Switch Book Synopsis I almost did a fist pump when my first murder case came in. Then I remembered it was because someone had died. Rather than look like a total douche-canoe, I smoothed my suit out, grabbed my notepad, and took a self-drive to the crime scene… Follow foul-mouthed detective Ada Byron into the dark side of the metaverse as she works to solve a streak of murders involving cryptocurrency, ruptured eyeballs, and the most prolific serial killer of all ..read more

Hell Bent, Leigh Bardugo’s long-anticipated sequel to her worldwide adult-fantasy bestseller Ninth House, really has been worth the wait. Read my full review. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo Hell Bent Book Synopsis Alex Stern, Book 2 Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. Alex Stern is back and the Ivy League is going straight to hell. Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory―even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale. Forbidde ..read more

Living Memory by David Walton is the first book in a new science fiction action-thriller trilogy exploring the possibility of resurrecting the past for good and evil. Read my review. Living Memory Book Synopsis Living Memory #1 We always thought we were the first. When paleontologists Samira and Kit uncover dinosaur skeletons in northern Thailand, they also find the remains of an ancient genetic technology that nations will kill to control. Catapulted into a web of murder and intrigue involving the Chinese Ministry of State Security, a powerful Asian crime syndicate, the CIA, and a beautiful ..read more

Today we welcome author Sean Rabin, author of new novel The Good Captain, to share with us what inspired him to write this ‘cli-fi’ thriller. 4 minutes Disclosure: If you click a link in this post and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. What inspired Sean Rabin to write The Good Captain The Good Captain started more than 20 years ago on a tiny Greek island called Halki. My wife and I needed a break from London and the prospect of an island renowned for its lack of nightclubs and bars sounded perfect – swimming, scrabble, eating and reading for two weeks.  The holiday was gre ..read more

Sarah Lotz’ Impossible (aka The Impossible Us) is a beautifully executed genre-bending novel that shimmers with romantic tension and pulsates with heart. Read my full review. 3 minutes Impossible Book Synopsis This isn’t a love story. This is . . .  ‘The book we all need right now’ – Sarah Pinborough ‘Unputdownable’ – Jennifer Saint ‘Breathtakingly good’ – Josie Silver Nick: Failed writer. Failed husband. Dog owner. Bee: Serial dater. Dress maker. Pringles enthusiast. One day, their paths cross over a misdirected email. The connection is instant, electric. They feel like they’ve known e ..read more

I am delighted to welcome Lois Murphy, author of the award-winning gripping thriller Soon, to discuss the inspiration for her first junior fiction book, You’ve Let Them In. Plus, we share our review of this fun scary story with heart. Lois Murphy on her first junior fiction: You’ve Let Them In It’s a bit of a worn metaphor, but I always think of writing as weaving, pulling together threads, and You’ve Let Them In is very much an embodiment of this. The first thread that inspired the book was actually the character of Ian, the garden gnome, who is based on a boss I used to have ..read more