Blog Archives - Alyce Caswell - Author

Alyce Caswell - Author

Just Because You Can...

22/4/2024

The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns

Bridget Jones is named after a beloved literary character and thinks she too suffers the Bridget curse when it comes to love. But now things might finally be looking up - the hot Italian barista seems to be showing an interest in her! It'd be easier to enjoy this turn of events if Bridget didn't have to deal with a terrible (and noisy) neighbour and the busybodies at the seniors book club she's helping to run.

When I first arrived at the library to pick up this book and saw it on the reserved shelf, I knew immediately what the problem with it was going to be. 500 pages is excessive for women's lit/romance. That's not to say these books should never be that long... it's just that the page count here was detrimental to the story and its pacing. I get that this was a coy homage to the genre but cramming in everything was a bit too ambitious (basically, certain parts of the book suffered due to other unnecessary parts). When I got to the stroke, I actually still thought The Other Bridget was clever. When I got to the brain tumour, I rolled my eyes. When I got to the epilogue, I was angry because what little goodwill I had for the book evaporated.

The annoying thing is, this book had excellent bones and Johns is an excellent writer. It could have been saved by an editor asking Johns to kill her darlings.

Content warning: eating disorder, PTSD, cancer, transphobia

I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside

20/4/2024

The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella

After a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to join a convent, Sasha goes on leave to recover from the burnout her job has given her. Her holiday in Devon is going to be about mindfulness and health. She has the beach to herself - until she has to share it with Finn, who is also handling burnout. Sasha's annoyance with his presence fades when mysterious messages start appearing in the sand.

I actually haven't read anything by Sophie Kinsella before and now I wish I'd found her books sooner. I was hooked from the moment Sasha was being chased by a nun. Oh, how I cackled. This was such a charming and at times amusing story that had me fondly reliving memories of my own adventures in Devon (including a detour to some caves, ha!). I was a bit bemused that Sasha's supposed friend was more of a name instead of a character, but the rest of The Burnout is so good that it's easy to overlook this minor flaw.

Not the Book I Was Looking For

18/4/2024

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

Takako has lost her boyfriend and her job in one go. When her uncle, Satoru, invites her to stay in a room in his bookshop, she cannot afford to refuse. Takako would prefer to spend her days abed. She is going nowhere and doing nothing. The Morisaki Bookshop is the perfect place to recover from one's setbacks and move forward. But sometimes the setbacks make a reappearance.

I was expecting something a bit more cosy when I picked up this book. I also thought the bookshop would feature more prominently, since similar stories turn the bookshop (or library) into a character itself. That didn't happen here. Alas, the characters that do exist inside these pages sometimes failed to interest me.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop is an okay read that doesn't outstay its welcome.

A Big Warm Hug

17/4/2024

The Switch by Beth O'Leary

After suffering a breakdown, Leena Cotton is forcibly put on leave and no longer has work to distract her from her grief. Meanwhile, her grandmother Eileen is frustrated with the lack of suitors available to her in her village. The solution is as simple as it is ridiculous - a swap! Eileen heads to London, on the hunt for romance, and Leena returns home. Just how much can change in two months anyway?

Oh my goodness. This book is beautiful. I don't often weep when reading, but obviously this is an exception. I'm glad I persevered with Beth O'Leary's backlog. Because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been wrapped up in the warm embrace of The Switch and its loveable characters - who I will dearly miss. I am so fortunate to have such remarkable women in my own family or I'd wish Eileen was my very own grandmother.

A Slow and Worthy Burn

16/4/2024

In want of a Viscount (The Chessmen: Masters of Seduction #3)
by Lorraine Heath

Leonora Garrison has travelled from New York to London in search of investors to put her writing device into production. Despite her mother's machinations, she has no interest in marriage. After discovering that Rook, a viscount in waiting, gave her a kiss when told to do so, she yearns to be desired. Rook can offer her that. He doesn't want marriage either. So scandal must be avoided - at all cost.

A Lorraine Heath romance is always worth waiting for - especially if it's set within this Victorian world she's created, a world where scandal has real consequences and rank does not a hero or heroine make. So I went into this knowing I'd love it, but once again I did not realise just how much. Rook is wonderful and delightfully angsty. It's Leonora, though, that made this book for me. I'm not sure if it was Heath's intention, but I read Leonora as autistic coded (I related to her SO MUCH) and I adored seeing her find someone who embraced her quirks (as I have in my own life).

Epic 180

11/4/2024

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

Tiffy needs to get out of her rubbish ex's place but she's got a shoestring budget. Enter Leon, who needs the extra income of a flatmate. But there's only one bed! Not that Tiffy and Leon will ever share it, or be home at the same time, or ever actually meet. They start leaving notes for each other... then their lives begin to slowly mesh, until it's inevitable that they'll finally come face to face.

I've had to read O'Leary's books out of publication order, as I'm at the mercy of the local library's availability. The last two I read were sooo not for me and I was anxious about reading her first one. Well, I'm confused because this feels like an entirely different author. The Flatshare is awesome! The concept is wonderful, the characters are incredibly loveable (even the side randoms), and I'd happily share my bed with this book forever (alas, I must return it to the library). Tiffy's trauma is handled sensitively and so well... makes me wonder why similar themes fell so flat for me in The No-Show and The Road Trip. I suspect it's the execution.

Whew. That was a relief. Now I should go pick up The Switch, which is currently waiting for me on the hold shelf. Wish me luck with that one! xD

Content warning: gaslighting, emotional abuse, stalking

And so it begins...

9/4/2024

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (novelisation)
by George Lucas (GW: Alan Dean Foster)

It is a dark time for a galaxy far, far away. The Empire has just completed construction of the Death Star, a moon-sized weapon that can destroy entire planets, and there seems to be no hope for resistance. But the Alliance - made up of rebels and the parties supporting them - might just have a chance. All they need are the Death Star plans. Plans that are on their way to a farm on Tatooine...

I've perused many novels from this era, some of those film/screenplay novelisations, and was honestly impressed by the quality of this adaptation. Alan Dean Foster, the ghostwriter, makes it look easy, but condensing a film into 247 pages and still retaining moments of beautifully phrased scene setting takes effort and skill. There are obviously some differences and contradictions from the film - and indeed later developments - but hey, at least Chewbacca gets his medal here. I also think that the extra (AKA deleted) Tatooine scenes work really well in a novel format. In fact, they're necessary for pacing. Basically, this is as good as it gets for a 1970s film novelisation.

But it wouldn't have worked out quite so well if the story itself wasn't so compelling. I've always loved A New Hope. For some reason, I needed to see it play out over pages instead of a screen to realise how the plot was built. And it was built well.

The Oh No Not Again Trip

7/4/2024

The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary

Addie has set off early on a road trip, with her sister Deb, and intends to get to her friend's wedding on time. Except she gets rear-ended by Dylan, her ex, and Marcus, the walking turd he calls a friend. Now they need a lift - and being stuck together inside a car for hours (along with another peculiar wedding guest) is going to be awkward. It'll be a miracle if they get to the wedding on time.

I have made a horrible mistake in using up my reservation slots on Beth O'Leary's books at the local library. I'd cancel the next one if it wasn't already in transit between libraries, destined for the nearest hold shelf. I'd thought that The No-Show was a one off, but it turns out O'Leary is NOT for me. This is yet another book that reads like Reddit drama. The characters are young enough that said drama is exhausting and annoying for someone past that stage.

The thing is, O'Leary is a fantastic writer and her prose is so easy to breeze through. You don't want to put the book down, even when you're not enjoying it. Her writing is the best part of The Road Trip - and Marcus is the worst part, hands down. Those of us who have known Marcuses in real life also know they never change or redeem themselves. Sorry. It's not believable.

And now I will anxiously check my library app and wonder if it's bad form to cancel a hold mid-transit. Someone please reassure me that The Flatshare is at least palatable??

Content warning: stalking, sexual assault

You May Read When Ready

6/4/2024

Death Star (Star Wars Legends)
by Michael Reaves & Steve Perry

The Empire is close to finishing construction on the Death Star, a technological terror that will end all wars and any spark of resistance. But a space station this size needs personnel - both to bring it to life and to make sure it functions as intended. Slaves and prisoners. Pilots and gunners. Archivists and guards. Bartenders and stowaways. Most of them will not escape their fate.

I'm usually quite harsh in reviews of books that fail to present a plot, but somehow Death Star just works. It explores the background noise of A New Hope and the lower decks (so to speak) of the Death Star, giving us what feels like a behind-the-scenes tour and showing the effect that seemingly small lives can have on the grand scheme of things. Had this novel not been so steeped in misogyny (a constant failing of these two authors), I'd have viewed it on par with Disney's later Rogue One.

This book's greatest crime, unquestionably, is the ham-fisted insertion of Admiral Daala. It could have been acceptable... had the authors not gone too far and then annoyingly relied on amnesia to fix things. Happily, other references to Legends novels weren't too obtrusive.

These various failings aside, I really enjoyed Death Star and easily became engrossed in it whenever I had the time to peruse its pages.

Not Like the First Book

3/4/2024

Not Like the Movies (Waiting for Tom Hanks #2)
by Kerry Winfrey

Chloe is not coping. She's looking after her father, whittling away on her business degree, working in a cafe - oh and now there's a romantic movie coming out, written by her best friend and based on Chloe and her boss, Nick. But real life doesn't have neat, happy endings. Besides, Chloe doesn't have time for a relationship. Nothing will EVER happen between her and Nick. Nope.

I've spent half my day wondering if this book was merely average or truly terrible, because comparing it to Waiting for Tom Hanks is unfair since I love that one so much. Annie was a charming MC who made it easy to overlook the romcom homages. Chloe, on the other hand, is exhausting and at times really quite horrible to the hero. But I will admit... I am always thrilled to read a book with a bi heroine. The author also made me reevaluate some things in my life, such as how my friendships changed after marriage. So I guess Not Like the Movies is merely average after all.