S Reignite

                             ‘One escaped the other was trapped forever’ – Narrator Celeste Ng gives an insight to the Asian – American experience, which is often looked over, in her debut novel Everything I never told you , where the death of middle child Lydia unravels the entire Lee family. From the first chapter it is evident that the Lee family’s lives revolved around Lydia with James being referred to as only ‘Lydia’s father’ despite having two other children, and Hannah being described as ‘Lydia’s sister’ or otherwise she would be forgotten beneath family trauma. Ng wastes no space on her pages. Everyone being filled with valuable detail about the characters and their perspective. Ng’s debut novel is set in late seventies but unfortunately the social pressures placed on Lydia by her parents remain timeless. Both parents place their failed dreams on Lydia. Her father’s unrealistic mental...

‘She is in balance with the tempo and rhythm of the universe.’ -Rob Amanda Robson’s debut novel shows the consequences of asking questions that you don’t want the answer to. After wife and mother Carly asked her husband Rob what she thought was a harmless question about who he would sleep with, it puts their lives as well their best friends and married couple Craig and Jenni, in a constant battle to regain themselves. The book is promoted as one that Paula Hawkins fans would enjoy because it is a thriller that utilises viewpoint narration that Hawkins help popularise. However, it doesn’t compare to Hawkins’ thriller debut Girl on the Train . The first parts of the novel manage to build suspense and intrigue as the reader witnesses first-hand how Carly has let her husband’s response to a trivial question consume her and motivate her questionable decision making. But in the latter chapters, as the story starts to go in around in circles and relationships are constantly broken and m...

‘It was a depression so low and flat that I couldn't even envision suicide as a solution.’ Flynn The debut novel by Bobby Hall aka rapper Logic has its moments of ingenuity but those moments are overshadowed by over explanation and uninventive dialogue. From the opening chapter, it is obvious that Hall wants elements of his writing to shock and scare the reader, as expected from a psychological thriller, as he introduces a cliff hanger, but unfortunately this is the first of many unsuccessful attempts to intrigue the reader. This coupled with the over explanation of characters such as Ronda who works in the supermarket or action in the novel, impedes on the readers ability to engage and enjoy the story. Also, there were moments when Hall proudly broke the fourth wall. The first time I found it to be whimsical writing style but as it appeared more often it became another element that impeded on the action of the novel, causing me to lose more interest in the story th...