On Bee's Bookshelf

  Genre: YA Release Date: 4th February 2021 Lexi is a difficult girl. She'd rude, clumsy, angry ....   But girls aren't meant to be angry, are they? If she could just 'calm down' and act like a lady, maybe her mum would love her like she did before, maybe her stepdad would finally stop bullying her. Maybe she wouldn't catch the attention of creepy strange men. Maybe her crush who awkwardly is set to be married into the family soon might notice her one day.  So she tries. She tries to be the cool girl. She tries to "Be nicer, be sorry, calm down.". She tries to be the girl everyone expects her to be. But anger has a way of demanding to be felt and Lexi is set to explode.  This was a spellbinding commentary on a young girl discovering feminism and the rage that undeniably follows being a woman in the world. Enthralling and enchanting, this is the story of a girl who is never taken seriously, being bullied and abused for simply being a woman who dares to feel...

  Genre: Contemporary Fiction Release Date: 12th January 2021 Mia doesn't know her name yet. After waking up in hospital with Amnesia, all she knows is where she is and not a lot else. She's well dressed, well groomed - she looks pretty wealthy so that's a good start. And when a nurse hands her a very broken IPhone, it's time to start putting the puzzle together. In a world where everything is meticulously documented on Instagram, it doesn't take long to figure out who she was ... or at least who she was pretending to be under the glamourous filters.  After using Uber to figure out where she lives, she stumbles across Max, science student slash house-sitter and they embark on a mission to find out exactly what caused Mia to lose her memory - and maybe it's not the accident she was made to think it was. This was a hilarious mix-up of millenial humour and a classic mystery - with an iconically witty style and full of hysterical cringe-inducing moments. A farcial t...

  Genre: Romance Release Date: Expected July 8th 2021 (Previously known as People We Meet On Vacation)  Travel writer Poppy is arguably gorgeous (from certain angles), she's loud, she spills everything and she's really not good at stayng still. Alex is her polar opposite. Since school he's become a teacher, has the house and the car, and still takes selfies without using the front camera.  But somehow, for the last 12 years they've been best friends, with a pact to spend every single summer together. And after ten glorious summers of being so drunk that matching tattoos slowly become appealing and travelling to amazing places, it was the perfect friendship. Until it wasn't and their friendship turned into just a fond memory. But now Poppy decides it's time for one last trip with her former best friend and this could change everything. Let's get this right - I had very high expectations going into this. After Beach Read,  which was definitely my feel-good hit...

  Genre: Contemporary Fiction Release Date: Expected 13th July 2021 Zoya is twenty-six years old and very single. So by the standards of her exceptionally traditional family, she's practically a spinster. She loves her family, and would love them to be happy - but maybe not at the expense of her own happiness. But now, her aunties have found the most perfect potential match for her ... just as she finally gets an offer for her dream job on the other side of the world.  Before now, the only rebellion happened inside her head, but now she has to make a choice and decide exactly who she wants to be - a loyal daughter and a loving wife? Or a brave, risk-taking independent woman?  But is the world (and Zoya's family) finally ready to realise that women can and will 'have it all?' I've never been to Bombay, but Bhatti had me transported to another part of the world through Zoya's colourful inner monolouge and vibrant thoughts - she had a beautiful, almost poetic way o...

  Genre: Womens Fiction  Release Date: 15th April 2021 Cathy isn't unhappy. She's not particularly happy either - she's just normal. In fact, she didn't really pay much attention to how cheerful (or otherwise) she was until her sisters got her one of those pushy motivational diaries for Christmas. Now it's a new year, and a new page and Cathy is slowly realising she hasn't really got much to write about. She's a mother to two beautiful children ... who could appreciate her more. She's a wife to a loving husband ... who could do with realising she isn't his mother.  But now, it's time to reclaim herself. She may be a mother and wife, but it's time for her to finally find her own life in amongst it all. Armed with her diary and her brilliant book club, they try to navigate the things women should never talk about; sex, contraception, periods ... and the severe invisibility of women over the age of forty.  This was a truly captivating commenta...

  Genre: Poetry Release Date: 6th April 2021 'sometimes i fall asleep thinking of you' was a beautifully captivating journey of love and loss, and all the different types of heartache that sit low in your stomach and leave you drained.  Such a unique style that was utterly spellbinding, each poem with it's own complete identity and beautiful illustrations that looked like they came straight from the diary of the lovesick and lost.  For anybody who has a love for the more modern artistic style of poetry, this book is definitely for you - and for anybody who has ever been in love. The entire read felt like a wistful, hazy daydream - self affirming, powerful and simply stunning.  RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you to NetGalley & Catarine Hancock for an ARC in return for a review. 

Genre: Fiction Release Date: 3rd February 2021  In the desert town of Paradox, Corin Dunbars life changed overnight - after the sudden death of her mother this sleepy little town transformed from nowhere to the place to be - the perfect film set for the next Western Blockbuster. Entranced by the glamour, Corin falls in love with the idea of joining the glamourous and the rich ... but everything isn't always as it seems and accidents are just waiting to happen. Everything looks better when you're in love, doesn't it? Well-researched, witty and engaging, this story was a compelling in-depth tapestry about how our lives intertwine with others and the ripple effects each person can cause. Paradox felt so vivid and real, as did the eclectic host of residents we had the pleasure to meet along the way. A story that on the surface is about glitz and glamour but at its heart is about love, loss and life.  This book did slow down far too much in places with some seemingly prolonged, ...

  Genre: Science Fiction / Dystopian Fiction Release Date: 4th February 2021 Trigger Warnings: Swearing, References to COVID-19, Death, Drugs, Illness, suicide. December 2023. The 6DM virus has ripped through the world and life as we know it is over. Once you've got it, as the name implies, you've got Six Days Maximum left alive. The only way out? T600 - but it's not a cure, it's a suicide pill. The UK has blown up the channel tunnels, started to fight over the one single tea plantation left in the country and tried its hardest to stop the spread. They had a practice run back in 2020 and handled it terribly but this time they've done everything right ... and it's still not enough. The doomsday clock has reached midnight. The human race is finished.  But by some miracle, she's still alive. Well, surviving anyway. After spending her entire life hiding in the shadows to please others, there's nobody left to impress but the golden retriever she found wanderi...