On Bee's Bookshelf

From her first words to her first day at school, Little Alien can't help but get things wrong. She doesn't understand the world the way others seem to, and the world doesn't seem to understand her either. Her anxious mum and meticulous dad, while well-intentioned, are of little help. But when Little Alien sees a documentary about the Voynich Manuscript - a mediaeval codex written in an unknown language and script - she begins to suspect that there are other people who feel just like her. Convinced that translating this manuscript will offer the answers she needs, she sets out on a journey that will show her a delicious taste of freedom. 'Climb up here, Little Alien. Sit next to me. I will tell you about life on this planet. I will tell you how it goes' Review:  A uniquely joyous and insightful journey into the world through the eyes of a neurodivergent human being just trying to find their place. Capturing the alienation, isolation and confusion we can experience by...

  All Liam ever wanted was to help Cassie reach her full potential; to push her body to new extremes. Exercise, determination, being the optimum versions of themselves together forever. And Liam always knew what was best.  Nothing could break their intense love for one another, not Liam’s obsessive desire for physical perfection or his relentless control of every aspect of Cassie’s life. Until the day he pushes Cassie far beyond her limits, and she walks out of their flat and away from their toxic relationship for good. Two years on and Cassie is stronger, fitter, healthier than ever before. And then she sees him – Liam – those green eyes, those stirring muscles. Something inside her flips.  But she holds the power now.  It’s Liam’s turn to sweat. ------------ A suffocating, uncomfortable account of the hell of coercive control and abuse at the hands of someone you love. A look at obsession, possession and manipulation manifesting behind closed doors in the most twis...

A clearly meticulously researched, well documented and carefully curated look at the science, the social elements and the story behind how racism has entered and impacted society. You need to read this, you might not “like it” but you’ll come out knowing something new. I appreciated the deeply uncomfortable but necessary conversations about accepting and unlearning racist, prejudiced behaviours and bias, delving into how bias forms and spreads and why people might believe racist ideas. After closing a chapter about the framing of unconscious bias, I had to take some time reassess the way I saw the world — I knew unconscious bias wasn’t a justification for anything, but taking it further, was it just an excuse to get someone out of self reflection and making amends? Does it even really exist in the way we’re taught it does? "I'm sure it feels like we're doing something good with this discussion of unconscious bias. It is, after all, important to acknowledge our biases. Howe...

Blurb: When Yojin moves with her husband and daughter into the Dream Future Pilot Communal Apartments, she's ready for a fresh start. Located on the outskirts of Seoul, the experimental community is a government initiative designed to boost the national birth rate. Like her neighbours, Yojin has agreed to have at least two more children over the next ten years. Yet, from the day she arrives, Yojin feels uneasy about the community spirit thrust upon her. Her concerns grow as communal child care begins and the other parents show their true colours.  Your Neighbour's Table  traces the lives of four women in the apartments, all with different aspirations and beliefs. Will they find a way to live peacefully? Or are society's expectations stacked against them from the start? Review: A provocative, poetic tale with beautiful storytelling that paints an uncomfortably real picture of the pressures of womanhood, motherhood and the misogyny woven into the fabric of our society. In a b...

Blurb: Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi have been friends since university. Now in their thirties, life is pulling them in different directions - but when Charlotte organises the baby shower of hell for pregnant Nicki, the girls are reunited. Under a sweltering hot summer day, tensions rise - and by the end of the evening, nothing will ever be the same. Someone started a fire at the house - and everyone's a suspect... Is it Steffi, happily child-free but feeling judged by her friends? Is it Charlotte, desperate to conceive and jealous of those who have? Is it Lauren, who is finding motherhood far, far worse than she imagined? Or is it Nicki herself, who never wanted a baby shower anyway?   Review:  The baby shower didn’t go up in smoke, but started an inferno. Mixing gripping narration with social media snippets and interview transcripts, it has all the makings of a thrilling crime story with the emotional devastation of a drama. Holly's recent move into adult fiction has b...

Blurb:   Hazel and Fox are an ordinary married couple with a baby. Except for one small thing: they're ex-serial killers. They had it all. An enviable London lifestyle, five-star travels, and plenty of bad men to kill. Not many power couples know how to get away with murder.  Then Hazel fell pregnant and they gave it all up for life in the suburbs; dinner parties instead of body disposal. But recently Hazel has started to feel  that  itch again. When she kills someone behind Fox's back and brings the police to their door, she must do anything she can to protect her family.  This could save their marriage - unless it kills them first. Review: "' Do you even still love me?' 'How can you ask me that? Of course I do. I would've killed you in your sleep months ago if I didn't'" If you’ve been tearing through everything by Katy Brent and Bella Mackey, meet Asia Mackay and this stylish, sassy and superbly written story about marriage and murder. Take ...

  Blurb:  Marlen and Hilda Jorgensen’s family has received two significant pieces of news: one, Marlen has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Two, a cosmic blast is set to render humanity extinct within a matter of months. It seems the coming Christmas on their Saskatchewan farm could be their last. Preparing for the inevitable, they navigate the time they have left together. Marlen and Hilda have channeled their energy into improbably prophetic works of art. Hilda’s elderly father receives a longed-for visitor from his past. Hilda’s teenaged nephew goes missing, and his mother refuses to believe the world is ending. All the while, Hilda’s daughter struggles to find her way home from Berlin with the help of an oddly familiar stranger. For everyone, there’s an unsettling feeling that this unprecedented reality is something they remember. As the planet holds its collective breath to see what happens next amid chaos, denial, acceptance, and hope, this one family determines t...

Blurb: Ten years ago, June’s beloved husband drowned on their honeymoon. Josh’s body was never found. Now, a decade later, June is finally ready to move on. She owns a natural wine bar in Brooklyn and is engaged to a patient, supportive man named Kyle. She’s excited to begin a new chapter in her life, enjoy a picture-perfect wedding, and start a family. But out of the blue, she sees…him. Josh, her first husband. Is this just a hallucination from the guilt June carries about finally moving on, or is it possible that her husband never died in the first place? June tries to forget about this vision, chalking it up to grief and nerves, but soon enough, she stumbles across a website for a winery in Napa, and the owner in the photo is identical to her dead husband. With her upcoming wedding looming and a fiancé who’s already worried she hasn’t left her past behind, June flies to Napa for answers. But she’s not prepared for all the secrets she’s about to unlock, because everything she thought...