Category Archives: new release

Finding Stevie by Cathy Glass.

Cathy Glass writes memoirs of her experiences with being a foster carer. In finding Stevie, we learn about the dangers and privileges of modern society and growing up today. Stevie is 14-years-old and gender fluid, meaning he doesn’t quite identify with being male nor female. Stevie and his two younger siblings were brought up by their biological grandparents, as their mother was in prison. But, no longer able to cope with Stevie’s behaviour, he was placed in foster care. We follow Cathy as she, again, learns the ups and downs of being a foster carer, for, she’s pushed to her limits. Can she help Stevie, or will she feel like a failure?

There is more to the story, but, to avoid spoilers I’ll leave it at that. To me, a memoir featuring gender fluidity, from an outsiders perspective, seemed interesting. I’m not gender fluid myself, yet, I liked the way this was handled. We follow Cathy as she discovers the meaning of gender fluid and what this means for Stevie. As I said, there is more to Stevie, and as we are slowly introduced to the real matter, Stevie’s gender quickly becomes less important, and we get to know Stevie as a person.

There are also issues around his family’s acceptance of his identity, this, as a true account, adds an interesting dynamic, as we learn of his grandparents initial reaction to his coming out.

There is some discriminatory language aimed at gay and trans* people, most of this is challenged or acknowledge, with the exception of the word ‘tranny’. This may cause you to dislike this book, but it is pretty…real.

I can see how this book could be difficult to read, as with most Cathy Glass memoirs, so read this with caution, if you are sensitive to difficult topics.

I really enjoyed this newest instalment of Cathy Glass.If you do like memoirs, I completely recommend Cathy Glass.

As most Cathy Glass memoirs, finding Stevie opens a conversation about today’s society and our variable young people. If you do read this, please leave a comment about what you thought, I’m interested in your opinions. Thank you.

  • Rating: 4 stars
  • Setting: England
  • Publisher: Harper Element
  • Publication date: February 2019
  • Pages: 306
  • Price: £8.99
  • ISBN: 9780008324292

The hunting party by Lucy Foley.

The hunting party is a typical adult mystery thriller. Set in the Scottish highlands, it follows a group of old friends attempting their annual New Year’s getaway, a tradition they’ve kept for 10 years. As life continues for each of them, they realize that they are growing apart, slowly separating, this will only continue and each have their own secrets.

As the winter grows colder, they are snowed in, (reminiscent of Agatha Christie, ) with no way in or out of the estate. That is when someone dies, but it was no accident.

We follow multiple characters, as we learn who was murdered, who killed them and why.

I didn’t find this book to be revolutionary, or good for that matter, it was just your typical, cliche, mystery thriller. I didn’t care for the characters or their plot points as I’ve seen similar characteristics in other books. We were given multiple perspectives, yet, they all had similar tones, thoughts and personalities, meaning that a lot of it was unnecessary and prevented movement in the plot. Each woman in the story, continuously, narcissistically, victimized themselves, curing their self-hatred with wine and overcompensated socializing. And all, except two, men seemed to feel emasculated, protecting their emotions with violence. The suspense was done well, leaving each ‘chapter’ with an air of mystery, yet, because I didn’t care about the characters, I felt no eagerness to continue. The plot was also rather slow moving, letting us have an in-depth analysis of each person’s movement since they arrived. For you, this could be a good thing, I just tend to prefer fast-paced suspense novels.

With all this, I believe that this book had more potential. The ending really helped to tie it together and made me feel as if pushing through was worth it. I believe that this book has an audience, I’m just not apart of it.

So, do I recommend you read this book? Yes, all the qualities I disliked in this book, you may love. I think I went into this book with different expectations, meaning, it had a lot to live up to, but I don’t think it’s bad. And i would consider picking up more by Lucy Foley in the future, now I know her writing style better.

  • Rating: 3.25-3.5 stars
  • Setting: Highlands, Scotland
  • Publisher: Harper Collins
  • Publication date: 2019
  • Pages: 388
  • Price: £12.99
  • ISBN: 978-0-00-829711-4