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Blogging book reviews, embroidery & whatever else may on my mind.

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      • 1 Star/Did Not Finish1 Star reads and books I didn’t finish. I use this for books I couldn’t finish. If I finished a book, it meant it was passable at least so deserves an extra star! It is very rare that I need to do this, I’m good at knowing my own taste. Usually ifΒ  a book got this rating I’d made a miscalculation when I picked it up! I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 2 Stars2 out of 5 starΒ  book reviews. I finished the book but it felt like a struggle, and I probably ended up skim reading a lot of it just to get though the thing. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 3 Stars3 out of 5 star book reviews. These are middle-of-the-road books. Nothing that got me excited, but they were fine and I probably had a good time reading most of it. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 4 Stars4 out of 5 star book reviews. I had a good time reading it, I felt like I got something out of the experience and I’d recommend it to other people. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 5 Stars5 out of 5 star book reviews. I got super excited about it! I’ll buy a hard copy for my library, and I’ll likely read it again. Sometimes for these books, I’ll write up a longer review with analysis. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
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      • 1 Star/Did Not Finish1 Star reads and books I didn’t finish. I use this for books I couldn’t finish. If I finished a book, it meant it was passable at least so deserves an extra star! It is very rare that I need to do this, I’m good at knowing my own taste. Usually ifΒ  a book got this rating I’d made a miscalculation when I picked it up! I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 2 Stars2 out of 5 starΒ  book reviews. I finished the book but it felt like a struggle, and I probably ended up skim reading a lot of it just to get though the thing. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 3 Stars3 out of 5 star book reviews. These are middle-of-the-road books. Nothing that got me excited, but they were fine and I probably had a good time reading most of it. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 4 Stars4 out of 5 star book reviews. I had a good time reading it, I felt like I got something out of the experience and I’d recommend it to other people. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
      • 5 Stars5 out of 5 star book reviews. I got super excited about it! I’ll buy a hard copy for my library, and I’ll likely read it again. Sometimes for these books, I’ll write up a longer review with analysis. I have a whole post about how I rate books and my reading preferences.
    • Review & Analysis
    • A guide to my ratings
    • Monthly Reading Roudups
    • Book Tags
    • Top Ten Tuesday
  • Life
    • Blog
      • Digest BlogThese are semi-regular updates on my life. What I’ve been up to recently, what TV shows or movies I’ve been watching and whatever else is on my mind.
    • Garden
    • Internet Research
  • Making Stuff
    • Embroidery
  • TV/Movies/Games
    • Games
    • Movies
    • TV
  • About
    • ✍🏻 Guestbook
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Historical

Home Β» Historical
The Rat Catcher: A Love Story but Kim Kelly 5/5 stars For a novella it packs in a lot: class politics, the immigrant experience, gender, faith, access to education and a genuinely sweet love story at its centre. An interesting bit of history I knew nothing about. Highly recommended.

The Rat Catcher: A Love Story by Kim Kelly

Posted in5 StarsMarch 7, 2026
πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€πŸ€ 5/5 Rats - Charming and uplifting with a fascinating historical setting and a sweet little love story.
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A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville 1.5 stars A false premise with poor execution. I actually think it’s disrespectful to real historical people to write something this weak and unimaginative using their names and their lives.

A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville

Posted in1 Star/Did Not FinishFebruary 28, 2026
⭐⭐ 1.5/5 Stars - This does nothing remotely interesting and it pissed me off.
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Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix 4/5 stars Tackles the many complex issues wrapped up in teen pregnancy in 1970s USA with thought and understanding. Well researched, great characters, and actually does has witches in it! Horrifying birth scenes!

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Posted in4 StarsApril 18, 2025
Well researched, great charactes and actually does have witches in it! - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
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My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows This is ridiculously tongue-in-cheek and so very silly. I had a great time with the audiobook! The narrator, Katherine Kellgren, gets the tone exactly right!

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows

Posted in5 StarsApril 6, 2025
Ridiculous in the best way! I had a fantastic time with the audiobook! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
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Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh 5.5 stars Disgusting, absurd, bleak, dark and weird AF - shining a light into the ugly sides of the human condition, I loved it! Easily my favourite Ottessa Moshfegh to date.

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

Posted in5 Stars, Review & AnalysisJanuary 17, 2025
Disgusting, absurd, bleak, dark and weird AF - I loved it! - πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘ 5/5 Sheep
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Good Behaviour by Molly Keane. 3/5 stars. Genre: Classics, Family Saga, Historical Positives: + Masterfully written with sharp characters. + Niave, unreliable narrator reveals in what she observes but fails to understand. + Darkly Funny. + Captures the dying class of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. Negatives: - The reader is always held at arms length and any sympathy for Aroon is short lived. - Became rather miserable reading after a while!

Good Behaviour by Molly Keane

Posted in3 Stars, Book ReviewsNovember 30, 2023
Well written but miserable family saga with a naïve unreliable narrator - ⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 Stars
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Kindred by Octavia E. Butler 4/5 Book Review

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Posted in4 Stars, Book ReviewsMay 19, 2023
Brilliant use of time travel as a literary device to explore the brutality of the antebellum Maryland. A true classic! ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4/5
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The Wallflower Digest is a personal blog written by me, Alice. These are just my personal thoughts, feelings and hobbies! I am not an expert in anything, but just a person trying to learn and make sense of the world!

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