#Review of The Beaver Theory By Antti Tuomainen @antti_tuomainen @OrendaBooks @RandomTTours #CrimeFiction #ScandiNoir #ScandiCrime

The Beaver Theory
By Antti Tuomainen

The Beaver Theory is translated Scandi Noir/ScandiCrime with humour.
The quirky humorous crime series in an adventure park is back and is as entertaining, yet murderous as ever. Find out more below as then my review for the blog tour below.

Blurb

Henri Koskinen, intrepid insurance mathematician and adventure park entrepreneur, firmly believes in the power of common sense and order. That is until he moves in with painter Laura Helanto and her daughter…
As Henri realises he has inadvertently become part of a group of local dads, a competing adventure park is seeking to expand their operations, not always sticking to the law in the process…
Is it possible to combine the increasingly dangerous world of the adventure-park business with the unpredictability of life in a blended family? At first glance, the two appear to have only one thing in common: neither deals particularly well with a mounting body count.
In order to solve this seemingly impossible conundrum, Henri is forced to step far beyond the mathematical precision of his comfort zone … and the stakes have never been higher…

Review

What an exciting delight it is to be re-acquainted with Henri Koskinen, a mathematician with quite the quirky life. From The Rabbit Factor to The Moose Paradox to The Beaver Theory, this is quite possibly my favourite translated series to date, with the quirky plotlines, the depth of character, the humour and sense of fun.

Henri has now moved in with his girlfriend, Laura Helanto, quite an unlikely relationship that he’s been building up and her daughter, Tulli. He’s decided that he will go for the challenge of being part of what will now become part of a blended family. As if having challenges to overcome and learn to ride to the rollercoaster of family life of, he has obstacles in his professional life to contend with too.

The “YouMeFun” Adventure Park has a competitor, Somersault City. Unlike “YouMeFun” following all the rules and regulations, Somersault City has chosen to be non-compliant, so much so, the International Association of Adventure Parks declined membership. This new park will try anything to lure customers away from “YouMeFun.” There are many freebies, including the irresistible bait of sausages, not to mention celebrity appearances. He reckons his trusty knowledge of maths will help him out.

When there is a murder and the body count adds up, that order gets messier. The murder weapon of choice is far from what would perhaps be considered a “usual” choice. Henri finds himself in trouble, the type which maths may not totally help him out of a sticky situation. He could stand to find himself being accused of the murders, unless he can think and act quickly…

The Beaver Theory is an excellent 3rd book to the series that is highly entertaining and fun to be around, making it hard to put down.

I highly recommend The Beaver Theory that is the perfect finale to The Rabbit Factor Trilogy. I am now looking forward to seeing what Antti Tuomainen writes next and wondering if there will be more humour in the next book.

#Review By Lou of For The Love of Coffee By Fiona Woodifield @FionaWoodifield @RandomTTours #BlogTour #Coffee #Books #ForTheLoveOfCoffee

For The Love of Coffee
By Fiona Woodifield

Who can resist a book called For The Love of Coffee? Life, love, coffee all swirl round like a mug of your favourite coffee beans. Find out more in the blurb and my thoughts in my review below.

Blurb

Meet Romilly Greene, people-pleaser extraordinaire, loving and dutiful wife, mother, sister and daughter, always putting everyone else’s needs before her own. But the truth is she feels trapped and unfulfilled. When the cracks in her marriage begin to show, she and her daughters Elise and Summer run away from it all to the picturesque village of Melstock, the place of her idyllic childhood holidays.

They are soon welcomed into the heart of the community by a host of quirky characters, notably Mark Whittaker, the disturbingly attractive owner of the local country estate.

Trouble is brewing quite literally however as the future of Melstock’s historic coffee factory comes under threat, Summer’s teacher, the cute and brooding Henry Barton seems to have taken her in violent dislike, Elise is bullied at secondary school and there appears to be no escape from Romilly’s husband and his hideous mother.

Will Romilly ever manage to put herself first for once and rediscover her own identity, whilst juggling single parenting and attempting to recapture the lost tatters of her love life? Or will she settle for familiarity and security above all else?

Review

First of all, the first thing that hit me was the title – The Love of Coffee. With so many coffee lovers in the world, including myself, this is perfect! Momentarily, because he is so iconic, the tv show For the Love of Dogs by the late, great, Paul O’Grady, flickers in my brain and then straight back into the book, which turns out to be a rather interesting read, with more depth than imagined. There are some hard-hitting themes within the writing that also sports a lightness of touch.

Romily Greene is one of the world’s greatest people pleasers, always putting others ahead of herself, even though she doesn’t feel it is fulfilling her or meeting her own needs. Essentially everyone is getting more from her and at the same time, she is depleting herself. She’s a very relatable character and interesting to read. In what seems like book that could easily be something that we’ve all read before, this shows that there is a depth to the character. It draws you into her story and you want to see what is coming next, especially when she ups sticks and moves away with her daughters, Elise and Summer. It comes quite unexpectedly from someone who has been such the dutiful wife and yet she has such a sense of self as the realisation comes with it not being all that she wants out of life and wants to know what and who is out there for her. There’s suddenly a sense of, almost adventure and exploration, not in the traditional sense, but in the sense of seeing what life there is beyond. The eroding of part of her life, motherhood and the loss of her one time love as he moves on and all the stress and frustrations.

The coffee factory, sounds an exciting, enticing place and is re-enforced as being so, with references to Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but this book is for adult readers, so it isn’t a whimsical tour around where coffee is made in that sense. It is in trouble and could close-down, imminently.

New romance comes in the form of Mark Whittaker, smooth talking and rather dishy.

The decadence of coffee makes things better in this community. Life can be difficult and challenging to navigate at times, with bullying and gaslighting, but coffee swirls around this, easing something different in, with what else it can bring, except a delicious drink.

Kick back with a cup of your favourite coffee, smell the aroma and soak up the words on the pages.

About the Author

As a young child, Fiona spent hours reading, curling up with a book was one of her favourite past times. Her current volume would accompany her everywhere, to school, on daytrips, holidays and visits. The idea of providing an imaginary world in which others can escape is a wonderful one and this became Fiona’s dream, to become a published author.

From an early age, Fiona’s parents encouraged her writing – it all started when they gave her a simple red lined exercise book. Soon she had a collection of notebooks, small, large, plain, The Snowman, Brambly Hedge, they all became full of her jottings.

Years later, Fiona studied for a Combined Arts Degree at Durham, then a Masters in English – writing her thesis on Jane Austen and Masculinity. In total contrast she went to work for a renowned fashion magazine in London, then various marketing posts. Four lovely daughters later, during which time she has graduated from laughing at Mrs Bennet to sympathising with her, she continued to scribble away, only the notebooks are somewhat bigger. Fiona has written for national magazines on diverse subjects from Jane Austen to caravanning! One morning the idea came to her for ‘The Jane Austen Dating Agency’ and this was the first book she just had to write. The sequel, ‘A Wedding at the Jane Austen Dating Agency,’ was published in August.

Fiona is also the author of the lockdown romance, ‘Love in Lockdown,’ which was published in November 2020 by Avon Books, under the pseudonym Chloe James.

Fiona obviously loves writing, especially romantic comedy, meeting with friends and family, dancing, visiting historical houses (dreaming she lives there of course) walks by the sea and escaping into a book whilst consuming a worrying amount of chocolate.

#Review By Lou of The Opposite of Lonely By Doug Johnstone @doug_johnstone @OrendaBooks #TheSkelfs @RandomTTours #BlogTour #TheSkelfs #Skelfaholics #TheOppositeOfLonely

The Opposite of Lonely
By Doug Johnstone

The Skelf’s are back with unusual cases in this 5th instalment, which can also be read as a stand-alone. Discover more in the blurb and then my review below.

Blurb

Even death needs company…

The Skelf women are recovering from the cataclysmic events that nearly claimed their lives. Their funeral-director and private-investigation businesses are back on track, and their cases are as perplexing as ever.

Matriarch Dorothy looks into a suspicious fire at an illegal campsite and takes a grieving, homeless man under her wing. Daughter Jenny is searching for her missing sister-in-law, who disappeared in tragic circumstances, while grand-daughter Hannah is asked to investigate increasingly dangerous conspiracy theorists, who are targeting a retired female astronaut … putting her own life at risk.

With a body lost at sea, funerals for those with no one to mourn them, reports of strange happenings in outer space, a funeral crasher with a painful secret, and a violent attack on one of the family, The Skelfs face their most personal – and perilous – cases yet. Doing things their way may cost them everything…

Tense, unnerving and warmly funny, The Opposite of Lonely is the hugely anticipated fifth instalment in the unforgettable Skelfs series, and this time, danger comes from everywhere…

Review

Secrets, arson, assault, death in Edinburgh means the Skelfs are back!
If you’ve not met the Skelfs yet, they are a family who own and work in a funeral parlour and as private investigators.

Dorothy, the matriarch of the family is tasked to do a funeral at an illegal campsite, when she also meets a homeless man. Things are far from straight-forward with crime hot on the tail and getting worse and darker as time goes on.

Jenny is tasked with finding the body of her ex-husband, stolen by her unhinged sister in law.

Hannah is asked to investigate conspiracy theorists targeting a once prominent, now retired female astronaut, whom she is initially starstruck by.

The book brings up thought-provoking topics such as dying alone. which brings emotion with it. The odd thing is, there is a funeral crasher. A person, with issues of his own, just turns up to funerals, those that are not attended by anyone, so, therefore “the opposite of lonely” comes into it.

There is a lot of compassion from the funeral directors/private investigators, which counteracts the grievous crimes, giving it some warmth and heart, also some humour pricks in a bit.

The chapters are short, making for brisk reading and with all the mysterious deaths and the warmth of characters, the strong scenery, this is another great read.

Celebrating 5 years of Bookmarks and Stages Blog By Lou

#CrimeFiction #Romcom #HistoricalFiction #NonFiction #Biographies #Autobiographies #Theatre #Musicals #Plays

5 years of Bookmarks and Stages Blog

It is hard to believe that 5 years later and me and my blog are still here. It really is, and what I am writing here comes from the heart and every word is meant.
See some books, find out a bit more about behind the scenes, certain people who deserve a shout out, something exciting to come for those who follow and read my blog as you travel to through this blog post.

It is so wonderful that you read my reviews, whether it is reading the book, the theatre. the festival reviews or the Q&As or all of them,
I thank you all very much.

Watch Out For Friday 29th September. I will do a giveaway.

I wanted to write a different sort of blog post. It strikes me how people aren’t always thanked, recognised for what they actually do and also 5 years is quite something isn’t it? A bit of a milestone I, at times wasn’t sure if I’d reach it or not and with followers intact and I am excited to say this is still growing. I felt, since my blog has reached the heady heights of 5 years old, I should give you a bit more than just a simple thanks. To me, you’re worth more than that and 5 years later to see that people are still commenting, still reading, still interacting with my blog and social media and still joining my blog excites me. It’s a journey like none other. I even still remember initial conversations with certain people, whether privately or on publicly on social media.
I am a little nervous a I write this post, I’ll admit, because I don’t often write like this, but here goes nothing and I hope you remain following and reading my blog.
I am self-taught, so not all may be deemed “conventional” and perhaps this blog post is or perhaps it isn’t, I do not know, but it is what’s in my heart to the tips of my fingers to write because, like everything in life, I don’t take people for granted because I know pain, suffering, love, greatness. I also know how incredibly lucky I am, even all these years on in what and who has come my way.

A blog only exists if it is both created/written and read.

Firstly, I am grateful to everyone who’s path I’ve crossed in either the physical or virtual world, some I now know a bit more personally and others I do not (yet).
I am acutely aware that I write and create alone, this is not a solo process to keep a blog going. Networking goes on, however formal or informal, support occurs in many forms, including reading and sharing. I have written about some of this and certain people below.

I am also grateful for the interactions, the sharing of my work, the conversations.
I write alone, sometimes with music on, sometimes in pure silence, amongst my paid job, volunteering, family life and studying. Blogging is a far cry from doing this. Where I live, it’s a typical small place. so as much as I live and open up my world, blogging has come with unexpected and beyond my wildest dreams type of opportunities that have opened it even more, meaning I’ve seen things, met people, been quoted in books and across social media platforms you know, the stuff I always thought would be out of reach and just happened to other people, but has miraculously to me and is sincerely beyond my wildest dreams.

For you, the blog readers and followers of my work, wherever that may be, I will do something special 29th of Sept for you to enter.
But first, how did it all start? Who are some of the people who I feel the need to give thanks to beyond readers of my blog? Let’s get cracking and find out as you travel further.

Behind the Scenes of the Bookmarks and Stages Blog

I came up with the name Bookmarks and Stages because I knew I didn’t want it to be only 1 thing. I have a love of books, theatre, talks and events that happen on a stage. So, Bookmarks is the bookish part. We often like a bookmark to keep our pages, don’t we? The bookmark I use as my logo was what I cross-stitched up for my mum pre-blog and I just borrowed it back. Stages is the arts part. Often events are performed on a stage. I also didn’t want it to be a focussed blog on one genre or another. There’s plenty about that do and are great, but I decided that wasn’t really for me.

My blog is growing and I have recently been commissioned to write reviews once a month for a new magazine – The Writers’ Narrative. It is free on ISSUU and £1.99 on Amazon, these reviews do not appear first on my blog and have not appeared on my blog before in-accordance to the rules. I am given a theme and choose a book in-accordance to this. The Writers’ Narrative (This link will open in a new tab, so you can easily return here).

Starting “Quietly” (or not as the case may be)

Well, what can I say. I tend to do things, perhaps a bit unconventionally for some. I thought I was starting quietly. I wrote a really small introduction blog post. I had tickets for the days and week after that initial post for Bloody Scotland and Morecambe and Vice. Both crime book festivals, the first in Scotland and the other in England. I wasn’t there to blog. I was there because there were people I wanted to see and an actor and author I had arranged to meet prior to even having a blog. I walked the torchlight parade at Bloody Scotland and took a seat the next day at an event, then thought I would make myself useful and write it up, similarly at Morecambe and Vice and introduced myself to a bunch of authors and got some good advice. Miraculously people spoke. let me take photos for my blog and some even followed. I had nothing to lose. I wasn’t there in any capacity. the only thing I had to lose was if I came across terribly to an actor and author I had arranged to meet. Turned out absolutely fine in the end.
A friend later informed me this is apparently not a quiet way to start anything, let alone a blog, apparently a small book review would be a quiet way to begin. This had occurred to me, but I saw an opportunity to maybe do something decent for others whilst in their presence and it seemed a good starting point to me.

Special Thanks (and bookish pics)

There are some people who deserve a bit of a shout out here because some people do things that are unseen and unknown and generally it is above and beyond. Some of these people have been around since the start, some encouraged me to start a blog in the first place and others have given me or opened up wonderful opportunities and firsts of things for me.
These people (in no particular order) are Wendy H. Jones, Kelly Lacey, Robert Daws, Linda Hill, Anne Cater, Sue Moorcroft, Matson Taylor, Rebecca Collins, Adrian Hobart, Joanne Baird, Isabelle Kenyon, Lin Anderson and Bob McDevitt, Nula Suchet, Joanne Harris,Fern Britton and Elizabeth Dawson and Sara Jade Virtue, Ellie Hudson, Alison Barrow.
A few people are also mentioned at the bottom who share my work around a fair bit.

Crime, non-fiction, children’s author and podcaster Wendy H. Jones, incidentally also the editor of The Writer’s Narrative. Long before she commissioned me for this, she, along with top Scottish blogger and blog tour organiser encouraged me to start a blog. I had considered one years prior to this on holiday destinations and decided against it on grounds it could have been short-lived and then I realised, shortly after this thought, I wasn’t holidaying quite so much. I met Wendy H. Jones at a library author event and then for coffee. I thought it was an innocent coffee after replying to say I could be in Edinburgh.
Kelly Lacey joined us (I had no idea who she was at the time and now she is a good friend). I was asked about reviewing, blogging and social media. This niggled within my brain and wouldn’t let go, so I went off to research how to write a blog, taught myself and then introduced myself to some people.
Anne Cater from Random Blog Tours is someone I introduced myself to after writing some blog posts. She is a successful blog tour organiser and thankfully she liked my blog posts enough added me to her invite list.
Linda Hill was also a person I introduced myself early on. It seemed a good idea and I wasn’t wrong. She supports me, sharing every post and answered some queries I had very early on and is a bit of a “cheerleader” and writes her own fantastic blog and contributes to a magazine (different from the one I am now contributing to).

It’s a long story, but one thing led to another and pre-blog, I found myself saying to actor and author Hugh Fraser that I’d go down to Morecambe, since I couldn’t go up to Aberdeen. So, in a way, he is instrumental in my first taste of Morecambe and the crime book festival, I ended up trying out writing up a festival. Following this, I officially did this for the Morecambe and Vice festival.

Robert Daws is an actor of stage and screen and crime author who has clearly opened opportunities for me and has instilled confidence in me and my writing and that for me is huge and will always mean a lot and is intuitively kind in hard times.
He is published by Hobeck Books, run by Rebecca Collins and Adrian Hobart. They give me opportunities to review and do things for them in their background and this is thanks to all 3 of these people. Not that I rate everything that shiny 5 stars, it’s always honest. They also shared an entire blog post they did not know I was writing onto their website when they turned 1, some years back now.

Joanne Harris also shown kindness through a hard time and also gave me opportunity to review one of her books and now I am on a publisher’s list to review her books.

Lin Anderson and Bob McDevitt run Bloody Scotland. Lin Anderson supports my blog and I happened to have had a chance meet with Bob McDevitt, nowhere near Stirling, where Bloody Scotland, but many miles away in Morecambe and reckoned I should email a certain person to review for them. Lockdown happened and I had my fingers and toes crossed afterwards that the contact person was still involved and a press pass was given. I’ve written up many panels and the rest is history.

Sue Moorcroft gave me a chance to review one of her books and was the first without it being attached to a blog tour. I hadn’t approached an author before about reviewing their book and thankfully she agreed. It wasn’t this book, but this one holds many other memories.

Isabelle Kenyon gives me opportunities to review via some small presses,
such as Fly On The Wall.

Nula Suchet gave me first opportunity to review her autobiography and has supported me and my blog.

Adam Croft for automatically sending me an email asking if I’m available to review.

Elizabeth Dawson from Harper Collins got in touch during lockdown asking if I wanted to be part of a small group on Zoom to interview Fern Britton. I hadn’t been part of any type of Q&A before as far as blogs were concerned, only a bit in library work.
I had not long lost my gran, but I went for it. I had used Zoom once before because like many other people, I held virtual dinner parties, starting on social media and then the chat went to Zoom, so when the chance of an interview, something I had never done and on new technology, I had everything crossed, took a deep breath and joined the chat, also hoping I would keep it all together due to what happened not many days before. Luckily I did and Fern Britton has supported my blog and some social media since that Q&A.

I had never asked anyone before to interview. I wasn’t sure whether I could, should or what the response would be. Matson Taylor agreed to a Q&A style interview. This was done via email on the account we really wanted to meet and then had so much fun talking about this and that, the 40 mins of Zoom sped past, twice.

Sara Jade Virtue of Team Books and the City (Simon & Schuster) has got me on her list and gives me great opportunities to review books.

Alison Barrow for giving me a chance reviewing some pretty huge books she published.

Ellie Hudson allows me from time to time to review Penguin Viking books and allowed me to review The Thursday Murder Club (2nd book) and I won the first when there was a library competition on, so I also have Richard Osman himself to thank, who also sent my mum a card one Christmas, when he ran another comp.

Val Penny for being the first person to suggest I posted my reviews on their FB page.

Flick Morris PR is opening some review opportunities and British Comedy Guide listed my blog for so many Edinburgh Fringe shows and Gyles Brandreth, Jon Culshaw, Shoot From the Hip quite certainly helped in getting my blog noticed further by their sharing.

Joanne Baird, Melanie Hill, Karen Louise Hollis, Karen Kingston, Janet Emson, Karen at Orenda Books, Andrea Tromans, Liz Fenwick, Lynne Walker, Kevin Ansbro, Mason Bushell, R.C Brigstock, Alison Waterfield, Helen Weir, William Shaw, Clive Mantle, Dr. Chris Merritt, D.E. McCluskey, Kevin Ansbro, Welbeck Books, M.W. Arnold, Sarah Harwood, Catherine Russell, Camilla Elworthy, Sue Vickers-Thompson, William Humble who cheerlead, give opportunities and share my work around and a couple who invite me onto blog tours, introduce me to some folk all of which I am grateful as it all helps.
There are also many other people who follow me for which I am grateful for and appreciative of too.

Moving Ever Forwards

I hope first and foremost to still have opportunities, a readership and followers.

I love writing reviews. I couldn’t say how many hours I put into this and how many times I’ve worked at some odd times of day to fit it in, but nonetheless I love doing it. I love the knowledge that someone is finding something useful out of it.
I’ve discovered I like doing Q&As on my blog and would like to do more. I’ve done some, since my first one, where I’ve written out the questions and the recipient has posted me the answers. ROI PR has enabled some of this and a couple of actors who have approached me with opportunities too, so far. On top of this, I have a bit of a wish list. I will also continue writing reviews of books, theatre and festivals. Theatre and festivals are other areas I would like, when and where possible, to increase my reviews of too. I will also still be writing reviews for The Writers’ Narrative Magazine.

If I’ve missed anyone out, it isn’t intentional and just know I care not just of the work produced but the people producing it and the readers reading my blog. Imagine how long this blog post would be if I listed everyone I ever reviewed for and everyone who has ever shared, read my posts. It might break the internet! I am grateful to all those who I have ever had the opportunity to review for, continue reviewing for and to all those I’ve met in-person and/or online.
I am excited and hopeful to see what the next 5 years bring and hopefully you’ll all join me on this journey too.

Thank You!!!

I now leave you with just a few images of books, podcasts and stage that I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing over the past 5 years, in no particular order. There have been many more, but imagine how huge the blog post would be then. I might even break it.

In The Absence of Miracles

Hands Up

Closer To You

Eileen – The Making of George Orwell

Paper Sparrows

They Magic Flag Mystery

Journeys in the Wild

The Boy Who Dreamed of Dragons

Trueman & Riley with Robert Daws and Duncan Preston

A Jewel in the Sands of Time

Shakespearean

A Year of Simple Living

The Life We Almost Had cover with flowers

The Dragon With The Blazing Bottom cover

cover SOLO TRANSFORMATION ON STAGE by Ronald Rand (1)

image_604acc58-ddf9-41c3-820f-7b580af96bc0

Normal Rules Don’t Apply by Kate Atkinson

#Review by Lou of The Wild Coast by Lin Anderson @Lin_Anderson @PanMacmillan #CrimeFiction #TheWildCoast #Scottishnoir @RandomTTours #BlogTour

The Wild Coast

By Lin Anderson

The latest Rhona McLeod book by Lin Anderson has arrived with riveting mystery and conversational points. Find out about this and ahead and after my review what else she has written in this series.

A remote shoreline. A lethal killer. As lone visitors disappear from the rural northwest of Scotland, campsites are becoming crime scenes. The Wild Coast is a chilling thriller from Lin Anderson.

When forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod is brought in to analyse a shallow grave on Scotland’s west coast, she is disturbed by a bundle of twigs crafted into a stickman and left in the victim’s mouth.

Then, when a young woman is reported missing from a nearby campsite with another sinister figurine left in her van, it seems that someone is targeting wild campers. An idyllic coastline known for providing peace and serenity, now the area is a hunting ground.

As her investigation proceeds, Rhona is forced to reconsider her closest bonds. Rumours of sexual assault offences by serving police officers are circling in Glasgow, which may include her trusted colleague DS Michael McNab. Could it be true, or is someone looking to put him out of action?

All the while a young woman’s life is on the line and the clock is ticking . . .

‘Lin Anderson is one of Scotland’s national treasures’ Stuart MacBride

Review

The Wild Coast is chilling with a slight creepy vibe with the wild landscape and stickmen left as a mark on victims. Wildcampers beware!

Arisaig is where Rhona McLeod is holidaying. She thought it would be relaxing, time away from the stresses of the job and away from the front door.

The book is observant when it comes to latest trends such as wildcamping. These are the people being targeted in the latest crime wave.

In comes Rhona McLeod and her team also battle their own crisis. This is when the news meets book. The police, including her team are facing scrutiny, even her closest colleague and friend Michael McNab. There are rumours of assaults. It adds to tensions for the team and the reader.

This is a book expertly intertwining the conversation surrounding policing as well as crime solving. It’s fascinating and full of intrigue with the contrast of beautiful, wild scenery and the darkness that certain people bring. Lin Anderson manages to have a contrast of light and dark and great plotting that makes it compelling.

Wild Coast is a book I recommend, whether you have read this series before or not.

#Review of Goddesses By Nina Millns @ninamillns @simonschusterUK @jessbarratt88 @RandomTTours #BlogTour #Goddesses

Goddesses
By Nina Millns

I am excited to be on the blog tour for Goddesses. You may never view an invitation to a retreat or hen weekend in the same light again in this dark contemporary fiction book. Today it gives me great pleasure in closing the Blog Tour with a review, thanks to Random T. Tours and Simon and Schuster for a copy of the book and for the invite in-exchange for an honest review.

Blurb

Some friends have your back.
Some friends stab you in the back.

Ayesha is just about finding her feet on the London stand-up scene, but when her response to a sexist heckler goes viral, she finds herself drawn into an exclusive group of activists: a sacred circle of change makers, each woman with a specific gift to contribute to the cause.

The circle draws in her friend Yaz too and they are both invited to an intimate hen do, except it’s not a hen do – it’s a Goddess Retreat. While Ayesha, longing to find her tribe, tries desperately to fit herself into a shape that the women will accept, Yaz treats the entire ‘itinerary’ with open disdain. But the Goddess Retreat is no laughing matter. As the weekend descends into chaos, they’ll need to stick together if they want to get out alive.

Goddesses is a bitingly brilliant novel that explores the power dynamics of sisterhood and activism, the dark side of white feminism and the importance of making your voice heard.

Review

The book sweeps you along from the start. It welcomes reader into India’s Goddess Retreat. India and Clemmie are waiting for your arrival. Read the rules carefully and then swing into your itinerary for your stay… but will you feel better and all zingy, full of life and light and positive energy or will the dark, negative energy come across in your stay as not everyone is as expected… will you get out alive?
This is no ordinary retreat experience… Twisty stuff happens… Enter, if you dare…

Ayesha, Yaz, Frankie, Joni and of course India and Clemmie who will be Goddesses within the Goddess Retreat. You find out how and when they met each other. Readers first meet the characters in 2018. The timeline then jumps a year back, when in 2017 Yaz and Ayesha are on the stand-up circuit breaking through into the comedy club scene. The unfolding of how they met the other people then occurs, pulling readers with them into a house in North London.

There’s the socialite hen party of the year. All should be perfect and wonderful. The nightmare begins… Someone has an axe to grind and is out for revenge.

Nina Millns is great at changing the tone and vibe between the serene of a retreat to the buzz and adrenaline fuelled comedy club scenes to the intensity within situations. Your body (because it’s clever like this) absorbs each vibe, so you really travel with the characters (because the author is clever like that). The book makes societal, feminist, patriarchal and political points of view throughout in various ways and how things are and how things are viewed during the plot, with themes of retreats, friendship, sisterhood along with its togetherness and breakdowns, feminism, including its darker side, which is quite refreshing in a way, because no matter what your background, colour or creed, the darker side can pop up within certain people and this acknowledges a bit of that. There is also a smattering of humour and it creates an aura, a tension that makes you keep wanting to read on and on until the end of what is a twisty, sometimes surreal read with divine writing.

Goddesses is also optioned for TV and the rights sold to a company. It certainly has very good potential for a tv drama. Now, find out about the author below.

About the Author

Nina Millns has won several awards for her scripts, her work has been featured on BBC Radio 4, and she has recently written various episodes for the Dr Who audio drama, including an all-female International Women’s Day Special, as well as writing the BBC Sounds series Mortem.

Her second play Service was placed in the top 2% of the BBC Scriptroom Drama 2021 and has just won the 2021 ETPEP Award. She is also one of twelve writers on this year’s Channel 4 Screenwriting Course. Nina is a Londoner of mixed heritage who speaks four .languages. She comes from a musical family and was named after Nina Simone.

She also works with young people as a tutor and mentor and is passionate about helping them fulfil their potential.