Disobedience by Naomi Alderman

Every so often I listen to a book that I think would have been better had I read it. Disobedience is such a book. It wasn’t that Alderman’s writing is of the sort that I wanted to savour (that’s not to say it wasn’t good, it was) but there was so much information about Orthodox Jewish customs, philosophy and teachings that had I been reading, I suspect I would have been marking passages to revisit, with Google at my side.

I very much enjoyed the London setting – the Orthodox Jewish community that Alderman describes was richly textured, and small details made the characters very real. I was okay with the lack of resolution in the relationships between the main characters – it was realistic! – but I understand that some readers would feel cheated.

3/5

The Haters by Robyn Harding

I dare any reader to give this book a one star rating on Goodreads! Actually, I’m always going to feel kindly toward a thriller where I can’t guess the culprit within the first few pages. Harding throws out a few too many red herrings but the author/ Goodreads/ readers-as-critics-controlling-the-fate-of-a-book angle kept me turning the pages (or in this case, listening).

3/5

The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland

Getting a tattoo indicates a desire for change…

Ringland has created a tightly woven story about trauma, grief, how women are transformed by water, and the power of story-telling (whether that be on one’s skin, or in a journal, or through music or fairy tales).

There were elements of this book that I enjoyed (especially the references to shell stringing, night gardens, monarch butterflies and grief, and ocean rainforests) but the multiple references to selkies, specific fairy tales, seals, swans and tattoos were overdone and too convenient. I think it is a normal part of grieving to look for ‘signs’, but for these characters mourning the death of their sister/ daughter/ friend, the abundance and overt significance of the ‘signs’ didn’t seem plausible.

Lastly, I did love that the author provides links to the various things that inspired the novel (including playlists).

3/5