During my month off blogging I was still doing lots of reading… so I am now very, very behind on reviews. Some quick ones to catch-up.

In a Common Hour by Sita Walker

The story unfolds over lunch hour in an Australian school, with some helpful flashbacks for context. The premise was compelling and I was engrossed at the beginning. However, the big reveal and what unfolds immediately after that was strange, and the way that the characters were inter-linked stretched plausibility. Overall, I wasn’t convinced and this wasn’t helped by uneven dialogue (the chat between the teachers was fine but the students’ banter let it down). All that said, it would probably make a great film!

2/5

The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke

Feel like a book that will have you sobbing from start to end? This is the book for you!

The ‘heart’ in question is that of nine-year-old Keira Ball, who suffered catastrophic brain injuries in a car accident. Keira’s family made the decision to donate her organs. Meanwhile nine-year-old Max Johnson had been in hospital for nearly a year,  fighting a virus that was causing his heart to fail. Max was the recipient of Keira’s heart.

Clarke explores the ‘...the brutal arithmetic of transplant surgery‘, through the story of two families dealing with an unimaginable amount of fear and grief, as well as the doctors and medical staff who make it happen, and the history and legalities of transplant surgery. A wonderful balance between the emotional and the factual.

4/5

The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley

I’ll preface this by saying that I have enjoyed Riley’s previous books for their darkness and her capacity to create intense emotional suspense. I think she is brilliant at letting the reader fill in the gaps. In The Palm House, Riley didn’t leave enough unsaid and although the two main characters were both interesting in their own ways, I wasn’t really sure about what bonded them and for that reason, wasn’t invested in the way that I had anticipated.

3/5