Today I’m sharing another selection of mini reviews of books that I’ve read and enjoyed during my blogging break. I got all four of these books from NetGalley and I loved all of them.

The Fell by Sarah Moss

I’ve read and enjoyed quite a few of Sarah Moss’s previous novels but I think this one is my new favourite. The Fell follows Kate who is having to self-isolate with her teenage son due to having had contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid. She is really struggling with being trapped indoors and convinces herself that a walk on the moor won’t hurt anyone and no one will ever know she’s done it. We also follow her neighbour Alice, who has cancer and has had to shield throughout the pandemic. Alice sees Kate leave but doesn’t stop her so when Kate’s son tells Alice Kate is missing she immediately fears the worst and they call the police. This novel explores so many points of view regarding the pandemic, the restrictions and human nature in the face of all that has happened in the last year and a half. Moss makes you understand all the different views and to have some understanding of why people have struggled in different ways with different aspects of the pandemic. This is a short novel but it’s one that took me a few days to read as I wanted to really digest what I was reading. I really loved this novel and I highly recommend it.

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

This is the second book in the Thursday Murder Club series and while I didn’t love it quite as much as the first I did still very much enjoy it and I definitely enjoyed catching up with all the characters again. This book begins with Elizabeth receiving a letter from an old colleague who wants to see her because he needs her help. He’s got himself into a situation involving a diamond robbery! Needless to say people start being murdered and the murder club start investigating again. I do love the characters in this novel and finding out more about them was my favourite aspect to the story. This is such a fun series and I will definitely be looking out for a third book!

Orphans of the Storm by Celia Imrie

I requested this novel from NetGalley as soon as I heard about it as I can’t resist stories about the Titanic. This novel follows a young Marcella in France in 1911. She meets a man and marries him after a whirlwind romance against the advice of her family. They go on to have two children but the marriage is not a happy one and Marcella seeks advice about filing for divorce. We also meet Margaret, a New York socialite who has managed to get tickets for the maiden voyage of the Titanic. This is a wonderful novel that had me turning the pages late into the night and I very much enjoyed it. It was tense knowing that it’s building to some of the characters ending up on the Titanic but not knowing what their fate will be. I loved Marcella, I was rooting for her all the way through the book. I loved this novel and was really shocked to learn how much of it is based on real people and a true story – not just the Titanic part! It was fascinating to read what is known and how Imrie created a fictional story based on the little that was known of these people. I definitely recommend this one!

Freckles by Cecelia Ahern

I’m a huge fan of Cecelia Ahern so I’m always excited to learn of a new novel from her. Freckles felt different from her previous novels but I still really enjoyed it. Allegra Bird, known as Freckles, is quite a sad and lonely young woman. She wanted to join the police but was rejected so now she’s a traffic warden. One day someone tells her that everyone is the product of the five people closest to them and this sends her on a journey to surround herself with five strong people. I felt quite an affinity with Freckles, she is lost and searching for a connection and meaning in her life. Her mother abandoned her and her father is an eccentric man who did his best but Freckles has always felt absence in her life. I was rooting for her to find what she needed to feel complete and happy. I did find this novel a little hard to get into but once I got there I just didn’t want to put it down. I adored Freckles and I still keep thinking of her and wondering what she’s up to now. I recommend this one!