Dorothy Koomson

Kez is asked to go undercover at an elite boarding school where girls have disappeared and a teacher has died. Winifred is given the chance to leave her state school and attend Axton Manor which will give her many opportunities but as a working class black girl she doesn't really fit in and then she disappears as well. What Kez discovers is an institution confident in its power that accepts abuse as part of the development of a female power group.
Well, this is something different! To me it show more starts as an adult Harry Potter and ends as the Hunger Games and it's a breathless ride all the way. I liked the telling of the story from the two perspectives and will forgive the completely preposterous plot because the journey is so good. show less

For me, the unbelievable parts really took away from what could have been an insightful and groundbreaking novel. I think the author took on a very difficult subject (domestic violence and sexual abuse) and did a fantastic job in showing how such a relationship might be instigated and maintained. I think the relationship she portrayed was realistic and heartbreaking. Hard to read in some places because it was so heinous. I also really liked the premise, that one of the girls had been show more imprisoned for murdering her abuser while the other one got away -- and yet, not really because the trauma poisoned her life. This part of the story was very good.

BUT -- there were so many aspects that were just unbelievable to me. How can total strangers recognize Serena from the twenty-year-old case but not her husband or any of her husband's family? How can her husband not see how Serena's strange actions (hiding the knives) and paranoia are a result of some past trauma? Plus, she must have scars from stitches and a medical history of extensive injuries, including broken bones and hospitalization. How does he not notice? He's a doctor for Pete's sake! How could both girls' families -- parents, siblings, grandparents -- not have seen the extensive injuries their abuser inflicted? We're talking broken bones, gashes that need stitches, black eyes and bruises and cuts. And what about their teachers? How could the girls be spending all this time with their abuser, days and nights for years and no one noticed anything wrong or strange? Especially because their families were basically loving and supportive?

Also, there were aspects to both women's relationships with men that really bothered me. Serena's husband Evan is described by the author as 'an almost perfect' man. But he routinely makes big decisions without consulting her, uses their children to manipulate her, and his sudden reversal from being hurt and angry and convinced of her guilt when he discovers her secret, to suddenly being convinced of her innocence when she gets hurt did not make sense to me. And Poppy falls for someone who first deceived her and repeatedly crossed the boundaries which she set, but he was so 'nice and gentle' and treated her well that she ended up falling for him. Ugh. I guess I just wanted Serena and Poppy to be more empowered, especially Poppy after her time in prison. It would have been understandable if their trauma made them choose poor partners, but the men are presented as being these great guys, even though their actions show them to be otherwise. It would have been more interesting to see Poppy become independent as she healed her relationships with her parents, and Serena work to heal the relationship with her husband. As it was, their relationships with men were very one-dimensional.

Lastly, the crime. I figured out who the murderer must be pretty early on. But as presented, it was not believable. Marcus doesn't realize he's stabbing himself multiple times? No way. Marlene comes to his house even though she has a restraining order out against him, and knows how violent he is? No way. Marlene wipes her fingerprints off the knife but misses the place where Poppy's fingerprints are? No way. Too many implausible things. It would have been more interesting if one of the girls HAD been guilty. show less

1993, Brighton and two teenagers, Nell and Jude find a body of a young girl who becomes known as The Brighton Mermaid. Three weeks later Jude disappears. Twenty five years later Nell is still searching for the truth about The Brighton Mermaid.

I have read a few books by Dorothy Koomson and have enjoyed them especially The Ice Cream Girls. This book was interesting with many layers.

The main plot is about TBM and Nell's quest to find out what really happened, by doing this she hopes to find show more Jude. The story is told from the point of view of Nell and her sister Macy. Macy has her own sub plot of what she saw, what she has kept secret all the years and her battle with her own anxieties. The story flips back and forth from now and then until all is revealed.

This story does has it flaws and at times I did wonder how realistic it is. At times I was thinking would that really happen, can somebody really do this, but the story fiction so sometimes I just have to go with it.

The majority of the story I really enjoyed. When it came to the big reveal it really didn't matter as it had to be one or the other. What spured me on was Jude, where was she, was she dead or alive. Don't flip the back pages if you don't want to know till the end.

Overall I liked the story but wasn't blown away but there was enough to keep me interested. show less

I liked the idea of this collection: showcasing four of the Doctor’s finest female companions, entirely written by women. And overall the collection worked. Here are my thoughts on each story.

Sarah Jane and the Temple of Eyes
I am a sucker for ancient Rome stories, and this one was pretty good. I liked that Sarah got to use her journalism skills in this one.

Rose and the Snow Window
I liked that this story was set in Toronto, but one point didn’t work for me: the City of Toronto has its own show more police force and therefore the RCMP would not be the first agency to respond to a call, and certainly not on horseback, unless somehow the situation occurred in the middle of the Musical Ride. (My other half: “Or unless the government collapsed and we were under martial law.” Me: “This was set in 2005! There was no martial law. This isn’t an alternate future in the aftermath of SARS.”)

Clara and the Maze of Cui Palta
I think I’ve picked up a joke in the title: there is a verb, palter, that means to equivocate or prevaricate in speech, or to trifle with. The question of the title could be “who’s trifling with the Doctor and Clara”? And Susan Calman did a good job of making Clara not annoying.

Bill and the Three Jackets
I really liked this one! I love stories with Twelve and Bill in them, and this one felt genuinely scary to me. show less