4 Paw Review: Fury by Shirley Marr

/ Sandi Parsons / Leave a comment

Told through the eyes of unreliable narrator Eliza, Fury is not a typical whodunnit. Upfront we know the culprit behind the murder is Eliza herself.

“My name is Eliza Boans, and I am a murder.
I know. It’s pretty shocking, huh?”

Eliza’s opening lines feeds the reader many questions.
Who’s been murdered? Why? How?
More importantly, why is Eliza so flippant about her murdering status?

[Image Description: Rotto, a black and tan dog is sitting next to a green fairy mushroom which is displaying a copy of Fury by Shirley Marr.]

Told in flashbacks with snippets of information Eliza gradually reveals the answers — after a fashion, and in her own style.

The characters in Fury are flawed and display unthinkable behaviour — it’s one of the factors that makes Fury so compelling and hard to put down.

Rotto thought Fury was a fabulous read, well-deserving of the top ranking — 4 paws 🐾🐾

Chilli needs to take a life-lesson from Eliza and learn to confess her crimes. The 4 Paws photo shoot was ready to roll when I discovered the mask all chewed up in Chilli’s bed. Chilli, of course, tried to blame Rotto.

[Image Description: Cover of Fury (cover depicts a side shot of a women in a mask) next to mangled and chewed up butterfly mask.]

Sensitive by Allayne L. Webster : Book Review

/ Sandi Parsons / Leave a comment

Favourite Quote: “New Me wants to say, So do you have verbal diarrhoea or are you just unbelievably rude? But the force is strong in Old Me. A lifetime of habit is hard to break. I hide behind my hair.”

Sensitive by Allayne L. Webster covers the highs and lows of being a teen different to the norm. A teen who doesn’t quite fit the mould of a popular or pretty girl.

After relocating to a South Australian country town, SJ wants to reinvent herself. She’s determined to make new friends without her eczema joining the conversation.

“For once, I’m going to know how it feels to be beautiful – just like normal girls.”

Much of SJ’s emotional journey was relatable to me.
There is common ground that many people who are disabled/chronically ill share. This common ground includes the internal dialogue: a desire to fit in and be ‘normal’, rebellion against the medicine regime and medical professionals, questions over fairness.
Another section of common ground is external: shaped by the expectations and behaviour of society — taunts and comments along with questions and well-meaning but utterly unhelpful advice — not to mention the questions that arise if your behaviour pattern doesn’t fit with how others perceive disability/chronic illness.

[Image Description: The cover of Sensitive by Allayne L. Webster. On the bottom there are three eggs, along with a pot of cream.]

Sensitive is not an authentic read by chance. Allayne drew upon her own experiences with chronic atopic eczema and life-threatening allergies. Not only are the emotions that SJ shares with the reader authentic, Sensitive contains medical accuracy based on experience.

It’s an authenticity that speaks volumes on the importance of #ownvoices

Sensitive is a powerful read, and I highly recommend it.

4 Paw Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

/ Sandi Parsons / Leave a comment

Book Review by Chilli AKA The Red Stealer & Rotto the RottStar (occasionally known as Rotto the Rotten)

Chilli is channeling her very best Mia Corvere and giving Rotto her best stink eye as she doesn’t believe he’s doing a good job at playing Mister Kindly.

Rotto says how much more not-cat could he be given he’s not a cat? And although he won’t consent to hanging about on Chilli’s shoulders he’ll happily curl up around Nevernight any day.

[Image Description: Left Chilli, a red heeler is wearing a long black wig and smiling. Top Right, Chilli in her wig is glaring at Rotto, a black and tan staffy kelpie cross – A copy of Nevernight is between them. Bottom Right, Rotto is curled around a copy of Nevernight]

Despite the not-cat 🐱saga, both Chilli and Rotto give 4 paws 🐾🐾to the entire Nevernight Chronicles for the smut, murder, political shenanigans* and overall awesomeness.
————
*and the glorious footnotes –  who doesn’t love a novel with footnotes? The only thing  better than footnotes, is when the footnotes take the piss out of the footnotes.