The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

The book tells the story of Starr Carter, a 16 year old black girl who lives in a poor nieghbourhood but goes to an expensive private school. She witnesses a white police officer shoot her unarmed black friend.

This is an important book and I learned a lot from it, particularly about gang culture. I enjoyed the story but my two complaints were firstly, I felt it could have been 100 pages shorter, and secondly I found the white characters to be a bit flat. They reminded me of characters from Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, Beverley Hills 90210 etc. Wikipedia describes the book as 'young adult' fiction. I'd assumed it was aimed at adults. I gave it 4 stars but it probably deserves 5 judged as young adult fiction.

The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan

This book is the second in the Detective Cormac Reilly series. It's definitely better then the first. A girl is killed in a hit and run outside the lab where Cormac's girlfriend Emma works. Emma finds the body and calls him. The series reminds me of Robert Galbraith's (aka J. K. Rowling) Cormoran Strike books. They got better with each book and hopefully this series will too. There were some unexpected twists but it didn't have me on the edge of my seat. I have to admit, I find the unpronounceable Irish names a bit annoying (Aisling, Aoife, Eoghan).

Allegra in Three Parts by Suzanne Daniel

This a book about second wave feminism that my fourth wave friends will enjoy! It's set in Sydney in the 1970s. Eleven-year-old Allegra lives with her grandmother Matlide and next door to her grandmother Joy. Matilde is a strict, tight lipped, holocaust survivor and Joy is a free spirited women's libber. They both love Allegra but they hate each other.

I put the book down at midnight with 25 pages to go, not becuase I didn't want to know what happens but becuase I wanted to slow down and enjoy the ending. The writing is fabulous. It reminded me of Tabitha Bird's a Lifetime of Impossible Days in places, but without the time travel. It's not quite Liane Moriarty, but I can see Reese Witherspoon bagging the film rights.

Good Girl Bad Girl by Michael Robotham

This is the first book I've read by this author. It's classic crime fiction; well-written and well-researched, with complex characters and a good story line. It tells the story of psychologist Cyrus Haven, who is helping investigate the murder of a young figure skater, and Evie Cormac, a teenager who has been kept hidden in a secret room in a house where a murder has recently taken place. Evie has an unusual gift - she is able to tell when someone is lying.

I would have given the book five stars, but I didn't realise that it is the first in a series, so while most questions were answered a few things about Evie remained hidden. This left me a little disappointed at the end.

Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer

This is the first book in a new series. It tells the story of a young detective William Warwick. Warwick is the detective from the novels written by Harry Clifton, the main character in Archer's previous series the Clifton Chronicles.

I preferred this book to the first book in the Clifton series. It reminded me of the first Cormoran Strike book (J K Rowling's detective series). Warwick investigates four different crimes. While none of them are particularly clever, the four strands makes for a good read.

I don't plan to buy the next book in the series but I'm sure others will enjoy them. They're an easy read but I find the characters a bit flat. Warwick, like Harry Clifton, lacks flaws!