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Well it seems like Spring has finally sprung! I have been lovely seeing the sunshine out again.
Last month wasn’t a big reading month for me and I only got through a couple of books but my Mum is definitely charging ahead on the reading challenge we are doing together!
Read more: February 2025 Book Reviews and Reading Challenge UpdateSo first here is our updated challenge list – the books in bold are what we have read this month!
The Prompts
- A book with a pink/yellow cover
- Autobiography The Wheel of Fortune – Edith Piaf (Mum)
- Number in the title
- Made me laugh Anxious People by Fredrick Backman (Natalie) Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims (Mum)
- Re-read
- A book by one of your favourite authors
- Book has a dog/cat in A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen (Mum) Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney (Natalie)
- Dystopian 1984 by George Orwell (Mum) Vox by Christina Dalcher (Natalie)
- Family drama Message Deleted by K.L. Slater (Natalie) The Last Days of Joy by Anne Tiernan (Mum)
- Debut novel
- YA
- Serial killer
- Non-fiction
- A book in a series The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley (Mum)
- Recommended by Happy Place Book Club
- Recommended by Reese Witherspoon
- TikTok made me read it Verity by Colleen Hoover (Natalie)
- Historical Fiction The Marriage Season by Jane Dunn (Mum)
- Has a character called the same name as a family member
- Christmas
My mum has given her out of fiv star ratings as:
Why Mummy Drinks – 3*
The Wheel of Fortune – 3*
1984 – 4*
A Street Cat Named Bob – 4*
Buy on Amazon
Beautiful Ugly
by Alice Feeney
The Blurb
Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.
Grady calls his wife as she’s driving home to share some exciting news. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by a cliff edge, the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there . . . but his wife has disappeared.
A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible: a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.
Wives think their husbands will change, but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change, but they do.
What I Thought
I finally gave in to the constant ads on Audible and purchased this one last month… and I am so glad I did!
The story follows Grady, an author, who’s wife disappears suddenly. For a while he is left in limbo, unable to move on following this tragic event for which he has no answers or closure. Then, his publisher suggests he go and stay on a remote Scottish island, in a house she recently inherited, and the thrilling plot kicks up an extra gear!
The story is choc-a-block FULL of twists and turns as Grady tries to come to terms with what happened to his wife while trying to work out the strange goings on on the island he is now calling home. Very occasionally the action seemed to drop off a little, which meant I only gave this four stars, but when it picks back up again, it really picks up!
I thought numerous times I had worked things out, only to have it all turned upside down again. This was a stunning read which I highly recommend. I listened on Audible and was pleased to see Richard Armitage as one of the narrators – I have listened to a few books read by him and he always does a great job!
Very pleased I decided to give this one a go and you won’t be disappointed!
Buy on Amazon
Vox
by Christina
The Blurb
Silence can be deafening.
Jean McClellan spends her time in almost complete silence, limited to just 100 words a day. Any more, and a thousand volts of electricity will course through her veins.
Now the new government is in power, everything has changed. But only if you’re a woman.
Almost overnight, bank accounts are frozen, passports are taken away and 70 million women lose their jobs. Even more terrifyingly, young girls are no longer taught to read or write.
For herself, for her daughter and for every woman silenced, Jean will reclaim her voice. This is only the beginning….
Perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale. Don’t miss the thrilling debut that everyone is talking about!
What I Thought
I was looking for a new dystopian read and so turned to Google – dystopian books recommended for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale – and this one kept coming up.
And I loooooved it! This kind of dystopian tale, set in the not too distant future with a story line which you could see potentially happening, is right up my street.
In America, the new president has decided to shake things up, seeking out a ‘traditional’ way of life for all citizens. Well, maybe not all.
Because it is women who have had their lives imploded. Jobs, passports, books, choice, mobile phones, bank accounts… they have all been taken away. So have their words – with women wearing monitors which restrict them to being able to speak only 100 words a day. Go over this and you will experience severe electric shocks from the new gadget.
The story follows Jean, a successful scientist turned dutiful housewife overnight. A mum of four, she tries to take in what has not just happened to her and the colleagues she used to work with, but she also grapples with what the future holds for her children, especially the youngest, a daughter.
This book wasn’t just a fascinating and scary read, it really got me thinking. As a teacher, I speak all day long. But even at home, being restricted to 100 words a day? I would be in serious trouble before I had finished my first cuppa!
I did not warm to the main character possibly as much as I would have liked to, which was a shame and the one thing that let this book down. However, it was fascinating, insightful and terrifyingly realistic. I definitely think you will enjoy it you like things like The Handmaid;s Tale and Station Eleven.
Buy on Amazon
So it was a short but sweet February round-up, much like the month itself! Do you have any book recommendations for me? Don’t forget to drop them in the comments below!
Take care and happy reading,
The Spoonie Mummy 
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