I’m sharing another instalment of my Mini Review Mondays, the most recent of which was last week. In case you haven’t seen any of my previous posts, I do ‘mini’ reviews of books that I’ve previously read and am now ready to share my full thoughts about.
First up, I’d like to talk about The Actor by Chris MacDonald. Thank you to Michael Joseph for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Discover 2024’s most original new thriller, a story of glamour, secrets and obsession. At long last, Adam Sealey has an Oscar within reach. Working with his controversial former mentor, Jonathan, he’s given the performance of a lifetime, and he almost believes it might be worth the cost.
Because Adam subscribes to “the method”. It’s the secret that the world’s greatest actors swear by – digging into their darkest, most personal traumas to bring a role to life. And Adam’s greatest trauma is worse than most. Losing his mother when he was just a boy. A forced choice between the success he craved and the girl he loved.
And that night back in drama school, the night of Adam’s darkest secret, when everyone knows about the dead body, but nobody suspects the truth.
And then he gets a message: someone knows. And if they tell, everything Adam’s worked for will come crashing down.
Publication Date: 18th January
TW: gaslighting, death, suicide, suicidal ideation, emotional abuse, bullying, grief, harassment, mental breakdown, suicide attempts, assault, manipulation, addiction, alcoholism
My Thoughts:
The Actor is an intense, pacy and incredibly engaging read. It is a psychological thriller that delves behind the glitz and glamour and delves into the murky territory of method acting.
This is not a book that tiptoes around. It is visceral and excruciating to read at times, with mounting pressure and moments of humiliation. Everything is a move in a twisted game of chess – to secure your legacy and leave your mark. It completely turns its head on the dazzling world of movie stardom to reveal a seedy story of secrets, lies and some truly sickening moments. It is a book that pulls no punches. However, it also delights in ambiguity and keeps you dangled on a hook. It is disorientating by design, placing you in as muddled a headspace as Adam’s at times. The line between reality and fantasy becomes blurry as time and space seem to overlap. You must question everything that is presented before you.
I have always loved films and find the psychology behind some acting methods absolutely fascinating. In truth, I think we are all enthralled by method acting and the tabloid pushing headlines that seem to emerge from it. There is a question of how far we should push to create art and to cement yourself as a star that will echo through the ages. That central question of immortality through legacy is used as a manipulative tool within the book and it leaves a grim taste in your mouth. Here, narratives are constantly being challenged and changed, leaving the truth in a different place at times. It makes for addictive reading, especially as awards season bursts into full bloom. Don’t be too dazzled by the lights though, this is very much a character driven and psychological story.
The Actor is a fascinating case study of a book – placing questions of legacy, the price of art and the depths to which trauma is exploited firmly in the spotlight.
Next up, I’d like to talk about A Sign of Her Own by Sarah Marsh. Thank you to Tinder Press for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Ellen Lark is on the verge of marriage when she and her fiancé receive an unexpected visit from Alexander Graham Bell.
Ellen knows immediately what Bell really wants from her. Ellen is deaf, and for a time was Bell’s student in a technique called Visible Speech. As he instructed her in speaking, Bell also confided in her about his dream of producing a device which would transmit the human voice along a wire: the telephone. Now, on the cusp of wealth and renown, Bell wants Ellen to speak up in support of his claim to the patent to the telephone, which is being challenged by rivals.
But Ellen has a different story to tell: that of how Bell betrayed her, and other deaf pupils, in pursuit of ambition and personal gain, and cut Ellen off from a community in which she had come to feel truly at home. It is a story no one around Ellen seems to want to hear – but there may never be a more important time for her to tell it.
Publication Date: 1st February
TW: ableism, prejudice, manipulation, exploitation, sexism
My Thoughts:
A Sign of Her Own marries two of my favourite things: a historical moment or period I know little about but am now fascinated by and a reclaiming of a narrative from an overlooked voice.
The patent frenzy and Bell’s promotion of Visible Speech were things I knew very little about, but Marsh pours so much time into them and gives us details that make you want to rush off and learn everything about. In particular, the way Bell exploits the Deaf community and embodies the societal attitudes towards Deaf individuals, while also challenging them in some ways. It creates a complex portrait of the man, but emphatically points out the disregard and dismissal of the Deaf community. Deaf culture is vibrant and exciting – as shown in some of my favourite scenes of the book. There are so many different ways of communication, further showing the societal ignorance of sign language. Marsh imbues the book with the isolation Ellen feels to contrast it with this engaging community, though they have their own difficulties around acceptance. That central discussion is fantastic.
Ellen is a great protagonist as well and this is firmly her story. She is reshaping her narrative and learning to be proud of her communication styles, though this is a long and arduous journey that does not necessarily result in a happy ending. Her narrative reflects the silence she hears, pushing through the pages and getting you to question how Visible Speech removes all meaning from words – reducing them to their audibility instead. On the other hand, Ellen is often characterised as a woman with sharp sight and perception, who sees the meaning of everything, reminding the reader of the importance of intent and meaning. Her sight is also emphasised to show the extra work placed upon the shoulders of the Deaf community and generally upon disabled bodies. Society forces them to adapt, at exhausting extremes, rather than trying to change.
A Sign of Her Own strays far away from simplistic resolutions – staying instead in the nuanced messiness of being human.
Finally, I’d like to delve into I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang. Thank you to Scholastic for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Seventeen-year-old Sadie Wen is perfect on paper. It’s a reputation she’s fought hard to earn at the highly prestigious Woodvale Academy, and one she’s determined to maintain until graduation.
The trick to keeping her model-student-smile plastered on her face at all times? She channels all her petty frustrations into her email drafts. One for the math teacher who refused to round her eighty-nine-point-nine percent up to ninety; one for the girl who blatantly copied her science project and took the credit for it.
But most of her vehemently-worded emails are for her smug, infuriating co-captain, Julius Gong, who’s been the sharpest thorn in her side ever since they were kids. Sadie never meant for these emails to get out … but now her whole life is about to change…
Publication Date: 1st February
TW: bullying, sexism
My Thoughts:
I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is lightning in a bottle – Liang defies the saying that it doesn’t strike twice with a continued brilliance in this genre.
Ann Liang’s books just scratch a special place in my brain and my heart. Her writing captures the authentic messiness of teenagers, with brilliant characters and plots that are inventive. They always have such joy and love and laughter within them, while also delivering important messages to the readers too. This is another such shining star of a romantic contemporary tale. It is an academic rivals to something more storyline, with a throughline about competition and expectations pushing someone down against themselves and blocking out people who could be their biggest champions. There is a lot about familial expectations here, heightened by the prestige of the academic setting. I absolutely loved every second of my reading experience.
Sadie is breaking herself trying to maintain this perfect image. She is loving, kind and intelligent, but she is weighing herself down trying to keep everything as rosy as possible. The development she has over the course of the book is amazing and a love letter to all those gifted students on the brink of burning out. Her method of catharsis is drafting these vicious, somewhat spiteful emails over her personal grievances. Well, a la Lara Jean, these all get sent and everything spirals. However, in this moment of implosion, there is a sense of release and setting everything out as it truly is – including a potential romantic spark. Liang’s ability to create good chemistry should be studied. It just builds so naturally and has the reader rooting for these two muppets to realise the obvious. There are so many excellent scenes here and dialogue that sparks off the page. I love a good love story and this is a great one.
I Hope This Doesn’t Find You continues a winning streak for Liang that I do not think will be broken any time soon.
A Short Book Lover 
Happy to hear you loved i hope this doesnt find you; im so excited for this one!
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Thank you and it’s such a fun read!
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