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 Hero Complex by Helen Comerford. Thank you to Bloomsbury YA for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Jenna Ray was the Love Interest, but now she’s the HERO. Unfortunately, as it turns out, having actual superpowers doesn’t make life any easier.
For starters, being an official superhero means Jenna and Blaze can work together but not be together, no matter how much they are drawn to each other.
Jenna knows she can make it work. She can be ‘just friends’ with Blaze while handling intensive hero-training exercises, a world-ending prophecy and her own power-triggering panic attacks … She can be the perfect hero.
As the pressure builds, what more will Jenna have to give up in order to save the world?
Publication Date: 5th June
CW: anxiety, sexism, misogyny, violence, panic attacks
My Thoughts:
The Hero Complex was such a fun and entertaining YA read. It brings this duology to a triumphant end.
Jenna is very much the beating heart of this duology. She is fierce and protective but also deeply vulnerable. From the start, she’s been thrown into the glare of the public spotlight and all the emotions that can come with that. It is overwhelming, before you start adding in the political machinations and moves people are making. I liked how she just felt like a normal teenager in this extraordinary world. She’s grappling with centering herself and having these romantic feelings as well. She is relatable and lovable in her pursuit of the ideal of being the perfect hero. Around her is a great cast of supporting characters and of course, a lot of focus on Blaze who has his own fascinating character arc and development.
Comerford has such a great sense of setting and character. This duology is so vividly imagined and cinematic with a global scale. The action scenes are really well-executed – the way the various powers come into play is fantastic and feels immersive. As with the first book, I loved the way Comerford sets up these prescribed roles and then plays around with them wonderfully. I really like the way superheroes are depicted here with these strict power systems and building on what started in the first book. Jenna has broken through but the pressure is now piled on to her to be everything to everyone around her. Comerford really explores what it means to be a trailblazer and the surrounding pressure. It is nuanced and interesting, trying to dismantle the systems that have always existed and propped themselves up.
The Hero Complex is an adrenaline rush filled with heart and humour.
Next up, I’d like to talk about Believe by S. M. Govett. Thank you to Penguin Michael Joseph for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Natalie has spent ten years trying to get over the twin set of events which changed her life forever.
The moment her boss assaulted her. The moment the jury declared him innocent – and her, a liar.
The memories continue to haunt Natalie, and in her attempts to block out the past, she often wakes up with no memory of where she’s been – or what she’s done.
So when her husband, Ryan, gets accused of the same crime, Natalie comes perilously close to the edge.
Natalie wants to believe him. But when the body of the young woman who made the accusation is found in the woods near their house, Ryan becomes a prime suspect, and Natalie realises she can’t trust anyone – herself included…
Publication Date: 16th June
CW: death, murder, violence, rape, sexual assault, stalking, harassment
My Thoughts:
Believe was a tightly plotted and twisted thriller that kept you guessing throughout.
This is not a book that you can put down easily. From the first page, I was hooked. It is such a thought-provoking concept that Govett explores brilliantly. That being said, it is not an easy read – dealing head on with sexual assault, trauma and rape culture. There is plenty of darkness and monstrosity on display here. Govett lets the book breathe – sitting firmly in the morally gray at times. Nothing here is clear-cut, it is all bogged down in differing accounts and clouds of judgement. Within this Natalie’s narrative voice is striking. As a survivor she is trying desperately to claw back the power that was taken from her, which has deeply affected her and changed her life forever. Suddenly she is thrust right back into a nightmarish scenario where she has no one she can trust. She has these gaps of memory loss which is always an interesting tool for a writer to use and adds a sense of unreliability, heightening the discussion around the consideration of different voices in these cases. It exemplifies the whole discussion of he said, she said and how dangerous and damaging this can be.
The plotting is top notch. It is fast-paced and feels like you can never fully feel comfortable, everything is always shifting slightly as more and more information comes to light. With each revelation, your view of what came before shifts slightly. It is compulsively written where you feel like you just have to know the truth. You share Natalie’s desperation as the various aspects of the mystery start coming together. The twists are so well done and in particular, that ending is spectacular. Govett has a real talent and this is an exceptional thriller.
Believe delves into heavy issues with nuance and sensitivity, delivering a terrific thriller.
Finally, I’d like to delve into The Six Murders of Daphne St Clair by Mackenzie Common. Thank you to Headline for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Meet Daphne St Clair: glamorous ninety-year-old grandmother, care home resident, and your new favourite serial killer.
Meet Ruth Robinson: broke, depressed, aspiring true crime podcaster.
When Daphne confesses to killing a number of men throughout her lifetime, she chooses Ruth to produce the podcast reporting her story. Each episode charts Daphne’s humble beginnings from the Dust Bowl in Canada to her glittering life in 70s New York – and a string of murders in her wake. Daphne tells her story. Ruth listens. And edits it.
The public are hooked. Is she a feminist icon taking revenge on bad men? Or just a ruthless criminal? Then, as the podcast finale approaches, it becomes clear that neither woman has been entirely honest with the other. Who has been controlling the narrative?
After all, the truth doesn’t always make for the best story…
Publication Date: 19th June
CW: death, murder, violence, poisoning, rape, sexual assault, domestic abuse
My Thoughts:
The Six Murders of Daphne St Clair was a fantastic take on the true crime industry with a uniquely unnerving serial killer at its heart.
Ruth and Daphne are both fascinating players in this book. Daphne is like a spider at the centre of the web, pulling you into her narrative and revealing just as much as she wishes to each time. However, as a reader, you feel beguiled but uneasy as you never truly feel safe in her presence. This is reflected in Ruth who starts as a similarly mysterious figure in many ways, but as the pages turn, you learn more and the stakes increase tenfold. It is a simmering cat and mouse game undercutting the podcast on the surface and you will not be able to tear yourself away.
I really liked the discussion around the true crime industry and the way it can exploit these crimes for entertainment, particuarly disregarding the victim’s stories to spotlight the killer. That comes into play here with Ruth’s podcast – asking if it’s a heartfelt desire to tell the truth or a vehicle for her own motivations?
Ultimately everyone involved is hiding something and using this for their own goals, meaning that the actual victims of the crimes might be sidelined. You can see this in the excerpts of discussions around the podcast, showcasing the darker side of fandom that can evolve in these spaces. With the lines between fiction and reality becoming blurred, real people can be seen as caricatures or characters. All of this is very meta in the book as Common plays with the expectations of story and generic plot beats. The mystery is well-paced and interestingly structured over the podcast episodes. You start to learn more about the bigger picture and get drawn into Daphne’s web. There is a constant tension of what the truth really is and you cannot help but want to keep reading and find out for certain.
The Six Murders of Daphne St Clair is unforgettable. Common interrogates the sensationalism of crime here with a layered and complex narrative that I devoured.
A Short Book Lover 
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