Book Review: Saturation by William Lane

Saturation is the latest novel by acclaimed author William Lane.

I don't know where to start with this near future dystopian novel. The reader gets a small view of this future world as the story is mainly about the characters and how they negotiate this new normal. 

 

I found Saturation to be mesmerizing. I was fascinated with the concept and couldn't get enough of Ursula and Ambrose's world and how they fit themselves into that world.

Lane builds a world gripped by rising waters, relentless  rain, plagues and apathy. It was the apathy that got to me the most.

 

People's lives are ruled by an AI named Yoremind. It interacts by text message and points are awarded, for ever increasing acts of violence, to earn days off work and holidays. The world is deemed as being so bad no one is having children. The past has been forgotten and with no need to think or learn people have forgotten how to do the simplest things. 

 

I came across so many wonderful quotes but I'll just add a couple. One highlighting the acceptance of circumstances and the other the loss of memory.

 

'Simply do what it says, or suggests - at least sometimes'.                                                               'And if I dislike what it suggests?' 'This is life!' she cried. 'This is how things are and always have been, in case you haven't noticed.' 

 "I'm struggling to remember my password or user name. For some reason I can remember my old password and phone number, but not the latest one." Ambrose - Saturation

How true is that statement! I can clearly remember my childhood phone number and all my friends' home numbers but I don't know my husband's or children's mobiles. Everything is remembered for us. We even drive with GPS without having to remember a route.
 

Ambrose is the one to strike out and rebel. He is determined to save the books knowing that history and information is the only way to move forward and build a better world.
 

Lane's world is not so unbelievable! Country residents blame city dwellers as the bearers of all diseases. When a dictator, Bottrel, takes over Yoremind he thrives on fear and terror. Step out of line and you will be killed. Education is banned, libraries burned. Bottrel vilifies country people causing more unrest. People doing as they're told and losing the ability to think, reason and remember. Anyone trying to better society is hunted down. Saturation feels eerily presentiment. A unique narrative perfect for readers of 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451.

 

My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Transit Lounge Press

Publication date: 1st May 2025

Genre: Literary Fiction / Dystopian

Pages: 288

RRP: AU$32.99 (trade paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Quikmark Media 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: The Bridge to Always by Lynda Marron

I loved this book so much!! But then I do love real, flawed characters that make big messy mistakes in their lives.

 

The Bridge to Always is told in multiple points of view. We get to hear from everyone, even nine-year-old Emer. 

 

After the death of her mother Maeve moves to a small town in Cork hoping to rekindle a romance with Tim, the father of her nine-year-old daughter Emer.

 

Tim is now married but is tempted by the vivacious Maeve. He goes to see her and is shocked to find out he has a daughter.

 

Maeve is a totally unlikeable character and at times I felt like screaming at her. She is the most frustrating character I've read for a while. Maeve loves her daughter fiercely but the child is sorely neglected in her quest to win Tim back. She is very delusional and has an unrealistic dream of life.

Agnes and Malachi, who live on properties nearby, try to help Maeve as they can see she is struggling, however she is rude and dismissive of them.

 

I feel that Lynda Marron has taken a gamble creating a main character who is self-centred, morally challenged and unlikeable. Although, for me, it paid off. 

 

The story moves back and forward from now, with Maeve living in Drohid, Cork to ten years ago when she first met Tim. 

 

As with her previous novel Last Chance in Paris Marron writes about people's lives crossing and how a brief moment in time, a brief encounter, can change your life forever.

 

In The Bridge to Always I was quickly drawn into the immersive tale of the citizens of Drohid, where even the most well meaning of people still, on occasion, looked out for themselves first. 

 

I would recommend this affecting and moving novel to readers who enjoy stories on love, identity and finding yourself.

 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Echo Publishing

Publication date: 29th April 2025

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 340

RRP: AU$32.99 (trade paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

 

 

Book Review: The Florence Sisters by Tessa Harris

The Florence Sisters follows a group of English women living in Florence during the second world war.

 

Tessa Harris bases The Florence Sisters on the true events of the German army taking great works of art from museums, in countries they invaded, and keeping them to build a super collection of renowned art.

From this, Harris builds a fictional story filled with danger and intrigue. 

 

Angelina's love of art led her to obtaining an arts degree. When she is asked to help label and hide great works of art from the Germans she enlists the help of her great-aunt Agatha and the English Ladies Arts Appreciation Society, a sisterhood of elderly English women who gather together to study and talk about great works of art.

 

The Florence Sisters is an intriguing story that highlights the vulnerability of the Englishwomen living in Italy during the time of the war and showcases the strength and determination that went into protecting the art works from the Germans.

 

Harris writes about ordinary people risking their life for what they believe in and I loved how tough and resilient the older women were, never giving up when the odds were against them.

I enjoyed Angelina's story as she put her life in danger to protect these precious artworks ensuring they would not be lost to the world.

 

I was totally invested in the brilliantly conceived plot rich in danger, tenacity and determination, all wrapped around the world of fine art.

 

The Florence Sisters is highly recommended for lovers of art and readers of WWII fiction. The foreboding atmosphere throughout the book makes it hard to put down.

 

My rating 5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

Publication date: 30th April 2025

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

RRP: AU$32.99 (trade paperback)

Source: courtesy of the publisher

 

 
 

Book Review: The Reunion by Simone Van der Vlugt

The Reunion is a compelling mystery with an unreliable narrator at its centre.

 

I couldn't find my edition of this book, borrowed from a friend, anywhere on the internet. However, if you are interested enough to want to read it there are many options to buy other editions on eBay. 

 

The story is narrated by Sabine whose best friend Isabel went missing when they were 15 years old. Sabine has memory loss and can't remember anything about the day Isabel disappeared.
 

Nine years later the announcement of a high school reunion and a visit back to her old hometown triggers flashes of memory but Sabine can't make sense of them.

 

The Reunion is the classic unreliable narrator, think The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. She has psychotic episodes, alcohol dependence, PTSD and repressed memory.

 

The story goes back and forward between the present, where Sabine is trying to unravel her memory flashes, and nine years ago, when Sabine was relentlessly bullied at school.

 

The Reunion is a compelling mystery. I could feel the tension mounting as the story unfolded. I kept jumping back and forward with who I thought was involved in Isabel's disappearance. Plenty of red herrings kept me guessing right until the end. 

 

You may have to suspend your disbelief, around the police investigation, however this didn't spoil my enjoyment of the novel.

 

Exquisitely translated from Dutch by Michele Hutchison.

 

Content: underage drinking, alcohol dependence, bullying

 

My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

 

 

Publisher: Text Publishing

Publication date: this edition 2008

Genre: Mystery / Thriller

Pages: 295

Source: Borrowed copy 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: A Shipwreck in Fiji by Nilima Rao

Sgt Akal Singh is back again in Nilima Rao's second novel, A Shipwreck in Fiji. I thoroughly enjoyed A Disappearance in Fiji and her latest novel is just as enjoyable. 

 

 A Shipwreck in Fiji set in 1915 during WWI sees Nilima Rao draw on real life events surrounding German Naval officer Count Felix von Luckner and expand on this using fictional outcomes.

 

Akal is still finding it hard to fit-in in Fiji as Indians are perceived as second class citizens. However, he has good friends in Const Taviti Tukana and Dr Holmes.

His superior is still not on board and sends him away to babysit two Australian visitors and also follow a wild goose chase about sightings of Germans on Levuka.

 

I love how Nilima Rao takes a true event and expands on this to make a fictional story that is entertaining and compelling.

This installment has Akal unexpectedly investigating two murders. He is very guarded as he is still haunted by his mistake of letting vital information get into the wrong hands.

 

 

There is quite a bit of backstory which for me slowed the story down. However, if you haven't read A Disappearance in Fiji this backstory is quite beneficial as it explains why Akal is stationed in Fiji and his reticence.

 

I enjoyed the addition of indigenous Fijian culture and traditions and the way Rao portrayed the clash between traditional Fijian and British laws and also how Taviti struggled with being caught between these two cultures. 

 

Beautifully described scenes of Suva and some of the villages made it easy to visualise how Fiji was in the early 20th century.

I've really warmed to Sgt Akal Singh over the last two books. He is calm, passive and a little naive but always believes in doing things the right way not the easy way. 

 

A Shipwreck in Fiji is an astounding historical mystery read which reads well as a standalone.

 

My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

 

Publisher: Echo Publishing

Publication date: 29th April 2025

Series: Akal Singh #2 

Genre: Historical Fiction / Mystery

Pages: 272

RRP: AU$32.99 (trade paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of the first book:

A Disappearance in Fiji 

Book Review: Misfit: the unravelling of Samantha X by Amanda Goff

I really struggled through Amanda Goff's memoir Misfit: The unravelling of Samantha X.

I have to say first that I don't understand mental health issues but I don't judge people who have mental health problems.

 

In my review I am not judging Amanda as a person. Her choices in life are hers and I did feel for her struggle with self acceptance.

What Amanda tries to explain in this memoir is how her struggle with bi-polar shaped her life, causing bad decision making, addiction and self destruction.  

 

In this raw and honest autobiography Amanda Goff opens up about her life as Australia's most famous escort, her battle with bipolar, alcohol and depression.  She explains the conflict she endures every day as she tries to leave behind a major part of her life. A time when she was both happy and confident and struggling with self-hate and regret. 

 

I am sorry to say I found the book repetitive, often confusing and a bit boring. 

I wasn't sure if Amanda was proud of Samantha X or hated that part of her life. Maybe both.

The writing jumps back and forward between 'everyone's judging me' to 'I don't care what anyone thinks about me'.

 

I can only hope writing this memoir was cathartic and it will help Amanda leave Samantha behind and start enjoying life.... as herself. Stop telling people she meets who she used to be and just be herself.

 

My rating 2.5 / 5 ⭐⭐½

 

Publisher: Echo Publishing

Publication date: 4th March 2025

Genre: Memoir

Pages: 224

RRP: AU$34.99

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

 

Book Review: The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe by Catherine Greer

The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe is an easy read. Engaging and fun! This is a story of resilience and starting over and I love that with romance books you are always guaranteed a happy ending. 

 

Just when Audrey thinks she's in line for that big promotion at work she is blindsided and replaced by a younger woman. Devastated and angry, she goes home to find that her husband has been having an affair and asks her to move out of the marital home.

 

After losing her job, her husband and her home, Audrey flees to Whitehaven Bay, a place that holds happy memories of holidays with her mother.

 

The whole life imploding and fleeing to a quiet, small town is a well worn trope but I always love these stories of women being resilient and courageous in the face of adversity.

If you read enough contemporary romance you will come across this popular trope. I've read similar books before and always loved them. The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe is no exception - different people - different towns - and it's the differences that add a level of uniqueness to each story - same but different - and totally enjoyable. 

 

The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe is a bittersweet story of starting over (see what I did there). 😉 What starts as a short holiday for Audrey soon becomes the catalyst of a long held dream. Audrey loves to bake and has always dreamed of running her own bakery.

 

The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe has a wonderful cast of eclectic characters that make up the small coastal town of Whitehaven Bay. I loved them all, especially Buddy, the octogenarian who liked to swim naked, Billie the rebellious, non-binary teen, Chez, entrepreneur, party planner and Zen master and I can't forget the Coffin Cheaters bikie gang. There is a heartfelt age-gap friendship between Buddy, Audrey and Billie.

 

The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe is chock-full of laugh-out-loud moments with plenty of drama and setbacks through themes of ageism, alcohol abuse and domestic abuse, as Audrey rebuilds her life with sugar, flour, butter and love. Fabulous feel-good fiction and a must read for contemporary romance readers. 

 

And if Audrey's recipes make your mouth water they are all there in the back of the book just waiting for you to try them. 

 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

 

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication date: 4th March 2025

Genre: Contemporary Fiction / Romance

Pages: 384

RRP: AU$32.99 

Source: Uncorrected proof won