Asking for it by Louise O’Neill | Book review

Content warning: rape I just finished Asking for it by Louise O'Neill and I'm broken. I'm shattered in a million pieces and I don't know if this is the right time to try to write something relevant, but I'll try. Asking for it is the story of Emma O'Donovan, a teenager who finds herself on her…

Seconds of pleasure by Neil LaBute | Book review

In Bristol there's a really gorgeous place which everyone should visit if you find yourself in the city. It's really easy to find, you just go up from the famous harbourside, follow the main road to a hilly, always busy street, to the infamous Clifton. This road is called Park Street and it's a great…

Girl 4 by Will Carver | Book review

Let's talk about crime, baby! It's been a while since I read a thriller/mystery/crime book and I forgot a little bit how much I enjoy them. When you start reading a bit more, it seems popular fiction gets forgotten or readers are either really into literature or only reading pop fiction. It's a shame, as…

Yoga Camp Mantras: Day 1 | I accept

I've always struggled to listen to my physical body and give it all that it needs to be happy and healthy. I often feel disconnected from it and in my stuborness I refuse to accept that it contributes to how I feel. I do believe we need a deep connection between our bodies and mental…

Millennial

Happy 2016, everyone! It's a new year, it's a new day and we're all setting new goals and raising our expectations high for our lives and projects. I'll admit it - I've been a bit stuck lately. I think it has to do with focus in the new year and the end of a pretty…

Advice from my past self

We believe that we can change the things round us in accordance with our desires - Marcel Proust, In search of lost time What do you want from this world? What do you want to give it and what do you expect it to give to you?   We want to change people, situations, ideas…

Mental health and immigration

We've been having some great conversations on mental health on the radio lately and it's made me think quite a lot about different aspects of how we talk about it. I think the easiest when talking about mental health is to base your thoughts on your personal experience and the experience of those who you…

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan | Book review

 The comfort of strangers by Ian McEwan is labelled as a thriller, with mystery sprinkled in and described as the story of a couple who "meet a man with a disturbing story to tell" as they end up in his "fantasy of violence and obsession". Now, I have no objections to books which are gorry…

Us, by David Nicholls | Book review

'I was looking forward to us growing old together. Me and you, growing old and dying together.' 'Douglas, who in their right mind would look forward to that?’” This quote convinced me to pick up Us by David Nicholls. Maybe I'm a bit cookey, maybe it's not going to persuade anyone else, but I think…

The Veracity Challenge | A world of adjectives

I discovered this challenge on Erika's blog and I found it really exciting and difficult. So I had to do it, naturally. Writing without adjectives is something I thought I'd be good at. I'm a journalist, I've written news before and that's supposed to be only facts. But when you're writing from your imagination and creating…