Review of: Passion – Jude Morgan

Published: May 2005 – Headline Review

Exploring the lives of three Romanticism writers through the eyes of the women who knew them – from Byron to Shelley to Keats, Morgan captures their stories with a new light in an innovative and original way.

My Rating: 3 out of 5

As said above, the story is original and captivating - the varying narrative perspectives make it hard to read at times, especially due to the shifts between whose commentary the specific page is, yet the length of the novel demonstrates the quality with which Morgan had to write with in order to capture the true essence of such inspirational people.


This piece of historical fiction combines fact with tragedy, and tragedy with love – Jude Morgan surpasses himself in this novel with great intensity throughout, presenting these three great writers in a fresh way.

Review of: Before I Die - Jenny Downham

Published: October 2008 – Black Swan

Similar in some ways to ‘If I Stay’, ‘Before I Die’ follows the story of Tessa as she sets out to fulfil her own <i>bucket list</i> after being told she has terminal cancer.

My Rating: 2 out of 5

A deeply moving novel, but reduced slightly by an inability to truly connect with Tessa, despite the first person narrative. The items on her list are quite stereotypical, with sex, drugs and law breaking, which although are reasonable when taking into account her age and what she may miss out on, yet it takes away from the originality that would have made this book so much better.


Having said this, Downham finds a way to highlight the true nature of a disease that has taken over Tessa, in such a way that it approaches a horribly realistic subject to teenagers, enabling them to understand what it must be like.

Review of: Message in a Bottle – Nicholas Sparks

Published: November 2007 – Sphere

A letter written to “my dearest Catherine” washes up on a beach where Theresa Osborne is on holiday; Sparks takes you on her journey as she sets about uncovering who wrote this mysterious letter and the funny and emotional events that follows upon the discovery.

My Rating: 3 out of 5

Once more, Sparks writes with a level of eloquence that is rare to find – taking you through a range of emotions that some novels fail to do, but doing so in a way that makes the plot both original and utterly believable.


The novel’s intricate development from grieving lost loves to finding innocent loves makes for a splendid read, however, it was slightly predictable and at times the actions of the characters strayed from how they had been developed, then again, we all do stupid things with regards to love. However, it did not <i>wow</i> me to the extent of some of Sparks’ other books – perhaps due to the rather promiscuous circumstances or something else.