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My top six #WomensPrize2024 fiction books (in random order because I have trouble choosing between them). I think maybe The Wren The Wren will get shortlisted, but the question is will we get a triple Irish? I think no, and went with the other two.

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Surprisingly funny and entertaining for a book that's also pretty sad. Also very life-affirming for a story that deals with suicide, eating disorders, domestic abuse, depression, generational trauma and more in a completely non-moralising way.

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This book stressed me out so much I had to take breaks to calm down. I teared up towards the end, and there were times throughout that scared me more than any other book outside the horror/thriller genre. Absolutely superb. Highly recommend.
A book about grief, identity, mental health, addiction, family, motherhood, indigenous heritage, racism, storytelling, choices, and so much more.
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Gorgeously written.
I was worried about the subject matter of this book, dead child & child killer, but it wasn't at all what I feared. No trauma porn. Quite the opposite.
"Us Vs Them", gossip and finger pointing, unscrupulous tabloid reporters, and a very human family making bad decisions. Definitely shortlist material.
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Only marginally a standalone. Readers who haven't read the first two books will struggle to orient themselves or feel invested. Lots of characters from previous books, allusions to events and people that are only relevant if you know the backstory. I read these back to back and I still found it messy. Soft pick for me but fully understand if others bail in confusion.
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Coming-of-age story in time of political upheaval, centered on the nephew of the MC of The Best of All Worlds. More planets, a wider scope, but once again character focused. Features a competitive team sport that's similar to parkour but with gravity that changes direction and strength. Ends with some loose ends that makes me think that the book longlisted for the #WomensPrize2024 is not really a standalone. Soft pick, hint of middle book syndrome

The 3. book in this series is on the #WomensPrize2024 longlist, and while it is allegedly a standalone I've heard that a lot of the world building takes place in the first 2 books. Book 1 introduces the reader to the different types of humanity in the galaxy through a diplomatic/humanitarian hail mary on a homesteading planet that is a melting pot of cultures. Expect telepaths, empaths, diplomacy bordering on mannerpunk, and a slow burn romance.

An only very slightly exaggerated portrayal of life with an infant. (Her husband was almost unbelievably useless, and she was definitely enabling his behaviour in the worst way.) Emotionally intense, funny in places. Entirely accurate about the equal parts love and terror involved in having a child.

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Compelling story in a messy format with a superfluous framing device. In parts horrendously brutal with terrible things done to girls and women in war time, but fortunately the book moves on too quickly to linger on graphic detail. While I'm sure some version of everything in this book happened to people, there's no way they all happened to one person. The MC is one badass survivor though.

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Coming of age story of two Ghanaian girls, one academic high flyer who leaves for the US, and the cousin she leaves behind.

Until half way through, I felt like I'd been here before. And then the second narrator stepped in. I knew I was hooked as I wasn't having to watch the % at the bottom of the page...

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