books set in London

Book Review: Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh

Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh

Queen of Thieves is the story of two women and survival in post WWII England.  in general, I have zero interest in reading books set around WWI or WWII - I’ve read a lot of books set in both those eras in the past and continue to watch TV around those eras, so I feel like I’m consuming enough WW content. I made an exception here because my friend Allison pointed out that it was actually about thieves. Sign. Me. Up.

Alice is the leader of the Forty Thieves, a group of women who shoplift and sell luxury goods. Nell is a young woman who works in a fur factory. When she meets Alice, she thinks Alice is the answer to her dreams of a bigger life. I listened to this as an audiobook, and reading some of the reviews, I think I made the right move. The reviews took issue with the day and date stamp of some of the chapters being inconsistent, but the audiobook doesn’t have day stamps so it’s a non-issue. The book switches POV between Alice and Nell - it’s full of smart, plucky women who will do whatever it takes to survive.

Read this if you enjoyed Peaky Blinders!

Overall grade: 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

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Book Review: Sugar, Spice and Can't Play Nice by Annika Sharma

Sugar, Spice and Can’t Play nice: antagonists to lovers, closed door romance with lush descriptions of food and clothing!

Sugar, Spice & Can’t Play nice by Annika Sharma

This is book 2 in Annika Sharma’s Chai Masala Club series - I do recommend you read these in order because there are a few references to book 1 that will be spoilers if you haven’t read it yet.

This one is an antagonists to lovers, closed door romance so appropriate for anyone who doesn’t want on-page sex. Our protagonists are both London-born, and find themselves in New York for various reasons. This book offers look into modern immigrant South Asian culture. It feels very much like a Bollywood romance - the twists and turns and drama are all dialed up to 11. There’s a lot going on in this book - family drama, work drama, relationship drama. I love the lush descriptions of clothing and food - this book will probably make you hungry.

I did feel it was about 50 pages too long, I did skim pages across some sections, which is why I’m giving this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 Overall Grade: 4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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