Lois Murphy

Is it just me, or has junior fiction come a long way since I was last reading it? I recall almost jumping straight from picture books to teen and adult fiction (suitable titles of course) quite early in my personal reading journey. I am heartened there are considerably more quality titles published for the middle-grade age bracket now.

While I am clearly no expert in this genre, there were several things about rel="nofollow" target="_top">You’ve Let Them In that impressed me.

Murphy’s teen narrative felt authentically frustrated and stubborn without labouring the angst. Scott’s inner thoughts acknowledge an emotional maturity and capacity to self-reflect not often afforded to teen male characters. I found this refreshing respectful to the target audience. This, along with the seam of ‘down-to-earth, don’t take ourselves too seriously’ irreverence that runs through this family’s daily lives was key to the speed and depth of my engagement with their plight. It turns out they’ve been through a lot, and done so with great dignity, so we cannot help but barrack for them when things turn scary…. and I mean genuinely scary! Continue reading >> https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2021/04/youve-let-them-in-lois-murphy.html… (mehr)

Well I guess the 13th is as fitting a day as any (except maybe the winter solstice) to read this cover to cover.

On the one hand it’s so predictable it hurts: there’s nothing here I hadn’t seen before in terms of plot beats (even tho I rarely engage with horror in any medium). On the other, it works because of its needle-sharp focus on tragic characters and their baggage, and its evocation of a remote, fading township abandoned by almost everyone with a duty to care about it.

I was engaged in spite of myself (hence reading it in one absorbed day), altho it’s probably one for the literary thrillseeker / occasional horror tourist rather than a true genre aficionado.

Full review

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Content note: pet deaths… (mehr)

Utterly gripping. Just like the work of Transit Lounge stable mates Jane Rawson and A S Patric, Lois Murphy’s debut novel Soon defies genre categorisation. Despite containing fantastical story elements, it feels uncommonly gritty and grounded. Murphy’s character development and evocation of both the natural environment and small town setting is first class — a reader cannot help but become invested in their plight. Read full review >>… (mehr)