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Review Archive
Here you can find all of our past book reviews.


Review of My Life as a Chameleon by Diana Anyakwo
This is a strong YA debut from Anyakwo, whose new book My Life as a Chameleon sensitively explores family dynamics, the difficulties that...
thedebutdigest
2 min read


Review of Concerning My Daughter by Kim Hye-jin (Translated from Korean by Jamie Chang)
Concerning My Daughter is a slice of literary translated fiction, translated from Korean by Jamie Chang, where a micro lens is zoomed...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of Arthur and Teddy are Coming Out by Ryan Love
Arthur is a 79-year-old grandfather who has been keeping a secret for as long as he can remember. He's gay, and he's ready to come out to...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of The Maiden by Kate Foster
Set in Edinburgh, 1679, Foster emerges us within Scotland's sordid streets and the respectable classes within society to retell the...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of This Bird Has Flown by Susanna Hoffs
As a singer myself, I’m always interested in authors that bring the world of music into their storytelling. Books that come to mind are...
thedebutdigest
2 min read


Review of Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater
This darkly comical novel is a witty and sharp observation of the art of bookselling, human connection, and obsession. Told through the...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of Temper by Phoebe Walker
Phoebe Walker's debut follows an unnamed young woman who's recently moved to the Netherlands with her husband. While he's out at his new...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of Rosewater by Liv Little
With the recent sad news of gal-dem, the magazine that championed people of colour from marginalised genders, closing its doors, this...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of No Life for a Lady by Hannah Dolby
28 and unmarried, Violet Hamilton is worrying her father. It is 1896 after all, and an independent woman is a dangerous thing to be. But...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson
Nora Hughes is a 20-something editorial assistant; underappreciated, overworked and underpaid. When Parsons Press starts making cuts, she...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of The Grooms Wore White by Charlie Lyndhurst
In Love, Actually style, Charlie Lyndhurst's debut follows interwoven characters on their journeys through love, whether it be falling in...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking by Marianne Eloise
Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking is a memoir from Marianne Eloise that gives an insight into neurodiversity with honesty and humor....
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of Salt & Metal by Sallyanne Rock
Salt & Metal is Sallyanne Rock's debut poetry pamphlet exploring themes of domestic abuse. It's a visceral collection that confronts the...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of None of This is Serious by Catherine Prasifka
None of This is Serious is set in Dublin and follows recent graduate Sophie as she navigates life after university. Sophie's friends all...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of Starling by Sarah Jane Butler
Starling has lived her entire life in a van with her mother. Travelling from place to place, living off the land and rejecting modern...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of When Things are Alive They Hum by Hannah Bent
his is the story of two sisters. First, Harper, a writer with an endless appreciation for life, living with what she calls the 'Up...
thedebutdigest
2 min read


Review of The Doloriad by Missouri Williams
Set in the aftermath of a vague and unknown environmental disaster, The Doloriad follows a family living on the edge of a ruined city,...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of Reptile Memoirs by Silje Ulstein
Reptile Memoirs is a Norwegian crime debut by Silje Ulstein, translated by Alison McCullough. A tale of family secrets and the legacy of...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of The Green Man of Eshwood Hall by Jacob Kerr
Set in 1960s English countryside, this is a novel of folktale perfect for the Halloween season. Izzy's Geordie family move into Eshwood...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of Peach Pig by Cecilia Knapp
This poetry collection is one of the most candid I've read in a while. Cecilia Knapp is raw and unflinching in this debut. On one page...
thedebutdigest
1 min read


Review of An Indigo Summer by Ellie Evelyn Orrell
Set in North Wales, this is a memoir of Ellie Evelyn Orrell's return home to practice indigo dyeing with her mother in late summer. The...
thedebutdigest
1 min read
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