Member Reviews

Unfortunately this books just wasn't my cup of tea. I tried so hard to get into the story, but it was very slow and just didn't grip me at all, despite the promising blurb. Sadly I didn't get past 10%

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Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with an ARC.

It’s the year 1979 in Yorkshire, and Miv is a schoolgirl growing up in a country terrified of the Yorkshire Ripper. A country equally as terrified, though, of women in power such as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; the female victims of the Ripper, who happen to be mainly sex workers, and anyone who ‘doesn’t belong’, which for their Yorkshire town means people of colour, or even anyone without a Yorkshire accent.
Miv has other worries, however – such as keeping a hold of her best friend Sharon, who seems to be floating away from her, and the ever-present worry about Miv’s mum, who stopped speaking one day and hasn’t started since. And then, in the wake of the murders, Miv’s dad and Aunty Jean suggest moving ‘Down South’ where it’s safer. All of a sudden, Miv has to come up with an idea to ensure they stay in Yorkshire, so she can stay friends with Sharon.
She decides she has to catch the Yorkshire Ripper, and stop the killings. So begins her ‘list of suspicious things’, which she keeps in her notebook, jotting down facts about suspicious people and places in the town.
Little does Miv know though, is that those people, and even those close to her, are harbouring other secrets, and that there are other mysteries between the people she meets and comes across, that threaten to have much deeper, darker consequences.

I adored this book. Miv was such a relatable pre-teen character, and her perspective throughout the novel grew as she became wiser – realising more and more things about the people she came across, and their hidden, secret lives. A definite coming-of-age tale, Miv goes from someone sheltered and unaware, to someone who encounters real-world adult issues like domestic abuse, adultery, racism, sexism, and sexual harassment/abuse and pedophilia.
Throughout the course of the book, the many characters Miv encounters become like family to her, and to us as the reader too. She finds parental figures in so many wonderful characters, becomes friends with people she never would have thought to ‘laik out’ with, and experiences a first crush and relationship.

I would recommend this novel to everyone, this book has my whole heart, and I fully intend to buy a physical copy when it’s published, because I am intent on pushing everyone in my life to read this.

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Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, via NetGalley. I enjoyed this book, in the end I couldn't put it down and powered through it! Would recommend and looking forward to more from Jennie Godfrey!

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5* The List of Suspicious Things is a very special book. On the one had warm, enveloping and funny and on the other tackling dark subjects at a very difficult time in the history of a community. Jennie Godfrey manages to balance the characters and the plot in such a way that spending time in the book feels a little bit magical.

Miv is a pre-teen living in a working class town near Leeds in Yorkshire in the late 1970s, the time of the Yorkshire Ripper. Her family situation is strained and her salvation is her friend Sharon and the stability of Sharon's family, who welcome Miv with open arms. When it is suggested that Miv might move away from Yorkshire, Miv (and a reluctant Sharon) decide to find the Ripper and to make Yorkshire safe again.

Aiming to make a list of suspicious characters and things, the 'terrible-twosome' become embroiled in the lives of many of the characters in the community. At a time of upheaval, particularly the closure of the mines and overt racism, Miv and Sharon inadvertently shine a spotlight on many of the people they live alongside.

Without doubt this is the best book I have read this year (and I'm writing this at the end of the year). I was hooked from the first paragraph and within a few pages proclaimed that I was reading something very special. The quality of the writing, the characters, the humour, the care-giving and the sense of being together are perfectly intertwined. This is not a saccharine 'uplift' novel, it is a book that hits you hard because you are rooting for people to overcome the situations they find themselves in.

Thanks to Hutchinson Heinemann and Netgalley for an ARC.

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Miv is determined to find out the identity and help to catch the Yorkshire Ripper. She, along with best friend, Sharon, start investigating and recording their observations of potentially suspicious local people. In doing so, they - and we - meet a cast of brilliantly written characters and learn more about the neighbourhood and its inhabitants.

I loved everything about this book! I stayed up well into the night to finish it and was totally unprepared for the twist near the end, so much so, that I had to go back and reread it to make sure.

I think the thing I loved most about this book is the clever way that we are introduced to the different characters. The different chapters are told by various people but the way that the author makes these transitions is really clever. We could be reading a Miv chapter, when she bumps into/has a conversation with/overhears another character and then the chapter ends. The next chapter then begins with that character and continues the story from their point of view, until the same thing happens again and we go off with someone else. I really enjoyed this and it added to the sense of community and neighbours knowing and looking out for each other that is clearly an important part of the book.

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Miv is 12 and the Yorkshire Ripper is still at large. Her mum has been silent for the last 2 years and Aunty Jean has moved in to look after them all. Dad cannot cope and disappear to the pub..
With her best friend Sharon they decide to do what the police cannot do and that’s catch the ripper. A list of suspicious people are complied and investigated only for another story to emerge, there is racism, domestic violence, loss and grief, divorce and first love.
All surprising to Miv, perhaps a little immature but that is what made her so special, her innocence her so called awakening into an adult world exaggerated.
What she didn’t reckon on was the adult world to encroach on her home, for the distance between herself and Sharon to widen before tragedy and finally truth.
I adored this novel. It was tender, emotional, funny, perfectly capturing societal changes at that time. Godfrey had that knack of placing me right where Miv was, my own sense of the adult world encroaching my innocence as I realised life wasn’t all hearts and flowers
This book is going to be huge and Godfrey deserves every plaudits that will come her way.

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Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. "The List of Suspicious Things" by Jennie Godfrey offers a complex narrative it blends mystery with some coming-of-age elements, and a clear social commentary.

For me personally the middle of the book dragged a little, impacting the pacing. However, the story redeemed itself in the later stages, compelling me to finish a significant portion in just one sitting. Certain events were genuinely upsetting and traumatic to read but they did add to the overall impact of the story but as other reviewers have mentioned I do feel a trigger warning would be good for some readers.

In conclusion, "The List of Suspicious Things" by Jennie Godfrey is a thought-provoking novel that combines mystery with a celebration of friendships and solidarity among marginalised communities. Despite some pacing issues in the middle, the book leaves a lasting impact with its emotional depth and societal commentary. I would recommend this book.

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Wow so this book really blew me away. It's written from the perspective of Miv, an 11 year old girl who decides to solve the mystery of the yorkshire ripper as a distraction from her troubled home life.

This is a brilliant coming of age story, which uses Miv's hunt for the ripper as a lens to explore the time and place she's growing up in. Through her eyes we see who is protected in this community and who experiences neglect and violence. It looks clearly at the different experiences of race, gender, class, and disability without feeling forced or overly exploitative.

Throughout there is also a really interesting exploration of the double edged sword that is a close-knit community where everyone knows each other's business.

The book occasionally took turns with different narrators to show perspectives outside of Miv's which I think accomplished sharing a more adult perspective on the situation, although I will say I enjoyed some more than others, especially Helen and Omar's.

I also think it could have been a bit more restrained as Miv uncovers a darker side of her community through her investigations, there were some bits in the middle with members of the church community that didn't feel like they added much beyond just piling on to the hidden dark side to the community.

Overall though I think it worked really well and I enjoyed it a lot. Would definetly recommend picking this one up.

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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5822271092

In this book pre-teen Miv and her best friend Sharon play detective to try to work out who the Yorkshire ripper is, as his murders escalate around them, by reference to their 'list of suspicious things'.

There are many, many good things about it, especially for a debut author - characters who jump off the page, an easy-to-read writing style and a very strong sense of place. I really did feel transported to 1980s Yorkshire while I read, and overall I thoroughly enjoyed this.

The main downside, though, for me, was that it all felt a bit contrived. Miv's persistence with the list regardless of all the usual teenage distractions around her - school, boys, bullying - didn't really ring true to me. It felt like it was really just there to create a framework for the book. And she also seems oddly insensitive at times to the real world consequences of her investigations. At one point her well-intentioned but false accusation appears to result in a suicide, but it is all dealt with at an oddly surface level and she and everyone else quickly moves on (and keeps investigating!). Indeed, many of the difficult themes this book brings up, including racism, radicalisation, murder, domestic abuse and child sex abuse, seemed to me to be dealt with in quite a superficial way. And perhaps there are also just too many of them - I think a little less dealt with with a little more depth would ultimately have had a greater emotional impact on me.

But minor gripes aside, I would definitely read more from this author in future. Thanks to her, the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

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It’s 1979 in Thatcher’s Britain and the search for the Yorkshire Ripper continues without much success.

Miv and Sharon are best friends, and though coming from very different backgrounds they enjoy doing everything together. Miv doesn’t have many friends, but Sharon is a pretty, popular girl with a kind heart who has taken Miv under her wing. Nearly thirteen, they are growing up quickly, but as yet their parents don’t think the girls are under any threat from the terror stalking the streets so they are allowed to come and go pretty much as they please. Miv is convinced that they could do better than the police in capturing the Ripper, so the girls decide to become more vigilant and start a list of suspicious events about the local men.

This is the author’s debut book and it’s well done. I did enjoy it and found it a quick read. The background was dark, with the Yorkshire Ripper case running throughout, which some will find difficult. There are so many issues covered including racism, domestic abuse and suicide, that all add to the sadness within the book. If it were not for these themes I would have put this down as a YA book, as the writing is naive at times, though that’s possibly to be expected when the POV is written mainly by 12 year old Miv.

This is a coming of age book with a difference. One I would recommend with some reservations.

Thank you NetGalley.

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The List of AMAZING Things about...

#TheListOfSuspiciousThings by Jennie Godfrey

- You will never believe that it is a DEBUT! The story flows seamlessly. It is extraordinarily well-written.

- The characters are ones that will live with you forever. I wish I had an Omar where I live.

- The protagonist, Miv, is so strong-willed that it's inspiring, and this provides a unique viewpoint for the story to be told mostly through her lens.

- It is based around the time that the Yorkshire Ripper was at large. This makes it SO interesting that you are on edge every time you turn the page.

- This book will make you laugh, cry, and most importantly, think.

- You will feel bereft once you finish it. It took me a few days to process what an original story this book is, it is an absolute triumph.

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Well... the reviews are correct. This is an excellent read, and written by a writer who works, I believe, in my home county of Somerset, UK. A fantastic, extremely accomplished and atmospheric novel.

Miv is the main character, a girl growing up in a working-class Yorkshire town. Along with her best friend Sharon, she sets out to try and discover who the Yorkshire Ripper is - the notorious serial killer who plagued people's lives - particularly women's - in the mid-late 1970s and early 1980s. The list, in the title, refers to the people and places they think are suspicious.

Interesting, Godfrey uses the first-person for Miv's chapters - so readers get a very personal viewpoint - and then third-person for others characters' perspectives. We are not just learning about Miv and Sharon, and the somewhat dangerous exploits they get up to, but also that of her father, Austin, the Pakistani shop keeper, the librarian, Helen. Here, we have a book that is extremely evocative of a particular time and place - a real strength - but also, the writer deals with violence and racism, key blights in society today but not to the same extent as they used to be.

I loved this. It is sad. It is thought-provoking. And - I firmly believe it will be a very popular book when it is published in mid-Feb 2024. It deserves to be very successful.

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This book started out quite promisingly with a story set against a backdrop of 1970's Yorkshire during the time of the Yorkshire Ripper. It lost it's way a little in the middle, but picked up again and carried on to a dramatic and poignant ending. It was an interesting idea to have the main narrator as a child. It was very evocative of the streets of the North at the beginning of Thatcher's Britain.

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When you start seeing a book cover everywhere, you keep seeing reviews everywhere and you just keep hearing about a book EVERYWHERE then you know you’re going to have to read it too!

In ‘The List Of Suspicious Things’, it is Yorkshire in 1979 when Maggie Thatcher is prime minister and drainpipe jeans are in and the Yorkshire Ripper’s murders are all anyone is talking about. Miv is convinced her Dad wants to move away to get away from the threat but leaving Yorkshire and her best friend Sharon simply isn’t an option as far as Miv is concerned, no matter the dangers lurking. Her plan to solve the murders herself so she can stay put starts the list of suspicious things and along the way their search for the truth reveals more than a few secrets in their neighbourhood, some that may change lives forever.

I sometimes feel like you shouldn’t always follow the crowd with book hype but THIS is a book that you should pick up, read, absorb and hug close and never let go! It’s THAT good! With the Yorkshire Ripper series ‘The Long Shadow’ currently airing, the content is indeed relevant but this is a book that will be timeless no matter when you read it. Written from a young girl’s point of view the innocence of a child’s outlook of such awful events is so cleverly written and the subjects of racism, chauvinism and of course the effects on women in society with these murders are covered tenderly but with the importance very evident.

This is a heartwarming, coming of age story that will resonate with you for the family life, appall you with the attitudes of some (that unfortunately we do still at times have to tolerate today), thrill you with the threat of living in the shadows during the hunt for Peter Sutcliffe as well as sharing the emotions of Miv growing up and the encounters life throws at her along the way. This book is already one of my favourites of this year and I have no doubt that this will be one of THE books of 2024 when released. Seriously, add this book to your TBR list now and patiently count down the days till you can welcome Miv into your life. This is a debut author I can’t wait to read more from in the future, Jennie Godfrey, thank you for such an incredible journey!

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As a child of the seventies myself, and an avid reader of The Famous Five, I was immediately hooked by the storyline of The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey. Miv is a young girl who is starved of affection and her home life is overshadowed by her mum’s unexplained silence. Trying to establish some kind of meaning in her life, she clings to the friendship of Sharon – a beautiful and loyal schoolfriend – and hopes that she can bring reason back to her life by solving the biggest puzzle of her times – the identity of the Yorkshire Ripper. Together they make a list – of people who behave oddly and might just be the Ripper, the brutal killer who, it is said, is living in plain sight in their community. Many of their neighbours come under suspicion. Soon Miv realises, “Behind every grown-up was a story I knew nothing about”. Before long, their investigation takes on new meaning, as it coincides with tragic events in their community. Are they to blame?

Jennie Godfrey describes the Yorkshire landscape of the 1970s in perfect detail, from the popular fashions and music to the most desirable chocolate bars and perfumes at the time. The plot of The List of Suspicious Things hinges on the secrets that the characters keep from each other. Even, in the case of Miv, secrets that are kept from herself, as a youngster struggling to make sense of the adult world around her. The novel beautifully describes the sudden restriction of freedom that she experiences, brought about in a society that’s fearful of the attacks on women by the so-called Yorkshire Ripper. The author conjures what it is to be a powerless youngster perfectly. Miv’s desperate need for affection is set against the mysterious and unexplained silence of her mother, which adds a poignant tension to her home life.

Miv is just one of many strong voices that Jennie Godfrey deploys to tell the story of a Yorkshire community torn apart by unemployment, political change and the fear or violence against women. It’s easy to see why this book has been compared with A Kestrel For A Knave, with its similar setting and youthful protagonist. The community is typical of its time, with the need to maintain appearances trumping the need for emotional honesty and closeness.

The story unfolds at a gentle pace, but the author builds involvement and empathy with the characters so skilfully that the final scenes are still shocking and emotionally harrowing. A truly involving and emotional read.

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This was a surprisingly warm story given the subject matter, although it did pack some extra punches towards the end that I wasn't expecting. I loved the characters and the strong sense of time, place and community. A memorable and poignant book.

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An extraordinary story about several friends but mainly Miv & Sharon who live in a small town in Yorkshire when all their worlds seemed to be falling apart from the Cuts to industry by the Thatcher Government, to The Yorkshire Ripper Murders & Racism stirred up by the National Front. It is a story about love, adolescence, special friendships & community plus grief. This story grips your heart makes you laugh, feel angry & also very sad at times too & I highly recommend it. #NetGalley, #GoodReads, #FB, #Instagram, #Amazon.co.uk, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/8a5b541512e66ae64954bdaab137035a5b2a89d2" width="80" height="80" alt="200 Book Reviews" title="200 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

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"The List of Suspicious Things" by Jennie Godfrey is an intriguing mystery that keeps readers guessing. The plot is filled with unexpected twists and complex characters, making it a suspenseful and engaging read.

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What an atmospheric and accurate depiction of life in the north during the reign of terror by The Yorkshire Ripper. Being just a few years older than the fictional ‘Miv’ and her friends I was totally transported back to my teenage years. The references to the importance and joy of scented, rollerball lipgloss sparked particular memories for me! Something you could get away with wearing to school!!

The story describes the highs and lows of teenage friendship and life in a close knit community, with all the secrets it hides. This is perfectly depicted and is a great snapshot of the issues of the time. As another reviewer remarked, I can see this being a school text to look at the social issues of the time. The prose seems to improve as the book goes on, the author really getting into her stride.It is very hard to believe this is a debut novel and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

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As someone who was growing up at the time of the Yorkshire Ripper, this book, struck a chord, many of the minor details, dragging me straight back into my childhood.. I inhaled it in a few settings, it’s not the kind of book to be rushed. This will be a huge success.. Best to beat the rush.

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