Seal Skin by Su Bristow

Sealskin by Su Bristow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1.5 days

Pages - 276

Publisher - Orenda Books

Source - Gifted by another reader

Blurb from Goodreads

Donald is a young fisherman, eking out a lonely living on the west coast of Scotland. One night he witnesses something miraculous, and makes a terrible mistake. His action changes lives—not only his own, but those of his family and the entire tightly knit community in which they live. Can he ever atone for the wrong he has done, and can love grow when its foundation is violence? Based on the legend of the selkies—seals who can transform into people—evokes the harsh beauty of the landscape, the resilience of its people, both human and animal, and the triumph of hope over fear and prejudice. With exquisite grace, Su Bristow transports us to a different world, subtly and beautifully exploring what it means to be an outsider, and our innate capacity for forgiveness and acceptance. Rich with myth and magic, Sealskin is, nonetheless, a very human story, as relevant to our world as to the timeless place in which it is set.



My Review

Donald is a bit of a loner, an outcast among his own people, never really fitting in. One night he sees something of legend, something most folk wouldn't believe. There is a horrific encounter that changes everything for Donald. Can good ever come from a horrific event, will Donald ever be accepted? A story that looks at Scottish legends and the age old actions and consequences.

I remember the stories of selkies as a kid and loved them. This is just like those old stories but we have a family aspect, healing, love, secrets, lies and of course the horrific sexual attack, it is brief and not in depth of details but just a headsup.

We see a lot of character development in this story, Donald is such a loner and not very accepted within his community. It is really just him and his mother, his mother is a healer of sorts and trusted within the community. When Mairhi comes along she changes Donald's live in so many ways and has such a huge impact on their small town.

There are so many stories from the legend of selkies and whilst is has been a long long time since I read them this took me back to when I was a kid. I really liked this retelling and it makes me want to go back and read more of the older stories, 4/5 for me.

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Blood Daughter by Dreda Say Mitchell

Blood Daughter by Dreda Say Mitchell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - dipped in and out over 3 days

Pages - 400

Publisher - Hodder

Source - BookBridgr

Blurb from Goodreads

They say blood is thicker than water.
That's not going to stop it being spilled.

Life hasn't been easy for the Miller family. Finally, mum Babs has had one bit of luck. She plans to share the profits with her daughters. She thought they'd be pleased...

But money always causes trouble, especially when it's desperately needed. Jen wants to make a better life for her kids. Tiff owes a lot of bad men a lot of money. And Dee is worried that her husband is getting back into the criminal life.

As the sisters fall out, a gold bullion heist brings more opportunities - and many more dangers. None of them are giving up without a fight...



My review

Guys this is book three in a trilogy, if you haven't read the previous two I advise you to do so. You can get away with reading this one off the bat as it does give you history of that which has passed. However, I think in order to fully appreciate the things the characters do and full impact of it you should have vested in the previous books. Babs is still in the jail but has come into a bit of money and wants to share it with her daughters. As you know money always causes issues and this family was already packing enough baggage for a whole crew! Jen, Tiff and Dee have very different attitudes towards what should happen to the money as well as their own personal dramas. As the tension builds between the siblings danger is lurking around the corner and no one has anyones back!

I do love the Miller family, they really have been through the mill already and the book is broken into different issues. Babs coping (or trying to) in jail, the sibling rivalry, the sisters personal issues, Dee's husband keeping away from the life and all manners of skulduggery. Like an onion there are many layers to the book, love, lies, violence, secrets, the past coming back to bite you in the bottom and death. You would think by the third book the story would be starting to slow or the author run out of ideas, not in this trio. The book keeps packing punches, hooking the reader and keeping the pace page after page.

I have read a few of Mitchell's books and have another couple on the tbr, each book is fresh and for this one giving some closure and rounding up a fabulous tale. You won't be disappointed and I cannot wait to see what Mitchell has next for us, 4/5 for me this time. Thanks so much to BookBridgr for providing me with a review copy! Blood Daughter is available to buy now from all good retailers, paperback and kindle.

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