Kitty's War by Eimear Lawlor Blog Tour

Today is my stop for the blog tour for "Kitty's War" by Eimear Lawlor, for my stop I have my review, enjoy. This is a Rachels Random Resources tour. Buy link for the book from Amazon UK.

About the author:

Eimear Lawlor was born in Co. Cavan and now lives in city of Kilkenny with her husband John and two sons. Unfortunately, her middle child Ciara passed away in 2016, who was the inspiration of her writing career. Her debut novel Dublin's Girl was an Irish Times bestseller and was inspired by the true story of her aunt, who worked with Michael Collins and Eamon De Valera as their private secretary.

Kitty's War by Eimear Lawlor


Time taken to read - in and out over 6 days

Pages - 317

Publisher - Head of Zeus

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

Kilkenny, 1939. Ireland might be neutral, but Kitty Flynn is caught in her own war. Forced to give up her child at seventeen, she escaped to London in search of a fresh start.

However, in 1941, upon hearing that her brother, Anthony, who had been injured during the Spanish Civil War, is now gravely ill, Kitty must return home to care for him. In a time where food and medicine are scarce, Kitty is relieved to secure a nursing job – that is, until G2, the Irish Intelligence notices her proficiency in German…

G2 are determined to use Kitty's translation skills to extract information from the German internees at The Curragh Military Camp, even using Anthony as leverage.

Before she knows it, Kitty finds herself in the treacherous world of espionage. And soon Kitty must will she sacrifice herself to save her brother?

Inspired by real life events Kitty's War is the new sweeping historical novel by the bestselling author of Dublin's Girl, Eimear Lawlor.


My Review

So Kitty is our main character, living in London after fleeing for a fresh start, unwed and forced to give up her baby - it is 1939, Ireland. Her plan is a new life and with her friend they both are going into healthcare. When Kitty has to go home due to a bereavement she finds her brother in trouble, now it is just the two of them they need to stick together. Kitty will do whatever it takes to save her brother, from illness, from authorities even from himself.

Poor Kitty, travelling whilst a war and bombs are going on, getting caught up in all kinds of dodgy situations and everything comes back to saving her brother. She risks just about everything for him, they had a turbulent childhood, often depending on each other and now as adults he needs her more than ever.

I kinda wish I hadn't read the blurb because it goes on about Kitty being caught up in espionage which doesn't come until later, much later. I thought the book was going to be thick of war/espionage and whilst war and threat is peppered throughout this is really all about Kitty. She has constant inner battles, putting herself in some really dodgy situations all in desperation of doing what is right for her brother.

The whole war/Ireland part was really interesting, I know not a lot about the wars so I fond myself having to put the book down and reading up XYZ. I love when books make me do that. There are some dodgy characters and Kitty had me frustrated at times but again it was all through the love and devotion she had to her brother. The book also deals with issues relevant to the time period, babies out of wedlock and being hidden away as a result, the impacts that kind of loss has. Her mother 's treatment and her ideals/memories of her father.

The book has huge threads of family weaved throughout, dodgy morals, sexuality, family, friendship, accusations of espionage, mistrust of anyone seemingly linked to or sympathising with Germans/IRA or a parent being German. There is a lot going on and I wasn't sure where it was all headed, I do enjoy a book that keeps you guessing. Touching in places, some bits she had me ripping my knittin and some emotive scenes. This is my first by this author, I would absolutely read her again.

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Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - in and out over 4 days

Pages - 482

Publisher - Wildfire

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

There’s power in a book…

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master” (NPR).


My Review

So I kept seeing this on Booktok and I am a total FOMO so of course I had to buy and we had a wee visit to a witch fair so time to read it. It kicks off with a young girl being driven by her furious father, she is being taken to a house for girls like her, girls with a belly of trouble. Once there she is named after a flower, you help around the house, chores, you don't tell anyone anything personal and at the end you give birth in hospital and your baby gets adopted. Each girl is coming from a different scenario but all are to hide away until their "mistake" over and then forget it happened and go to their old life. However the girls end up coming across some magic and find they can have some power, revenge and some say in their predicament and those who have harmed them, dun dun dun.

So the first 100 odd pages we are focused on the girls and their tentative relationships, little bits of their information coming forward and friendships forming. Then we have some witchcraft, magic and things go quite dark. These girls are young teens, some really young and discussions of SA, abuse of power and details, graphic in some places about births. How badly some are treated because they are pregnant out of wedlock, it can make for difficult reading.

The magic parts, especially the offerings, ooft I have a thing about some body parts so I found one particular scene quite barbaric that others may not feel it quite as bad. I think most of us as youngsters watched The Craft so anything with magic/witches will always be a draw.

This isn't my first Hendrix book and it won't be my last, 4/5.

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