I’ve loved this series – see my review of This Charming Man. The humour is very British and I particularly appreciated the humorous articles at the beginning of every chapter, so I was delighted when this offering popped up on Netgalley.
BLURB: Love can be a truly terrible thing.
Marriages are tricky at the best of times, especially when one of you is dead. Vincent Banecroft, the irascible editor of The Stranger Times, has never believed his wife died despite emphatic evidence to the contrary. Now, against all odds, it seems he may actually be proved right; but what lengths will he go to in an attempt to rescue her?
With Banecroft distracted, the shock resignation of assistant editor, Hannah Willis, couldn’t have come at a worse time. It speaks volumes that her decision to reconcile with her philandering ex-husband is only marginally less surprising than Banecroft and his wife getting back together. In this time of crisis, is her decision to swan off to a fancy new-age retreat run by a celebrity cult really the best thing for anyone? As if that wasn’t enough, one of the paper’s ex-columnists has disappeared, a particularly impressive trick seeing as he never existed in the first place.
REVIEW: I found it a bit difficult to get into this one. That occasionally happens with a much-anticipated book, I’ve discovered. I hated the fact that Hannah had cut and run from The Stranger Times office – and initially, her apparent reason didn’t ring true. I soon discovered there’s a reason for that. So at that stage, I relaxed into this one and went with the flow. Though I would say that if you haven’t read either of the first two books, I’d put this one back on the shelf and go searching for either or both of them. There was a lot of plot to pack into this one, so McDonnell didn’t hang around re-establishing the characters in the same detail as happened in The Stranger Times or This Charming Man.
I liked the fact that Stella had more of a role in this story – she’s always been something of an enigma. But I did find Grace’s unravelling a bit annoying and I wasn’t convinced by it. She’s always been a very efficient office manager and coping with receipts for Petty Cash is one of those bread and butter tasks that has to be done with thoroughness, or the whole system quickly gets out of hand. It simply didn’t make sense to me that Grace would have been so slapdash with the paperwork that accounts for the pennies and pounds running through a working office.
The scenes at the health spa were enjoyable, with plenty of humour. And as ever, the climactic scenes that trip into horrific paranormal played to McDonnell’s writing strengths. What I really, really missed from this arc were The Stranger Times articles that appear at the start of every chapter. They usually make me laugh aloud – but while there was a line identifying what they would be about, they hadn’t yet been added to this edition before it was released to reviewers. I know readers won’t find it a problem and so I’m not critiquing their lack – I’m just having a personal whine, as they are always hilarious.
Overall, I enjoyed this latest adventure from the quirkiest newspaper to hit the streets of Manchester. This book and the rest of the series comes highly recommended if you enjoy your paranormal fantasy peopled by eccentric larger-than-life characters having all sorts of odd adventures with a large dollop of Brit humour. While I obtained an arc of Love Tears Us Apart from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10
and staying at home. But what has kept my head straight is my love of reading and writing – thank goodness for both! I’ve also loved the wonderful sunny weather – it’s been a joy being able to sit in the garden and watch Spring springing… I’m conscious that I am very blessed. And given that none of us can guarantee if we will survive this, I’ve determined to be as thankful for every coming day as I can be. So despite everything, this has been a very precious April. 
This edition was produced by HarperCollins in September 2008. I really like this one – the blue-black background is both effective and attractive and the gravestone is striking. But what stands out is the treatment of both the title and author fonts, which I love. And then they go and RUIN it by plastering that large gold blob right in the centre! Couldn’t it have gone in a corner? Just asking…
Published in December 2008 by Bloomsbury, this cover is the exact opposite of the above cover. Rather than going for the minimalist approach, this cover is full of wonderful detail, featuring the two main protagonists scowling out at prospective readers. I could have done without the endorsement by Diana Wynne Jones impinging onto that glorious artwork, but overall I like this one, including the funky title font. This is the cover of the copy we own. The big problem with it is that it doesn’t look good in thumbnail.
This Spanish edition, published by Roca Editorial in October 2010. I really like it – the design is clever, featuring the blade of a knife with the cityscape running along its length and young Bod running along the edge of it. I think it’s attractive and eye-catching – and again the author and title fonts look fabulous. However, the snag for me is that there is no graveyard in this cover, which features so heavily in the book – and the title.
Produced by Polaris in September 2008, this Czech cover does feature a graveyard. I like the design and appreciate that the ghosts also feature. However, unfortunately the execution of the otherworldly characters lets down this cover – they look like they’ve been painted onto material and then photoshopped into the cover. It’s such a shame, because I think the idea and the rest of the image is really strong.
This French edition, published by J’ai lu in April 2012, is also set in a graveyard and I love it. I think it’s the strongest of all the designs. It sings off the page with the eerie lighting and the silhouetted figure of the small boy against the wrought iron gates of the graveyard looks fabulous. This is mine – but which is your favourite?
When their aunt is taken ill, thirteen-year old Annat and her brother are sent from their small coastal town to live with their unknown father. Like Annat, Yuda is a Shaman; a Wanderer with magical powers, able to enter other worlds. As Annat learns more about her powers, the children join their father on a remarkable train journey to the frozen north and find a land of mystery and intrigue, threatened by dark forces and beset by senseless murders that have halted construction of a new tunnel.
A hundred years ago, a man with a secret could travel a few hundred miles and give himself a new name and life story. No one would be any the wiser, as long as he didn’t give anyone a reason to start asking questions. These days, that’s not so easy, with everyone on social media, and CCTV on every street corner. So Daniel Mackmain keeps his head down and keeps himself to himself.
Brainfluff 