A captivating story, an exotic and richly imagined setting, sibling rivalry, romance, l couldn't put it down

What a vivid and well-researched story! It's an exquisite depiction of colonial Vietnam on the brink of a new area; I could feel the humidity and the sweet scent of frangipani trees... Dinah's writing is incredibly suspenseful and did not shy away from the harsh realities of warfare. I fevered with Nicole to the very last page; the tension is as taut as the silk that winds through it.

Put everything else on hold. Turn off the phone. Be prepared to be swept away by this wonderful book. I couldn't put it down and loved every delicious page. Dinah Jefferies has a remarkable gift for conjuring up another time and place with lush descriptions, full of power and intensity. I was totally captivated by its passionate and dangerous story of Nicole, as she fights to find her place in the turmoil of 1950s Vietnam, torn between loyalty and love. Deeply layered, full of twists and surprises, but with an edge of darkness, this book is an exciting, exhilarating, extraordinary story that is beautifully written. I loved it. A must read

Beautifully written and heart-rending, this has a magical setting with a real sense of period

A terrific emotional and atmospheric read

Dinah Jefferies has once again created a gloriously atmospheric and tension-filled novel. Immensely enjoyable, poignant and compelling.

My ideal read; mystery, love heart-break and joy - I couldn't put it down

The ideal book...always wanting to know what happens next, together with the description of the period and characters, all make this a compelling read

Beautifully atmospheric, with twists to keep you enthralled

Lush and romantic, with an authentic feel of place and period, Jefferies should have another hit on her hands here

Historical writing of wonderful intelligence

Clark expertly spins a story of people trying to work out who they are amid the wreckage of old social certainties. Acute and perceptive

The Magicians is a spellbinding, fast-moving, dark fantasy book for grownups that feels like an instant classic. I read it in a niffin-blue blaze of page turning, enthralled by Grossman's verbal and imaginative wizardry, his complex characters and most of all, his superb, brilliant inquiry into the wondrous, dangerous world of magic

The Magicians is Harry Potter as it might have been written by John Crowley...This is one of the best fantasies I've read in ages

The author has taken all that is held dear in the fantasy genre, reverently (most of the time) tipping the hat to Rowling, Tolkien, Lewis, Le Guin and others, and shown it from a completely different and unique angle

...a gripping fantasy thriller that will please all the older Harry Potter fans out there

Sumell’s compulsively readable novel in stories introduces a restless underachiever as irresistible as he is detestable, surely one of the most morally, violently, socially complex personalities in recent literature…. Sumell’s debut is humbly macho, provoking outrage, pity, and finally tenderness. Perhaps this is a book readers will hate to love, but only because it feels, like Alby, all too real

There's a special alchemy here that you are going to want to witness...offhand and funny, and then the tender heart emerges from the shadows, so tender, and comes at us with a knife. Every story here is two: one the fun, the other the blade

Focusing on the single reality that human beings die, Sumell wakes up, and boy oh boy is he ever pissed off... Sumell, on Alby's behalf, fights back, and he fights dirty. Using cunning, reckless rage, and bravura comic timing, he kicks death's ass... Bystanders get hurt, the reader got hurt, but at least I was reminded that I was part of this whole shitty deal. You'd like to believe that there are consolations, and there are. Being sentient, for example. Being able to read, for instance. Having read Making Nice

The self-destructive narrator lashes out with reckless intimacy, random violence, and an often hilarious misplaced rage that shoots to wound rather than kill. What saves its victims and the reader is a naked rendering of a heart sorting through its broken pieces to survive. The result is an eloquent empathy, an uplift of hope-filled grace

Making Nice will grab you by the throat, raise your blood pressure, and cause you to chortle in a crowd. It will also break your heart. When they're writing the history of the best characters of our time, Alby will be there, telling the others to get in line

Making Nice is a little bit special. A truly original portrayal of grief

Making Nice has an anarchic humour and a goofy, ingenuous humanity that makes every page feel new… Some jokes…aren’t just funny, they are insightful, unexpected and hilarious. In its rampage to nowhere, Making Nice achieves the remarkable feat of making it feel better to travel hopelessly than to arrive.