books

  • Love is in the Pen #1 – Jennette McCurdy’s ‘Half His Age’

    Welcome to Love is in the Pen, my new literature and book review series! I grew up watching Jennette McCurdy almost every day and I fell in love with her Nickelodeon character, Sam Puckett, instantly. It was only upon the release of her incredible and raw 2022 memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died, that I…

    Read more →

  • 19 years since Sophie Lancaster’s murder. What’s changed?

    On the 11th of August 2007, Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend Robert Maltby were beaten in a vicious attack in a park. A group of teenage boys struck up a friendly conversation with them, invited them to hang out, and then beat them both to unconsciousness, unprovoked. Maltby survived, Lancaster died from her horrifying injuries.…

    Read more →

  • Death to the ‘guilty pleasure’: why I’m not guilty about being me

    I’ve been in the ‘alternative’ scene for years, exploring different subcultures and trying new things. I’m stylistically inquisitive and always on the lookout for new ideas, but for years I was stuck in a mindset of not feeling ‘goth’ enough, comparing myself to people online. I always thought if I wore a colour that wasn’t…

    Read more →

  • Reading wrapped: my highlights of 2025

    As an English literature student and bookish baddie, I couldn’t resist but begin my 2026 blogging with a reading wrapped. According to GoodReads, I’ve read 19 books and 5,421 pages in 2025. Not a great score, and leaving the year quite far behind my reading challenge, which was 30 books. I’m setting myself the same…

    Read more →