The Mancunian Yank

Despite my low scoring of this book I found it extremely well written and the premise interesting but the crucial reasons for my low scoring are for two reasons: 1) The narrator is a one-dimensional female who never finds her own voice and therefore is completely complacent and 2) The ending was lacklustre and disappointing after leading up to, what I thought, would be a climactic ending.   In my effort to be sarcastic as possible I'll say that the story is exactly what it says on the packaging, the sister (and narrator) being Korede and the serial killer sibling being Ayoola but the side effects include disappointment and predictable plot points as Korede is the 'ugly sister' who is pretty much ignored and can't get the balls to ask her crush (who's also a work colleague) out on a date and Ayoola is the 'beautiful sister' with men falling head over heels for her but that doesn't stop her from stealing Korede's crush. If you know me then you know I c...

 She appears to vanish, although she may in fact be target practice, who knows, Invisible except for the formative attributes,  It's so easy to blend in with the upholstery, Because heaven forbid, we should speak, Fabric is not the only thing cut out and outlined here, Vibrant edges show the curves of 'Real women' because we are not daydreams or fantasies, We are queens of disguise, we hide our rage as well as the knifes we hold behind our laughter,  Words,  Wound to wound, We bleed for life and love, And hang our heads as easily as you hang your wallpaper,  Although it should be the other way around. 

I’ll get straight to the point Covid made us appreciate all of the things and people in our lives that, up until that point, most people had taken for granted; everyone from the NHS, other key workers including shop workers, post people, bus drivers and medical and delivery drivers (just to name a few). This idea is actually what kicked off my ongoing series of short stories called Everyday Heroes Doing Thankless Jobs: https://themancyank.blogspot.com/2021/08/short-stories-everyday-heroes-doing.html   Gratitude Manchester, which is on display outside The Central Library until Sunday 12th,  https://thisisgratitude.co.uk/ is a free exhibit that features beautiful Oscar statue- like sculptures painted by various artists representing different heroes and aspects of the pandemic, everything from our reconnection with nature, to our connections maintained through technology to the people we loved and appreciated through the highest and lowest points of the past year and a half...

It seemed as if the past two months had been a hurricane dream for me; one minute we’d finished the countdown on Deansgate and the next most of us were gathered inside Mackie Mayor. As usual MIF had gifted me with a lot of new ‘first times’. I got to see some incredible animal murals as well as explore Mackie Mayor with its beautiful high glass ceiling and cosy low lights. Hosted, yet again by the amazing Heidi Taylor-Wood and Carmen Ffye Paulo, who I first mentioned here: https://themancyank.blogspot.com/2021/07/mif21-looking-forward-to-tomorrow-part.html The beginning of the evening was interspaced with a few people reading their poetic entries from the new book ‘I Love You Too’ and  then there was a slight break as the food vendors opened up and the DJs started playing their sets. Unfortunately, due to the audio equipment and the size of the structure it was really difficult for me to hear what was being said into the microphone (all things that are unavoidable although ...