I love being given the opportunity to update our school library which is a unique space for both senior students and staff to access high quality literature. This is definitely a must-buy. It kept me absolutely gripped from cover to cover and is exactly the kind of read that just flies off the shelves. It has exactly the right combination of credible characters and a compelling plot thatI just could not put down. This is a great read that I couldn't stop thinking about and it made for a hugely satisfying read. I'm definitely going to order a copy and think it will immediately become a popular addition to our fiction shelves. 10/10 would absolutely recommend.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I’d heard great things about this book. Started reading and wanted to love it, but sadly found it that it lacked something within it,

I was drawn to this book by the premise.
Unfortunately I was bored and gave up on this book at 50%
It just wasn’t for me

Kirstin Innes' Scabby Queen was a book that I absolutely adored for the first few chapters; Scottish, loud-mouthed singer and political activist? Yes, please. But for the latter half of the book, I struggled with the narrative thread and the choices that character was making. It could have been great and for that, I am perhaps the most disappointed.

There’s no question that this is an extremely well-written book, and that that the author is incredibly talented.
In Clio, Innes has created such a complex character, difficult to like, hard to understand, and someone who makes you question your own motivations and reasons for your friendships and for allowing certain people into your life.
Throughout her life Clio attracts people who admire her, to the point of adulation, and who put up with her sometimes terrible behaviour. Clio uses people, but she is also used by them, and we learn, as the novel progresses, why she is like she is, and we learn too what motivates her.
What’s really clever about this book is that we never hear from Clio herself, we are never in her point of view, we only know her through what others think about her, their experiences of her. They bring their own baggage to their relationships with her.
I did find it quite difficult to get into the novel, and found the changes in point of view and timeline quite hard to follow. But I soon got into it and, once I became familiar with the characters and the different plotlines, the book genuinely became hard to put down.
A highly recommended read.

Not my typical genre of book I would go for but I had seen so many positive things being said about this one so I decided to give it a go. It was a tricky read for me but overall I did enjoy this one.

A decent book with Evelyn Hugo vibes, easy to read and quick to finish. Well written and developed characters.

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

What a tremendous novel! It said a huge amount about Scotland, but also about being human. I loved piecing together the character of Clio from the testimony of those around her.

There is such warmth in this book and, yet, it is uncompromising in its portrait of Clio (and Scotland).

Cannot recommend highly enough.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this from start to finish. One of those books that you don't want to put down and feel lost when it's over. Wonderfully written, with each individual character being brought to life in such a way that you feel you're there next to them. Not only do you get a real feel for Clio's character, which is built up beautifully through the eyes of the people around her, but also a strong sense of what it means to live in Scotland and the political feeling in the nation. An absolute must read!

I think that this is one of those cases of "it's not you, it's me".

Scabby Queen tells the tale of Clio Campbell, a one-hit-wonder, who commits suicide just before her 51st birthday. We get to experience life before and after her death, how it impacts those close to her, and how the media changes its tune when someone dies.

I went into this expecting something incredible, and it turned out to be really quite meh. The story was rather dull with some glimpses of amazing writing. There were a few parts that stuck with me, particularly the discussion about fear/anxieties surrounding pregnancy and the influence it can have on your life and independence as a woman. This really hit home for me and was probably one of the highlights of the book. I'm a big believer in not having to have a "nice" main character in order for a book to be good. However, I really struggled to connect with Clio for roughly 95% of the entire book. There was nothing about her that interested me enough to want to be in her headspace (other than the part I previously mentioned).

My struggles with this book are definitely down to me not being able to connect with Clio. Had I gelled with the main character more, then my enjoyment would've been far greater.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I loved this irreverent book. By the end, I felt I knew everyone in it - the characters are as alive as real friends, and there's no higher compliment.

It open with the suicide of the protagonist. The heroine of the story Cleo as singer and activist is immortalised by the people who knew her. From her husband to her fans, it’s gave a shocking account of the music industry and what it can do the young women.
Very bravely written. I felt it was one of the more politically engaging books I’ve ever read. The author held nothing back. I also really enjoyed the way it was written Across decades with the different views of the same situations. I’ll definitely be recommending.

I found this a very difficult read, the story jumps back & forth through the life of Clio Campbell starting with her death and introduces the reader to the many different people she has met and had an impact on.
Clio is a complex character and hard to empathise with, does she just pick up people and causes and use them to suit her or does she genuinely care and is looking to be loved and needed? I was left wondering this still at the end of the book, but maybe that is what Kirstin Innes wanted with this story.

I was given a copy of Scabby Queen by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Counterculture zeitgeist from Thatcher’s Britain to 2019: Vibrant writing, unpleasant people

Though this was a definite page turner, and reminded me a little in the sweep of story-of-the-times through a damaged creative artist, of William Boyd’s approach, at the finish, unlike Boyd, I didn’t feel my heart-gut had expanded.

Central character, one-hit folkie protest warrior, Clio Campbell, roars through the pages (literally) like a volcanic hurricane, smashing almost everyone and everything in her wake. She’s a huge and charismatic creation, damaged and damaging, only occasionally touching the reader’s heart in a way which makes sense of how she seemed to be so influential on the hearts of others

A major problem with this book which I did appreciate, for Innes story-telling skills, and the episodic, jumpcut back and forth of point-of-view, is that while every single character was deeply wounded, not to mention vulnerable, as I think all humans are, or become, through life’s different challenges, they were pretty well all in some way, deeply unpleasant.

It isn’t that the reader needs to like characters, but something about their flawed humanity should touch ours, and an understanding be felt. This one was just too filled with characters who were too much ‘types’.

This is a statement of the political times, its heart is socialist, feminist, agitatory.

3.5 – certainly better than okay, raised to 4

I received it as a digital ARC from the publisher, via Net Galley

Raw, unflinching, moving and funny, this is a vivacious and moving portrait of a flawed but dazzling woman and a proud but divided nation, pitched somewhere between Patti Smith's Just Kids and Shuggie Bain. Scabby Queen follows the life and death of Clio Campbell, political activist and one-hit-wonder, whose death is the impotus to tell her story and Scotland's over 5 decades, from the minor's strikes to Brexit.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but it turned out to be a fascinating exploration of modern society, politics, and how the smallest action can affect lives. I really liked the concept of telling Clio's story from so many different viewpoints, as it allowed you to see that opinions are only made up of what we see and there's never really one 'truth' about any of us. Innes also takes a microscope to the last 30 years of British politics and society, asking if where we are now is really where we want to be. A book that will stay with you.

Genre: Literary Fiction

The Gist: When an eighties one hit wonder pop star commits suicide the people in her life reflect on their time with her and try to figure out what part they may have played in her demise.

Short Review: A piece of political literary fiction that is balanced with a story of music, relationships and trying to make the world a better place.

Long Review: Scabby Queen is a really hard, gritty story set in London and Scotland over a period of 40 years. It is told from multi-perspective from the people who knew Clio Campbell - the one hit wonder and political activist. Clio Campbell has committed suicide and those that saw her at her best and at her worst reminisce about the times she influenced their own lives.

Kirstin Innes has created a wonderfully unlikable character in Clio Campbell. She really is awful. Yet you cannot feel sorry for her. She is a product of her environment and the situations that she has been involved in, the relationships she has had - especially the ones she had in her formative years with her parents.

I won’t lie to you, Scabby Queen is not an easy read. You want to love Clio but she makes it really difficult and you will spend a lot of your time yelling at the other characters to realise how toxic she is but it really is a good read.

Scabby Queen by Kirstin Innes is available now.

For more information regarding 4th Estate (@4thEstateBooks) please visit www.4thestate.co.uk.

This is very much a book of my generation. Our heroine, Clio (short for Cliodhna) Campbell, dragged herself into adulthood during the Miners’ Strike of the late 1980s and shot to fame with an anti-Poll Tax song at the beginning of the 1990s. None of which is necessarily going to mean a lot to US readers, but bear with me. We never properly get to meet Clio. The book begins with the discovery of her body, when she commits suicide with her fifty-first birthday approaching, leaving a short and not exactly explanatory email in lieu of a note. Instead, we see her through the eyes of those whose lives she touched, the ones who loved her and the ones who were frequently exasperated by her.

Jumping between narrators and between eras, we slowly build up a picture of who Clio might have been. Often mysterious, few of her friends and lovers seem to have truly known her, but the reader is led towards completing the picture from the disparate jigsaw pieces thrown haphazardly at them. Clio isn’t always likeable, and neither are some of the point-of-view characters. Other narrators are flawed in ways that are clearly understandable and ultimately forgivable. On the other hand, all are fascinating, and I really enjoyed trying to unpick their stories and figure out how their lives meshed with Clio’s.

It’s really difficult to say much more about any one plot thread or character without introducing spoilers. So many current topics in British politics are brought into the mix, and we see them unfold from their very beginning in a lot of cases, and then follow them all the way up to the point we were at with them pre-pandemic.

I enjoyed observing the cult of personality that sprang up following Clio’s death, and the way in which that event had far more impact than she had managed to achieve in her later years. The media has little time for middle-aged women, but loves a dead starlet, even when they are one and the same. It was also fun having my memory jogged around causes, news items, and pop stars from such a multitude of decades and strata of society. I’d have liked to have seen more of some characters, but I definitely want to read more from this author.