MoMoBookDiary

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My Review

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
(But actually — let’s call it 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 — five stars for each of the three editions I now own, because The List of Suspicious Things more than earns them.)

Jennie Godfrey’s debut is not just a book — it’s an experience. One that quietly takes hold of your heart and doesn’t let go.

This is a story that found me at exactly the right time. I bought the Kindle edition the day it came out, then picked up the audiobook not long after… and still, I waited. When it became the #bookfairybookclub read, I finally committed — and ordered the paperback. It wasn’t until I shared my #currentread on Instagram that I realised I’d unknowingly bought the same book three times. And honestly? No regrets. Because this story gave me more than I ever expected.

I decided to listen to the audiobook while reading along in the paperback, and from the moment I pressed play, I was hooked. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to. Thanks to my Alexa setup across every room of my flat, I listened as I cooked, cleaned, moved around — though, truthfully, I mostly just sat there, completely absorbed.

The narration is phenomenal. The full cast — Joanne Froggatt, Mark Noble, Asif Khan, Gemma Whelan, and Simon Harvey — deserves its own round of applause. Their voices didn’t just tell the story; they became it. Each character felt distinct, real, and full of life. The multi-voice narration added an emotional richness that a single narrator couldn’t have achieved — it deepened the connection, pulled me closer, and made me feel like I was truly there in Yorkshire, 1979.

But what struck me most was that this book is not about the Yorkshire Ripper. The murders aren’t the focus — they’re the grim backdrop, the unspoken fear hovering over everything like a dark cloud. The Ripper is not a character in this book. He’s a marker in time, a shadow cast on the neighbourhood — but the real story lies in the lives of those living underneath that shadow.

Jennie Godfrey captures something quietly profound here. The novel is about ordinary people navigating their own private struggles in extraordinary times. There are strained family dynamics, deep silences, small acts of rebellion and tenderness, and moments of friendship that feel like lifelines. While the fear of the Ripper looms large, the characters are also dealing with everyday troubles — broken homes, unspoken grief, shame, poverty, and uncertainty. It’s these threads that make the novel so powerful.

And then there’s Miv. Godfrey doesn’t just write Miv — she breathes life into her. Miv is so much more than a protagonist; she’s a fully formed human being. Her voice is clear and honest, filled with all the contradictions of being twelve: curious, confused, hopeful, afraid. Her friendship with Sharon is vibrant and funny and at times heartbreakingly real. Together they create their list — not of suspects, exactly, but of suspicious things, as seen through the eyes of two girls trying to make sense of a world that’s starting to feel unsafe and unknowable.

One of the most moving threads in the book is the difference Miv and Sandra make — not just in each other’s lives, but in the lives of two men in their community: Arthur and Jim. Through small, genuine acts of empathy, they manage to reach these men in ways no one else has. Individually and together, their kindness creates space for change, for reconnection, and for healing. Without the girls’ involvement, it’s easy to imagine both men’s lives taking very different — and much lonelier — paths. It’s such a beautiful, understated touch in a story that could have easily been overwhelmed by its darker backdrop.

And the writing? Exceptional. It’s descriptive without being overdone, evocative without being sentimental. Godfrey captures the grit of 1970s Yorkshire, the small indignities of poverty, the sensory details of a community that’s watching, whispering, surviving. She immerses you in it all — the sights, the smells, the silences between sentences.

I finished the book at 1am and couldn’t sleep. I was too full of thought and feeling, too awake in the best kind of way. The next day, I tried to pick up another book and just… couldn’t. I wasn’t ready to leave Miv and her world behind. I’m still not.

I’ve read 56 books so far this year, and this one? It stands out — quietly but boldly — as one of the most emotionally resonant reads of them all. It’s a story of fear, yes, but also of friendship, family, courage, and care. It’s about what happens when you don’t look away — from the truth, from each other, from the hard things and the beautiful ones too.

Jennie Godfrey, thank you. I will be first in line for whatever you write next.

The Review

All views expressed are my own. This review, or parts of it, may also be shared on my social media channels and various book platforms. Links are accurate at the time of publication.

Tags: #TheListOfSuspiciousThings #JennieGodfrey #BookFairyBookClub #ibelieveinbookfairies #fiction #StoriesThatStayWithYou #UnforgettableReads #FullCastNarration #FifteenStarRead #OneBookThreeEditions