Reviews

The Boy Who Could See Demons

“This is a brilliant book. From the first page of Alex’s diary extracts we wanted to scoop him up, give him a cuddle and make his world a better place.” - Good To Know

“This is an extraordinary read. It’s one of those books that you think about while you are at work or play wondering what’s going to happen next, Then when you have finished it keeps popping back into your head. … This novel is outstanding. Beware readers: you may need a tissue or two.” – The Aucklander

“In creating a binary narrative suspense – demon or disorder? – that endures to nearly the final page, Jess-Cooke pulls off a substantial triumph.” – Easymix

“Beautifully written, this book completely gets under your skin. From the start, I cared about Anya and Alex and what happened to them. No, it’s not a light and fluffy read, but it’s endearing and consuming – I loved it!” – Fabulousmag.co.uk

“A compassionate exploration of mental illness, The Boy Who Could See Demons is a clever and engaging tale, reminiscent of Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” – New Zealand Herald

“The Boy Who Could See Demons should, and could, be among the top novels of this year: definitely a must-read!” – The American Book Center Blog

The Guardian Angel’s Journal

“An incredible debut novel… This is The Lovely Bones meets It’s a Wonderful Life. Fabulous.” – The Sun

“The new Audrey Niffenegger.” – Company

“This is the first novel by an intelligent and skillful writer from whom we cannot help feel that there are more good things to come.” Lovereading

“Examining the meaning of fate, the existence of free will, and the consequences of every decision, The Guardian Angel’s Journal is a modern fable determined to remind us that we are not alone.” – Booklist (US)

“The Guardian Angel’s Journal is not saccharine wishfulfilment. Jess-Cooke’s account of Ruth, who returns to earth to ‘‘witness, protect, record and love’’ her former self, Margot Delacroix, is high-octane, funny and cinematic. The book mixes romance, thriller, fantasy and horror while dealing with abuse, addiction and motherhood.” – Sydney Morning Herald

“The Guardian Angel’s Journal is a powerful novel from a talented new voice….hotly tipped to be one of the biggest books of 2011.” – Living North

“Jess-Cooke cleverly uses the spiritual world as a prism to view human nature.” – The Daily Mail

“Debut novelist Jess-Cooke, who lives in England, is a lovely writer; Ruth’s narrative voice is compelling. The writer’s fertile imagination generates a host of minor characters throughout Margot’s life, all of whom have well-characterized guardian angels interacting with Ruth. The interplay of the planes of angelic and earthly existence is an insistent tease that reels the reader in and along. Jess-Cooke is one to watch.” – Publisher’s Weekly (starred review) (US)
“The narrative is punchy and pacy, and the linear travelling through Margot’s life works well in building momentum through the story. Jess-Cooke is certainly a skilful writer and this shines through on every page. With a subject matter such as this, the temptation would be to lay on the descriptions and metaphors, but she manages to keep the prose spare, although punctuated by poetic and lyrical turns of phrase….This is much more than a beach read and it deserves to be read; anyone who has ever lost someone will find comfort within its pages.” The Irish Independent

“THE GUARDIAN ANGEL’S JOURNAL is a beautiful and captivating novel. Jess-Cooke’s writing dramatically conjures majestic images of guardian angels, whilst the subject matter also provides the reader with ample food for thought . . . a powerful novel, that captivates from start to finish” – Ulster Tatler (Book of the Month)

“This is a page-turning read and a book that deftly explores the concepts of choice and consequence. Intriguing, well-crafted and emotionally heart-felt without being saccharine, this is a debut novel to savour.” - Radio Chick (New Zealand)

“Right from the start, I was gripped by this debut novel; the unique view of life is fascinating…it’s a thoroughly thought-provoking and page-turning read from start to finish.” - Soul & Spirit (Book Choice)

“Intriguing and utterly engrossing, this novel explores the themes of marriage, motherhood, mistakes, and the consequences of our actions on our lives and those around us.” - Irish Tatler

“An extremely well written and interwoven book which had me torn between being heartbroken for Margot and characters close to her, and warmed by the positivity given out by the guardians. In many places this is bittersweet. The Guardian Angel’s Journal will stay with me for a long time to come.” – Clover Hill Book Reviews

“This novel is superb and for anyone that has ever believed that we all have guardian angels watching over us, this is the novel to add to your must-read pile.” – The Phantom Paragrapher

“The book is written with a poet’s eye for language, and also emotional intensity. For the Niffenegger fans, or those who like their fiction slightly strange.” - The Sunday M (Sydney, Australia)

“The Guardian Angel’s Journal is one of the most original stories I’ve read about angels. While the notion of coming back as your own guardian angel seems strange and impossible at first, Jess-Cooke sets up the rules of the world quickly and believably….Heart wrenching though the mortal struggles are, the lessons learned –mostly the hard way –by the characters lead up to a truly wonderful pay-off at the end, where you can’t help but feel enlightened by the characters’ journeys.” - The Fringe Magazine

“I found the writing to be utterly beautiful and often very poignant. Carolyn Jess-Cooke is extremely good at pulling your heart strings and twisted them into knots. This book is a real gut wrencher…Carolyn Jess-Cooke has been compared with Audrey Niffenegger and I can understand why. Her book is a fresh approach to angels with an original idea developed thoroughly, leaving you desperate to read more of her work… If you love angels like I do and believe that everything is not as it seems, then trust me when I tell you that you are going to want to read this book.” – Vivienne Dacosta (Serendipityteacher.blogspot.com)

“MY GOD! I just finished your wonderful and insightful book The Guardian Angels Journal last night. It only took me 2 and half days to read. I cried in so many parts and related to so many others. How on Earth (or should I say how in the universe) did you come up with a story like that??????” – Narelle Taylor (a reader from Australia)

Inroads

“This first collection is a sparkling variety-act, choreographed with a strong but daring sense of form.” – Carol Rumens

“There are breathtaking poems here.” – Luke Kennard

“Playful enjoyment of language characterises much of her writing … Carolyn Jess-Cooke’s playful intelligence ranges over Turkey, Japan, Australia, karaoke, Orpheus, childhood memory…” - Stride Magazine

“Here is a first collection that does all the things a good debut (though I loathe that word) should do. It explores a fabulous range of tone and form. It flexes its muscles. It creates an uneasy shiver on one page, has you chortling with delight on another. I liked being introduced to Carolyn Jess-Cooke. I’m pretty sure I’m going to like whatever she goes on to do.” – Helena Nelson, Ambit magazine

“Carolyn Jess-Cooke’s debut collection, Inroads, covers plenty of ground in an impressive variety of styles. She writes with intelligence and (often) humour on themes that clearly have emotional resonance for her – family relationships, travel and love and is rarely predictable….as if each poem is a journey deep into a complex human or metaphysical mystery that won’t immediately reveal itself.” – Rob A. Mackenzie, Magma

“Carolyn Jess-Cooke’s Inroads is a technically adventurous and playful volume. You turn a page to find lines of poetry scored through with black pen, or broken paragraphs skittering all over the page. This experimentation is all the more striking given the heaviness with which the poems wear their more conventional influences. There are twenty-first century re-workings of whole Philip Larkin poems and of themes from Hamlet – though it is merely relief from jet-lag, rather than death, which is ‘devoutly to be wished’ – and even phrases lifted entirely from other writers (a babbling young child “spits the pips of her vocabulary” in the entertaining prose poem “A Poem Without Any Vegetables”). Jess-Cooke embraces anachronism: Dido sends tests messages to Aeneas, while Orpheus wanders under the glare of CCTV.

It is in ‘Bitten’, however, a much darker piece, that Jess-Cooke has written the best poem to be found anywhere in these volumes. Its eight ten-syllable lines weave a discomforting relationship between childhood, violence and sexual awakening:

I was five, and all stations
between six and twelve were flagged with lesions
connected, somehow, to a need to be kissed
for the first time.

It is a concentration of themes that nag relentlessly at the reader, and that rise again powerfully in other poems.” – Russell Hargrave, Planet magazine

Shakespeare on Film

“[this book] surveys the astonishing array of movies based on Shakespeare’s plays. We learn that there have been around five hundred film adaptations since the bard was first presented in cinema over a hundred years ago, and all the major ones are analysed in this fascinating book.” – Peter Haigh, Cinema Retro

‘Those who know Shakespeare, films and theory, will marvel at this wonderfully intelligent, concise and helpful book. Those who are beginning will be drawn in by its clarity and its abundant insights.”
– Richard Vela, University of North Carolina at Pembroke

“[this book] is a classic in its own right.” – Courtney Lehmann, University of the Pacific, Stockton

Film Sequels

“A valuable resource for anyone interested in film theory and cultural studies.” – Ian Jones, Birkbeck, University of London

“An absorbing book, to be recommended to anyone interested in cutting-edge approaches to adaptation.” – Laurence Raw

Second Takes

“A comprehensive and adventurous exploration of a timely topic.” — Wheeler Winston Dixon, author of Film Noir and the Cinema of Paranoia