In "The Guardian", Joanna Briscoe considers In My Skin by Kate Holden a "glittering story of addiction and prostitution". She states: "There's now a big market in the kind of grief porn that provides the reader with a sensation of shock and pleasant superiority; but again, for all its degradations, In My Skin challenges such a response. It makes for discomfiting, illuminating reading."
Paul Gray reviews Theft by Peter Carey in "The New York Times". While his generally impressed with the novel, Gray thinks that a complicated subplot "which eventually becomes the main plot and culminates in a murder, is engaging enough, but seems more suited to a seasoned writer of thrillers -- Michael Crichton comes to mind -- who wouldn't bother to scumble the hard, factual surface of the narrative with irrelevancies like atmosphere and characterization...Carey, a different breed of author, can't resist these temptations, and the best parts of Theft: A Love Story can be found in the lulls between its hectic events, when the novel truly sings."
Sophie Ratcliffe also looks at Carey's novel in "The Times": "If his last novel, My Life as a Fake, showed a touch of postmodern exhaustion, forever circulating around ideas of writing and authenticity, Theft still seems to sacrifice the odd character for the sake of a narrative line. It matters less, here, for the two main speakers are so brilliantly drawn. As it draws to a close, it seems clear that the strongest love story is the tale of affection between the two brothers. It’s a narrative that sustains this impressive novel to its close."
