AUTHOR REVIEWS
A dark, fierce first novel that is a page-turner and a fairy tale turned inside out. I can’t wait to read what she writes next. -- Alice Hoffman
New York Times
The Death Of Bees is compelling stuff, engaging the emotions from the first page and quickly becoming almost impossible to put down.
The Herald
[A] coming-of-age novel … Closed Doors provides an engaging child’s eye view of a working-class community that is nuanced and insightful.
The Herald
Impressive … A hugely accomplished piece of storytelling.
Doug Johnstone ― Big Issue
Compelling piece of work... O’Donnell brings a freshness to her narrative, thanks to the brilliantly evoked voices of her two young female protagonists.... Warm without being cosy, explicit without being shocking, and emotive without being schmaltzy, this is a powerful coming-of-age tale with a clear eye for the travails of 21st-century deprived living. ― The Scotsman
This vibrantly imagined novel, by turns hilarious and appalling, is hard to resist.
Daily Mail
O’Donnell makes you feel the frustration of an intelligent child who knows he's being kept in the dark … There’s loss of innocence here, but the overwhelming tone is warm and sparky; O’Donnell shows how a shattered family can remake itself, and Michael's narrative voice is delightful – observant, thoughtful, comical and thoroughly believable.
Kate Saunders ― The Times
A black comedy, mixing The Ladykillers with Irvine Welsh’s The Acid House...O’Donnell adeptly balances caustic humour and compassion.
Guardian
The dissonance between what a child narrator knows and what adult readers can make out is fully exploited here to great effect, and is reminiscent of Emma Donoghue’s Room … [A] compulsive read, grounded in a realism which, depicted through a child’s eyes – with that hint of a child’s surreal perception – gathers together violence, humour and love in a most believable way.
Scotland on Sunday, Book of the Week
A sweet and uplifting read that celebrates the messy, complicated business of family. Michael is a lively and endearing narrator.
Daily Mail