Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - My Policeman

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My Policeman by Bethan Roberts

3 reviews

james1star's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Currently a 4.5 ⭐️ but this could quite easily change.

My thoughts are kinda all over the place with this book. But one thing I am certain of is ‘this is a tragedy. One of the best.’ (This is a quote from my favourite part of the book and it perfectly sums up the story of Tom Burgess, this story)

My Policeman was my most anticipated read of the year after finding out about the book and story when I first got into reading around February/March. The plot, setting and characters really intrigued me and I felt I just needed this book in my brain and life. And in all honesty I don’t think it lived up to the hype I put upon it - this is my own fault but still like it did kinda underdeliver - but it was still good just not great.

The basic plot is: Marion (Tom (the policeman)’s wife) is writing an account of the past to Patrick (Tom’s gay lover) in 1999 after he came to stay following a series of strokes. She thinks back to how she met Tom, her teenageish years, teacher training, marriage, and just like other stuff. Another POV portrayed is from Patrick with his journal/diary entries from that time of how he met ‘My [his] Policeman’, their relationship and also his backstory/personal life and then a bit later. It’s essentially a love triangle with both Marion and Patrick expressing their admiration and love for Tom and how this set up was doomed to fail. There is a lot more with other characters and plot lines and things but I don’t want to spoil anything.

My main issue I found is how Marion, in her sixties, is able to think back forty-ish years ago and portray so much detail in her recollections. I just think like how? Yes it’s not like daily journal entries like Patrick’s POV and it is interjected with (then) present day accounts of what’s happening in her life, but I don’t think someone merely thinking back could pen that level of detail about another person’s lipstick or thoughts and stuff. I don’t know it just didn’t add up fully in my head.

What I loved most was the setting and how realised it was. Brighton is an area I do know a bit about but would like to visit and explore more. The city and surrounding areas really does come to life and the descriptions of places, people and scenarios is written really well. There are many nice, hopeful, sweet and heartwarming parts of the book but oh my A LOT of heartache and sadness. It’s a very difficult and heavy read I found but also captivating and makes you read on.

The characters. It’s difficult to gather together my thoughts. They are all nuanced. Ugh I don’t know!! Marion - she is a nice person who was caught up in a ‘bad’ situation because of the society and laws of the time. Things having been different, I feel she’d of been upset to have lost Tom but accepted him. She did a very unforgivable thing which filled me with rage (especially the child part!!! Omfg nope, no way bitch - sorry I’m passionate) but she was hurting bad. I am confusion. Patrick - I did like him and I most definitely preferred reading his parts, I just was more empathetic to him and I felt very touched and saddened by certain things he went through (especially with Michael - my heart = shatters) and I felt he was a very kind and giving person. Tom - oh hun. Wrong time to be alive - well wrong attitudes and laws - because it ruined his life and those he loved too. I don’t know honestly, I want to love him but also certain things just ughhhh but then like he couldn’t have acted differently… I… ummm. Brain not functioning right now. Julie - I loved you girl. Awgh of my favourite parts of the book was with you and Marion in the part bit where you confessed something. But also you did kinda sow a couple seeds which lead to things. But like they’d of came abound anyway in all honesty but still. Sylvie - you did some things that were kinda (well were) deceitful and wrong. And what you said about Tom to Marion ugh maybe you should have been a bit more persistent… told her straight like you did after the thing? There are more characters but I want to end on my favourite of the bunch… Patrick’s mum - I love you. I needed more more you. You were just agh my heart. Your attitude was it. Yes mam.

I do feel I have a lot more to say about this book, like I could have a massive mind blurt and roll on and on. I also have questions and needed more but also like quite a few parts of the book I was thinking this is a little needless, I don’t really care that much. But also like it was good. I don’t know l. My thoughts are honestly all over the place and it’s been very difficult trying to compose them. This leads to my rating. I so so badly wanted this to be a full on 5 ⭐️but I don’t know… with some parts it is undoubtedly so but others are closer to 3. In general I think I would give it a 4-ish maybe. I don’t know!! I’m so confused but also like I do need to factor the time period and everything and just like yhhh. I think I’ll give it a 4.5 ⭐️ rating overall. But this is likely to change. I do know one thing for sure: I need to give this book a reread.

Final point: I did watch the film right after finishing the book and it was good. I liked the scenery and characters and stuff. I would say the book was better and there were (obviously) changes made with quite a lot of the book being left out. This included my favourite scene of Patrick in prison shortly after Marion’s visit just the whole thing gripped me. So Yhh good not great, sad but nice and would like to watch it again.

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annakillilea's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Marion is so annoying but i couldn’t put it down.

Content Warnings

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Yes, Harry Styles made me read this. I will not be taking critiques at this time.

This book tells the story of Marion, Tom, & Patrick. Tom is a young police officer that Patrick and Marion are both in love with - she as his wife, and he, as his lover in a time where it was illegal to be gay in the UK. The tale unravels from Marion and Patrick's perspectives in dual timelines and as the reader you come to see that no one in this book is an innocent - they each have their pain and they each inflict pain on each other in different ways, and it's often extremely sad to read, but the humanity and messiness of these characters are what made this book so readable and engaging to me, so that was the main thing I liked about it. The writing, too, I thought was gorgeous.

Some issues I had - I don't mind an age gap in a relationship as long as it's ethical as well as legal. Tom and Patrick's age gap itself didn't bother me, but I often felt a little grossed out by the way Patrick was always referencing Tom's youth, his boyishness. It felt....eeeehhh, weird. Didn't love that.

Other than that, I just have this feeling that there was something missing for me during this book. I can't figure out what it was exactly, and if I figure it out, I'll gladly post an update, but whatever it was, it left me feeling that I couldn't give this above a 3 even though I did enjoy it for the most part.

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