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marypetersonbennett's review
5.0
like the author himself, I grew fond of Johnny as he made his way to Jericho Beach. I was rooting for h im and when he messed up but saw he'd messed up I felt proud. By turning the pages I was helping Johnny become a better man.
I listened to a CBC Q podcast with author and thought: omg he talks like Johnny, but in fact, he's the "other guy"--the annoying neighbour.
After finishing the book last night in bed I couldn't get to sleep wondering how Johnny was doing? that's when I got up, poured myself a drink and listened to the podcast.
That guy stays with ya. doncha know. tryna forget im.
I listened to a CBC Q podcast with author and thought: omg he talks like Johnny, but in fact, he's the "other guy"--the annoying neighbour.
After finishing the book last night in bed I couldn't get to sleep wondering how Johnny was doing? that's when I got up, poured myself a drink and listened to the podcast.
That guy stays with ya. doncha know. tryna forget im.
lisalikesdogs's review against another edition
4.0
It took me quite a while to get into the style of this book, but for some reason I really enjoyed it and looked forward to finding out what happened in the end. Definitely an exercise in empathy and compassion.
slockyer's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. As soon as I started reading I knew who John John was. Well, I thought I did. Hynes sure did come through strong with the realistic hard-ticket voice. It was a little difficult to get used to the writing style of Johnny talking about himself in the third person, but once used to it I couldn't picture the store being told in any other way. The story is heavy. Johnny had nothing easy, and in the second half of the novel your heart is broken for him. When he meets Puddister, that's it. You're on Johnny's team for the rest of it, rooting for him to make it.
ewlbuck's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Child abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Animal death, Grief, Rape, Car accident, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Suicide
happyglowlucky's review against another edition
5.0
It took me a bit of time to get used to the main character, and to actually see to his good points (he's a rather rotten guy, mostly, at first), but once I got into it, I really loved this book. Actually, it's nice, really, to see a character that is so...flawed. It makes him more human, and real...not like a one-dimensional character, but a fleshed-out, flawed, awful, wonderful person (ha! kind of like real people, actually). Enjoyed the pace of the plot, and the narrative, and the good writing. But, most of all, I just enjoyed the character of Johnny...much like real life, we have to learn to love people for their good and bad, their flaws and their redeeming characteristics.
acormier5343's review against another edition
5.0
I discovered Joel Thomas Hynes last year with his show, "Little Dog" and quite enjoyed it. After that I started watching his other shows and films, seems only fitting that I move onto his books.
The writing style took some time getting use to for me, but I got the hang of it. I think watching Hynes' shows like "Little Dog" helped me to understand how the character Johnny Keough speaks, along with his accent; I can hear it in my head how his voice should sound.
My favorite part in the novel is definitely It had me laughing out loud, was so hilarious. Fingers crossed that this gets turned into a movie someday soon just to see Joel Thomas Hynes (who else could play Johnny?) in that situation.
The ending was satisfying. Reading the final page, chills ran through my body, stayed there and then another wave of chills coursed through again and again until the last word of the story. I occasionally get chills reading the ending of books (Anne of Green Gables, Based on a True Story, Mistborn), but this was on a whole new level.
This did win a Governor General's Award, and I am happy for the author that his work has achieved this. I have yet to read other books given this award or been nominated. Today, I ordered two more of his work and cannot wait to get into them, along with whatever comes next from Joel Thomas Hynes.
A caution for anyone interested that foul language is used consistently throughout the novel. While it does not bother me in the slightest, I know that some people may not be comfortable with the heavy use of swearing. I believe that it is valid though because that is our hero John-John. Right Johnny? He the classy kind of guy that will throw in the f-word whenever he can in a sentence or thought.
The writing style took some time getting use to for me, but I got the hang of it. I think watching Hynes' shows like "Little Dog" helped me to understand how the character Johnny Keough speaks, along with his accent; I can hear it in my head how his voice should sound.
My favorite part in the novel is definitely
Spoiler
the jacuzzi incident.The ending was satisfying. Reading the final page, chills ran through my body, stayed there and then another wave of chills coursed through again and again until the last word of the story. I occasionally get chills reading the ending of books (Anne of Green Gables, Based on a True Story, Mistborn), but this was on a whole new level.
This did win a Governor General's Award, and I am happy for the author that his work has achieved this. I have yet to read other books given this award or been nominated. Today, I ordered two more of his work and cannot wait to get into them, along with whatever comes next from Joel Thomas Hynes.
A caution for anyone interested that foul language is used consistently throughout the novel. While it does not bother me in the slightest, I know that some people may not be comfortable with the heavy use of swearing. I believe that it is valid though because that is our hero John-John. Right Johnny? He the classy kind of guy that will throw in the f-word whenever he can in a sentence or thought.
nickfourtimes's review against another edition
4.0
1) "What’s going on Johnny?
Come on, whatcha doing? How are ya? Poor Johnny. Touchy Johnny. In this mindset. How you are? Imagine. How’s our John-John doing? How’s he makin out, comin along, doing for himself? How’s he keepin? Fuck. Slung halfways out the window for a haul, cause that’s what this piss-arsed place is come to. Imagine that, tumbling out onto the street for the sake of a stale Number 7 cause where he might pollute his own room. Where he sleeps alone. Poor old Johnny."
2) "She’s just Madonna. She’s just a girl that turned, got scared, got talked into talkin. And she’ll show up in court lookin like she do, prolly wear that pink thing she’s got, and do her eyes that way she does em. That’s Johnny then, done for. As good as gone. But Johnny aint done for now is he? Not yet. No not yet. What have they got on him? Just, just . . . ahh fuck it."
3) "He fucken knows where Shiner’s been. And so much of it makes sense all of a sudden that none of it does, and for a moment Johnny feels an ecstasy and a white-hot blinding surge of righteousness that sees him reaching across the table for a crusty metal fork left over from Shiner’s plate of Ches’s that he didnt even bother to offer Johnny a fucken chip from."
4) "A plaid, greying man in his late forties holds open the door to the coffee shop for his perky teenage daughter and when she passes through the doorway Johnny hears her say Well then, if not there Daddy, how about my bellybutton? Just fucken kill me. Or give me something innocent to destroy. Johnny eyes the brick wall again, gives his cheek a little squeeze, realizes the skin on his face is as numb and dead and useless as his legs, realizes he’s well stoned out of his gourd, and feels better straight away."
5) "Next thing the pigs are gonna be swingin by lookin for some ID. RCMP too, out this way. Whole different kinda bastard. Not that Johnny’s got nothing to worry about. There’s the record, yes, but nothing outstanding, no conditions no more. Nothing no one can say. Travelling. Here’s my dead girlfriend’s ashes, right here. Yes sir officer, gonna scatter em into that other ocean, on the other side."
6) "Johnny feels the gin do that nauseous churning devil’s dance as it passes his stomach and scurries on into his parched veins, down to his smouldering shins and feet, waits for it to hit his battered brain, only to realize it likely hit there before he even had the bottle to his lips."
7) "What do I remember? This is what they wants to know. Tell us what you can remember . . . Since when? Since that lanky Reeves fucker? Caul’s? The hoof of a moose? Since fucken Kingston?
I dont.
I do.
Remember.
Too fucken much I remembers. That look she gave me, headed up over the hill with the blood spilling down her forehead. Madonna. Youre so fucked Johnny. Yeah I know girl, I knows that. Aint we all? And I knows that no matter what went down or how it happened, what kind of spin you put on it all, you just needed a way out. Cause where was any of it going? Feeding off each other’s misery. I knows what that look meant. It meant Goodbye Johnny, this is my ticket out. And I cant hardly blame you. We’re all lookin for a change of scenery, at the very least. We’re all lookin for our ticket. Who’s not lookin to claw their way out from under what they’re tangled up in? Who’s not, underneath it all, desperate to let go of what they’re hangin on to? And what’s really worth hanging on to anymore? Fuck you, that’s all I have to say."
Come on, whatcha doing? How are ya? Poor Johnny. Touchy Johnny. In this mindset. How you are? Imagine. How’s our John-John doing? How’s he makin out, comin along, doing for himself? How’s he keepin? Fuck. Slung halfways out the window for a haul, cause that’s what this piss-arsed place is come to. Imagine that, tumbling out onto the street for the sake of a stale Number 7 cause where he might pollute his own room. Where he sleeps alone. Poor old Johnny."
2) "She’s just Madonna. She’s just a girl that turned, got scared, got talked into talkin. And she’ll show up in court lookin like she do, prolly wear that pink thing she’s got, and do her eyes that way she does em. That’s Johnny then, done for. As good as gone. But Johnny aint done for now is he? Not yet. No not yet. What have they got on him? Just, just . . . ahh fuck it."
3) "He fucken knows where Shiner’s been. And so much of it makes sense all of a sudden that none of it does, and for a moment Johnny feels an ecstasy and a white-hot blinding surge of righteousness that sees him reaching across the table for a crusty metal fork left over from Shiner’s plate of Ches’s that he didnt even bother to offer Johnny a fucken chip from."
4) "A plaid, greying man in his late forties holds open the door to the coffee shop for his perky teenage daughter and when she passes through the doorway Johnny hears her say Well then, if not there Daddy, how about my bellybutton? Just fucken kill me. Or give me something innocent to destroy. Johnny eyes the brick wall again, gives his cheek a little squeeze, realizes the skin on his face is as numb and dead and useless as his legs, realizes he’s well stoned out of his gourd, and feels better straight away."
5) "Next thing the pigs are gonna be swingin by lookin for some ID. RCMP too, out this way. Whole different kinda bastard. Not that Johnny’s got nothing to worry about. There’s the record, yes, but nothing outstanding, no conditions no more. Nothing no one can say. Travelling. Here’s my dead girlfriend’s ashes, right here. Yes sir officer, gonna scatter em into that other ocean, on the other side."
6) "Johnny feels the gin do that nauseous churning devil’s dance as it passes his stomach and scurries on into his parched veins, down to his smouldering shins and feet, waits for it to hit his battered brain, only to realize it likely hit there before he even had the bottle to his lips."
7) "What do I remember? This is what they wants to know. Tell us what you can remember . . . Since when? Since that lanky Reeves fucker? Caul’s? The hoof of a moose? Since fucken Kingston?
I dont.
I do.
Remember.
Too fucken much I remembers. That look she gave me, headed up over the hill with the blood spilling down her forehead. Madonna. Youre so fucked Johnny. Yeah I know girl, I knows that. Aint we all? And I knows that no matter what went down or how it happened, what kind of spin you put on it all, you just needed a way out. Cause where was any of it going? Feeding off each other’s misery. I knows what that look meant. It meant Goodbye Johnny, this is my ticket out. And I cant hardly blame you. We’re all lookin for a change of scenery, at the very least. We’re all lookin for our ticket. Who’s not lookin to claw their way out from under what they’re tangled up in? Who’s not, underneath it all, desperate to let go of what they’re hangin on to? And what’s really worth hanging on to anymore? Fuck you, that’s all I have to say."
erint's review against another edition
2.0
The language was excellently done and the character of Johnny was interesting. I also quite liked the ending. However, I found that it felt like the author was pushing too hard sometimes to shock the reader, at times sacrificing believability or just feeling overly stylized; I'm thinking especially of the motel hot tub scene.
erin_m_05's review against another edition
4.0
Tough to get through and the narrative voice takes awhile to get used to, but it's a moving story overall.
melissajayne's review
2.0
Not the greatest book. Seemed like a modern update to Catcher in the Rye. Use of crude language was a huge problem.