Reviews

Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace

lchadwi717's review against another edition

4.0

This book was a really good light read. Great character development.

chelseatm's review against another edition

3.0

A wonderful book and if you're a fan of Danny Wallace's non-fiction work, you can see his true-life experiences escaping through his fictional world.

A great first fiction novel from Wallace. Can't wait for more

melissaverasreads's review against another edition

1.0

Que libro más malo. No le doy una estrella porque, admito, que en algunas partes solté alguna carcajada. Pero eso no impide que Jason me haya caído muy mal, me encontré ese personaje muy patético y la historia MUY aburrida. Para los gustos los colores, pero no entiendo cómo a tanta gente le gustó esta cosa. Este es el primer libro MALO que he leído en 2014. Qué mal.

bethkilcoyne's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

3.75

patchworkbunny's review against another edition

5.0

There was a girl struggling with the door of a cab and her packages. And I don't know why, but I asked if I could help. And she smiled at me. This incredible smile. And suddenly I felt all manly and confident, like a handyman who knows just which nail to buy, and now I'm holding some of her bags, and she's saying "thank you" and then...there's that moment. And it felt like a beginning. But the cabbie was impatient and I suppose we were just too British to say anything else...

Jason Priestly (no, not that one) is left standing on the corner of Charlotte Street holding a disposable camera. The Girl has left it behind but it's too late to hand it back and he doesn't know who she is. His flatmate and best mate, Dev, thinks they should get the film developed and look for clues to her identity. Jason thinks they're bordering on stalking. Yet, there's a link, a tenuous one at best, and they team up with ex-pupil, Matt, to uncover the pattern in the photos.

Jason's had a rough time of things lately. The prologue is rather dark and may leave you feeling, just for a moment, that this isn't the humorous book you were expecting. Whilst it does have its serious side, it's full of Danny's trademark, charming humour. Just like the funny parts are funny because they are grounded in reality, the characters are incredibly real and that includes their faults. Humour can often be a mask to hide behind.

It's one of those books that captures the current day of normal people like you and me. They may get a bit drunk and say stupid things on Facebook when their ex is happy and engaged. They might create fantasies out of people they bump into on the street and may never see again. Yet there's that hope that they might. They might not be all that great at their jobs but muddle through anyway. There's a hint of recession but nothing overwhelming to the plot, just enough to place it in the now.

“You have twelve exposures,” he said. “Twelve moments to capture. It's finite. So every time you capture one in that little box, you've got one less to spare. By the time you get to that last one, you better be sure that moment is special, because what if the next one comes along and you've got to let it go?”

What a terrible thing, I thought, to let a moment go.

“With a disposable, you want to complete your little story. End of an ending. Or a new beginning. A dot-dot-dot to take you to the next roll.”

As a photographer who has moved from film to digital, I loved the little photography metaphors. Photographs have become so less special in the digital age, yet there are still thousands who love that finite quality of a roll of film. I also love how the story of The Girl unravels through the photographs.

Danny's first foray into fiction has been a huge success. I did at times picture Jason as Danny himself, which is difficult when a writer has done so much autobiographical writing, yet as the story develops Jason becomes his own person. The characterisation is spot on and I just wanted to keep reading about their lives, but alas, all good things must come to an end.

starlitpage's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

For a book I went into expecting a romance, the relationship happens entirely off page. The Girl is hardly a presence or character in herself. The mystery of seeking her through her photographs is fun, but bad decisions abound and particularly the ones involving drugs are not my cup of tea. It does make me feel a little better that the author is a journalist--when he writes the protagonist lazily cribbing review  for restaurants he's never eaten at and shows he hasn't watched, at least you know he isn't just assuming how easy it would be to do that kind of writing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Drug use

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Gun violence

Minor: Bullying, Car accident, Vomit, and Miscarriage

lucyrider's review against another edition

4.0

A nice read, 10 years old now so some of the challenges faced by Jason Priestly would be easier to overcome in his quest to find “the girl”

I liked the build up and the journey, but I’m not 100% sure if I was fully satisfied by the ending. I think it could be rewritten in a few ways, or perhaps a bit longer?

ladyheroj's review against another edition

3.0

In the last year or so, I've become a big fan of Danny Wallace's non-fiction books. So when I learned that he would be coming out with a fictional tale, I was eager to get my hands on it. I received it for Christmas, but then for assorted reasons, it sat on my shelf un-read until it was time to pack for weekend holiday.

And it is a very good book to take on vacation. It was a light, fast read. The plot is simple...down-on-his-luck boy so very briefly meets girl, accidentally steals her camera, and at the urging of his friend, stalks her through the photos developed on it. Throughout all this, he's also struggling to find closure with his last relationship as his ex-girlfriend announces her engagement on Facebook. Jason (the main character) will discover the flaws in himself and make a short redemptive journey that ends when he finally finds the girl in the pictures.

The story's predictable, yes. (At several points I was reminded of Wallace's true-life tales, which made this book all the more predictable.) It won't tax your brain to read. The "blog" portions are a bit jarring from the rest of the read. It will (almost?) give you the warm fuzzies. If you don't expect more from it than what it is, which is a rom-com in book form, then you'll enjoy yourself.

(And you may also wonder why the girl who lost her camera doesn't find this whole deal on the creepy side, but again, this is a rom-com. Stuff like this happens to women all the time in the rom-com universe, I guess we've learned to just roll with it.)

bdamokos's review against another edition

4.0

This is a light romantic adventure story that would make a great summer movie.

spanish_chey's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0