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bonnnnied's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness and Cancer
Minor: Abandonment
tysuckz's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Wonderful!!!! Does a perfect job of making everyone feel so real. You get attached so fast and so easily despite how short the book is. So wonderfully sweet and devastating at the same time.
Written so beautifully; genuinely one of the most enjoyable reads from a literary perspective. Just such good use of language!!! Loved this book so much I would read it 700 times a day if I could.
The only thing that did bother me was how Author spoke like an adult despite being seven, like saying "aren't there any useful sayings in this calendar? Actual good advice rhat people can follow?" I just feel like a seven year old would not speak like that.
Regardless BABA was one of my favourite characters even if he did ramble at every point. I would read a whole book on him alone. Marie annoyed me sometimes because she felt selfish a lot of the time, but I mean it makes sense given the way Joseph wasn't really around all of the time.
Anyway , devastating & heartwarming and the last page had me bordering on tears.
Written so beautifully; genuinely one of the most enjoyable reads from a literary perspective. Just such good use of language!!! Loved this book so much I would read it 700 times a day if I could.
The only thing that did bother me was how Author spoke like an adult despite being seven, like saying "aren't there any useful sayings in this calendar? Actual good advice rhat people can follow?" I just feel like a seven year old would not speak like that.
Regardless BABA was one of my favourite characters even if he did ramble at every point. I would read a whole book on him alone. Marie annoyed me sometimes because she felt selfish a lot of the time, but I mean it makes sense given the way Joseph wasn't really around all of the time.
Anyway , devastating & heartwarming and the last page had me bordering on tears.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Terminal illness, Death, and Chronic illness
bookiemadi's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Chronic illness
Moderate: Mental illness
shannonalana's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Chronic illness
Moderate: Mental illness
daniellekat's review
This is so boring. The writing is beautiful but I have zero interest in the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness
Moderate: Mental illness
timbuckle81's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness
vllmbr's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness
booklane's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
iam not sure I can do justice to Panenka,. It seems such a simple novel with “unassuming” characters and yet the beauty, fullness and depth of every single moment took my breath away and moved me. One of characters in this novel is simply beautiful because she makes people feel good and interesting, and in a nutshell this is what Hession strives to do. It feels like every scene is surrounded by an aura, and this is because everything and everyone is given absolute dignity, uniqueness and complexity,
Panenka is a divorced middle-aged man and a former football player for the local team, Seneca. He has become a scapegoat for its lost glory and for the decay of the town. To crown his failure, he symbolically takes the name of the penalty kick he could not score. He lives with his once estranged daughter and grandson, “a precious and undeserved chance to experience a family from the inside again”. Now he is dealing with blinding headaches, which he names his Iron Mask, a clear sign that “his body was trying to make him understand that it was betraying him”, and the diagnosis seems to go along with the pattern of bad luck that has characterised his life. But quiet Panenka does not want to impose on his family and reveal what is at stake. Can a sudden meeting disrupt the bleak narrative of his life?
A redeeming novel that focuses on allowing stories to be rewritten even in dark or uncertain moments. It also focuses on affinities with “people who cultivate what’s good in us”, on quiet negotiations and states of grace which are to be relished only when you know what it means to feel broken. Relationships are pondered and meditated upon and ultimately rewritten in a novel that breaks conventions and expectations of romantic love and family ties in the name of “free-standing wild-card arrangements”. In a troubled twenty-first century #RonanHession’s lessons are pure gold.
Panenka is a divorced middle-aged man and a former football player for the local team, Seneca. He has become a scapegoat for its lost glory and for the decay of the town. To crown his failure, he symbolically takes the name of the penalty kick he could not score. He lives with his once estranged daughter and grandson, “a precious and undeserved chance to experience a family from the inside again”. Now he is dealing with blinding headaches, which he names his Iron Mask, a clear sign that “his body was trying to make him understand that it was betraying him”, and the diagnosis seems to go along with the pattern of bad luck that has characterised his life. But quiet Panenka does not want to impose on his family and reveal what is at stake. Can a sudden meeting disrupt the bleak narrative of his life?
A redeeming novel that focuses on allowing stories to be rewritten even in dark or uncertain moments. It also focuses on affinities with “people who cultivate what’s good in us”, on quiet negotiations and states of grace which are to be relished only when you know what it means to feel broken. Relationships are pondered and meditated upon and ultimately rewritten in a novel that breaks conventions and expectations of romantic love and family ties in the name of “free-standing wild-card arrangements”. In a troubled twenty-first century #RonanHession’s lessons are pure gold.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness
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