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reads_eats_explores's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Confession time, I requested this book on NetGalley without reading the information correctly; my brain decided to see Catherine Ryan Howard rather than Hyde, and I clicked request without reading anything else! Oops. Thankfully I enjoyed the book.
Lewis Madigan is young, gay, freshly out of work, and newly single. To make matters worse, he lives next door to Chester Wheeler, an insufferable, cantankerous, homophobic elderly man who even his paid carers cannot stand to be around; every single one at the agency has quit.
Chester’s daughter Ellie desperately needs someone to help care for her father and, running out of other options, turns to his neighbour for help. Chester doesn't want any help from a gay man, but Lewis, desperate for cash, swallows every last ounce of pride and steps in as Chester’s caregiver. How bad can it be to run a few errands, be on call, and put up with the miserable oul lad?
They exchange barbs, bicker and bait each other relentlessly, but when Chester hits Lewis with his dying wish: drive Chester to Arizona in his rust bucket of a Winnebago, he cannot say no.
Chester wants to see his ex-wife for the first time in thirty-two years and for one last time. One week, two thousand miles. For Lewis and Chester to be so constrained for this time should be hell on earth, but they learn about each other, their innermost secrets and vulnerabilities.
So Long, Chester Wheeler is a character-driven book. It is a story that will make you smile, laugh and gasp in pure horror at times. But ultimately, it is a book of personal growth, introspection and understanding, as themes of love, loss, hate, forgiveness, and redemption are threaded through the story. 3.5⭐
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an Advance Readers Copy in return for an honest review.
Lewis Madigan is young, gay, freshly out of work, and newly single. To make matters worse, he lives next door to Chester Wheeler, an insufferable, cantankerous, homophobic elderly man who even his paid carers cannot stand to be around; every single one at the agency has quit.
Chester’s daughter Ellie desperately needs someone to help care for her father and, running out of other options, turns to his neighbour for help. Chester doesn't want any help from a gay man, but Lewis, desperate for cash, swallows every last ounce of pride and steps in as Chester’s caregiver. How bad can it be to run a few errands, be on call, and put up with the miserable oul lad?
They exchange barbs, bicker and bait each other relentlessly, but when Chester hits Lewis with his dying wish: drive Chester to Arizona in his rust bucket of a Winnebago, he cannot say no.
Chester wants to see his ex-wife for the first time in thirty-two years and for one last time. One week, two thousand miles. For Lewis and Chester to be so constrained for this time should be hell on earth, but they learn about each other, their innermost secrets and vulnerabilities.
So Long, Chester Wheeler is a character-driven book. It is a story that will make you smile, laugh and gasp in pure horror at times. But ultimately, it is a book of personal growth, introspection and understanding, as themes of love, loss, hate, forgiveness, and redemption are threaded through the story. 3.5⭐
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an Advance Readers Copy in return for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Cancer, Grief, and Death
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