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alouoneill's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
luke_harkness's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-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
alicerogers's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ncollomosse's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
chelseatm's review against another edition
5.0
David Nicholls' abilities to create fantastic, well-developed characters and stories continues to surprise me. Not so much in his overwhelming ability but in the fact that he seems so unparalleled. No one else seems to be able to create such realistic, at times empathetic, at times repulsive, characters. I love all his books and this is just another one to add to my love affair.
anna_j_h's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
katykelly's review against another edition
5.0
I just adored this. I was a fan of One Day, such a beautiful idea. But this one charmed me completely and just hit a spot. It's aimed at a slightly older audience I think, and involves older protagonists. But Douglas really makes this, and reminded me of Don Tillman from 'The Rosie Project'.
This seemed to me a very honest and realistic portrayal of a marriage in trouble, of a history of a relationship, of parenthood. In short - it covers a lot of the adult experience of life. And manages to do it with half of Europe as a backdrop. Pretty good, Mr Nicholls.
So what's it all about? Scientist Douglas is shaken out of his comfortable academic life by the revelation that his wife is thinking of leaving him and ending their two-decade long marriage. He can't understand it. Connie wants them to still go ahead with their planned Grand Tour of the artwork of Europe with their pre-college son Albie. And Douglas hopes he'll be able to save their marriage on their trip.
With regular visits to their shared past, we see how the pair met, fell in love despite just how different they are, some sad moments they shared, and how it all relates to today.
I just love Douglas. Not a 'people person', what he has in IQ he definitely is missing in emotional EQ and social skills. Charmingly naive and clueless. His own exclamations make him a very real and likeable figure.
"The most illicit act of my teenage years was to sometimes watch ITV." He just made me smile. Douglas talks directly to the reader at times, knowing we are following his story. Some parts, this is made all the more moving by this technique. He may lack social skills but he wears a good tale even swaying back and forward.
Connie annoyed me a little. She's so different to Douglas and such a typical 'free spirit' character. I did want their two personalities to complement each other and for the marriage to work out.
As I mentioned earlier, parenthood is also a major theme of the book. Douglas is an awkward father, certain of Connie's superiority as a parent, though he loves his son he cannot express this. He asks us "what is a parent for if not to shape their child?" and you know he wants to do his best by his only child. Their relationship is all too realistically conflict, fighting and words not spoken.
The art side of the story passed me by somewhat, but I did enjoy the descriptions of Europe and their escapades there. It's almost a travel/road movie at times as well as an affecting relationship story.
I think this has scope to be a more widely-read and enjoyed book than One Day. It's more mature in many ways, more subtlety funny and heartfelt. With a quite poignant ending.
Really hope this makes it to the big screen as well. Highly recommended.
This seemed to me a very honest and realistic portrayal of a marriage in trouble, of a history of a relationship, of parenthood. In short - it covers a lot of the adult experience of life. And manages to do it with half of Europe as a backdrop. Pretty good, Mr Nicholls.
So what's it all about? Scientist Douglas is shaken out of his comfortable academic life by the revelation that his wife is thinking of leaving him and ending their two-decade long marriage. He can't understand it. Connie wants them to still go ahead with their planned Grand Tour of the artwork of Europe with their pre-college son Albie. And Douglas hopes he'll be able to save their marriage on their trip.
With regular visits to their shared past, we see how the pair met, fell in love despite just how different they are, some sad moments they shared, and how it all relates to today.
I just love Douglas. Not a 'people person', what he has in IQ he definitely is missing in emotional EQ and social skills. Charmingly naive and clueless. His own exclamations make him a very real and likeable figure.
"The most illicit act of my teenage years was to sometimes watch ITV." He just made me smile. Douglas talks directly to the reader at times, knowing we are following his story. Some parts, this is made all the more moving by this technique. He may lack social skills but he wears a good tale even swaying back and forward.
Connie annoyed me a little. She's so different to Douglas and such a typical 'free spirit' character. I did want their two personalities to complement each other and for the marriage to work out.
As I mentioned earlier, parenthood is also a major theme of the book. Douglas is an awkward father, certain of Connie's superiority as a parent, though he loves his son he cannot express this. He asks us "what is a parent for if not to shape their child?" and you know he wants to do his best by his only child. Their relationship is all too realistically conflict, fighting and words not spoken.
The art side of the story passed me by somewhat, but I did enjoy the descriptions of Europe and their escapades there. It's almost a travel/road movie at times as well as an affecting relationship story.
I think this has scope to be a more widely-read and enjoyed book than One Day. It's more mature in many ways, more subtlety funny and heartfelt. With a quite poignant ending.
Really hope this makes it to the big screen as well. Highly recommended.
kimchifairy's review against another edition
It's always excruciating when an author tries to write about intelligent people while being pathologically afraid of fresh observations, polysyllabic words and real human thought processes. Like a novel written by AI: stock characters and clichés smashed together one after the next, every turn and undulation in the plot so obvious you saw it coming a month before you opened the book.
Pretty good fun, in other words.
Pretty good fun, in other words.
kodisfrost's review against another edition
i think i’ll come back to this when i hate men less 🫶🏼
williamz4lyf's review against another edition
4.0
I finally finished this book. A good 5 star book for great writing and a great plot, with good humour while still being a good dramatic book. Well I gave it 4 stars because I was disappointed in the ending. Although concede that this is probable what regularly happens, I think i can comfortably root for Douglas and wish that everything works out for him, and be displeased that it does not. All in all still a great book from Mr.Nicholls.