Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I’ve read a few other books by Chris Cleave that were excellent (Little Bee and Everyone Brave is Forgiven) so when I heard Will (Anne Bogel’s husband) mention that this is one of his favorite books, I had to try it.
The story takes place over the course of a week with a lot of flashbacks in between. The main characters are: Tom (the coach), Kate (a racer), Jack (her husband, also a racer), Zoe (a racer), and Sophie (their daughter). It’s a book about love and sacrifice and what happens when you don’t deal with grief. It’s also about a mother’s love and what makes a woman a mother (hint: not always childbirth).
There’s a lot happening in this book and it’s quite emotionally. Warning for a trigger about kids with cancer and also childhood trauma that takes over adulthood. It’s beautifully written although the structure is a little weird. It’s 320 pages and six chapters … so there’s no “finishing this chapter then I’ll go to bed.” If you’re missing the Olympics this summer though, this is a great reminder of what it takes to get there!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The story takes place over the course of a week with a lot of flashbacks in between. The main characters are: Tom (the coach), Kate (a racer), Jack (her husband, also a racer), Zoe (a racer), and Sophie (their daughter). It’s a book about love and sacrifice and what happens when you don’t deal with grief. It’s also about a mother’s love and what makes a woman a mother (hint: not always childbirth).
There’s a lot happening in this book and it’s quite emotionally. Warning for a trigger about kids with cancer and also childhood trauma that takes over adulthood. It’s beautifully written although the structure is a little weird. It’s 320 pages and six chapters … so there’s no “finishing this chapter then I’ll go to bed.” If you’re missing the Olympics this summer though, this is a great reminder of what it takes to get there!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a copy of this book through GoodRead's First Reads giveaway. I pretty much enter all the contests (unless they're cheesy romances or really goofy looking vampire YA's) and hope that I'll like the book.
I can honestly say that Gold was a really good book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Cleave is a great storyteller, he knows the 'formula' to keeping a reader interested. He knew when to let little pieces of the storyline go to keep the reader hooked and wanting more. I usually only think about the characters outside of the reading when it's a series that I'm really into or it's some deep and awesome romance story that gets my mind on my own storyline, but I actually found myself thinking about the Jack, Kate, Zoe dynamics when my mind was at rest.
I really liked the characters for the most part, but I found that they were pretty static (I think that's the word I'm looking for..). I feel like they played roles that we've seen countless times and didn't really differentiate from their prescribed roles. This isn't to say that I didn't feel connected to the characters, well no, actually I only really felt connected to Kate and Tom. Sophie, Zoe, and Jack all seemed too.. predictable. I suppose some of the best stories have characters like this, though. I could definitely picture the book becoming a movie in the future.
The only other drawback that I could really see in the book was the constant use of flashbacks. I understand that they seemed to work the best for telling the story, but sometimes they were so long that I would forget what was going on the the 'present day' of the book and have to sit and think for a second what was going on before continuing. Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I never thought I could actually find cycling or the Olympics interesting! I've always sort of hated the Olympics and thought of them as a huge waste of time and money, but this book made me not dislike the games so much. I'd definitely recommend this book.
I can honestly say that Gold was a really good book, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Cleave is a great storyteller, he knows the 'formula' to keeping a reader interested. He knew when to let little pieces of the storyline go to keep the reader hooked and wanting more. I usually only think about the characters outside of the reading when it's a series that I'm really into or it's some deep and awesome romance story that gets my mind on my own storyline, but I actually found myself thinking about the Jack, Kate, Zoe dynamics when my mind was at rest.
I really liked the characters for the most part, but I found that they were pretty static (I think that's the word I'm looking for..). I feel like they played roles that we've seen countless times and didn't really differentiate from their prescribed roles. This isn't to say that I didn't feel connected to the characters, well no, actually I only really felt connected to Kate and Tom. Sophie, Zoe, and Jack all seemed too.. predictable. I suppose some of the best stories have characters like this, though. I could definitely picture the book becoming a movie in the future.
The only other drawback that I could really see in the book was the constant use of flashbacks. I understand that they seemed to work the best for telling the story, but sometimes they were so long that I would forget what was going on the the 'present day' of the book and have to sit and think for a second what was going on before continuing. Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I never thought I could actually find cycling or the Olympics interesting! I've always sort of hated the Olympics and thought of them as a huge waste of time and money, but this book made me not dislike the games so much. I'd definitely recommend this book.
The Tokyo Olympics inspired me to read this novel again, and I loved it just as much the second time around!
I was gripped by this story and loved all of the different components - insight into the world of elite cycling, profound and complicated relationships between characters, heavy themes yet also hope.
What would you sacrifice for the people you love? KATE AND ZOE met at nineteen when they both made the cut for the national training program in track cycling—a sport that demands intense focus, blinding exertion, and unwavering commitment. They are built to exploit the barest physical and psychological edge over equally skilled rivals, all of whom are fighting for the last one tenth of a second that separates triumph from despair.
Now at thirty-two, the women are facing their last and biggest race: the 2012 Olympics. Each wants desperately to win gold, and each has more than a medal to lose.
Initially I was going to give this 3 stars but it's lingered in my head so I've upped it to 4. This book gave me a whole new insight into the lives of top athletes and I wish I'd read it before the Olympics as I think I'd have viewed them with new eyes. I can see this being made into a film and I have the distinct image of Suranne Jones (Scott and Bailey) playing Zoe, I don't know why but I could even see her when I was reading the book!
If you're a Star Wars fan then there's an added bonus of lots of info/fantasising about that world.
Now at thirty-two, the women are facing their last and biggest race: the 2012 Olympics. Each wants desperately to win gold, and each has more than a medal to lose.
Initially I was going to give this 3 stars but it's lingered in my head so I've upped it to 4. This book gave me a whole new insight into the lives of top athletes and I wish I'd read it before the Olympics as I think I'd have viewed them with new eyes. I can see this being made into a film and I have the distinct image of Suranne Jones (Scott and Bailey) playing Zoe, I don't know why but I could even see her when I was reading the book!
Spoiler
I found the ending somewhat unbelievable, I really don't think that Zoe would have risked the chance of losing that third race but it was brilliantly written. I really couldn't have guessed which way it would turn.If you're a Star Wars fan then there's an added bonus of lots of info/fantasising about that world.
I was looking for a sports book but also enjoyed this one for the relationships.
I enjoyed that the main characters were Olympians in the velodrome races as I have never read about that before. I didn’t enjoy how one of the characters was portrayed as I found her actions to be disturbing and I had a hard time believing the characters around her continued to be her friend.
Maybe I'm getting all sentimental about the Olympics, but this was a great read. Cleave has a lovely style of writing.
As in Little Bee, Chris Cleave writes another compelling story about what people do when faced with impossible decisions. Sometimes it comes down to which choice you'll regret less later. How do you decide? How do you know if you're over-reacting to a given situation, or if you're in denial about it? I read the last 100 pages of this in one sitting--so gripping and suspenseful. I give this three and a half stars overall. At times, the flashback scenes took me out of the story, when I wanted to keep being propelled forward. Those flashbacks did provide important backstory, but they were less interesting to me than what was taking place in present time. The cycling and training bits were fascinating, and I say that as someone who knew nothing about the sport before reading this.