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jennybpenny's review against another edition
4.0
"She imagined vodka poured over ice and all the cubes that had been frosted turning clear and collapsing in the glass and the ice cracking, like a spine on the hands of a confident osteopath."
mrs_bonaventure's review against another edition
4.0
Have just galloped through this again (June 2015) in order to read all five books in succession (having also read Mother's Milk and realised the chronology).
It's as dark as I remember, with exact and specific characterisation of decidedly unlikeable but still realistic people.
On to Bad News next.
It's as dark as I remember, with exact and specific characterisation of decidedly unlikeable but still realistic people.
On to Bad News next.
annabelralph's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
b0hemian_graham's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, just wow. We have a dark, twisted, novel, set in the 1960s/1970s, with horrible characters. All things I enjoy in a novel, and I'm only just reading it now? Utterly shameful. St Aubyn's writing is intoxicating, and you literally do not want to put it down, no matter how horrible it gets.
It's like a British Richard Yates on crack, and I'm totally rambling and making an start of myself but I'm still trying to digest what I've read. Better review to follow later.
It's like a British Richard Yates on crack, and I'm totally rambling and making an start of myself but I'm still trying to digest what I've read. Better review to follow later.
amylloyd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It was exactly what I expected it to be, but often much more. I admire the way Aubyn brought these characters to life, be it in the most deplorable of ways. It’s consistently challenging and sometimes in stasis. However, I saw this as creating room for much more in the following novels in the series. There is undeniable potential. I must check out ‘Bad News’ to know what direction it all goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Drug use, Incest, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Addiction
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism
Minor: Animal cruelty and Ableism
bartonstanley's review against another edition
1.0
I bailed on this. I found it edgy but artificial and without purpose. Or at least it without any redeeming qualities for me and the life I have chosen to lead. I can see that others may have a very different opinion.
I read part of the way through the first chapter. When I read the part about Elenor eating the almond-stuffed pigeon off a plate on the floor I decided I didn't want to read about the demeaning of human beings. Life is too short!
I read part of the way through the first chapter. When I read the part about Elenor eating the almond-stuffed pigeon off a plate on the floor I decided I didn't want to read about the demeaning of human beings. Life is too short!
yarahossam's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
shadybanana's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly I hate these kind of books. Oliver Twist, Bleak House, Wuthering Heights and all of Brontes and the Austens and Eyres. I don’t even know why. The melancholy and the misery just makes my heart go weird and I don’t like it. And what I don’t like, I don’t rate good. A screwed up logic you say? Yeah sure why not whatever.
BUT this book didn’t fail to amuse me. Firstly I don’t know if I’ve ever said this in a review before but Aubyn does a fantastic job writing this. The words and the flow of the phrases and stuff is praiseworthy. I’m sure there are other authors who’ve written or write at the same if not a better level, but I never reviewed them so.
Anyway the characters are well-rounded (if that’s a thing you can say). Patrick is just adorable. I’ve been told the next books are different and consequential and I must say I can’t wait. As much as I hated David Melrose I also liked him. Same with Nicholas. But if there’s one person I hated it was his mother. I can’t really explain why but David and Nicholas’ behavior frighteningly seems real but her mother is just abnormally dismal. I feel for her but I still can’t help but hate her.
See? I think the reason I liked this book was because I’m not sure which characters I like and which don’t and why I don’t like them. That’s a really neat trick to hook the reader, I’d say.
BUT this book didn’t fail to amuse me. Firstly I don’t know if I’ve ever said this in a review before but Aubyn does a fantastic job writing this. The words and the flow of the phrases and stuff is praiseworthy. I’m sure there are other authors who’ve written or write at the same if not a better level, but I never reviewed them so.
Anyway the characters are well-rounded (if that’s a thing you can say). Patrick is just adorable. I’ve been told the next books are different and consequential and I must say I can’t wait. As much as I hated David Melrose I also liked him. Same with Nicholas. But if there’s one person I hated it was his mother. I can’t really explain why but David and Nicholas’ behavior frighteningly seems real but her mother is just abnormally dismal. I feel for her but I still can’t help but hate her.
See? I think the reason I liked this book was because I’m not sure which characters I like and which don’t and why I don’t like them. That’s a really neat trick to hook the reader, I’d say.