Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - Mr. Loverman

It's a good book. Not something I woukd picked up by meslef so thanks to my book club for making me read outside of my comfort zone.
It's an interesting portrait of the a dysfunctional marriage of a certain generation of Carrabiean migrants. Both Barry and Carmel are so bad for each other and often times just unplesant people but atcthe same time the author treats tgem with kindness and humanity to see where they are coming from
Wvery character is distinct and feels so grounded in their experiences that is so different to what I know. Evaristo does a great job of showing how people are shaped by life and how there are both good and bad thing in them without falling into stereotypes or clichés
The beggining of the novel was quite chellenging for me - it was often times unplesan read. Bad things about Barry and Carmel just getting worse as they are in their toxic marriage - it feels like a contras to the end of the book that starts feeling liek a breath of fresh air after years of simmwring in the same stiffling atmosphere. The novel is also written in what I'm assuming is Black/Carrabian vernacular which I was unfamiliar with and since English is my seco d langauge, was a bit of a learning curve but it gives the narration an unique and personal feel.
The whole novel feels very groudbed in the experiences of certain generation and type of people and tackles a lot of topics very gracefully and in an organic way
I also liked that we had chapters from both Barry's and Carmel's perspective even if Barry is the protahonist. I also liked how different the writing style in Carmel's chapters is. It feels very personal to her and completely dofferent to Barrys which fits well with themes of this novel
Anyway its 5am and ive been reading it the whole night after getting tobthe part when everything started falling down and changing so they could get out of their 50 years long status quo by the end
Very flawed charcaters but also compelling and i sympathised with them while also seeing and calling out thwir flaws. Feel very human

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amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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emilo's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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waybeyondblue's review

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emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

samixox's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

As a Black queer girl who is struggling with the idea of ever coming out to my homophobic family this book was what I needed. It is the story of an Antiguan gay man learning to accept his own sexuality while constantly being surrounded by (sometime also internalised) homophobia while he learns to see the good in people. He's no saint and doesn't pretend to be. Reading it made me feel like I was in London. This is his story of still daring to be brave while being only human.

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