Reviews

Scenes of a Graphic Nature by Caroline O'Donoghue

greggles_93's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Traversing the ever relatable and timeless themes of love, belonging, trauma and grief, Scenes of a Graphic Nature outlines Charlie's attempts to discover the truth of her dying father's past, by tracing his life back to a native 'one horse' Irish island of the coast of Kerry. In her undertaking of this journey, she not only uncovers the truth of a conspiracy buried by a town who refuses to face the truth, but also learns a lot about herself and her inability to form concrete relationships with those she loves. O'Donoghue is a wonderful story teller, and I was completely enraptured by this journey of self discovery/quasi murder mystery tale.

hoona's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

diffybooks's review against another edition

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4.0

can’t tell if i hated the narration or the main character. maybe a bit of both. but still good

netflix_and_lil's review against another edition

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5.0

I'm almost tempted to pause my TBR to the end of the year because what a book to end the year on. IT WAS SO GOOD.

Being half-Welsh on my father's side, the portrayal of returning to your father's homeland to feel a true connection with the land but being at odds with the people and the things they choose to accept as 'normal' was... familiar. Eerily so. Add in the perfect recreation of self-criticism and self-doubt in the arts and coming to terms with the loss of a beloved storytelling father to cancer, and I'm pretty sure this book was custom written for me.

The writing, poignant, reflective, hilarious, relatable (and not in the way 'relatable' has become 'anything cringe-y', I mean it spoke to my damn soul) had me hooked and the story was the most original I've read this year. Caroline O'Donoghue wrote damn fine book and I would like everyone to go read it now, please and thank you.

To Caroline O'Donoghue, if you ever read this... thank you for putting into words so many things I have struggled to articulate in my own writing. Hwyl!

ellie981's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

laurac_ol's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

ariane_ryan's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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staceyc0403's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

2.75

lananfried's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

chloej111's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0