Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Talking at Night

Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Talking at Night by Claire Daverley

51 reviews

aileensbookshelf's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

__lucebrennan's review

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-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

I became absolutely obsessed with this book. It reminds me of One Day with the inevitability of a couple needing to be together but the complexities of life affecting it. I love Will and Rosie so much, and will be thinking about this book for a while!

Content Warnings

booksandlattesaddict's review

Go to review page

emotional sad medium-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

4.0

Content Warnings

nineinchnails's review

Go to review page

challenging sad medium-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

2.75

i genuinely wanted to like this so badly but it just falls flat. i think reading this with the normal people comparisons in mind ruined this for me because i love normal people and, aside from the lack of speech marks, they had very little in common. the writing felt stilted and shallow so i struggled feeling connected to our main characters (i found the other characters a lot more intriguing though) and it doesn't help that i found them very annoying. i tend to like "unlikeable" characters but will and rosie were boring above all else. the prose comes off quite tryhard tumblrina to me but i can see why some people might enjoy it this book just wasn't for me.

Content Warnings

murderousscottishgremlin's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A poignant narrative and some beautiful prose. However, the Rooney-esque lack of speech marks did annoy me.

Content Warnings

textualfantasies's review

Go to review page

slow-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

iovreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.0

my god can these people ever catch a break

Content Warnings

stellahadz's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful sad 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

3.75

I can't help but feel a bit conflicted about this book. The story follows basically the same formula as books like Normal People, One Day, and Where Rainbows End -- bad boy meets studious girl, they fall for each other but can't admit it, and they weave in and out of each other's lives through the years. It's a formula that works, but I personally have a bit of a love-hate relationship with it, and Talking at Night is no exception. The characters in these stories are almost always traumatized in some way, and the point seems to be that their love for each other "fixes" them, but a lot of the time that love can manifest in toxic ways: poor communication, pain caused to other unsuspecting partners, and unhealthy expectations. Part of the reason I liked the character of Jen in Talking at Night is that she kind of pokes holes in that dynamic - she tells Will that he's not really in love with Rosie, but rather the idea of her that he's built up in his head. Of course, in Will's case, it's not entirely true, but I liked that the "slow burn soulmate"-type trope got called into question.

Overall, the book is a little slow to start, but I was glad I continued reading. The prose was beautiful, the characters were well fleshed-out, and their family dynamics were compelling, especially Will's relationship with his grandmother. The dialogue, as well as the characters' thoughts and emotions, felt realistic. However, some parts of the book verged on a little overdramatic, and it seemed like the author was trying to stuff as much tragedy and drama as possible into the story to advance the plot. For Will's and Rosie's sakes, I wish the book had focused more on how they worked towards healing individually and then grew together, as opposed to relying on their love for each other to magically fix everything, but that probably wouldn't sell as many copies!

Content Warnings

taliaalongi's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

It definitely made me feel deeply, including frustration lol

Content Warnings

lucyduller's review

Go to review page

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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

3.75

This book felt like so many other books I’ve read, and that’s not a bad thing. All of the books it reminded me of are books I’ve liked, One Day, Normal People, Where Rainbows End, People We Meet on Vacation - but it was missing something that meant I didn’t like it as much.

I really liked the fleshing out of the characters, I think Claire Daverley did that really well, but I wish there was more social commentary because it ended up feeling like it was stuck in limbo between a romance and a literary fiction, and I think the thing that classifies a book outside of a romance is when a book becomes about so much more. For instance, Normal People explores ideas of class, gender, communication, love in the era of social media, mental health, abuse, and so much more. Whilst this book had elements of that (Rosie has OCD and trauma from death of a loved one, as well as an eating disorder inherited by her mum) it felt unexplored and limited. At first the book is structured in a before and after a big event, but that is lost in the second half of the book and feels a bit messy.

Also, the absence of quotation marks is something I love when it’s done well, and I don’t think it was done well enough here for it to always be clear when someone is talking or who is talking. When reading Sally Rooney, however, it doesn’t even register that there are no quotation marks because it flows so well.

I was surprised to see that this was published by Penguin, because it felt like more of a debut novel by a new author but I think it is Penguin’s alternative to Sally Rooney, as she publishes with a competing independent publishing house.

I did like the ending, I was worried Daverley was going to be cruel to us but she wasn’t and I think it’s a lovely ending to a nice book.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book, but it doesn’t get the 5 stars I was hoping it might. Perhaps my expectations were too high at the start and if I’d gone in knowing nothing I would have enjoyed it more so maybe a fault with the reader and not the author!

Content Warnings

More...