Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Talking at Night

Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Talking at Night by Claire Daverley

6 reviews

nineinchnails's review

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.

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lucyduller's review

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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!

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rinnavv's review

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reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.0

I saw people comparing this book to Normal People (which I really enjoyed). I remember wishing for that book to be longer, and this one basically is that but way worse. This one spans over a long period of time in attempt to show personal growth but only demonstrates that the main characters are unable to develop their teenage brains. The synopsis says how the characters are “destined to be one another's great love story” but it’s misleading. Instead of love (or pain as the author kept angstily contrasting the two) the connection between the characters has formed from deep trauma, the “tragedy” hinted at from the same synopsis. The only way to get over something like this would be to fully move on… imagine if

Pippa

and Theo from the Goldfinch ended up together! I only really read the whole thing due to feeling bad about buying a hardcover… Also perhaps due to this same stupid desire to just get over with the plot, which I experienced when reading Cleopatra and Frankenstein. It's sad that it is difficult for me to tell early if the story is taking a similar to Coco Mellor's creation's course. The writing style is fine, I am surprised how easily I was able to get used to the absence of quotation marks (still, please stop this trend!).

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