Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Trespasses

I was strangely compelled to finish this book quickly, but I think that is due to some quality of the writing I haven't identified yet. The lack of quotation marks is strange and doesn't lend itself well to being a stylistic choice. Save one, I hated every single character. It seems we're supposed to be sad that

Michael is killed or that Cushla is finally free of shit abuse.

There's nothing redeemable about the love interest. I didn't leave this book feeling sad, because the "love story" is just two selfish people who are most definitely not in love. What was the author trying to say? What were we supposed to learn? Belfast was violent? Yeah, we know. Cheating is bad? Obviously. I didn't hate the book, but I don't understand how it made it to the shortlist.

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zosiablue's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense 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

4.5

This was one of those lovely surprises I put on hold 6 months ago & don't remember why, but I'm glad. It's a perfect slice in time (Ireland in the '70s), incredibly sexy and coming of age until it hits you that coming of age during The Troubles meant all that normal teenage fucking around had bigger implications. I got to one part towards the end and burst into tears because I should have seen it coming, the book warned me in a thousand ways, but the author's writing was so lush and cozy and subtle that I got complacent. Really beautiful.

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alisonannk's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad medium-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? No

4.0

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mappy's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

4.25

Trespasses is more than the sum of its parts. Kennedy writes expertly, fittingly restrained in a context of conservatism and division; her work is detailed but not indulgent, and ultimately feels like a snapshot that transports the reader back in time to a Belfast torn violently between communities. The protagonist's claustrophobia does not extend to the reader - throughout, Kennedy provides the detail and feeds all of your senses, and then leaves you free to make your own assumptions.

That may be the primary reason that it feels strange that this is marketed as a love story. More accurately, it feels like a story about loneliness and humanity, of how kindness can lead to condemnation, and how an individual's reach can't extend as far as their desires, their best intentions, or the influence of a society where power is outsourced and extremism prevails.

The pace does feel slow but there's a shift in the final quarter that pays off and pulls everything together in a satisfying way. I look forward to reading more from this author as the prose, above all else, feels really impressive.

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lianne_rooney's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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