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makeshiftproject's review against another edition
2.0
This is going to be a lengthy review because I am writing this purely fuelled by my spite and hatred for this particular book.
The only reason I gave this book 2 stars was because I thought it had an interesting premise and it had a decent plot. The characters were fleshed out decently (at best), and I felt like I understood them 30% of the time, but Cara had to go and ruin everything good that was set out because she wanted to be quirky.
First and foremost the POV bounces every chapter are so painfully confusing it actually hurt my head to read this book. Not only do we switch character to character every single chapter, the time, setting, and location change with literally no warning. For an entire portion of the book I believed I was reading a chapter centred around the present only to realise we were actually far in the past. At first I believed that I needed to read the book again, it was possibly my fault that I wasn't picking up what the hell was going on and I probably wasn't reading into it critically enough. Upon further inspection I discovered that either I'm incredibly stupid or Cara has no clue how to go about consistently changing timelines. There were points in time where the only indication we were in the past would be a certain character being there.
These constant time changes were really irritating to deal with as I had to keep going back and forth like some detective trying to figure out what was going on, and this is not a mystery book so I shouldn't have to be doing all that. As well as having to figure out what the hell was going on with all the characters. In the very first page we are told that a Jasper died shortly before Birdy returned to Athens, but imagine my suprise when I was told that Jasper was present with them in a chapter I believed to have been set after he died. Also this is quite minor but I had absolutely no clue how old anybody was during any point in time, which was really frustrating whenever I was trying to piece together what was going. I could tell that most of the chapters in Milo's perspective were set in the 'present' but I just wasn't able to tell how far back Athens was.
Another thing that irked me was how the relationships in this book were set out. In the book we are told that Birdy fell in love with Milo, but it was quite frankly never shown to us. In fact I would argue that we were never shown any interactions between the two other than those few chapters prior to Jaspers death. I would go further and argue that Jasper was quite literally the backbone within the friendship, and maybe I didn't understand the bones of Birdy and Milo's 'love' that we were given, but I would say that it felt like Birdy and Milo were two mutual friends that only stayed together due to Jasper. Jasper and Milo also made me mad the entire book, perhaps I'm reading into it too deeply but there is no way in hell that Cara wrote their relationship and expected me to believe those two were in love?? Half of their interactions was either them sleeping together, arguing, or fighting. It was mentioned many times that Milo was quite literally ashamed to be in love with Jasper. Also Milo barely ever mentioned Jasper in his chapters despite it being shoved down our throats that they were in love, all he ever did was try to look for Birdy. I will come out and say that I thought he was doing this because she was the only one between the three of them that was alive, but all of a sudden we find out Milo and Navas relationship also pissed me off right through the ENTIRE BOOK. Every scene that they were together in made me want to shut the fucking book and move onto better things. A student living with her professor first of all?? Who in the world would allow that to happen? Navas consistently talking down on him for no absolute reason through the entire book, I could not count how many times she seemed to talk smack about the most unnecessary things that could ever exist.
I'm not American so maybe I don't fully understand the systems of educations that go on there, but I did not understand what Milo did at his job. All he seemed to do was whine about how much he missed Birdy, ask Navas for Four Loko (what even is that??) talk about how the kids he taught would never understand how difficult life could be (WHAT DOES HE EVEN TEACH??) Say that his students poetry is terrible and then turn around and never offer advice because you need to be poor and struggle to write good poetry so these privileged white kids dont stand a chance.
Whilst I'm at it I really did not understand why the characters seemed to alienate Jasper so much, sure he could of been a bit more empathetic when it came to certain things but most of the time he was just trying to help the group survive and he was treated like a monster for it. I understand that it's a crime and morally wrong to steal peoples passports and sell them, but he only did it to people he knew would be able to get new ones AND he was just trying to make money so he could get the whole group out of living in the literal ghetto of Athens working an unreliable and risky job. Milo made him seem like a villian for lying to the police to try and protect them, when Milo never came forward to tell them his side because he was too busy acting like some pussy with morals. Also whilst I'm on the topic of things I didn't understand can somebody tell me how they were linked to the terrorist attack?? All they did was sell some passports.
Anyway I have quite a few bones to pick with this book but they're all pretty insignificant so I'll end it there. My only real takeaway from this book is that Jasper deserved to be more than some meaningless death (Why did he even die?? It didn't drive anyone to do anything, he might as well have stayed alive) and Milo is some chicken who acts like he's a good person but can't do the right thing to save his damn life. Birdy was alright I guess. Maybe I need to read this book again in a few years and then I'll understand but for now I will stay a proud hate
The only reason I gave this book 2 stars was because I thought it had an interesting premise and it had a decent plot. The characters were fleshed out decently (at best), and I felt like I understood them 30% of the time, but Cara had to go and ruin everything good that was set out because she wanted to be quirky.
First and foremost the POV bounces every chapter are so painfully confusing it actually hurt my head to read this book. Not only do we switch character to character every single chapter, the time, setting, and location change with literally no warning. For an entire portion of the book I believed I was reading a chapter centred around the present only to realise we were actually far in the past. At first I believed that I needed to read the book again, it was possibly my fault that I wasn't picking up what the hell was going on and I probably wasn't reading into it critically enough. Upon further inspection I discovered that either I'm incredibly stupid or Cara has no clue how to go about consistently changing timelines. There were points in time where the only indication we were in the past would be a certain character being there.
These constant time changes were really irritating to deal with as I had to keep going back and forth like some detective trying to figure out what was going on, and this is not a mystery book so I shouldn't have to be doing all that. As well as having to figure out what the hell was going on with all the characters. In the very first page we are told that a Jasper died shortly before Birdy returned to Athens, but imagine my suprise when I was told that Jasper was present with them in a chapter I believed to have been set after he died. Also this is quite minor but I had absolutely no clue how old anybody was during any point in time, which was really frustrating whenever I was trying to piece together what was going. I could tell that most of the chapters in Milo's perspective were set in the 'present' but I just wasn't able to tell how far back Athens was.
Another thing that irked me was how the relationships in this book were set out. In the book we are told that Birdy fell in love with Milo, but it was quite frankly never shown to us. In fact I would argue that we were never shown any interactions between the two other than those few chapters prior to Jaspers death. I would go further and argue that Jasper was quite literally the backbone within the friendship, and maybe I didn't understand the bones of Birdy and Milo's 'love' that we were given, but I would say that it felt like Birdy and Milo were two mutual friends that only stayed together due to Jasper. Jasper and Milo also made me mad the entire book, perhaps I'm reading into it too deeply but there is no way in hell that Cara wrote their relationship and expected me to believe those two were in love?? Half of their interactions was either them sleeping together, arguing, or fighting. It was mentioned many times that Milo was quite literally ashamed to be in love with Jasper. Also Milo barely ever mentioned Jasper in his chapters despite it being shoved down our throats that they were in love, all he ever did was try to look for Birdy. I will come out and say that I thought he was doing this because she was the only one between the three of them that was alive, but all of a sudden we find out
Spoiler
that she has a fucking child with him?? Seriously when did they even sleep togetherI'm not American so maybe I don't fully understand the systems of educations that go on there, but I did not understand what Milo did at his job. All he seemed to do was whine about how much he missed Birdy, ask Navas for Four Loko (what even is that??) talk about how the kids he taught would never understand how difficult life could be (WHAT DOES HE EVEN TEACH??) Say that his students poetry is terrible and then turn around and never offer advice because you need to be poor and struggle to write good poetry so these privileged white kids dont stand a chance.
Whilst I'm at it I really did not understand why the characters seemed to alienate Jasper so much, sure he could of been a bit more empathetic when it came to certain things but most of the time he was just trying to help the group survive and he was treated like a monster for it. I understand that it's a crime and morally wrong to steal peoples passports and sell them, but he only did it to people he knew would be able to get new ones AND he was just trying to make money so he could get the whole group out of living in the literal ghetto of Athens working an unreliable and risky job. Milo made him seem like a villian for lying to the police to try and protect them, when Milo never came forward to tell them his side because he was too busy acting like some pussy with morals. Also whilst I'm on the topic of things I didn't understand can somebody tell me how they were linked to the terrorist attack?? All they did was sell some passports.
Anyway I have quite a few bones to pick with this book but they're all pretty insignificant so I'll end it there. My only real takeaway from this book is that Jasper deserved to be more than some meaningless death (Why did he even die?? It didn't drive anyone to do anything, he might as well have stayed alive) and Milo is some chicken who acts like he's a good person but can't do the right thing to save his damn life. Birdy was alright I guess. Maybe I need to read this book again in a few years and then I'll understand but for now I will stay a proud hate
novelvisits's review against another edition
4.0
Running by Cara Hoffman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: February 21, 2017
Length: 288 pages
Original Post at: http://www.novelvisits.com/running-cara-hoffman-review/
Single Sentence Summary: Three teens, “running” in Athens, become embroiled in a scheme that will forever alter their lives.
Primary Characters: Bridey Sullivan– A girl from Washington, raised by her survivalist uncle. Bridey likes being alone and starting fires. Milo Rollack – A high school dropout, turned boxer from Manchester. Milo left with Jasper the night they met. Jasper Lethe – An Eton dropout, on the run and in search of something more. Jasper becomes more and more unstable as the story goes on. The three become their own sort of dysfunctional family.
Synopsis: Bridey meets Jasper and Milo in Athens where they are all “runners” for the same seedy hotel. (Runners are young people who pass out flyers for hotels in larger cities, luring tourists back often in exchange for a paltry commission and a place to stay.) Their frantic, addicted lifestyle leads to them becoming linked to a terrorist attack. Out of necessity, fear, and hopelessness the three part and the narrative moves to the lifelong after effects of those weeks they were together in Athens.
Review: Running is a dark, haunting story woven together in three different time periods. The first, in 1988 Athens, tells the story of Bridey meeting Jasper and Milo and the brief time in which they live together. Jasper finds Bridey on a train he’s “running” and seeing some of himself in her, brings her home to the fleabag hotel where he lives with Milo. It’s a much-needed respite for Bridey, but also a lot more. In Milo and Jasper, Bridey finds companionship, drinking-buddies, lovers and more. Together they weather the violence of Declan, a sometimes runner, often times mercenary, who believes he’s in charge. Jasper, Milo and Bridey share a love of books and reading. The roof top hotel room where they live is littered with books, passed around like candy. Despite everything, Jasper’s instability threatens their delicate balance.
The other two periods follow Bridey and Milo as they live with the results of the first. Just a few months later, Bridey is back in Athens, with a desperate need to know where Jasper and Milo have gone. In twenty years, Milo is a successful poet, with a teaching position in NYC, so why would he still rather sleep on the streets?
In Running, Cara Hoffman did a fabulous job developing her characters, especially Bridey and Milo. She created a background for Bridey that goes a long way to helping the reader understand most (but not all) of the choices she makes.
“Bridey was an American survivor, the kind that made you think of the Donner Party.”
Raised by a survivalist uncle, Bridey is one tough girl! Milo for me was the saddest character of the three. In many ways he had the most going for him, but was trapped in a past that would not release its grip on him. I ached for his sadness.
The horror of having desired that boy could still keep him up at nights…The shame of how deeply Milo had loved and despised him was only beginning in those days on the island.”
I feel like I’ve already given too much away, so I won’t say more about the story, but there is more to say about the book. It’s a book you must pay attention to while reading, but that’s really not hard to do. The chapters are short, moving between the three different times. I liked Hoffman’s characters despite their many flaws. All do things you will not care for, but you will usually be sympathetic. As I said at the beginning of this review, Running is a dark, haunting story, but it is beautifully crafted. I highly recommend it. Grade: B+
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: February 21, 2017
Length: 288 pages
Original Post at: http://www.novelvisits.com/running-cara-hoffman-review/
Single Sentence Summary: Three teens, “running” in Athens, become embroiled in a scheme that will forever alter their lives.
Primary Characters: Bridey Sullivan– A girl from Washington, raised by her survivalist uncle. Bridey likes being alone and starting fires. Milo Rollack – A high school dropout, turned boxer from Manchester. Milo left with Jasper the night they met. Jasper Lethe – An Eton dropout, on the run and in search of something more. Jasper becomes more and more unstable as the story goes on. The three become their own sort of dysfunctional family.
Synopsis: Bridey meets Jasper and Milo in Athens where they are all “runners” for the same seedy hotel. (Runners are young people who pass out flyers for hotels in larger cities, luring tourists back often in exchange for a paltry commission and a place to stay.) Their frantic, addicted lifestyle leads to them becoming linked to a terrorist attack. Out of necessity, fear, and hopelessness the three part and the narrative moves to the lifelong after effects of those weeks they were together in Athens.
Review: Running is a dark, haunting story woven together in three different time periods. The first, in 1988 Athens, tells the story of Bridey meeting Jasper and Milo and the brief time in which they live together. Jasper finds Bridey on a train he’s “running” and seeing some of himself in her, brings her home to the fleabag hotel where he lives with Milo. It’s a much-needed respite for Bridey, but also a lot more. In Milo and Jasper, Bridey finds companionship, drinking-buddies, lovers and more. Together they weather the violence of Declan, a sometimes runner, often times mercenary, who believes he’s in charge. Jasper, Milo and Bridey share a love of books and reading. The roof top hotel room where they live is littered with books, passed around like candy. Despite everything, Jasper’s instability threatens their delicate balance.
The other two periods follow Bridey and Milo as they live with the results of the first. Just a few months later, Bridey is back in Athens, with a desperate need to know where Jasper and Milo have gone. In twenty years, Milo is a successful poet, with a teaching position in NYC, so why would he still rather sleep on the streets?
In Running, Cara Hoffman did a fabulous job developing her characters, especially Bridey and Milo. She created a background for Bridey that goes a long way to helping the reader understand most (but not all) of the choices she makes.
“Bridey was an American survivor, the kind that made you think of the Donner Party.”
Raised by a survivalist uncle, Bridey is one tough girl! Milo for me was the saddest character of the three. In many ways he had the most going for him, but was trapped in a past that would not release its grip on him. I ached for his sadness.
The horror of having desired that boy could still keep him up at nights…The shame of how deeply Milo had loved and despised him was only beginning in those days on the island.”
I feel like I’ve already given too much away, so I won’t say more about the story, but there is more to say about the book. It’s a book you must pay attention to while reading, but that’s really not hard to do. The chapters are short, moving between the three different times. I liked Hoffman’s characters despite their many flaws. All do things you will not care for, but you will usually be sympathetic. As I said at the beginning of this review, Running is a dark, haunting story, but it is beautifully crafted. I highly recommend it. Grade: B+
Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.
dykenerd's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
cassandralovesfeta's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable little novel. Definitely worth your time.
richardwells's review against another edition
3.0
Three stars, but a solid three stars, a page-turner.
Three "road friends," in Greece in their teens and twenties live out any mother's worst nightmare of the kids abroad. The "Lower Depths" of the backpacking, beach sleeping, slum dwelling, border-line and edge cases. (Truth be told, it reminded me of my wastrel years.) The deal is the three friends are eminently likable, and the girl lead - Bridey - is just a tatterdemalion joy.
It's a mystery to boot.
Three "road friends," in Greece in their teens and twenties live out any mother's worst nightmare of the kids abroad. The "Lower Depths" of the backpacking, beach sleeping, slum dwelling, border-line and edge cases. (Truth be told, it reminded me of my wastrel years.) The deal is the three friends are eminently likable, and the girl lead - Bridey - is just a tatterdemalion joy.
It's a mystery to boot.
dianametzger's review against another edition
3.0
The writing itself is beautiful and the story does pick up at the very end but before that and for most of the book it's so disjointed and fragmented that I could care less about the fates of any of the characters. It's hard to keep track of anything--time periods, what's happening in the world, ages of these characters. It's a mess in that way that makes it a really frustrating read. I wanted to like it so much more than I did.
mnboyer's review against another edition
5.0
A runner's job is to lie about where he lives, then convince people to come home with him. (p 11)
Warning:I've included several quotes here because the passages struck me. Some may/may not reveal 'secrets' from the novel. Mostly not, in my opinion. But I wanted to be upfront because, of course, maybe you don't want to see a review with lots of quotes!!
Running is a story that begins with a group of "runners" in Greece that stalk tourist areas (mainly transport trains) and convince non-suspecting tourists to come stay at a particular (shitty) hotel. The concept was interesting and between the inside jacket and the cover, I picked this book up on a whim from the public library. I'd not read Cara Hoffman before, but definitely appreciated her writing immediately.
His breath had the sweet medicinal bite of licorice and a cool flammable underlay. His eyes were a calm marbled green; skin so tender it looked like he might not yet shave; dimples beside a pair of fine, full lips. Jasper's was the kind of elegant placid face you saw in old portraits. His posture straight, his shoulders wide. It was only after half and hour of standing beside him that I noticed his left arm was in a cast. (p 3).
In no way is this an easy read. The story is non-linear and there are multiple characters, added angles, and some of the chapters are brief (1-2 pages) and you have to unravel the story as it continues. Milo, Jasper, and Bridey are the main characters and they become a sort of family. It is fair to say that most of the romance stems first from a relationship between Milo and Jasper.
Milo pressed his body against Jasper's and felt the boy's breath on his lips, put his hand up beneath Jasper's oxford to feel his thin smooth chest, brought his face down against his skin. his nipples were hard, petal pink, tasting of sweat. When Jasper knelt before him glassy-eyed, smiling, he felt his skin grow tighter. Tight to bursting at his touch, at his wet mouth, his tongue, the slick hard edge of his teeth. Jasper's throat opened as Milo moved deeper, holding fistfulls of his rain-soaked white-blond hair. (p 10)
Despite the quote above, the book is not a romance. And despite a few moments of heated passion, there's nothing pornographic about the novel. The language is what I fell in love with. Eventually... Bridey also slips into a sexual relationship with Milo. This, honestly, was quite interesting to me because I was not sure there was an emotional relationship there (past friendship) yet I appreciated the fact that Bridey took risks (as did the author) with this coupling.
He gave us something we couldn't have taken from him if we'd tried. Jasper was the kind of rich boy you could respect. The kind who would kill himself in front of you. (p 185)
There are some moments where I struggled with the characters--not every character can grow in a story, this can be true. Yet there are moments where I wanted to shake the characters, yell at them, smack them around, tell them to "get over it" or "move on," and I was frustrated by this. Yet again, I appreciated that this was not an easy story and the characters were not perfect either.
I turned eighteen on that island. And felt through the skin of my belly the pressing and turning of another body, the quick silent tap of a knee or elbow or head or foot. And I laid my hand there so we could feel each other. (p 245)
And this.... my favorite passage from the novel.
I left before he woke, in one of the neighbor's boats, so he wouldn't be stranded. It was cold and windy and there was a light rain. The sky was glowing pink and orange when I shut the wooden door of the cliff house. It took hours to row to the harbor, sticking close to the coast. I used his money for food and a ferry ticket. Sat in the hold this time, rocked and slept above the rolling sea.
I loved Milo Rollock, and I loved leaving him where he was, lying beside his notebook, alone. (p 251-252)
As promised, it is not a "happy" story and it is not an "easy" read... but it well worth it. I plan to pick up a few more Hoffman novels and see where they take me!
lilybohde's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
agirlisariot's review against another edition
4.0
this is one of those books that i wasn’t sure if i loved or hated until it was over and i processed it. that alone is worth 4 stars. felt disjointed at times but maybe upon reread i’ll rereview.
willal's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Running is told as a mix of a few different narratives, some of which I found more engaging than others. At times, I found it hard to keep track of how the narrative timelines fit together. Mostly I just felt like this book went a little bit over my head. The writing was good, but I never felt like I was getting everything out of it that I was supposed to. I never fully connected with the characters because their backstories still felt somewhat secret from the reader, even at the end.