Reviews

We Don't Know What We're Doing by Thomas Morris

absolute_gemma's review against another edition

funny relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.0

_laneyg's review against another edition

3.0

3 and a half - found myself really invested in some stories whilst others i just couldn’t get into no matter how hard i tried. the writing is incredible though

maisiemccredie's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

katums's review

funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

raf08's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

3.5

We toast to new beginnings, though I don’t know what new thing I’m actually beginning,

 I think of my mother asleep. The weight of her arm draped over the side of the couch; the way the light came in through the window.

the night melting purple through the windows. 

but he’s afraid to kiss it, he’s afraid that if he does she’ll ask him to stop.

 And all these days have merged into one long summer’s day, and every year he remembers less and less.

The diaries are only ten years old, but already you can’t remember the fifteen-year-old who seems so unhappy in these pages.

You can’t believe you forgot the way it felt to lie in this bed, the way it felt to look out this window.

And this house, these rooms, this phone, these voices – you know they should mean more to you, but they don’t. It’s like the opposite of déjà vu.

Your father once asked: ‘What are you running away from?’

when you look in the mirror, the reflection isn’t familiar. You can’t pick out a single feature that belongs to you. 

I was seventeen and in mourning for a first love gone awry.

 And you know what I’m most tired of? Knowing that this is just the start, that I’ll only get more tired as I get older,

but this is how life lived in Amy: with spider legs, scuttling in all directions.

From the age of eleven, Emily began to hold herself oddly – all slumped and shifty – as if she didn’t know how to be.

‘They were boys,’ the guide will say. ‘The ones who fought for independence, they were younger than all you.’

But I couldn’t put words to these feelings and the way they swung. Some days it felt as if the feelings weren’t even inside of me. They were airborne – in Caerphilly’s stupid streets – and I just happened to breathe them in.

There were times when it felt like I was the one drowning myself, pushing on my own head as I sunk.


 It was as if I was recovering all the sleep debt from the years I’d been working. 

It was as if she was weighing up the gains and the losses of love. How sad, I thought. But also, how lovely.

 And I spent my whole life worried about him finding out. And when he died, a tiny part of me – and you’re going to think I’m awful for saying this – but, well, a tiny, tiny part of me felt relieved cos it meant he’d never find out.’

though they never really did go to the beach. The beach was always so far away.

 He never gave them enough time. If he’s honest, he didn’t know how to love them.

xoopa's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

2.5

jon_eb's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

kieraxdavies's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.75

honestlysean's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

babsi_222's review

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I hate everything about this book. I’m just going to say it. It’s not for me at all! I will be going to sell this book because I don’t need it in my bookcase if I don’t like it at all

It’s a collection of short stories and they’re taking all place in the same town. some of them were truly just disgusting and had lots of weird small details that I did not wanna know!!
Also, I think the writing style was just very poorly and badly written 

one story that had about 10 pages, I only realised that the main character was a man at like page 8 and I think that’s not necessarily that good.
I don’t know if I like books with short stories, but I definitely like it  in this book because that just meant that the story that I was reading was over in a few pages which was very very good because I absolutely hated every story tbh