Reviews

OK OK. This was awful. I got reminded towards the end of the song:
"Friend is a friend forever.
And a good one will never leave, never.
But you've never been south of what blows off your mouth.
You will never understand that, ever."

I REALLY should stop reading about crooked friendships!

katdid's review

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5.0

Waking and saying to the morning, Please do not get any worse.
But you could not reason with a morning. A morning was not a thing that had to give anything beyond what it was.

Goodness. I did not expect to love this but I completely loved it, from the first pages. It was both the best thing to read while going through a breakup and the worst thing. I had a lot of empathy for James, on the outside of everything he wants and feels he can expect for himself; and I thought Catherine was drawn really well – unlikeable but also very relatable. And McKeon nailed the atmosphere – university life (in the 90s), interactions between the kids, sharehousing, nights out carousing, endless angst. I’m now super keen to read her earlier novel and hopes she writes another one soon!

leah24601's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-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

3.5

hanolifar's review against another edition

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4.0

I picked this book up expecting a romance novel, I guess in some ways you could say it was. However, not in the way you'd expect, I actually really enjoyed the twist and turns this book has. Some parts I felt dragged on for a while and in my opinion weren't necessary, but that was only a minority, over all a really good book!

amayakatharina's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

gilmoreguide's review against another edition

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4.0

There are few things more exhilarating or frightening than college. Old enough to know there is more out there but young enough to have no idea what it is. Into this world comes eighteen-year-old Catherine who has, amazingly, managed to convince her conservative parents that she should live at school in Dublin rather than commute from home. Quiet and shy she is soon swept off her feet by the most unlikely of new friends, an older boy named James who is everything she is not. He is not in school but is pursuing photography and is geeky, funny, and affectionate. He becomes her conduit to the world—taking her into situations she would never venture into on her own and saying out loud what she only thinks and feels. Thanks to author Belinda McKeon in her new novel Tender we become privy to the vast and varied rhythms of their friendship.

The rest of this review is at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://wp.me/p2B7gG-1ys

readhikerepeat's review against another edition

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2.0

Everyone I know loved this book but I wasn't able to connect with it for a few personal reasons. For a review (with spoilers - consider this a warning), visit The Book Wheel.

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