Scan barcode
siofranicliam's review
5.0
This was a brilliant book. As an Irish person, I can get annoyed at some Irish books for feeling too familiar to me, or characters which are more like the caricatures that Irish people imagine of their own community rather than well rounded people.
This book is written so beautifully and almost mythologises the ordinary in Dublin. The characters are believable and the story sucks you in. I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone.
This book is written so beautifully and almost mythologises the ordinary in Dublin. The characters are believable and the story sucks you in. I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone.
charlotte_hampson's review
5.0
I picked this up in an airport in 2006 on a whim, mainly because I found the cover attractive! It was a lucky pick for me as I would say this is my all time favourite book.
Yes it's long, the Dublin dialect is initially hard to endure but by the end of a few chapters it just faded into obscurity and actually made the characters more real and solid in my imagination. It's a tale of love, family dynamics (probably not the good kind), sexuality, drug abuse, violence and even magic. Mia Gallagher did an exceptional job with it and I kept looking for further books from her!
I've read it several times since first purchasing it and each read through makes me pick up more of the story, I'm still shocked and saddened by the ending. With it being so long I just want Lucy to be happy! She becomes so real in my head, as does Naylor and I so wish for a happy ending every time I read it, there isn't a book I've read since with characters as in depth as Lucy and none have made me empathise with them quite as much.
I think it will forever be my favourite!
Yes it's long, the Dublin dialect is initially hard to endure but by the end of a few chapters it just faded into obscurity and actually made the characters more real and solid in my imagination. It's a tale of love, family dynamics (probably not the good kind), sexuality, drug abuse, violence and even magic. Mia Gallagher did an exceptional job with it and I kept looking for further books from her!
I've read it several times since first purchasing it and each read through makes me pick up more of the story, I'm still shocked and saddened by the ending. With it being so long I just want Lucy to be happy! She becomes so real in my head, as does Naylor and I so wish for a happy ending every time I read it, there isn't a book I've read since with characters as in depth as Lucy and none have made me empathise with them quite as much.
I think it will forever be my favourite!