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katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
One chapter in I wanted to quit. Not because of poor quality writing or disinterest, more because the story was shaping up to be too heartbreaking to keep with.
A teenager has got herself pregnant in London and headed home to Scotland for support. Kicked out after the baby is born, she and Janie survive in hostels, bedsits, by getting involved with drugs, with violent men.
The whole tale is told from Janie's increasingly maturing and hardening point of view, achingly naive at the start. Her view on her mother's acts and feelings is sometimes funny, often very sad. They live in poverty, scraping by, Janie learning hard lessons early on, growing up too fast.
It's an eye opener for anyone not used to this kind of story. It's impossible not to feel involved and to care what is going to happen to Janie and her family, even if you don't agree with all her mum's actions. She does what she has to do, what she knows.
Another enjoyable aspect for me was that Janie appears to be almost the same age as me, so the constant references to 80s and 90s Britain is a welcome trip down Memory Lane (sweets, shops, music, etc). It's very well evoked.
Not a light read but certainly not depressing either. You care and want to read on.
A teenager has got herself pregnant in London and headed home to Scotland for support. Kicked out after the baby is born, she and Janie survive in hostels, bedsits, by getting involved with drugs, with violent men.
The whole tale is told from Janie's increasingly maturing and hardening point of view, achingly naive at the start. Her view on her mother's acts and feelings is sometimes funny, often very sad. They live in poverty, scraping by, Janie learning hard lessons early on, growing up too fast.
It's an eye opener for anyone not used to this kind of story. It's impossible not to feel involved and to care what is going to happen to Janie and her family, even if you don't agree with all her mum's actions. She does what she has to do, what she knows.
Another enjoyable aspect for me was that Janie appears to be almost the same age as me, so the constant references to 80s and 90s Britain is a welcome trip down Memory Lane (sweets, shops, music, etc). It's very well evoked.
Not a light read but certainly not depressing either. You care and want to read on.
lola425's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up this book solely on the basis of its first line which pulled me in right away. It did not disappoint. Janie's story felt so real. There were times when I was jumping out of my skin with discomfort and frustration at what she was going through. Hudson is a fantastic storytller.
trishl's review against another edition
5.0
I really wasn't sure what to expect from this & really only bought it for the title but I loved it! Very similar to Shuggie Bain, so not a happy read - heartbreaking descriptions of poverty, drinking & domestic abuse. The speech (not the full text, only when people are speaking) is written is Scottish dialect and there are a few references that only Scottish people would understand but I don't think it would spoil the enjoyment for others
janety's review
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
shelleyrae's review against another edition
5.0
Janie Ryan narrates 'Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma' from the moment of her birth, greeted by curse laden screaming, boozy breath and muttered recriminations. Her teenage mother lasts barely a week under her mothers roof before she drags Janie first to a refuge, then through a series of rundown council flats and B&B's in the worst areas of Scotland and briefly, England. Uncle's come and go, some stay only a night, others, like Tony Hogan, far too long. As a child, Janie takes comfort in her ragged collection of toys, full plates of hot chips, orange velour curtains and the occasional icecream, accepting her mother's days spent in bed, the violent altercations with a succession of men and moonlight flits as a normal part of everyday life. But as she grows into a teenager Janie becomes aware of her mother's failings, of the poverty and despair that blights their lives and of a desire to escape the cycle that ensnared her mother.
This is a novel driven by character rather than plot. Janie is an irresistible heroine who begins the story with a wide eyed innocence that far too soon develops into defeated cynicism. Bright and loved, as a child Janie shares her grim existence with the naivete of one who doesn't know any different. Hudson vividly portrays the world in which Janie lives - the dingy rooms, the barren council estates, the empty pantries and broken furniture overlaid with the ever present threat of violence and despair. And just as deftly, Hudson allows Janie, as she ages, to share her growing disillusionment - with her mother, with herself and the possibility anything could ever be any different. It seems there is no escape for Janie who seems destined to follow in her mother's footsteps.
Janie's journey is heavily influenced by her relationship with her mother, Iris, and Hudson skilfully captures the complicated dynamic between mother and daughter. Despite her mother's failings, Janie loves her and her mother in turn loves Janie. It is evident that Janie suffers because of Iris's depression, addictions and penchant for the wrong sort of man though Hudson neatly side steps judgement and blame, focusing instead on the bond between them.
Despite its often bleak and brutal narrative, Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma is told with empathy, humour and surprising heart. I found it funny, moving and heartbreaking in turn and I think you will too.
vanessakm's review against another edition
4.0
Full disclosure: although we’ve never interacted, I am friends with the author on GR. Which made me kind of afraid to publicly post that I was reading this. What if I didn’t like it? What if I DNF’d it? I definitely don’t have Michiko Kakutani’s nerves of steel. I once left a very disorganized aerobics class in the middle of it and when the instructor asked me if everything was ok, I panicked and mumbled something about a sinus infection, scuttled to another part of the gym, and shame-ran on the treadmill.
I don’t need to lie about my sinuses this time though, as I ended up liking this quite a bit. But if you think from the title that this is a tale of whimsy and ice cream drinks, check out some synopses before reading.
This is the story of Janie Ryan, a charmingly foul-mouthed girl from Aberdeen, Scotland raised by her single mother, also a foul-mouthed girl from Aberdeen. Narrated by Janie beginning at her birth (this bit with an infant narrating could have been unbearably twee, but it works somehow), Janie tells the tale of her life up until she’s around 18.
Her mother loves Janie and her little sister deeply. There’s no doubt about that. But she’s also brutally poor in Thatcher’s UK, bouncing from shelters to council flats to sketchy bed and breakfasts (a lot of the UK’s quasi-homeless are forced to stay in these set-ups for months at a time.) Additionally, Janie’s ma has real shit taste in men. You know the type, and she’s drawn here with infuriating accuracy. She drags her family up, down, and across Great Britain either running from or to one of her boyfriends, giving them second chances that you know will fail spectacularly as soon as she says, “Janie, look who came to see us! It’s {deadbeat douchebag/abusive douchebag.}”
This writing in this book is so immediate and experiential, I felt like I was living everything along with Janie. I could smell things, see things so clearly from Hudson’s descriptions. I knew what it felt like to sit under an upturned box and pop bubble wrap or run down the hall and slam her door every time Janie came home and found her mother piss drunk with an ex.
I actually spent the better part of the book convinced I hated Janie’s mother: she keeps returning to bad relationships, she treats Janie like a friend when she’s pretty much begging for a parent, she and Janie say some truly horrible things to each other along the way. But then I got to the end and almost cried (ok, not almost) when she and Janie have a final heart to heart. I can’t believe how much it turned out that I loved this damn mercurial, frustrating woman.
It takes real skill to make a character so sneakily complex. I was sad the book was over because I didn’t want to let go of Janie or her Ma or Tiny or Beth. And that’s when what was a wavering three star read became four. The only thing I didn’t quite buy was
This was a finalist for the Guardian First Book Award in 2012 (The Yellow Birds was the winner.) I saw in the course of Googling about this book that the award was discontinued in 2015. Kind of a bummer.
I don’t need to lie about my sinuses this time though, as I ended up liking this quite a bit. But if you think from the title that this is a tale of whimsy and ice cream drinks, check out some synopses before reading.
This is the story of Janie Ryan, a charmingly foul-mouthed girl from Aberdeen, Scotland raised by her single mother, also a foul-mouthed girl from Aberdeen. Narrated by Janie beginning at her birth (this bit with an infant narrating could have been unbearably twee, but it works somehow), Janie tells the tale of her life up until she’s around 18.
Her mother loves Janie and her little sister deeply. There’s no doubt about that. But she’s also brutally poor in Thatcher’s UK, bouncing from shelters to council flats to sketchy bed and breakfasts (a lot of the UK’s quasi-homeless are forced to stay in these set-ups for months at a time.) Additionally, Janie’s ma has real shit taste in men. You know the type, and she’s drawn here with infuriating accuracy. She drags her family up, down, and across Great Britain either running from or to one of her boyfriends, giving them second chances that you know will fail spectacularly as soon as she says, “Janie, look who came to see us! It’s {deadbeat douchebag/abusive douchebag.}”
This writing in this book is so immediate and experiential, I felt like I was living everything along with Janie. I could smell things, see things so clearly from Hudson’s descriptions. I knew what it felt like to sit under an upturned box and pop bubble wrap or run down the hall and slam her door every time Janie came home and found her mother piss drunk with an ex.
I actually spent the better part of the book convinced I hated Janie’s mother: she keeps returning to bad relationships, she treats Janie like a friend when she’s pretty much begging for a parent, she and Janie say some truly horrible things to each other along the way. But then I got to the end and almost cried (ok, not almost) when she and Janie have a final heart to heart. I can’t believe how much it turned out that I loved this damn mercurial, frustrating woman.
It takes real skill to make a character so sneakily complex. I was sad the book was over because I didn’t want to let go of Janie or her Ma or Tiny or Beth. And that’s when what was a wavering three star read became four. The only thing I didn’t quite buy was
Spoiler
Janie taking off to track down the father she never had met. It seemed like she hadn’t thought of the guy since she was very young. And how would she even locate him? He was American, it wasn’t even clear that he was still in the country. But maybe the point is that teenagers are capricious and the Ryan family is capricious, so it was inevitable Janie would blow out into the world on an unpredictable path.This was a finalist for the Guardian First Book Award in 2012 (The Yellow Birds was the winner.) I saw in the course of Googling about this book that the award was discontinued in 2015. Kind of a bummer.
lola425's review
4.0
I picked up this book solely on the basis of its first line which pulled me in right away. It did not disappoint. Janie's story felt so real. There were times when I was jumping out of my skin with discomfort and frustration at what she was going through. Hudson is a fantastic storytller.
sjw_creates's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0