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samsweebooknook's review
emotional
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
A beautifully written, character driven family saga told by dipping in and out of the lives of Maeve and Murtagh Moone over the course of 36 years. Through the snapshots we are given into their lives, we see how their family grows, how the dynamics change, how Maeve copes living with a deep depression that haunts her whole life and how this illness affects all those around her. We follow their love story and devotion to one another, while seeing how other love stories come to bloom.
An emotional, heart wrenching read that had tears in my eyes a number of times. My heart was broken and then built back up multiple times, much like Murtagh's pottery.
While it was a hard hitting topic at the core, there were moments of joy and happiness to balance it out. A stunning story of love, loss, grief, family, acceptance and hope, this is one that will stay with me for a long time.
An emotional, heart wrenching read that had tears in my eyes a number of times. My heart was broken and then built back up multiple times, much like Murtagh's pottery.
While it was a hard hitting topic at the core, there were moments of joy and happiness to balance it out. A stunning story of love, loss, grief, family, acceptance and hope, this is one that will stay with me for a long time.
claire_getting_back_to_books's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
annemariewhelehan's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Never heard of this book till I saw it pop up as a buddy read hosted by @solennsbooknook It’s like a family epic spanning 50 years in 300 pages, so leaves me wanting more and more from each of the family’s perspective. Set on an island off coast of Galway, so gives great detail on island life too. I borrowed book from @dublincitylibraries , always great service #Ilovelibraries
beaubooksbelle's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
3.5
solennsbooknook's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
laceyslibrarybooksta's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Books & Helen Cullen for a copy of this novel exchange for an honest review.
This story follows Maeve and Murtagh Moone over 37 years. They first meet in Dublin at Trinity College where they quickly fall in love, get married and have children. You follow them and their stories to 2005 where tragedy strikes their family. You aren’t sure what’s happening until you start to see what’s been going on in their lives throughout this entire timeline.
I found the beginning to be a little slow. Stories that take place decades ago are very much not my cup of tea, and for that I thought it might’ve just been me. However, after we started to get closer to the reason why the tragedy happened the way it did, it really picked up well.
This story was very original. I loved learning about Maeve and Murtagh. Their stories were separate but together at the same time. Helen Cullen wrote hard hitting topics very well. There were a lot of mental health references that were able to be related to and that was very important for this type of story.
The feelings that this book has is sad, but also hopeful. It’s very sad to see how mental health can affect so much in one’s life, but it’s hopeful to see the potential of getting through these things and watching family come together.
This book reminded me of the movie Across the Universe which is the movie about the Beatles songs written in. It goes through the years, watching the characters, seeing their stories and where they end up all those years later. Sad, but hopeful. This was my first Helen Cullen novel, and even though it is something I normally wouldn’t go for, I’d definitely read another book of hers. The writing was done very well and I’d recommend this book those who really enjoy fiction stories with hard hitting topics.
This story follows Maeve and Murtagh Moone over 37 years. They first meet in Dublin at Trinity College where they quickly fall in love, get married and have children. You follow them and their stories to 2005 where tragedy strikes their family. You aren’t sure what’s happening until you start to see what’s been going on in their lives throughout this entire timeline.
I found the beginning to be a little slow. Stories that take place decades ago are very much not my cup of tea, and for that I thought it might’ve just been me. However, after we started to get closer to the reason why the tragedy happened the way it did, it really picked up well.
This story was very original. I loved learning about Maeve and Murtagh. Their stories were separate but together at the same time. Helen Cullen wrote hard hitting topics very well. There were a lot of mental health references that were able to be related to and that was very important for this type of story.
The feelings that this book has is sad, but also hopeful. It’s very sad to see how mental health can affect so much in one’s life, but it’s hopeful to see the potential of getting through these things and watching family come together.
This book reminded me of the movie Across the Universe which is the movie about the Beatles songs written in. It goes through the years, watching the characters, seeing their stories and where they end up all those years later. Sad, but hopeful. This was my first Helen Cullen novel, and even though it is something I normally wouldn’t go for, I’d definitely read another book of hers. The writing was done very well and I’d recommend this book those who really enjoy fiction stories with hard hitting topics.
chloenfp's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Death of parent, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
brpockets's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
littlecassreads's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5