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chipie's review
3.0
I was slightly disappointed at the language, overall it felt like literary fiction bu occasionally there was so unneccessary detail or superfluity. I'm Scottish but not from the highlands so I can only comment on the "scottishness" with reservation - I think the use of Gaelic and Scots terms was probably ok and not too artificial, but the use of North American Syntax and Vocab was extremely jarring - parking garage, zipper, sweater for example or "come sit on my lap" - none of these characters would talk like that! I would expect a Canadian author who can get the Gaelic adnd Scots right to have realised this, and if not the editors. Or maybe I read a US Version?
I get that the structure was disorded to play on the "archive" notion, that we are dipping in an out. Most of the time it didn't mind it and I liked the device at the top of the page to localise the text. I felt though that after the accident the non linear recouting was odd, it felt odd to read a section where Charlie's death occurs and then go back in time to before - there would have been more drama if we had still not known.
I get that the structure was disorded to play on the "archive" notion, that we are dipping in an out. Most of the time it didn't mind it and I liked the device at the top of the page to localise the text. I felt though that after the accident the non linear recouting was odd, it felt odd to read a section where Charlie's death occurs and then go back in time to before - there would have been more drama if we had still not known.
bianca89279's review
4.0
3.5
I picked this audiobook on a whim, as it was a new addition to the library e-audiobooks offerings.
First, I had to get used to the Scottish accent. Then it took me a little longer to organise in my head who was related to whom, as the characters and their backgrounds were introduced.
This novel doesn't say anything new - families and people are complicated, little things can build up into bigger issues and resentment. Mistakes are made, things are said or left unsaid. Love is the answer, stories are important. I generally like this kind of stories and for the most part, I did enjoy this short novel. What bugged me the most was the nonlinear structure. It's something one comes along in pretty much every other novel, but in this novel, it was a few weeks back, some months, one-two years before, it was all over the place and unnecessary, in my opinion. The ending was like an epilogue, jumping in time a decade or longer.
Regardless of my grievances stated above, I didn't regret the time spent with the Avens and their extended family.
I picked this audiobook on a whim, as it was a new addition to the library e-audiobooks offerings.
First, I had to get used to the Scottish accent. Then it took me a little longer to organise in my head who was related to whom, as the characters and their backgrounds were introduced.
This novel doesn't say anything new - families and people are complicated, little things can build up into bigger issues and resentment. Mistakes are made, things are said or left unsaid. Love is the answer, stories are important. I generally like this kind of stories and for the most part, I did enjoy this short novel. What bugged me the most was the nonlinear structure. It's something one comes along in pretty much every other novel, but in this novel, it was a few weeks back, some months, one-two years before, it was all over the place and unnecessary, in my opinion. The ending was like an epilogue, jumping in time a decade or longer.
Regardless of my grievances stated above, I didn't regret the time spent with the Avens and their extended family.
emilybh's review
5.0
'One day tipped over into yet another and through this strange solstice light, April and Col slow-danced around the house and out into the garden and beyond into the woods...'
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This is a new favourite of mine. A moving story that takes the familiar plot of a family reunion and turns it into something bright and compelling. The Avens family meet each year on the summer solstice in the Highlands, and their time together is shaped by the absence of their mother. The narrative takes unexpected turns and by centering different chapters around one day, Reeder shows what has brought each of the characters to a new kind of breaking point. It's a sad and beautiful book. 4.5 stars.
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This is a new favourite of mine. A moving story that takes the familiar plot of a family reunion and turns it into something bright and compelling. The Avens family meet each year on the summer solstice in the Highlands, and their time together is shaped by the absence of their mother. The narrative takes unexpected turns and by centering different chapters around one day, Reeder shows what has brought each of the characters to a new kind of breaking point. It's a sad and beautiful book. 4.5 stars.
davemusson85's review
5.0
Beautiful prose, powerful, meaningful and real descriptions of life, living and family, before a devastating final quarter that broke me, shook me around a bit, battered me some more, and yet still left me feeling lifted by the very end, in spite of everything. This got under my skin in a way I was not expecting…I’ll be thinking about this one for a very long time.
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