Reviews

The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff

hayleybeale's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

When my daughter was a lot younger, we both loved the quiet sort of stories about old-fashioned upper middle class families, who were usually artsy in some way and were rich in love, intelligence, and quirkiness if not always in actual cash.They were often British like Hilary McKay’s Cassons but equally could be American - the Pendlewicks and the Melendys for example.

Meg Rosoff’s new novel is like a grown up (in all senses) version of these tales and I loved it. The British family in question has a house down on a beach where they go every summer for the requisite 6 weeks of the British school holidays. The father does something in London and the house has been passed down for generations of his family; the mother is a costume designer for the National Opera. Hope, a cousin of the father’s family has an adjacent house and stays there with Mal, her fiancé and an actor.

The novel is narrated by the unnamed and ungendered oldest child, an artist, who seems to be around 17 or 18. Next is Mattie who has bloomed into sexy womanhood, then pony-mad Tamsin and finally the requisite offbeat younger child, Alex, who is mad about bats and other wildlife.

There are two catalysts that set this summer apart. Hope and Mal decide to get married on the beach and Hope’s two godsons come to stay. Sons of a film actress, Kit and Hugo could not be more different. Kit is all golden charm and charisma; Hugo is brooding, unsocial, and diffident. Kit has the ability to make everyone feel that they are at the center of his universe and they all fall for him, especially Mattie.

Rosoff takes the classic sunshiny family story and wonderfully subverts it into something dark and twisted. Though only a slight novel, it beautifully evokes the sublime feeling of summers that never really exist except in books, and characters that teeter on caricature before revealing their depths.

Thanks to Candlewick for the review copy.

esaurit's review against another edition

Go to review page

relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

livh04's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious fast-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? No

2.5

deathlynx's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

gemmaflo's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

madlymia's review against another edition

Go to review page

‘He made me much more unhappy than happy’ she said. ‘It was like being possessed’.

I have a place in my heart for Meg Rosoff’s ‘How I Live Now’, so I couldn’t walk past this novel in the book store. Summer, wine, card games and tension. A novel you can devour on the couch in one sitting because it’s too good to put down.

lou_willingham's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review!

This book has the hazy golden shimmer of messy teen summers. It's a great read. The narration is quick, witty, and self-aware throughout, and you read through this whole Godden summer as if you're living it--or hearing about it on the phone from a very dear friend.

I loved this book. Rosoff's writing is always surprising and unconventional, and she has a track-record of shunning norms when it comes to gender and relationships. Most notably, in The Great Godden, is the gender of the main character. We're never given one. Nor a name. Some people are simply neither "he" nor "she", and that should be recognised in books. The best bit? It's never mentioned. It's not a big deal--and it's not a big deal that the love interest, Kit, flirts outrageously with people regardless of gender.

I loved it so much I pre-ordered the hard-back.

Highly recommend for anyone wanting an unapologetically honest and brutal commentary on adolescence in the hazy days of summertime!

teveritt's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

meeshapatel08's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

chloe341's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0