Reviews

Supporting Cast by Kit de Waal

carodonahue's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring 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

4.75

hiccyup's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

charlottejones952's review

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3.0

I pre-ordered this book as soon as I heard it was coming out in order to support the author. I'd never read anything of hers before but had only heard good things so wanted to give this short story collection a go.

Unfortunately, despite enjoying many of the stories, most of them were linked to Kit's other books, particularly 'My Name is Leon' which I haven't yet read. Each story is a character study and many link together, giving the collection a great continuity throughout. At just 200 pages and containing 22 stories, each one is very short and I was amazed at how much heart the author managed to pack into each one.

Overall I liked this collection but I don't think it will be very memorable to me. However, if you've read Kit de Waal's author works, this may resonate more with you as you will already know some of the characters.

3 out of 5 stars!

kentishbooklover's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

2.75

booktwitcher23's review

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5.0

Brilliant very redolent of William Trevor's tales

dunneniamh's review

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3.0

A collection of interesting, well-written short stories that I think (?) may be connected to Kit de Waal's wider novels - though this may just be a coincidence. I really enjoyed the wide variety of voices through each story and the fact that in the audiobook (which is how I read it) each story had its own narrator.

melis_reads's review

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4.0

Supporting Cast is a collection of short stories about peripheral character from Kit de Waal’s two previous novels My Name is Leon and The Trick to Time. The stories differ in length, some only lasting a page, but they all explore important themes to humanity; death, loss, love.

De Waal says that all of her characters exist beyond the pages of her books and I can feel this when reading this story collection. Kit De Waal creates the fullness of her characters’ lives in half a page and packs it with emotion.

I read Supporting Cast to revisit the characters from My Name is Leon, but it’s not essential to read her previous novels in order to appreciate this collection. I found myself totally engaged with the characters’ stories who were unknown to me.

valje's review

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

ahbuggrit's review

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

3.5

travelseatsreads's review

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5.0

An absolutely stunning collection of short stories from the amazing Kit De Waal. I adore Kit's writing, especially how richly developed the characters are. This short story collection further delves into the characters of previous books and reintroduces us to their charm and often heartbreak. I never want to put a Kit De Waal book down, and this one was no different.