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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
lighthearted
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
sad
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
love a self-destructive mc!!
Perhaps I’d get judged for recommending this book… It’s a whole lot of inner monologue from a woman that won’t mention whether her situation makes her content or not. she was looking to satisfy those around her over herself.
one of these days I'll read a book about happy, well-adjusted people!
What a curious book, at times I found this a genuinely funny, insightful account of some pretty awful people and their lives, but largely it was difficult to get many emotions into it at all. Furthermore for a book set in Hong Kong it really lacked a sense of place, it may have been a comment on the ubiquitous nature of societies in globalised capitalism, but it mostly just felt like poor writing, that one of the world's great cities could be just a backdrop to another story of romantic confusion.
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Naoise Dolan has been compared to Sally Rooney. A lot. I've seen several reviews that claim she basically ripped off Normal People. Having not read NP, I can neither confirm nor deny this. The only Sally Rooney novel I've read is Conversations with Friends and I did not care for it. Given all that, I almost didn't read this book even though the premise sounded interesting.
One reviewer said that within the first five pages a reader will know if the book is for them or not. The first five pages had me hooked. Twenty-two-year-old Ava doesn't really know who she is or what she wants to do with her life, so she moves from Dublin to Hong Kong to teach English. There she gets involved in a dysfunctional relationship with an English banker who lets her move in with him. There's a lot of navel gazing and self-destructive behavior, mixed with observations of classism and Irish/English relations, all set in an exotic locale.
It's not perfect, but still an entertaining read. My favorite Irish Millennial novel (definitely its own genre) thus far is still The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue.
One reviewer said that within the first five pages a reader will know if the book is for them or not. The first five pages had me hooked. Twenty-two-year-old Ava doesn't really know who she is or what she wants to do with her life, so she moves from Dublin to Hong Kong to teach English. There she gets involved in a dysfunctional relationship with an English banker who lets her move in with him. There's a lot of navel gazing and self-destructive behavior, mixed with observations of classism and Irish/English relations, all set in an exotic locale.
It's not perfect, but still an entertaining read. My favorite Irish Millennial novel (definitely its own genre) thus far is still The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue.
Read for the 2025 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge:
Prompt #34: A book written by an author who is neurodivergent
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you're going to read an Irish writer, let it be her!!