Scan barcode
trid1977's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. For the first 30-50 pages I thought it was just the Newfoundland lingo I was having trouble understanding. And there are words and phrases i never did get. I understood some vague references cause I'm familiar with Newfoundland a little bit - though not St.John's. I should have made a chart to keep track of who the characters were. Some seemed to suddenly show up in the middle of book. As the book progressed the long-winded passages of poetic type phrases got longer, and seemed more like page fillers!
her10d's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.5
manugareau's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
earthboundcutie's review against another edition
4.0
Just really sad the whole time. I don't think every book needs a happy ending but I do like a bit more hope than this one gave me. I loved the writing style though, and the author did an amazing job with the characters.
lcee613's review against another edition
4.0
There is a lot going on in this book that I need some serious time to digest. It is heart rending, at times tender, but always fierce. I think this is a book I will need to reread more than once to come to terms with it. Beautiful and haunting.
sdorman's review against another edition
3.0
This book grabbed me at the start because of women-based themes and strong writing. I knew before I finished the sample that I would buy it. But the longer I read it, the more often the author was using so many words to make every small situation into some kind of gripping conundrum, when it just wasn’t. It became tiresome, maybe in part because she wanted you to deeply understand too many characters. So in the end, I felt compelled to finish it, but I also just really wanted it to end. None of the main characters are likeable. With the exception of 2 side characters, who you don’t get to know, Every man in the book is a horror. This book actually makes me not want to go back to Newfoundland.
annemaries_shelves's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
First, this book made me want to throw it off a balcony - oftentimes in that way a good writer who makes you feel a lot of emotions can do. Other times because I was frustrated by the writer's choices.
Second, read the content warnings. I cannot emphasize this enough. I didn't know any of the content going in, and it was a lot to handle in the first 50 pages. And the rest of the novel. I'll list the big ones below.
It's a gritty literary fiction focusing on a cast of entwined messy characters over the course of one blizzardy day in St. John's (with flashbacks). Throughout the novel, the author tried really hard to show how bad decisions and self-destructive behaviour can be the result of fucked up childhoods of poverty, abuse, molestation, and intergenerational trauma - basically never having a fucking chance or support to grow into a well-adjusted adult and the consequences of all that. It's a bit like that "it's a reason but not an excuse" saying. And usually she succeeded. Sometimes though, I felt like these themes and consequences were being overly explained with authorial ruminations or character thoughts rather than demonstrated through actions. Coles was a little too on the nose with some of her thematic exploration and it grated occasionally, personally. I think with a different writer (and maybe a different mindset of my own), it would've been more successful overall.
I found myself alternating rooting for Olive and Iris to realize their self-worth as human beings and to get out of bad situations (as much as feasibly possible that is), while also being incredibly frustrated at their behaviour, their lack of self-determination and in the case of Iris, her obsession over this married guy to the point of losing all her other relationships. They were so beaten down by circumstances and other people that it became difficult to read through.
John, on the other hand, just infuriated me. He's a loser man-child, relying on the money and talents of others (including his wife), refuses to be considered anything less than top tier (will lie and intentionally fuck things up for others to stay ahead), and a cheater asshole of a husband who emotionally manipulates/abuses his girlfriend with whom he's having an affair. It was awful being in his POV (same with Roger) and reading his scenes with Iris was difficult and infuriating.
Also - he fucks both his girlfriend and his wife in the kitchen of his restaurant on the same day (12 hours apart) - that's disgusting and unhygienic and took me out of the story both times.
None of the characters were likeable but many were at least interesting some of the time.
I hated the ending though. It felt cheap and we didn't get all the loose ends tied up so depending on preferences, that can be annoying.
Overall, if you like gritty litfic with unlikeable, unhappy characters that focuses on the messiness of their lives, go for it. Otherwise, skip.
Content warnings: sexual assault of children in flashbacks by adults and other children, on-page gangbang rape by a group of men, cocaine and other drug use, alcohol use, emotional abuse, cheating, discussions of infertility and IVF, on page animal abuse by children (specifically repeatedly throwing a cat into an ocean who kept coming back for affection - I almost cried at that scene), domestic abuse/unhealthy family dynamics, mentions of suicide, slurs (F word, slur against Native people), misogyny, sexism, classism, intergenerational poverty and trauma, probably other content warnings that I'm forgetting...
Second, read the content warnings. I cannot emphasize this enough. I didn't know any of the content going in, and it was a lot to handle in the first 50 pages. And the rest of the novel. I'll list the big ones below.
It's a gritty literary fiction focusing on a cast of entwined messy characters over the course of one blizzardy day in St. John's (with flashbacks). Throughout the novel, the author tried really hard to show how bad decisions and self-destructive behaviour can be the result of fucked up childhoods of poverty, abuse, molestation, and intergenerational trauma - basically never having a fucking chance or support to grow into a well-adjusted adult and the consequences of all that. It's a bit like that "it's a reason but not an excuse" saying. And usually she succeeded. Sometimes though, I felt like these themes and consequences were being overly explained with authorial ruminations or character thoughts rather than demonstrated through actions. Coles was a little too on the nose with some of her thematic exploration and it grated occasionally, personally. I think with a different writer (and maybe a different mindset of my own), it would've been more successful overall.
I found myself alternating rooting for Olive and Iris to realize their self-worth as human beings and to get out of bad situations (as much as feasibly possible that is), while also being incredibly frustrated at their behaviour, their lack of self-determination and in the case of Iris, her obsession over this married guy to the point of losing all her other relationships. They were so beaten down by circumstances and other people that it became difficult to read through.
John, on the other hand, just infuriated me. He's a loser man-child, relying on the money and talents of others (including his wife), refuses to be considered anything less than top tier (will lie and intentionally fuck things up for others to stay ahead), and a cheater asshole of a husband who emotionally manipulates/abuses his girlfriend with whom he's having an affair. It was awful being in his POV (same with Roger) and reading his scenes with Iris was difficult and infuriating.
Also - he fucks both his girlfriend and his wife in the kitchen of his restaurant on the same day (12 hours apart) - that's disgusting and unhygienic and took me out of the story both times.
None of the characters were likeable but many were at least interesting some of the time.
I hated the ending though. It felt cheap and we didn't get all the loose ends tied up so depending on preferences, that can be annoying.
Overall, if you like gritty litfic with unlikeable, unhappy characters that focuses on the messiness of their lives, go for it. Otherwise, skip.
Content warnings: sexual assault of children in flashbacks by adults and other children, on-page gangbang rape by a group of men, cocaine and other drug use, alcohol use, emotional abuse, cheating, discussions of infertility and IVF, on page animal abuse by children (specifically repeatedly throwing a cat into an ocean who kept coming back for affection - I almost cried at that scene), domestic abuse/unhealthy family dynamics, mentions of suicide, slurs (F word, slur against Native people), misogyny, sexism, classism, intergenerational poverty and trauma, probably other content warnings that I'm forgetting...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Grief, Rape, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Alcohol, Sexism, Misogyny, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Racial slurs, Classism, and Death
Minor: Suicide
patrickwadden's review against another edition
2.0
it's not that all books should be a pleasant experience to read, but I do know that this one felt like a slog a great deal of the time.
As someone who also writes in a Woolfean stream of consciousness way, it's most engaging and at it's best, especially in this disjointed narratives, when people interact and then we can see the contrasting thought processes behind the action. The problem in this is there just isn't much action. Most of the stream of consciousness is really depressing trauma dumping which is crucial to the story and the characters but when it's not broken up with present day actions then it just feels like you're telling & not showing. Some really great passages and pages, but not paced well and feels bloated. The thing is 400+ pages and takes places over about 8 hrs
As someone who also writes in a Woolfean stream of consciousness way, it's most engaging and at it's best, especially in this disjointed narratives, when people interact and then we can see the contrasting thought processes behind the action. The problem in this is there just isn't much action. Most of the stream of consciousness is really depressing trauma dumping which is crucial to the story and the characters but when it's not broken up with present day actions then it just feels like you're telling & not showing. Some really great passages and pages, but not paced well and feels bloated. The thing is 400+ pages and takes places over about 8 hrs
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
2.0
Finally managed to get through this book! It really wasn’t my style. The only reason I kept on til the end was because I listened on audio (the author narrates and she does do a great job voicing her work - that was maybe my favourite part of the experience). The book is really dark in tone exploring the flawed relationships of several small town Newfoundland characters who work or patronize this one restaurant/bar. There’s affairs, abusive relationships - nothing very happy or celebratory or the place or people (which to be fair is probably what the author intended). To me it was just a lot of jumping back and forth between many characters, none of whom I really connected with or cared for. Looking forward to the new bunch of Canada reads books for 2021!