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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed this book. Great character development and writing style. An overall satisfying read.
I was so glad this book lived up to the rave reviews I had heard. It was an engrossing story of Samuel Hawley and his daughter Loo. Hawley is a career criminal who has been 12 scars from 12 bullets on his body. The story chapters alternate between how Hawley got each of those scars and the life of him and Loo in the present day, where she is a teenager and they have settled in her deceased mother's hometown after spending years on the road. It a story about relationships - between Hawley and Loo, Hawley and Loo's mother Lily, Loo and her grandmother, Mabel to name a few. It is a well written novel that has strong and memorable characters.
I loved this book and the characters, flaws and all. It was hard and tender and I didn't want it to end.
Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I blew through this in two days. I am not a fast reader, so that is saying something! Every spare moment I had I dove in. It was a heartfelt and exciting adventure that I couldn't quit. Loved the characters, the relationships, and the back and forth structure of the book.
This was one of the best books I've read in a long time. I can't recommend it enough. Beautifully written and intense, I liked every character in this story. I really hope this author doesn't wait another ten years to release another novel.
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley feels like a more intimate Cormac McCarthy novel. Tinti’s book is a classic tale of the outlaw, but her writing feels so human and organic that it isn’t bound by the constraints of genre. Sometimes we’re in the throes of passion, and then others we’re caught in a cutthroat scenario reminiscent of a Coen brother’s western, so it’s not surprising that Hawley’s daughter Loo is akin to Mattie Ross of True Grit. This tale is a treat, and I do sincerely hope the Coens add it to their canon one day.
I bought this book a long time ago because I found the cover and the title so attractive but I could not make it all the way through this book, it was way too violent for me and I don't care enough about Loo and Hawley to see it through to the end (they're both kind of terrible and solve their problems with violence so I just do not connect with them as characters). I think I would have liked the grandmother. I made it halfway through Bullet Number Three and had to put the book down for the umpteenth time because I just can't stomach it.
2.5 ⭐️— I liked the characters, I think, but then I didn’t feel emotionally invested in them. I was curious where the book would go, but I wasn’t on the edge of my seat or desperate for one thing to happen over another. The most interesting part was the scene with Hawley and Maureen. That’s also the only section I’d consider to be a true ‘Thriller’…the rest of the book was not. I also wouldn’t describe this story as a ‘Mystery’ — I’d say this is a family drama with an anti-hero dad who is still finding his way, loves his daughter, and does what he feels is right based on his narrow life experience (i.e. violence is the answer to survive). I thought the writing was a bit pretentious…the note at the end about the font used in the book was extra annoying (and that’s coming from a graphic designer). I would have loved more back story on Lily and her mom with some chapters dedicated to their perspectives to each other, Loo, and especially Hawley.
There’s something of an old west feeling about Hannah Tinti’s novel, The Twelve Live of Samuel Hawley even though it a lot of the book takes place in the here and now. There’s no time travel, but there are a lot of gunfights so maybe that’s what gives it the flavor of a western. read more.