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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This novel was both hilarious and heart-wrenching. Sadie and Norman had such distinct, memorable voices and the story was beautiful!
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A total random download from the library and it did not disappoint. Was the first heartwarming feel good book I’d read all year.
It’s a lovely story of friendship, loss, laughter, dreams, love, acceptance, family and the family you choose. Add in a lot of jokes, adventure, other wonderfully written characters and it has everything.
The characters were written so beautifully. I loved Norman from the start. He’s smart, tenacious, funny, sensitive and kind. But Leonard was a charm! Funny, tells it like it is, helpful, kind, heart on his sleeve kind of guy.
The story just hits all the right notes for a light read or listen.
My only complaint is with the audiobook. Every chapter where the narrator reads Sadie the mom where she trails off so quietly it’s nearly impossible to hear what she’s saying whether listening on a phone, Bluetooth speaker, ear buds or in a car. I know it’s supposed to be her mimicking thoughts trailing off but there HAD to be a better way to translate that to audio. I felt I lost parts of every chapter that did that. And when she reads as Norman in the last chapter she does it again and it was so frustrating. It would make me not listen to another audio book narrated by the same woman.
It’s a lovely story of friendship, loss, laughter, dreams, love, acceptance, family and the family you choose. Add in a lot of jokes, adventure, other wonderfully written characters and it has everything.
The characters were written so beautifully. I loved Norman from the start. He’s smart, tenacious, funny, sensitive and kind. But Leonard was a charm! Funny, tells it like it is, helpful, kind, heart on his sleeve kind of guy.
The story just hits all the right notes for a light read or listen.
My only complaint is with the audiobook. Every chapter where the narrator reads Sadie the mom where she trails off so quietly it’s nearly impossible to hear what she’s saying whether listening on a phone, Bluetooth speaker, ear buds or in a car. I know it’s supposed to be her mimicking thoughts trailing off but there HAD to be a better way to translate that to audio. I felt I lost parts of every chapter that did that. And when she reads as Norman in the last chapter she does it again and it was so frustrating. It would make me not listen to another audio book narrated by the same woman.
How can any review do this life affirming novel any justice?
The book is a long, sweet, warm embrace in which you feel cherished, valued, cared for and protected. It is a shelter against the wind and rain of life and a hot bath, dry pyjamas and cosy slippers after the shelter has temporarily blown away and you are left shivering, drenched, buffeted and bruised. It is the tinkle of shared laughter, a secret smile and the flame of hope which flickers inside us urging on us when we would rather give up. It is maternal love and friendship, memories and the desire to be brave and ultimately it is the echo of the future calling us to be the person the future already knows we can be.
Norman is 12, or almost 12 when his best friend Jax dies. It devastates him and his Mum Sadie. It has always been the three of them, and now there are only two, and the fragile, lonely and less than confident duo left behind are struggling to find the humour and abandonment in life that Jax so joyfully gave them in bucketfuls.
Norman was the straight man to Jax's funny, delivering the punchline, afraid of nothing guy and they were going to perform in the Edinburgh Fringe at some point in the future.
With Jax's sudden death the plan they shared requires urgent revision, and so Sadie and her psoriasis suffering son, embark upon a road trip with octogenarian Leonard and a timetable that sees them weave their way from Cornwall to Edinburgh, stopping along the way to practise the jokes and maybe locate a missing person, the man who fathered Norman. Even Sadie remains uncertain who, out of several candidates, it could actually be, but the unlikely trio are determined to find the answers and achieve their goals.
In equal parts hilarious and heart breaking, The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman is the Show of 2021, where Little Big Man has star status, topping the bill and endearing himself to everyone he meets.
HUGE thanks to Pigeonhole, Netgalley, the incredible Julietta Henderson and the publishers for allowing me a front row seat at the premiere. Red carpet reading for me all the way!
The book is a long, sweet, warm embrace in which you feel cherished, valued, cared for and protected. It is a shelter against the wind and rain of life and a hot bath, dry pyjamas and cosy slippers after the shelter has temporarily blown away and you are left shivering, drenched, buffeted and bruised. It is the tinkle of shared laughter, a secret smile and the flame of hope which flickers inside us urging on us when we would rather give up. It is maternal love and friendship, memories and the desire to be brave and ultimately it is the echo of the future calling us to be the person the future already knows we can be.
Norman is 12, or almost 12 when his best friend Jax dies. It devastates him and his Mum Sadie. It has always been the three of them, and now there are only two, and the fragile, lonely and less than confident duo left behind are struggling to find the humour and abandonment in life that Jax so joyfully gave them in bucketfuls.
Norman was the straight man to Jax's funny, delivering the punchline, afraid of nothing guy and they were going to perform in the Edinburgh Fringe at some point in the future.
With Jax's sudden death the plan they shared requires urgent revision, and so Sadie and her psoriasis suffering son, embark upon a road trip with octogenarian Leonard and a timetable that sees them weave their way from Cornwall to Edinburgh, stopping along the way to practise the jokes and maybe locate a missing person, the man who fathered Norman. Even Sadie remains uncertain who, out of several candidates, it could actually be, but the unlikely trio are determined to find the answers and achieve their goals.
In equal parts hilarious and heart breaking, The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman is the Show of 2021, where Little Big Man has star status, topping the bill and endearing himself to everyone he meets.
HUGE thanks to Pigeonhole, Netgalley, the incredible Julietta Henderson and the publishers for allowing me a front row seat at the premiere. Red carpet reading for me all the way!
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated