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amaezinggeorge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Dementia
Moderate: Car accident, Death, and Infidelity
cscharfway's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Infidelity and Dementia
abbyslittelife's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Infidelity
navayiota's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War, Cancer, Alcohol, Sexual content, Medical content, Pedophilia, and Suicide
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
but what in the world was the whole rest of the book??? a good portion of the synopsis of the plot centered around the current events of his life, but that was barely apart of the actual book. the rest was incredibly out of left field and just too whimsical and pointless for me. i cannot believe i got through this book. the characters were very flat and underwhelming and there never seemed to be an established plot. this was incredibly disappointing.
Graphic: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, Medical content, Sexual content, Grief, and Toxic friendship
louisekf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Dementia, and Death
jodar's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
The MC is unusual as a protagonist in being highly introverted and, for much of his life, more or less happily self-sufficient. It is the characters around him that bring most of the light and colour to the story. The novel does seem to drag for quite some time during periods of the MC’c life; however, that becomes an understandable contrast to other times in his life when he moves beyond a largely solitary existence. What I found satisfying is the MC’s character remains consistent and believable, even after he reaches out to others – both as a child and late in life. And he is open to life experiences and kindly to others whose personalities and attitudes differ widely from his own. He has his own internal strengths and isn’t a ‘victim’ when life events are harsh towards him.
One aspect I found lacking was more detail about his experiences when he was a librarian. We read that in later life he looked back at his work with pride:
Now he understood how lucky he had been to have inhabited his position [of librarian]. Across the span of nearly fifty years he had done a service to his community and also been a part of it… (Part 4, “2006”)
Bob was quiet within the structure of himself, walled in by books and the stories of the lives of others. It sounded sad whenever he considered it, but actually he was happy, happier than most, so far as he could tell.… his reading … was a living thing, always moving, eluding, growing, and he knew it could not end, that it was never meant to end. (Part 1, “2005–2006”)
Somehow for me while it is not a perfect novel, by the end it had pleasantly surprised me by its emotional complexity and it is one I may well reread again one day.
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Infidelity
Minor: Death of parent and Violence
thedocument's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Infidelity and Dementia
citybookspgh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Abandonment, Dementia, Death, and Infidelity
leanniefae's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I don't read a lot of fiction like this. So here's a link to a review that explains my feelings perfectly :
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/f637ef62-0491-413b-8cde-c6d487df08cb
Moderate: Infidelity, Car accident, Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship