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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
just ok, kinda boring, and not really more then a 3 star for sure not a 5 like it could have been. but an easy read
—Book Review—
Title: A Little Hope
Author: Ethan Joella
Publisher: Scribner
@scribnerbooks
Genre: Literary Fiction
“You never know. You never know what can break you. What you can fix, what you can stand up to. You never know what time will do, what will defeat you or surprise you. You never know.”
A Little Hope may be the book with the most perfect title. Because my gosh . . . is this book full of hope! Don’t be afraid of this one. Don’t be afraid that it’s too sad because it’s such a beautiful book.
I initially wasn’t sure if this book would be for me; not because I thought it would be too sad, but I had seen it categorized as short stories—which I don’t always connect to—but it’s not. It’s so brilliantly written. It’s a book about a small town of Connecticut and the people that live there, over the course of a year. These people and town are all sort of interwoven and connect. Kind of like we all do in life. The seven degrees of separation and all that. Each chapter focuses on a different person that you are introduced to in a previous chapter. A lot of characters circle back multiple times.
CW: This book deals with a lot of tough topics and potential triggers such as cancer, infidelity, drug addiction, and death.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a sneaky little book. I ate it up! My only complaint is I wanted more! It’s under 300 pages. A book of heartbreak, redemption and hope is a recipe for a must read. Thanks to all the readers of @bookfriendsbookclub who read along with us. @joellawriting Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for our book club
Title: A Little Hope
Author: Ethan Joella
Publisher: Scribner
@scribnerbooks
Genre: Literary Fiction
“You never know. You never know what can break you. What you can fix, what you can stand up to. You never know what time will do, what will defeat you or surprise you. You never know.”
A Little Hope may be the book with the most perfect title. Because my gosh . . . is this book full of hope! Don’t be afraid of this one. Don’t be afraid that it’s too sad because it’s such a beautiful book.
I initially wasn’t sure if this book would be for me; not because I thought it would be too sad, but I had seen it categorized as short stories—which I don’t always connect to—but it’s not. It’s so brilliantly written. It’s a book about a small town of Connecticut and the people that live there, over the course of a year. These people and town are all sort of interwoven and connect. Kind of like we all do in life. The seven degrees of separation and all that. Each chapter focuses on a different person that you are introduced to in a previous chapter. A lot of characters circle back multiple times.
CW: This book deals with a lot of tough topics and potential triggers such as cancer, infidelity, drug addiction, and death.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a sneaky little book. I ate it up! My only complaint is I wanted more! It’s under 300 pages. A book of heartbreak, redemption and hope is a recipe for a must read. Thanks to all the readers of @bookfriendsbookclub who read along with us. @joellawriting Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for our book club
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
sad
I really enjoyed this debut. It does have a lot of characters that each have chapters (I didn't count, but I'd say 8 or so characters in the same small town that average 2-3 chapters each). The style is much like Jennifer Haigh or Elizabeth Strout where the chapters/vignettes are interconnected. I really do like this style, and they are both some of my favorite authors. Sometimes I had to refresh myself on who a character was at the beginning of a new chapter, but it wasn't too complicated to keep people straight in your mind as long as you didn't let the book sit too long between reading sessions.
Much of this novel focuses on grief and how each person grieves differently. There is a lot of loss in this book. I know each person experiences loss and grief in his or her life; this novel highlights the loss, usually in the form of a relative, partner, or friend dying. So if you're fresh off your own loss, this might not be the right time to pick up this book. I'd also say that a big theme throughout the book is forgiveness, even if you are just forgiving yourself. That is the redemption in this book, but it does come late compared to all the grief.
The characters and situations in this book were interesting. Because there were so many characters and the book is fairly short, we didn't get to learn a huge amount about each character and usually what we did learn was related to their grief/guilt. For such a character-driven book, I would have liked to soak in more about each character that I just didn't have time to do. I'm thinking that I will enjoy A Quiet Life more because there are fewer characters, which will hopefully allow more character exploration.
4 stars: Because of the small issues I noted above, I can't wholeheartedly recommend this one. I think people's mileage will vary drastically on this one. The tone comes across pretty depressing. It's very character-driven with a lot of characters, so the effect is diluted spread across so many characters.
Side note: I read this right after Noah Hawley's Anthem, which has to be one of the most depressing books I have ever read. Had I known that this book was steeped in grief, I might have put a few more uplifting books between Anthem and this one.
Bone of contention: I wish the author's titles were a bit more unique. I'm not going to remember this title (everyday adjective + everyday noun), and his other novel A Quiet Life has the same title issue. And the covers are similar. I haven't read A Quiet Life yet (I will!), but I know that one is also about grief. So I will need some uplift in between.
Much of this novel focuses on grief and how each person grieves differently. There is a lot of loss in this book. I know each person experiences loss and grief in his or her life; this novel highlights the loss, usually in the form of a relative, partner, or friend dying. So if you're fresh off your own loss, this might not be the right time to pick up this book. I'd also say that a big theme throughout the book is forgiveness, even if you are just forgiving yourself. That is the redemption in this book, but it does come late compared to all the grief.
The characters and situations in this book were interesting. Because there were so many characters and the book is fairly short, we didn't get to learn a huge amount about each character and usually what we did learn was related to their grief/guilt. For such a character-driven book, I would have liked to soak in more about each character that I just didn't have time to do. I'm thinking that I will enjoy A Quiet Life more because there are fewer characters, which will hopefully allow more character exploration.
4 stars: Because of the small issues I noted above, I can't wholeheartedly recommend this one. I think people's mileage will vary drastically on this one. The tone comes across pretty depressing. It's very character-driven with a lot of characters, so the effect is diluted spread across so many characters.
Side note: I read this right after Noah Hawley's Anthem, which has to be one of the most depressing books I have ever read. Had I known that this book was steeped in grief, I might have put a few more uplifting books between Anthem and this one.
Bone of contention: I wish the author's titles were a bit more unique. I'm not going to remember this title (everyday adjective + everyday noun), and his other novel A Quiet Life has the same title issue. And the covers are similar. I haven't read A Quiet Life yet (I will!), but I know that one is also about grief. So I will need some uplift in between.