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shailydc's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. Unique story and well written. Characters are well developed and have so many layers - you like them as much despite having a laundry list of reasons to dislike them. I found myself rooting for Sam and Loo.
routergirl's review
3.0
What a strange and interesting book this was. I loved Hawley and Loo, and the writing was lovely. Hannah Tinti definitely has a way with words. But the jumping around of viewpoints was a bit distracting, and the violence a little bit gratuitous. Overall, I'd recommend, but be aware going on - this may not be for everyone.
Received as a giveaway on Goodreads. Super exciting, my first win!
Received as a giveaway on Goodreads. Super exciting, my first win!
kerrymc's review
4.0
Read this in a rather disjointed fashion to finish up for book club discussion... then on a long flight took some time to reread most of the second half of the book. ... I enjoyed it more on the reread than I thought I would. 3.5 stars for a the writing mostly! Characters could use better development.
oldnic's review
5.0
Samuel Hawley - a man of bad deeds but a great heart. Characterisation, story, setting - this book has the lot. The real page turner.
katieparker's review
5.0
An unsettling sense of vertigo flooded her mind, just as it did whenever she stretched out on her roof at night and stared at the stars for too long, her body spinning upward into the depths of a velvet sky, until up was no longer up and down was no longer down and she wasn't a single, tiny, insignificant being anymore, but the entire earth, hurtling through space, tilting past comets and meteors and blocks of ice that fractured into crystals and left streaks behind in the darkness. Then this understanding began to slip away from her, and she fell back into herself, until she was nothing but a girl stretched out on a hunk of rock with a pen pushing against her ribs.
I'll be frank: This novel kind of blew my mind. I had heard so little about this book prior to reading it, and I have no idea why. (That could be because it came out when I was wrapping up grad school, but still. I knew enough to add it to my to-read list, and that was all.) This is definitely going to be one that I continually sing the praises of from here on out.
Following Samuel Hawley and his daughter Loo, this is a gritty novel contrasted with the most beautiful writing. Truly, the writing is just incredible. Ordinarily, I'd expect a book like this to be focused largely on plot, but Hannah Tinti achieves so much within these 373 pages. Alternating between Loo's present (over about six years, starting when she's 12) and Hawley's past (through decades), the reader understands every thought and motivation influencing these characters' decisions. This could be considered a crime thriller, since so much uncovers Hawley's nefarious past, but at its core it's truly Loo's coming-of-age story as she learns more about her father and her place in his life.
I'll be frank: This novel kind of blew my mind. I had heard so little about this book prior to reading it, and I have no idea why. (That could be because it came out when I was wrapping up grad school, but still. I knew enough to add it to my to-read list, and that was all.) This is definitely going to be one that I continually sing the praises of from here on out.
Following Samuel Hawley and his daughter Loo, this is a gritty novel contrasted with the most beautiful writing. Truly, the writing is just incredible. Ordinarily, I'd expect a book like this to be focused largely on plot, but Hannah Tinti achieves so much within these 373 pages. Alternating between Loo's present (over about six years, starting when she's 12) and Hawley's past (through decades), the reader understands every thought and motivation influencing these characters' decisions. This could be considered a crime thriller, since so much uncovers Hawley's nefarious past, but at its core it's truly Loo's coming-of-age story as she learns more about her father and her place in his life.
coco_o8's review
3.0
There are twelve scars on Harley’s body all from bullets from his criminal past. His past becomes a part of his present and it has his daughter Loo asking herself who her father really is.
This is a great father daughter story that is told from Loo’s perspective in the present and her father presepetive in the past.
I found the story mildly entertaining..at least enough to finish.
“But the past is like a shadow, always trying to catch up.”
This is a great father daughter story that is told from Loo’s perspective in the present and her father presepetive in the past.
I found the story mildly entertaining..at least enough to finish.
“But the past is like a shadow, always trying to catch up.”
ceredonia's review
2.0
I was excited to read this, and after the first bit, I was already bored. I never really cared about the bullet stories, but at least they were more interesting than Loo.
meganpalmer731's review
4.0
Interesting story of a flawed father and his daughter told in different periods of time that eventually meet up in the end. Well written and love the cover, too.
chenisejones's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5