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readingwithhippos's review
5.0
I fell a little bit in love with Samuel Hawley, and I’m not usually the kind who goes for bad boys. You won’t find me on the back of anyone’s motorcycle or learning to shoot cans off a stump in the woods. My husband wooed me with an impressive vocabulary, a stable job, and a perfectly timed Hemingway pun. And, okay, yes, once by bending over to put on his shoes. I’m not a total square.
But Hawley is that very complicated kind of bad, the kind with a deeply seated sense of justice. A Clint Eastwood sense of justice that allows brutality but only when directed at the right people. He’s seen things. He’s done things. And he’s been in enough tight situations to know how to get out of them. That much is obvious—he’s been shot twelve times, and the novel is framed around the stories of each of those bullets meeting Hawley’s body. In between these flashbacks to Hawley’s checkered past is his present life with his teenage daughter, Loo. If Hawley seems like an unlikely type to be a single father, that’s because he is, and sometimes his parenting style is a bit, shall we say, unorthodox. But he loves his daughter, even if he’s not able to give her anything close to a normal life.
Hannah Tinti is clearly a writer who cares about craft. The structure of the novel is so intentional, reading the last chapters was like pulling up a well-oiled zipper. It all comes together so beautifully. I don’t mean all the details are neatly wrapped up and everything is perfect. It’s just that Tinti seems to have thought a lot about the reader’s experience. I’ll be very surprised if this doesn’t end up on my short list for favorite books of the year.
With regards to Dial Press and Goodreads for the advance copy, which I was tickled to win in a recent giveaway. On sale March 28!
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
But Hawley is that very complicated kind of bad, the kind with a deeply seated sense of justice. A Clint Eastwood sense of justice that allows brutality but only when directed at the right people. He’s seen things. He’s done things. And he’s been in enough tight situations to know how to get out of them. That much is obvious—he’s been shot twelve times, and the novel is framed around the stories of each of those bullets meeting Hawley’s body. In between these flashbacks to Hawley’s checkered past is his present life with his teenage daughter, Loo. If Hawley seems like an unlikely type to be a single father, that’s because he is, and sometimes his parenting style is a bit, shall we say, unorthodox. But he loves his daughter, even if he’s not able to give her anything close to a normal life.
Hannah Tinti is clearly a writer who cares about craft. The structure of the novel is so intentional, reading the last chapters was like pulling up a well-oiled zipper. It all comes together so beautifully. I don’t mean all the details are neatly wrapped up and everything is perfect. It’s just that Tinti seems to have thought a lot about the reader’s experience. I’ll be very surprised if this doesn’t end up on my short list for favorite books of the year.
With regards to Dial Press and Goodreads for the advance copy, which I was tickled to win in a recent giveaway. On sale March 28!
More book recommendations by me at www.readingwithhippos.com
paperlove's review against another edition
DNF @51%
Das war wieder einmal eine SuB-Leiche, aber ich bin überhaupt nicht in die Story reingekommen und es war mir ganz egal, was mit dem Protagonisten und seiner Tochter passiert.
Not my cup of tea. Konnte mich einfach nicht packen oder emotional erreichen.
Das war wieder einmal eine SuB-Leiche, aber ich bin überhaupt nicht in die Story reingekommen und es war mir ganz egal, was mit dem Protagonisten und seiner Tochter passiert.
Not my cup of tea. Konnte mich einfach nicht packen oder emotional erreichen.
steve_sanders's review
5.0
Tinti’s brilliantly weaves the main narrative mystery—the origins of Hawley’s 12 scars—with her larger thematic ones as Loo explores the unsolvable mystery at the heart of every parent/child relationship.
Admittedly there were times when I wished it had been ten or eleven lives, but Tinti’s eye for detail and place (she beautifully evokes at least a dozen distinct US settings) are so good that I could overlook occasional lapses in pacing.
Admittedly there were times when I wished it had been ten or eleven lives, but Tinti’s eye for detail and place (she beautifully evokes at least a dozen distinct US settings) are so good that I could overlook occasional lapses in pacing.
cami19's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mdgoodrich's review
3.0
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.
internationalkris's review
5.0
I just finished The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley over the weekend and I thought it was a terrific read – top quality writing, gritty, lots of nods to the mystery and thriller worlds but overall it was more of a literary fiction piece. The book begins when Samuel Hawley arrives in the seaside town of Olympus, Massachusetts where his wife grew up. She died years earlier just after the birth of her daughter Loo, and Hawley has been moving the small family from place to place ever since. When they get to Olympus the mood is heavy. Loo's grandmother refuses to see her. Bullies quickly descend at middle school. Hawley's hope of becoming a fisherman is rebuffed by the locals. But he persists through these challenges in trying to carve out a home for a his daughter and we see Loo also struggle to create roots. Alternating with chapters about their time in Olympus are flashbacks to Hawley's twelve bullet wounds and his involvement in a life of crime. As the scenes of his dark past draw closer to the present he is creating with Loo, the reader trembles. This is a gorgeously written book, with unique characters and settings (that glacier in Alaska!). Questions resonate even as the narrative draws to a conclusion. I am looking forward to a November book club discussion on this one.
earlyandalone's review
5.0
I didn't think I'd enjoy a book filled with violence and love of guns, but sometimes life can be surprising. Because along with the violence and the guns is tenderness and love and adventure and mystery and longing. It kept me up until 1 last night finishing and I'm not even mad about it.
nataliem22's review against another edition
5.0
This was an absolutely brilliant book! I enjoyed the parallelism, the way it weaved back and forth through time, the scathing look at what it means to come-of-age. This is the kind of book that I wish was taught in creative writing classes, because reading it felt like a masterclass in craft. Highly recommend.