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ramreadsagain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
4.0
“Booby trap. Incendiary device. Gelignite. Nitroglycerine. Petrol bomb. Rubber bullets. Saracen. Internment. The Special Powers Act. Vanguard. The vocabulary of a 7-year-old child now.”
Cushla, a young Catholic school teacher, lives in a 'mixed' (but largely Protestant) town near Belfast, in the 70's amid The Troubles. She becomes a bit too involved in the life of Davy, a boy in the class she teaches, from a poor Catholic family living in a Protestant estate. She becomes much too involved with Michael, an older, highly educated, married Protestant barrister. While these actions might only have personal consequences in other times and places, they put her in a very precarious position within her divided community.
I am ashamed to admit that most of my knowledge of this part of Northern Ireland's history comes from Derry Girls, so I feel like I've learnt a lot here.
This is one of those books you come out of in a bit of a daze. It's a proper slowburn, then the final quarter just throws everything at you. The author has done an amazing job at immersing the reader into the time period, with descriptions of clothing, food, and overall mood creating an atmospheric 70's working class time capsule.
It's very well-written and pulls no punches. I did find the plot itself a bit... predictable? Essentially, it's exactly what I would expect from a literary book of this kind. Ticks boxes, I suppose. I was also not entirely convinced by the romance.
However, I know I'll remember this book for a long time, and I'm very happy to have read it. Absolutely a recommendation from me!
Graphic: Gun violence, Police brutality, and War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Violence, and Death of parent
Minor: Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage
caitdonlew's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Murder, Violence, War, and Alcoholism
_inge's review against another edition
The story mostly focuses on how The Troubles influenced people in their daily lives. This was visible at the start of every second chapter or so, for instance. It would start by summarising news from the area, and sometimes you’d get to hear how this news impacts the protagonist or if it’s connected to her in any way, yet other times this isn’t brought on as there’s no connection between her and the news whatsoever. This really showed how odd it must’ve been to live during this period; if the news doesn’t broadcast anything on someone you may now, you’d still be wary that this might happen another day. People try to go on with their daily lives but current affairs always seep through. I found this perspective refreshing.
The style of writing included a lot of shifts. Sometimes you’d not hear what a character is up to, but it would be alluded to it. Someone might stand in front of a house, for instance, but the next sentence describes how the doorknob feels. This character would be inside the house in the sentences that follow. So you don’t read about them twisting the doorknob themselves, or even stepping inside, but from the next few lines you get that they must now be inside the house. Every chapter started at a completely different point of the story too. In the previous chapter you may have read about the protagonist leaving one place, but the next chapter would cut to her being somewhere entirely different. This fragmented style sometimes means you have to actively work out what’s happening. It’s never too difficult, but I have had times where I got lost in the details of a certain place and got confused at the location of the next scene. The author doesn’t use quotation marks either, but because there’s quite a few characters in this you might have to work out who’s speaking, too.
I did find it interesting how every character is referred to by their first name. Even Cushla’s mum or brother are never referred to as being that to her. This makes for interesting writing concerning the affair; just like the protagonist you don’t know who Michael is to her. I don’t know whether this was a fully conscious choice, but I did like it.
This could’ve been a hard read, and I could get that this character focused story could make that even more so for some, but there was hope found within the pages. People were as horrible as they were kind to each other. Throughout reading you’re never too sure what the intentions of each character are, and if their actions are wrong or right. That makes for an interesting read.
Graphic: Medical content, Infidelity, Grief, Death, Addiction, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
brittishrcoming's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Murder
geraldinerowe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Minor: Bullying, Death of parent, and Miscarriage
ineedmorecoffee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Death, War, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence
kjb2003's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
kirstym25'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
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: War
schnurln's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Alcoholism
mappy'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
4.25
That may be the primary reason that it feels strange that this is marketed as a love story. More accurately, it feels like a story about loneliness and humanity, of how kindness can lead to condemnation, and how an individual's reach can't extend as far as their desires, their best intentions, or the influence of a society where power is outsourced and extremism prevails.
The pace does feel slow but there's a shift in the final quarter that pays off and pulls everything together in a satisfying way. I look forward to reading more from this author as the prose, above all else, feels really impressive.
Graphic: Alcoholism, War, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexism
Minor: Death of parent and Pedophilia