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emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Quotes I liked:
Because his father, with whom he was never particularly close, has died in his sixties after five years of cancer treatment. An eventuality, once expected, so long delayed that he began to think it would never come, until it did. Peter somehow inexcusably unprepared for the anticipated event. Somehow suddenly head of a family which has at the same time ceased to exist.
Because his father, with whom he was never particularly close, has died in his sixties after five years of cancer treatment. An eventuality, once expected, so long delayed that he began to think it would never come, until it did. Peter somehow inexcusably unprepared for the anticipated event. Somehow suddenly head of a family which has at the same time ceased to exist.
You can drive yourself crazy thinking about different things you could have done in the past. But sometimes I think, actually, I didn't have that much power over my life anyway. I mean, I couldn't give myself a new personality out of nothing. And things just kind of happened to me.
Thought rises calmly to the surface of his mind: I wish I was dead. Same as everyone sometimes surely. Idea occurs, that is. Remembering something embarrassing you did years ago and abruptly you think: that's it, I'm going to kill myself. Except in his case, the embarrassing thing is his life.
But it's difficult, when you've been through certain things, and people in your life don't necessarily believe you. Or they just don't want to know.
To think of her in love: bizarre, and somehow sad.
Yes, because he thought of death as an event, something that would happen and then be over. And indeed, when it came to be over, there was relief, there was a certain freedom with that, to be free of the anxiety of waiting. In the months since, Ivan has embraced this sense of freedom, he can see that now. He has made impulsive decisions, he has fallen in love, his life has been transformed, in an uncontrolled rush of energy and feeling. To live, he has needed to live, to overcome the terrible event, yes, it was needed. But now that the event has come and gone, the funeral, the various rituals, only the loss remains, which can never be recuperated. The event is over, the event has been overcome, and yet the loss is only beginning. Every day, it grows deeper, more and more is forgotten, less, and less really known for certain. And nothing will ever bring his father back from the realm of memory into the reassuringly concrete world of material fact, tangible, and specific fact: and how, how is it possible to accept this, or even to understand what it means?
Shaking his head he seems to hear himself saying aloud: I feel like maybe I still don't accept it. The idea that my dad is gone. I don't really get how it could be the case, if you see what I mean.
I think I do, she says.
Like he just sort of exited from time, and we all have to keep going, within time. Do you know what I mean?
Quietly she says: In a way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol
Minor: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Car accident
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcohol
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Alcohol
Wonderful voice actor. Engaging story that ended you being really touching. Grief, growth, loneliness, the messiness of life, the idea of who we are vs who we actually are, loving people imperfectly, the different ways we can connect with people, sex, sadness, Ireland
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use
Moderate: Bullying, Death of parent
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book did not need to be as long as it was. The story doesn’t really kick into gear until Part 3.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Vomit, Police brutality
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I vastly preferred Margaret and Ivan's perspectives over Peter's. Rooney really excels at writing dialogue, and I think that is better utilized in Ivan's chapters rather than Peter's. In his grief, Peter's mind is scattered and incomplete, which is reflected in the writing style of his chapters through phrases in place of sentences and random observations of things that are happening around him. I didn't particularly like this choice, and his first couple chapters felt nearly incomprehensible at times. However, it did get much better as time went on and I got used to it, particularly at the halfway point onwards. Still, I preferred reading Ivan's chapters, which had a more structured thought-process reflected in the writing style, for a majority of the time. There were also exceedingly LONG paragraphs that I don't remember from her other books (one notable case was a paragraph that lasted over SEVEN pages (that particular one was a banger, but in most cases it felt a bit excessive because you didn't get a mental break with the end of a paragraph, and it felt almost like a continuous train of thought without pause)).
In part 3, we got a conversation between Naomi and Ivan, which I wasn't expecting, but was delighted by. I really liked the dynamic and relationship between Margaret and Ivan (they were both interesting, flawed, brought up interesting points of conversation, and delightfully awkward in similar ways). I would have liked to have seen at least one conversation between Margaret and Ricky (Margaret's ex-husband ), though; I felt that was missing. Peter's relationship with Naomi was fine, but I wasn't overly attached to it, though I liked how it ended. Peter's relationship with Sylvia was very interesting, and I liked Sylvia as a character overall.
This book did an excellent job in the developing and progression of the relationship between Peter and Ivan. It was often subtle, but you could see how it impacted their individual lives separate from each other, and I like how it all unraveled. It was complicated and realistic, but you still wanted them to work it out and make up in the end (at least I did). I really like how their relationship ended up by the end of the book. I think that the ending was done so well overall.
For a good portion of the book, this felt like a 3 star, maybe 3.25 at most, but the second half really improved my attachment (not just to Peter's perspective) and the discussions brought up. I can definitely foresee myself rereading this in the future, even purely just for how well crafted the progression of Ivan and Peter's relationship is (though also for the other characters and their relationships with each other).
In part 3, we got a conversation between Naomi and Ivan, which I wasn't expecting, but was delighted by. I really liked the dynamic and relationship between Margaret and Ivan (they were both interesting, flawed, brought up interesting points of conversation, and delightfully awkward in similar ways). I would have liked to have seen at least one conversation between Margaret and Ricky (
This book did an excellent job in the developing and progression of the relationship between Peter and Ivan. It was often subtle, but you could see how it impacted their individual lives separate from each other, and I like how it all unraveled. It was complicated and realistic, but you still wanted them to work it out and make up in the end (at least I did). I really like how their relationship ended up by the end of the book. I think that the ending was done so well overall.
For a good portion of the book, this felt like a 3 star, maybe 3.25 at most, but the second half really improved my attachment (not just to Peter's perspective) and the discussions brought up. I can definitely foresee myself rereading this in the future, even purely just for how well crafted the progression of Ivan and Peter's relationship is (though also for the other characters and their relationships with each other).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug use
Minor: Sexism, Violence