Reviews - Better by Far | The StoryGraph

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451 reviews for:

Better by Far

Hazel Hayes

3.94 AVERAGE

memydogandbooks's review

3.5

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

A lovely story of love, loss and finding yourself. i really enjoyed the writing, the characterisation and the story.

magic_chipmunk's review against another edition

3.0

I think I would like to come back to this one in a couple years

danabtg's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

_gillianreads's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

camillepahl's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Beautiful

fatbookishfemme's review against another edition

5.0

Beautiful, beautiful book - took me a minute to get into the plot and stream of consciousness writing, but incredibly done showcasing grief as a thread through everything - also some really incredible plot developments, especially towards the end of the book. LOVED the intro note from the Irish author about books being “translated” for american audiences and how she couldn’t bear to see her work changed!

januarysnine's review against another edition

3.75

reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Hazel Hayes writes well and there were a surprising amount of things I found myself highlighting because I liked the insights she offered on relationships and grief.

I feel like a little more could've been done with Kate and Finn's story. I went into this book expecting Finn to be painted in a horrible light so readers can look at the relationship and think, this was a horrible idea, they're a disaster - but that didn't happen. Their flaws are flaws; normal red flags, not particularly toxic, and it feels very grounded that way. With that being said, I also understood why the book went this way; it's definitely less about Finn and Kate and really more about Kate unearthing her grief over losing her mother, who died when she was a child and how it haunts her to this day.

Though a good meditation on exploring grief, as a character, I found Kate incredibly bland. Every other character - Finn included - seemed more interesting, and we were given breadcrumbs on who they were as people. I also expected some closure on the side plot of Kate trying to write a book, but it seems that Hazel Hayes completely forgot about that, which might be why I found the ending unexpectedly disappointing.