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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
Playing off the old TV show's MO, Evison moves us through Harriet's life by jumping from present day to Harriet Age 9, or Harriet Age 32, etc. with occasional glimpses of her recently departed Bernard in... where ever Bernard is. He's still hanging around, leaving Harriet looking slightly dotty because she speaks to him (of course, like any self-respecting ghost, he only appears to her not others). Why is he there? What mistakes did he make, or did she make, or did they make, to have their marriage and children turn out the way they do? All is revealed in this flashback-flashforward fashion. Unfortunately, despite the narrative style, the actual story isn't that interesting or different (by page 50 I'd guessed the Big Secrets, so I flipped to the back and, well, I was right).
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
It took me a few chapters to get into it, but when i did i really liked it! Heartworming and heartbreaking! ✨
I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this - the book is a powerful story about how our lives take us to places that we never expected them to go (and frankly, never wanted them to go). I loved the writing style, which is a take-off of the old 'This is Your Life..' tv show, and the characters were fresh and believable. And the ending was extremely thought-provoking and powerful.
I urge you to pick this one up when it comes out in September - if there is any justice, I think this one will get big.
I really enjoyed this - the book is a powerful story about how our lives take us to places that we never expected them to go (and frankly, never wanted them to go). I loved the writing style, which is a take-off of the old 'This is Your Life..' tv show, and the characters were fresh and believable. And the ending was extremely thought-provoking and powerful.
I urge you to pick this one up when it comes out in September - if there is any justice, I think this one will get big.
Jet-lag means I woke up at 2 am in Rome and never got back to sleep. Instead, I worked my way through this book. It's a quick read, both funny and sad. Perfect for a night of insomnia.
Wow - what a finely crafted story! It goes deep, it goes back, sometimes way back; it strips away the bs in a life down to the bare, boney truth. Riveting.
This is a book about a pretty messed up family. I found the foreshadowing a bit heavy handed as I guessed the big surprise pretty early.
If there's any type of book that I gravitate toward, it's those easy-to-read books that we have come to know as "beach reads." However, the difference in how I look at them is that I don't have to take them to the beach. They're just as well "couch reads" or "Saturday morning binge reads" if you ask me. But regardless of what you call them, Jonathan Evison's newest novel, This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, is all of them.
For whatever reason, not too many authors are writing elderly characters into their books. We can find tons of books of young lovers, powerful business people, or teenagers coming of age in a variety of weird ways - but that's exactly what sets this work apart from the rest. Harriet Chance is a seventy-nine year old woman who finds herself recently widowed and with a pre-purchased cruise to embark upon. The cruise, purchased before her late husband's death, is not her ideal getaway, but knowing that it would please her husband she chooses to do what she can to enjoy it. But little does she know, the cruise is just the tip of the metaphorical iceberg here. As it turns out, Harriet Chance has been living a life that you could write off as a lie. Everything she thought she knew has been turned upside down, those she thought she loved are not who they say they are, and she's being forced to question everything that she has ever been through in life. Not to mention the fact that she finds herself stuck on a cruise ship headed towards Alaska.
If you, like me, enjoy light-hearted and fun books that leave you with a smile on your face, you'll love this book. The only reason I didn't give it a solid 5 stars is because of the "flashback" manner in which it is written. It's not confusing and it doesn't take away from the story, it just takes a little while to get used to. Aside from that personal preference, this book is incredibly well written and a total joy to partake in.
Reading this, you'll be reminded not only of how valuable those around you are, but also of how full of spectacular surprises life can be. Want to feel like you've known these character's for your entire life? Want to step in and protect the kind old lady who is being slapped across the face by life? This book has it all, and it's one that you'll want to share with those you love so that you can discuss how endearing it all is after you thank one another for being mostly sane.
This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! is heartwarming in the best way, full of emotion, packed with hilarity (and even some questionable paranormal activity!), and the perfect read for wherever you read your favorite books.
My Rating: ★★★★✩
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For whatever reason, not too many authors are writing elderly characters into their books. We can find tons of books of young lovers, powerful business people, or teenagers coming of age in a variety of weird ways - but that's exactly what sets this work apart from the rest. Harriet Chance is a seventy-nine year old woman who finds herself recently widowed and with a pre-purchased cruise to embark upon. The cruise, purchased before her late husband's death, is not her ideal getaway, but knowing that it would please her husband she chooses to do what she can to enjoy it. But little does she know, the cruise is just the tip of the metaphorical iceberg here. As it turns out, Harriet Chance has been living a life that you could write off as a lie. Everything she thought she knew has been turned upside down, those she thought she loved are not who they say they are, and she's being forced to question everything that she has ever been through in life. Not to mention the fact that she finds herself stuck on a cruise ship headed towards Alaska.
If you, like me, enjoy light-hearted and fun books that leave you with a smile on your face, you'll love this book. The only reason I didn't give it a solid 5 stars is because of the "flashback" manner in which it is written. It's not confusing and it doesn't take away from the story, it just takes a little while to get used to. Aside from that personal preference, this book is incredibly well written and a total joy to partake in.
Reading this, you'll be reminded not only of how valuable those around you are, but also of how full of spectacular surprises life can be. Want to feel like you've known these character's for your entire life? Want to step in and protect the kind old lady who is being slapped across the face by life? This book has it all, and it's one that you'll want to share with those you love so that you can discuss how endearing it all is after you thank one another for being mostly sane.
This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! is heartwarming in the best way, full of emotion, packed with hilarity (and even some questionable paranormal activity!), and the perfect read for wherever you read your favorite books.
My Rating: ★★★★✩
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM
4.5 stars, 1/2 star off for having to get used to the combo of second and third person narration technique and the episodic time-changing format, but other than that I loved it. More to come.
I was genuinely surprised by how much I ended up liking this book. A full review to come.
I am pretty sick so forgive me if this review isn’t as readable as the others. I suppose it is a good sign that I enjoyed this novel even though I could barely breath and was sweating through my clothes for most of it.
I was sold on This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! when I read an early review and learned it contained old ladies, ghosts, the morbidly obese, and alcoholics all stuffed together in a weirdly structured, careening plot. This novel is as quirky and fun as it sounds and proved to be a very quick, light read despite the dreary events befalling the characters.
While I absolutely love a good ghost story, I liked that the return of Harriet’s dead husband was not the showcase of this novel. This is the story of Harriet’s life, not her husband’s haunting. If I had written this novel, I know that I would have (mistakenly) obsessed over the logistics of Bernard’s ghost, would have inserted him into every scene, etc. It takes a skilled, restrained writer to not let the fantastic event of Bernard’s return overshadow the living and pleasantly normal characters.
I never really grasped what Bernard was up to with CTO Charmichael and what the rules of his ghostliness were. All I really garnered was that Bernard was giving up some chance at an afterlife to return to his wife for a few clumsy encounters. I didn’t particularly enjoy the scenes that featured Bernard haggling with the clerks of the afterlife, but I suppose they added some context to his visits and offered some explanation on why he couldn’t just stay or guide Harriet more than he did.
I loved the conversational, slightly-snarky tone of the writing. It’s incredibly accessible and made this book fly by. Though the language is casual, it’s not without beauty. Imagery such as the “dazed bumblebee of shock” circling inside of Harriet’s head add whimsy and depth to otherwise straight-forward prose.
The novel is not all cute metaphor and quirk, however – there are quite a few dark (and plot spoiling) happenings. Things end on a fairly uplifting note, but not before plunging into shocking and upsetting territory. A majority of the revelations about Harriet’s life are reserved for the last fourth of the book, which worked with the plot, but I did feel an emotional lopsidedness to this novel. I didn’t truly feel invested in Harriet as a character until the ending when we learn how and why she is flawed. Though, part of the charm of this novel is that you don’t really know who Harriet Chance is until the very end – and neither did she. I loved the sentiment, in the last paragraph of the book, when Harriet realizes that “our lives are more sinew than bone” and the whole structure of the novel falls together - all of the weird side-stories and flashbacks mean more than the solid, present acts did. It was a refreshing take on a familiar trope.
There are some weird similarities between this novel and Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette. The action takes place in the Pacific Northwest and the Arctic/whatever you call an area with glaciers, the titles are conversational statements containing the main character’s name, both feature quirky women abdicating from a family, the cloud of maternal angst hangs heavy over each novel, the covers are almost the same light blue, and Bernard and Bernadette are pretty much the same name, right? Was this intentional? What is going on here? It’s easy to keep the two books straight since they’re written so differently and are, now that I think of it, not similar at all, but I couldn’t post this without bringing up the likeness.
This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! is an endearing, human read. I am excited to look into Evison’s other works, but I have to buy another box of decongestants first.
www.bookpuke.com
I was sold on This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! when I read an early review and learned it contained old ladies, ghosts, the morbidly obese, and alcoholics all stuffed together in a weirdly structured, careening plot. This novel is as quirky and fun as it sounds and proved to be a very quick, light read despite the dreary events befalling the characters.
While I absolutely love a good ghost story, I liked that the return of Harriet’s dead husband was not the showcase of this novel. This is the story of Harriet’s life, not her husband’s haunting. If I had written this novel, I know that I would have (mistakenly) obsessed over the logistics of Bernard’s ghost, would have inserted him into every scene, etc. It takes a skilled, restrained writer to not let the fantastic event of Bernard’s return overshadow the living and pleasantly normal characters.
I never really grasped what Bernard was up to with CTO Charmichael and what the rules of his ghostliness were. All I really garnered was that Bernard was giving up some chance at an afterlife to return to his wife for a few clumsy encounters. I didn’t particularly enjoy the scenes that featured Bernard haggling with the clerks of the afterlife, but I suppose they added some context to his visits and offered some explanation on why he couldn’t just stay or guide Harriet more than he did.
I loved the conversational, slightly-snarky tone of the writing. It’s incredibly accessible and made this book fly by. Though the language is casual, it’s not without beauty. Imagery such as the “dazed bumblebee of shock” circling inside of Harriet’s head add whimsy and depth to otherwise straight-forward prose.
The novel is not all cute metaphor and quirk, however – there are quite a few dark (and plot spoiling) happenings. Things end on a fairly uplifting note, but not before plunging into shocking and upsetting territory. A majority of the revelations about Harriet’s life are reserved for the last fourth of the book, which worked with the plot, but I did feel an emotional lopsidedness to this novel. I didn’t truly feel invested in Harriet as a character until the ending when we learn how and why she is flawed. Though, part of the charm of this novel is that you don’t really know who Harriet Chance is until the very end – and neither did she. I loved the sentiment, in the last paragraph of the book, when Harriet realizes that “our lives are more sinew than bone” and the whole structure of the novel falls together - all of the weird side-stories and flashbacks mean more than the solid, present acts did. It was a refreshing take on a familiar trope.
There are some weird similarities between this novel and Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette. The action takes place in the Pacific Northwest and the Arctic/whatever you call an area with glaciers, the titles are conversational statements containing the main character’s name, both feature quirky women abdicating from a family, the cloud of maternal angst hangs heavy over each novel, the covers are almost the same light blue, and Bernard and Bernadette are pretty much the same name, right? Was this intentional? What is going on here? It’s easy to keep the two books straight since they’re written so differently and are, now that I think of it, not similar at all, but I couldn’t post this without bringing up the likeness.
This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! is an endearing, human read. I am excited to look into Evison’s other works, but I have to buy another box of decongestants first.
www.bookpuke.com