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readingspells 's review for:
Hope Street
by Mike Gayle
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Clearly I am an outlier when it comes to this book as everyone seems to love it but for me it was pretty meh.
I read Half a World Away by Mike Gayle and enjoyed that hence picking this up but sadly it is just not as good.
Connor is too perfect. Because he is a vulnerable adult with learning difficulties there is no real conflict for him as a character. He is essentially perfect and I will be honest and say I found him a little boring as a result. Everything interesting about him is how other people treat him. Are they kind, over baring, bullying, loving etc
The book is overly long. The whole Adele story line is not required and most serves little purpose. We know Connor is vulnerable, we see it with the bus stop assault. Talking of which, why on earth did no one call the police? It REALLY annoyed me. There is absolutely no reason not to call them.
As for the whole Mum story line. I just wanted to know what happened to her and towards the end was speed reading just to find out. I didn't really care about Marcus and Lila. It is absolutely obvious from the moment they first meet that they will end up together. The only thing you are left wanting to know is what happened to Mum
And it is almost a good twist about from one massive plot flaw. She bought the item on Ebay! That means there was a really accessible way to find out where she had gone. The vague comment about the police cocking up is not good enough to explain it. Especially as Lila investigated too. She talked to lots of people but never once asked if she had an email address. What?
It is a good idea for a book and definitely covers important subjects around regeneration and gentrification of communities but the actual story is lacking and most of the characters I don't really care that much about.
Sadly Hope Street is more Nope Street for me
I read Half a World Away by Mike Gayle and enjoyed that hence picking this up but sadly it is just not as good.
Connor is too perfect. Because he is a vulnerable adult with learning difficulties there is no real conflict for him as a character. He is essentially perfect and I will be honest and say I found him a little boring as a result. Everything interesting about him is how other people treat him. Are they kind, over baring, bullying, loving etc
The book is overly long. The whole Adele story line is not required and most serves little purpose. We know Connor is vulnerable, we see it with the bus stop assault. Talking of which, why on earth did no one call the police? It REALLY annoyed me. There is absolutely no reason not to call them.
As for the whole Mum story line. I just wanted to know what happened to her and towards the end was speed reading just to find out. I didn't really care about Marcus and Lila. It is absolutely obvious from the moment they first meet that they will end up together. The only thing you are left wanting to know is what happened to Mum
And it is almost a good twist about from one massive plot flaw. She bought the item on Ebay! That means there was a really accessible way to find out where she had gone. The vague comment about the police cocking up is not good enough to explain it. Especially as Lila investigated too. She talked to lots of people but never once asked if she had an email address. What?
It is a good idea for a book and definitely covers important subjects around regeneration and gentrification of communities but the actual story is lacking and most of the characters I don't really care that much about.
Sadly Hope Street is more Nope Street for me