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A review by coralinejones
Home Stretch by Graham Norton
5.0
I fear I heavily enjoyed this little tale... So bittersweet. Despite the content of this book, especially the end, I feel a little sadder than I expected to. I'd say this is "A Little Life" for people who value their emotional state. (I've never read "A Little Life", nor will I ever hence the minor quip, but this feels fitting).
I think the splitting timelines and the medium-size cast can make this book a little confusing for those not paying full attention, but every page at me GRIPPED and wondering what was going to happen next. Some of the characters will grow on you, and I think Connor is so well written that you'll just want to wrap him in blankets and bubble wrap. There's also a slight mystery element to this novel that I enjoyed, and while I did not figured out the big twist I did put the puzzle pieces together for one of the smaller ones.
I gave this 5 stars but there are two things I didn't necessarily like: The story isn't just about Connor. I liked him the most and felt that if we just got his point of view this book would be just as excellent. Once you get over that though and you see how the whole story stirs together, I think this initially isn't too bad.
Secondly, I felt as though certain timelines were just too short. In the grand scheme of things I suppose this was a good choice but I had wished we had more time with Connor during certain points in his life. We meet him as an adolescent and a few chapters later he's in his 40s, like whoa!
Still great though. Something about this book reminded me of Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney, which I also enjoyed this year!
I think the splitting timelines and the medium-size cast can make this book a little confusing for those not paying full attention, but every page at me GRIPPED and wondering what was going to happen next. Some of the characters will grow on you, and I think Connor is so well written that you'll just want to wrap him in blankets and bubble wrap. There's also a slight mystery element to this novel that I enjoyed, and while I did not figured out the big twist I did put the puzzle pieces together for one of the smaller ones.
I gave this 5 stars but there are two things I didn't necessarily like: The story isn't just about Connor. I liked him the most and felt that if we just got his point of view this book would be just as excellent. Once you get over that though and you see how the whole story stirs together, I think this initially isn't too bad.
Secondly, I felt as though certain timelines were just too short. In the grand scheme of things I suppose this was a good choice but I had wished we had more time with Connor during certain points in his life. We meet him as an adolescent and a few chapters later he's in his 40s, like whoa!
Still great though. Something about this book reminded me of Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney, which I also enjoyed this year!