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A review by bookswithmaddi
Lockdown on London Lane by Beth Reekles
2.0
*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Lockdown on London Lane by Beth Reekles catalogs the experiences of five different residents of an apartment building on London Lane. The inhabitants of each apartment receive a notice that the building is going into lockdown for a week, meaning they are trapped inside their apartments with whoever else is inside, for the remainder of the week.
The novel follows Ethan who must spend the week apart from his girlfriend Charlotte, which gives him time to reflect on their relationship; Serena, who lives with her long term boyfriend Zach dealing with the effects of forced proximity that forces them to evaluate their four-year relationship; Olivia who is trapped in her apartment the three other women, Kim, Lucy, and Addison, who were just supposed to spend the weekend making wedding decorations, and finally Imogen whose one-night stand turns into an unexpected week-long stay.
The concept of this book is super timely and very unique. I immediately added it to my wishlist when I read the synopsis. This novel does a really great job creating positive and almost comforting content around a disastrous event. It shows the real-life consequences of the world we’re living in now with a softer, less doom-oriented, approach. I really appreciated this interpretation of current events, although I understand how it might not be for everyone. I think it is possible to recognize and appreciate the way that the pandemic has brought people together and I think Beth Reekles does an excellent job highlighting that small but rewarding aspect of coronavirus while still creating a realistic interpretation of the environment.
My critique of this novel centers mostly around the characters and certain aspects of the writing styles. There were a lot of characters in this book. It’s one of the things that initially drew me to it. However, there wasn’t a whole lot of distinction between some of the characters. Ethan and Danny and Zach and Nate all started to blend together by the end because they were all “perfect” men who seemed to exhibit the same physical characteristics and all be amazing kissers. The female characters had slightly more depth to them but there was a slow reveal that each of them seemed to have some kind of connection to each other through a complicated web of friendship and family members which I found unnecessary and confusing. There were so many characters.
As far as the writing style goes it came off as an attempt to try to capture every pop culture and internet sensation that existed during the pandemic; from Twitch to Animal Crossing to Youtube to Fortnight to TikTok the pop culture references were overwhelming. I understand trying to capture the culture of the time but it really only focused on one aspect of that and it came off as removed and trying too hard.
Overall I think this book had amazing potential but wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. With slightly more character development and possibly cutting some characters, I think this book could have been a lot better. I still think there are many people who could connect to these characters and their stories and I loved the ambiguous endings which left openings for the stories to continue seemingly symbolizing the continuation of our lives after the pandemic. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this if the pandemic or COVID-19 is a triggering topic as it is a very central subject to the novel.
Lockdown on London Lane by Beth Reekles catalogs the experiences of five different residents of an apartment building on London Lane. The inhabitants of each apartment receive a notice that the building is going into lockdown for a week, meaning they are trapped inside their apartments with whoever else is inside, for the remainder of the week.
The novel follows Ethan who must spend the week apart from his girlfriend Charlotte, which gives him time to reflect on their relationship; Serena, who lives with her long term boyfriend Zach dealing with the effects of forced proximity that forces them to evaluate their four-year relationship; Olivia who is trapped in her apartment the three other women, Kim, Lucy, and Addison, who were just supposed to spend the weekend making wedding decorations, and finally Imogen whose one-night stand turns into an unexpected week-long stay.
The concept of this book is super timely and very unique. I immediately added it to my wishlist when I read the synopsis. This novel does a really great job creating positive and almost comforting content around a disastrous event. It shows the real-life consequences of the world we’re living in now with a softer, less doom-oriented, approach. I really appreciated this interpretation of current events, although I understand how it might not be for everyone. I think it is possible to recognize and appreciate the way that the pandemic has brought people together and I think Beth Reekles does an excellent job highlighting that small but rewarding aspect of coronavirus while still creating a realistic interpretation of the environment.
My critique of this novel centers mostly around the characters and certain aspects of the writing styles. There were a lot of characters in this book. It’s one of the things that initially drew me to it. However, there wasn’t a whole lot of distinction between some of the characters. Ethan and Danny and Zach and Nate all started to blend together by the end because they were all “perfect” men who seemed to exhibit the same physical characteristics and all be amazing kissers. The female characters had slightly more depth to them but there was a slow reveal that each of them seemed to have some kind of connection to each other through a complicated web of friendship and family members which I found unnecessary and confusing. There were so many characters.
As far as the writing style goes it came off as an attempt to try to capture every pop culture and internet sensation that existed during the pandemic; from Twitch to Animal Crossing to Youtube to Fortnight to TikTok the pop culture references were overwhelming. I understand trying to capture the culture of the time but it really only focused on one aspect of that and it came off as removed and trying too hard.
Overall I think this book had amazing potential but wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. With slightly more character development and possibly cutting some characters, I think this book could have been a lot better. I still think there are many people who could connect to these characters and their stories and I loved the ambiguous endings which left openings for the stories to continue seemingly symbolizing the continuation of our lives after the pandemic. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this if the pandemic or COVID-19 is a triggering topic as it is a very central subject to the novel.