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A review by sharonleavy
Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes was released in 2006. It's book #4 in the Walsh Family series, featuring Anna Walsh, the second youngest of five sisters, as the main character.
Anna is 32, and has what can only be described as the dream job - she works in PR for a make-up company in New York City. But as the book opens, something has happened - Anna is back home in Ireland, recovering from some kind of injury.
Over the next 450+ pages, we unravel Anna's story - what, exactly, has happened? And can Anna ever move on from it? Well, we're all going to find out together, as Anna tries to get her life back.
I hadn't read this one before, but as Marian's upcoming novel will return to Anna as the main focus, I wanted to catch up to speed. Breige @rareopalreads kindly organised a Buddy Read, and it was one I was glad to have - I (foolishly) forgot that Marian knows how to drive the emotional boot in, so to speak, and parts of this book were absolutely devastating. If you're dealing with grief I'd approach with caution.
I enjoyed Anna's story, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what she's up to in the new book. I did end up skimming (or skipping entirely) the parts where Anna's sister Helen was filling her in on her career as a Private Investigator - I understood the need for a bit of light comic relief alongside Anna's story, and the set-up for Helen's own book ("The Mystery of Mercy Close") but that storyline just annoyed me and I wanted to stick to the main story. I did enjoy the e-mails from Mammy Walsh, I felt that they broke up the sombre mood at times.
My Favourite Mistake will be released on April 11th, I've pre-ordered it so I'm really looking forward to it arriving!
Thanks to Breige & everyone else in the reading group, I'm not sure I'd have read it otherwise, so I'm glad to be all caught up for next week.
Anna is 32, and has what can only be described as the dream job - she works in PR for a make-up company in New York City. But as the book opens, something has happened - Anna is back home in Ireland, recovering from some kind of injury.
Over the next 450+ pages, we unravel Anna's story - what, exactly, has happened? And can Anna ever move on from it? Well, we're all going to find out together, as Anna tries to get her life back.
I hadn't read this one before, but as Marian's upcoming novel will return to Anna as the main focus, I wanted to catch up to speed. Breige @rareopalreads kindly organised a Buddy Read, and it was one I was glad to have - I (foolishly) forgot that Marian knows how to drive the emotional boot in, so to speak, and parts of this book were absolutely devastating. If you're dealing with grief I'd approach with caution.
I enjoyed Anna's story, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what she's up to in the new book. I did end up skimming (or skipping entirely) the parts where Anna's sister Helen was filling her in on her career as a Private Investigator - I understood the need for a bit of light comic relief alongside Anna's story, and the set-up for Helen's own book ("The Mystery of Mercy Close") but that storyline just annoyed me and I wanted to stick to the main story. I did enjoy the e-mails from Mammy Walsh, I felt that they broke up the sombre mood at times.
My Favourite Mistake will be released on April 11th, I've pre-ordered it so I'm really looking forward to it arriving!
Thanks to Breige & everyone else in the reading group, I'm not sure I'd have read it otherwise, so I'm glad to be all caught up for next week.