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A review by jugglingpup
Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen
5.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC of this audiobook.
I saw that this was an Irish humor voiced by someone from Derry Girls and that was all I needed. If you want a wild ride, watch the show.
The narrator is pretty much perfect for this book. The way that she is able to make Majella’s mom so obnoxiously annoying is amazing. I just can’t stand her mom at all. The way she is constantly yelling Majella’s name just grates on my nerves. It was a great detail. Nicole Coughlan was a great choice. She is able to do thick Irish accents to a more subtle accent as needed. It was clear when there was dialogue and it was delivered with a wit that had me laughing, even when I was missing half the joke due to the slang that just has not made it to my American mind yet.
The book is one of those meandering slice of life sorts of books. It has a lot of details of duvets, fish, and just general family life. It was fascinating to watch Majella’s world expand and how she could handle it. At times she would notice small things and other times she would be a bit shocked by things. Nothing was too mundane for Majella to mention, but the things she noticed were fascinating. The way she reacted to social situations and stress made me read her as autistic. She often flicked her fingers and she thrived on schedule. I am not sure if she was intended to be neurodiverse, but it was nice to see her as such. A lot of other reviews mention that she is autistic so I am probably not reading too deeply into it. It was great to see an autistic character that had a job and had a life. So often autistic characters are relegated as background characters or challenges for the MC.
The book was often crude with its humor, but in a way that was actually fitting. Dog shit jokes are not ones that I normally find funny, but the way they were delivered and timed was pretty wonderful. I am surprised at how often I enjoyed the weird sausage jokes, despite knowing how cringe they were. Majella also knows they are cringe and gets annoyed at having to tell the same joke over and over again. It was so cool to see how drastically different she interacted with people she knew the rules for and new people. The difference between her interacting with her boss and the sales clerk for the duvet was so clear and felt so close to home.
I didn’t really care that there was a plot. I just wanted to hear about every single day and interaction that Majella had. My only complaint was listening to this book at work got me a few weird looks. Nothing like someone talking about “fish cunts” to get someone’s attention I guess.
I got an ARC of this audiobook.
I saw that this was an Irish humor voiced by someone from Derry Girls and that was all I needed. If you want a wild ride, watch the show.
The narrator is pretty much perfect for this book. The way that she is able to make Majella’s mom so obnoxiously annoying is amazing. I just can’t stand her mom at all. The way she is constantly yelling Majella’s name just grates on my nerves. It was a great detail. Nicole Coughlan was a great choice. She is able to do thick Irish accents to a more subtle accent as needed. It was clear when there was dialogue and it was delivered with a wit that had me laughing, even when I was missing half the joke due to the slang that just has not made it to my American mind yet.
The book is one of those meandering slice of life sorts of books. It has a lot of details of duvets, fish, and just general family life. It was fascinating to watch Majella’s world expand and how she could handle it. At times she would notice small things and other times she would be a bit shocked by things. Nothing was too mundane for Majella to mention, but the things she noticed were fascinating. The way she reacted to social situations and stress made me read her as autistic. She often flicked her fingers and she thrived on schedule. I am not sure if she was intended to be neurodiverse, but it was nice to see her as such. A lot of other reviews mention that she is autistic so I am probably not reading too deeply into it. It was great to see an autistic character that had a job and had a life. So often autistic characters are relegated as background characters or challenges for the MC.
The book was often crude with its humor, but in a way that was actually fitting. Dog shit jokes are not ones that I normally find funny, but the way they were delivered and timed was pretty wonderful. I am surprised at how often I enjoyed the weird sausage jokes, despite knowing how cringe they were. Majella also knows they are cringe and gets annoyed at having to tell the same joke over and over again. It was so cool to see how drastically different she interacted with people she knew the rules for and new people. The difference between her interacting with her boss and the sales clerk for the duvet was so clear and felt so close to home.
I didn’t really care that there was a plot. I just wanted to hear about every single day and interaction that Majella had. My only complaint was listening to this book at work got me a few weird looks. Nothing like someone talking about “fish cunts” to get someone’s attention I guess.