Scan barcode
A review by dolnick
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti
4.0
Report Card for The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
Plot: B
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley tells the story of a father and daughter, named Samuel and Loo (respectfully). The book alternates between the two characters' perspectives, with Loo's story taking place in the present and Samuel's in the past. In the present day tale, Loo is a twelve year old girl (though she is seventeen by the time the book wraps up) who has never lived in one place for very long, thanks to her father's habit of moving them on a whim. When the book begins, this has changed, as the two have moved to the hometown of Loo's deceased mother. From here, the present story is mostly about Loo's experiences in the town, her interactions with her disapproving grandmother, a boy who seems to be interested in her, and the mysterious past of her father.
The brunt of the story, though, is about Samuel's days as a criminal and the consequences this career choice had on his life, including his being shot in twelve very different, unique instances. As Samuel states at one point, your past is like a shadow: it follows you everywhere. We witness some of the past deeds that would come to haunt the man, but Samuel's story also focuses on his meeting and life with Loo's mother, Lilly.
The story is very slowly, methodically paced - with things really ratcheting up once Samuel's past comes calling. While I loved Loo as a character, I found myself bored with the present day adventures (until the last bit of the book) and anxiously awaiting my next chance to delve into the mystery of Samuel Hawley. His chapters are the ones that really make the story, especially when they cause you to notice small, heartbreaking details in the present day. It doesn't hurt that they are also the more exciting parts of the book, given that Loo's present day story is far more focused on trivial, seemingly unimportant things (and characters): like her suitor's interest in getting a petition signed to appease his mother. It is in the present where the slow pace occasionally becomes unbearable, causing my interest to crash until the past returns to spark things back up again.
Characters: B-
Before reading this book, I saw a review that compared the book to the recently released Logan (something that actually hurt the book, in my eyes, given how much I loved the movie and what sorts of expectations that comparison created). As far as the two leads are concerned, I get it. Samuel Hawley is a grizzled, heartbroken, booze-loving man who has seen some shit. Loo is a more innocent figure who must overcome the legacy of her father. This dynamic and odd-couple pairing totally works. More importantly, while they are different in a lot of ways, the two are also incredibly similar. In no place are they more similar than heart; this book essentially beats at the rate of its leads' hearts and breaks along with them. I actively wanted to spend more time with the two, an important thing given that it was a book all about them.
It's the other characters, Lilly and Jove (to a lesser extent) notwithstanding, that I didn't want to spend any time with. Most of them are not well-defined, likable, or interesting. I actively sighed whenever I had to spend anytime with Marshall Hicks, Mary Titus, or really anyone from Lilly's hometown.
Writing: B
On one hand, the writing is so expertly and vividly detailed that it actually amazed me. Hannah Tinti, the book's talented author, has an incredible gift for painting a picture in one's mind. The level of detail is what leads to the book's methodical pace, as Tinti spends pages setting the table. From a technical perspective, it truly is a feat that brings about awe. However, it also makes the book an incredibly slow read - and when that detail is put into Mary Titus' petition to save the fish in the atlantic and her quest to get signatures, this all becomes a big negative.
Overall, the book was just not written in a way that made me an addicted reader. I would read twenty pages, feel like they had weighed on me, and need to stop for awhile; I was never gripped and fully in the book's grasp. (The author also doesn't subscribe to the Oxford Comma, which is a whole different complaint.)
The Ending: A-
I obviously won't go into much detail about this part of the book, as I do not want to spoil anything, but it's usually the end of a book that really makes or breaks things. So, I will just say, that the final act is - outside of one particularly poignant and heartbreaking Hawley chapter (which is honestly a masterclass of writing) - the book's strongest. The slow build towards it is vindicated, although even its final, climactic twenty pages refuse to move at more than a jogger's pace.
Final Grade: B (4 Stars)
At the end of the day, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley is a book that made me love its main characters and want to see how their story would end. I was constantly intrigued about how Hawley would receive his next bullet - particularly how bullet number twelve would find him- and it was in these moments that the book truly had me. I wish there was less time spent elsewhere and a little more blood-pumping action, but it's hard to knock a book that - at times - looks like a real work of art.
Plot: B
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley tells the story of a father and daughter, named Samuel and Loo (respectfully). The book alternates between the two characters' perspectives, with Loo's story taking place in the present and Samuel's in the past. In the present day tale, Loo is a twelve year old girl (though she is seventeen by the time the book wraps up) who has never lived in one place for very long, thanks to her father's habit of moving them on a whim. When the book begins, this has changed, as the two have moved to the hometown of Loo's deceased mother. From here, the present story is mostly about Loo's experiences in the town, her interactions with her disapproving grandmother, a boy who seems to be interested in her, and the mysterious past of her father.
The brunt of the story, though, is about Samuel's days as a criminal and the consequences this career choice had on his life, including his being shot in twelve very different, unique instances. As Samuel states at one point, your past is like a shadow: it follows you everywhere. We witness some of the past deeds that would come to haunt the man, but Samuel's story also focuses on his meeting and life with Loo's mother, Lilly.
The story is very slowly, methodically paced - with things really ratcheting up once Samuel's past comes calling. While I loved Loo as a character, I found myself bored with the present day adventures (until the last bit of the book) and anxiously awaiting my next chance to delve into the mystery of Samuel Hawley. His chapters are the ones that really make the story, especially when they cause you to notice small, heartbreaking details in the present day. It doesn't hurt that they are also the more exciting parts of the book, given that Loo's present day story is far more focused on trivial, seemingly unimportant things (and characters): like her suitor's interest in getting a petition signed to appease his mother. It is in the present where the slow pace occasionally becomes unbearable, causing my interest to crash until the past returns to spark things back up again.
Characters: B-
Before reading this book, I saw a review that compared the book to the recently released Logan (something that actually hurt the book, in my eyes, given how much I loved the movie and what sorts of expectations that comparison created). As far as the two leads are concerned, I get it. Samuel Hawley is a grizzled, heartbroken, booze-loving man who has seen some shit. Loo is a more innocent figure who must overcome the legacy of her father. This dynamic and odd-couple pairing totally works. More importantly, while they are different in a lot of ways, the two are also incredibly similar. In no place are they more similar than heart; this book essentially beats at the rate of its leads' hearts and breaks along with them. I actively wanted to spend more time with the two, an important thing given that it was a book all about them.
It's the other characters, Lilly and Jove (to a lesser extent) notwithstanding, that I didn't want to spend any time with. Most of them are not well-defined, likable, or interesting. I actively sighed whenever I had to spend anytime with Marshall Hicks, Mary Titus, or really anyone from Lilly's hometown.
Writing: B
On one hand, the writing is so expertly and vividly detailed that it actually amazed me. Hannah Tinti, the book's talented author, has an incredible gift for painting a picture in one's mind. The level of detail is what leads to the book's methodical pace, as Tinti spends pages setting the table. From a technical perspective, it truly is a feat that brings about awe. However, it also makes the book an incredibly slow read - and when that detail is put into Mary Titus' petition to save the fish in the atlantic and her quest to get signatures, this all becomes a big negative.
Overall, the book was just not written in a way that made me an addicted reader. I would read twenty pages, feel like they had weighed on me, and need to stop for awhile; I was never gripped and fully in the book's grasp. (The author also doesn't subscribe to the Oxford Comma, which is a whole different complaint.)
The Ending: A-
I obviously won't go into much detail about this part of the book, as I do not want to spoil anything, but it's usually the end of a book that really makes or breaks things. So, I will just say, that the final act is - outside of one particularly poignant and heartbreaking Hawley chapter (which is honestly a masterclass of writing) - the book's strongest. The slow build towards it is vindicated, although even its final, climactic twenty pages refuse to move at more than a jogger's pace.
Final Grade: B (4 Stars)
At the end of the day, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley is a book that made me love its main characters and want to see how their story would end. I was constantly intrigued about how Hawley would receive his next bullet - particularly how bullet number twelve would find him- and it was in these moments that the book truly had me. I wish there was less time spent elsewhere and a little more blood-pumping action, but it's hard to knock a book that - at times - looks like a real work of art.