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notthatcosta 's review for:
Evenings and Weekends
by Oisín McKenna
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have a lot of thoughts about this book which I’m going to need some more time to articulate - but what was really apparent to me is that Oisín is a very talented writer, and was able to flesh out some rather bland, regular-degular characters and make them compelling character studies. The depth of the characterisations challenged me in a good way, even if the POV switches were maybe sometimes a bit much.
While there was a concerted effort to humanise everyone - to success - I did find Phil to be particularly exhausting, and I struggled to buy into the concept of a love interest being called Keith. Sometimes the depictions of London felt very much like a removed, non-Londoner view, but that’s kind of the point I suppose.
As a born and bred Londoner, it felt like the book was written through a romanticised, removed lens of someone who experiences it solely in their twenties and adopts it, which is appropriate for the book, but is something I'm hyper critical of.
There was generally a bit of editing that could have been done to refine the story - specifically the whale subplot, which I thought was dumb and heavy-handed in how it was woven in.
While there was a concerted effort to humanise everyone - to success - I did find Phil to be particularly exhausting, and I struggled to buy into the concept of a love interest being called Keith. Sometimes the depictions of London felt very much like a removed, non-Londoner view, but that’s kind of the point I suppose.
As a born and bred Londoner, it felt like the book was written through a romanticised, removed lens of someone who experiences it solely in their twenties and adopts it, which is appropriate for the book, but is something I'm hyper critical of.
There was generally a bit of editing that could have been done to refine the story - specifically the whale subplot, which I thought was dumb and heavy-handed in how it was woven in.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and was particularly impressed by how much ground was covered without losing focus on the core plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing, Toxic friendship