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A review by inherbooks
That Time I Loved You by Carrianne Leung
4.0
Tw: suicide, self-harm, sexual assault
Picture this: 1970s. Scarborough suburb. 3 suicides. One street. What are the odds?
You’re probably thinking this is a mystery novel of some sort (or it’s just me) but to my surprise, it wasn't. This coming-of-age novel is a collection of short stories that centre around the lives of neighbours on this one street. There’s infidelity, theft, assault, lies, and emotions behind perfectly painted doors that house immigrants from all corners of the world including Jamaica, Hong Kong, and Portugal. The book breaks down the notion of picture-perfect as we dive into the people's deepest, darkest secrets that are nowhere near perfect.
Reading this made me cycle through a series of emotions. Some parts made me angry, others confused, hurt, sad, happy, and sometimes, at ease.
I almost stopped reading this because of the heavy focus on suicide right from the beginning that left a taste in my mouth I couldn’t get rid of even as the stories progressed. There were certain attitudes that felt slightly problematic (which could be attributed to the time) and put me on edge. Nevertheless, halfway through, I was happy to find myself completely wrapped up in June and Josie’s shenaningans, Darren’s art and Nav’s beauty and I couldn’t put the book down. Though the stories are short, there’s a surprising amount of character development throughout that made for a truly relatable and beautiful story.
Carianne Leung’s writing style is effortless, as she fills up your mind’s canvas with a life outside of your own with ease. Powerful, sometimes overwhelming, yet striking.
Picture this: 1970s. Scarborough suburb. 3 suicides. One street. What are the odds?
You’re probably thinking this is a mystery novel of some sort (or it’s just me) but to my surprise, it wasn't. This coming-of-age novel is a collection of short stories that centre around the lives of neighbours on this one street. There’s infidelity, theft, assault, lies, and emotions behind perfectly painted doors that house immigrants from all corners of the world including Jamaica, Hong Kong, and Portugal. The book breaks down the notion of picture-perfect as we dive into the people's deepest, darkest secrets that are nowhere near perfect.
Reading this made me cycle through a series of emotions. Some parts made me angry, others confused, hurt, sad, happy, and sometimes, at ease.
I almost stopped reading this because of the heavy focus on suicide right from the beginning that left a taste in my mouth I couldn’t get rid of even as the stories progressed. There were certain attitudes that felt slightly problematic (which could be attributed to the time) and put me on edge. Nevertheless, halfway through, I was happy to find myself completely wrapped up in June and Josie’s shenaningans, Darren’s art and Nav’s beauty and I couldn’t put the book down. Though the stories are short, there’s a surprising amount of character development throughout that made for a truly relatable and beautiful story.
Carianne Leung’s writing style is effortless, as she fills up your mind’s canvas with a life outside of your own with ease. Powerful, sometimes overwhelming, yet striking.