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A review by earth_to_mars
The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy The Guncle Abroad as much as I enjoyed The Guncle. I think many of the small issues (cringy jokes that don't land for example) become a lot more apparent and harder to ignore in this book.
Where there was once heart and emotion and genuine connection in The Guncle, Patrick felt so much more shallow and selfish. He has to go through almost the exact same arc as the last book except instead of letting his family in, he has to let his ex (fling in the first book), Emory, back into his heart. And it's not a terrible lesson, to allow yourself to be vulnerable and live your life, but Patrick learned this already. And frankly, The Guncle was better at it.
There was such a weird rivalry between Patrick and Palomina (Greg's fiance's sister) simply because she was becoming the kids' lesbian aunt. It became a weird Gay Man vs. Lesbian Woman thing and it just felt off putting and like a 'old-man-yells-at-cloud' situation. It leads to a lot of jokes at the expense of women, particularly sapphic and mainly lesbian women, all of which made this book a lot harder to read. It was strange, in poor taste, and felt incredibly out of character and took me out of the story every time. It felt less like a character thing and more like Rowely was venting out some weird and unfounded personal bias.
It's disappointing because I think there could have been more solidarity between the two, and it would have been funnier (in my opinion) to watch Palomina and Patrick team up together and parallel the sibling relationship between the kids in some way.
At least Rowely didn't fall into the evil step-mother trope and Livia is actually very sweet. The bar is... low.
Emory feels like an afterthought. I didn't really care about his relationship with Patrick and I think the endingwhere Greg allows Patrick and Emory to get married instead of Livia and him is rushed with no build up so there was no satisfaction. I mean, they interacted maybe two or three times in The Guncle so all their relationship build up was off screen anyway.
The kids, Grant and Maisie, are the best part of the book (but mostly Maisie). Her fear of Livia 'replacing' Sara is realistic and raw and tragic. It's understandable, she's fourteen and going through so many things at once. I wish we got more of Grant's feelings, but he's a stereotypical eleven-year-old boy. He did have a nervous tic where he picked at his moles, possibly caused by the stress of the wedding and gaining a step-mother, but it wasn't explored and at one point ends up being completely dropped.
The Guncle Abroad, while having some of the same wit and humor as the first book, has none of the heart and emotion. It's lacking and it shows. It should of been more about the kids and their trauma and the idea of grief and how it never truly goes away and less about Patrick relearning what he learned in the The Guncle and going through a midlife crisis.
Where there was once heart and emotion and genuine connection in The Guncle, Patrick felt so much more shallow and selfish. He has to go through almost the exact same arc as the last book except instead of letting his family in, he has to let his ex (fling in the first book), Emory, back into his heart. And it's not a terrible lesson, to allow yourself to be vulnerable and live your life, but Patrick learned this already. And frankly, The Guncle was better at it.
There was such a weird rivalry between Patrick and Palomina (Greg's fiance's sister) simply because she was becoming the kids' lesbian aunt. It became a weird Gay Man vs. Lesbian Woman thing and it just felt off putting and like a 'old-man-yells-at-cloud' situation. It leads to a lot of jokes at the expense of women, particularly sapphic and mainly lesbian women, all of which made this book a lot harder to read. It was strange, in poor taste, and felt incredibly out of character and took me out of the story every time. It felt less like a character thing and more like Rowely was venting out some weird and unfounded personal bias.
It's disappointing because I think there could have been more solidarity between the two, and it would have been funnier (in my opinion) to watch Palomina and Patrick team up together and parallel the sibling relationship between the kids in some way.
At least Rowely didn't fall into the evil step-mother trope and Livia is actually very sweet. The bar is... low.
Emory feels like an afterthought. I didn't really care about his relationship with Patrick and I think the ending
The kids, Grant and Maisie, are the best part of the book (but mostly Maisie). Her fear of Livia 'replacing' Sara is realistic and raw and tragic. It's understandable, she's fourteen and going through so many things at once. I wish we got more of Grant's feelings, but he's a stereotypical eleven-year-old boy. He did have a nervous tic where he picked at his moles, possibly caused by the stress of the wedding and gaining a step-mother, but it wasn't explored and at one point ends up being completely dropped.
The Guncle Abroad, while having some of the same wit and humor as the first book, has none of the heart and emotion. It's lacking and it shows. It should of been more about the kids and their trauma and the idea of grief and how it never truly goes away and less about Patrick relearning what he learned in the The Guncle and going through a midlife crisis.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, and Car accident