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A review by sil_the_lobster
Flinging It by G Benson
4.0
Trust G Benson to tackle topics outside one’s comfort zone. In “All the little moments” she wrote about grief, how to pull through, how to start again. Here, she writes about cheating. Well, before you let this one word put you off – she doesn’t glorify cheating. Neither Frazer nor Cora are notorious cheaters who step outside their steady relationships on a regular basis. Frazer’s been single for a while and Cora’s marriage has reached the make-or-break point and it doesn’t look good despite marriage counselling. And unless you are a holier-than-thou person who will not accept human weakness, you will understand that sometimes something just happens, despite one’s best intentions.
And so it happens, and Frazer and Cora are having themselves an affair, a fling. Or so they think. And Benson drags us through their shared, stolen moments of joy and bliss, and she drags us through their doubts and knowing-it’s-not-really-right. She makes them come alive and turns them into living, breathing beings who so desperately want to be happy, preferably together, but they know this can’t go on and they both try so hard to be responsible adults and not hurt those outside their little fling bubble.
And yet, I couldn’t warm to either of them. I don’t dislike them either. But I somehow didn’t care all that much about them. Why is that? It’s not Benson’s writing, that’s for sure. I guess it’s because she’s written such strong, colourful (no pun intended) side characters. I ended up caring much more about Jack, for instance. Here, she’s truly excelled and outdone herself. There’s no trans teens in my personal surroundings and to read about Jack’s struggles was fascinating, painful, heartbreaking all at once. He’s such a mess when he makes his first appearance but he’s such a strong and amazing person towards the end of the book, I found myself cheering him on and wanting to hug him all the time. Now that is truly brilliant, Ms Benson! Thank you for introducing me to Jack!!! (And for making me aware just how hellish life can be for trans people. I honestly had no idea and I’ve done a lot of research in the meantime. So THANK YOU!!!)
Also, there’s Jemma, Frazer’s hilarious baby sister. She was such fun to read about and I’d love to hear more from her.
G Benson’s a very good storyteller and I look forward to reading much more from her. It’s not her fault that I couldn’t warm up to her two main characters – can’t love them all – but I so loved Jack and Jemma.
So, four out of five stars and a clear reading recommendation.
And so it happens, and Frazer and Cora are having themselves an affair, a fling. Or so they think. And Benson drags us through their shared, stolen moments of joy and bliss, and she drags us through their doubts and knowing-it’s-not-really-right. She makes them come alive and turns them into living, breathing beings who so desperately want to be happy, preferably together, but they know this can’t go on and they both try so hard to be responsible adults and not hurt those outside their little fling bubble.
And yet, I couldn’t warm to either of them. I don’t dislike them either. But I somehow didn’t care all that much about them. Why is that? It’s not Benson’s writing, that’s for sure. I guess it’s because she’s written such strong, colourful (no pun intended) side characters. I ended up caring much more about Jack, for instance. Here, she’s truly excelled and outdone herself. There’s no trans teens in my personal surroundings and to read about Jack’s struggles was fascinating, painful, heartbreaking all at once. He’s such a mess when he makes his first appearance but he’s such a strong and amazing person towards the end of the book, I found myself cheering him on and wanting to hug him all the time. Now that is truly brilliant, Ms Benson! Thank you for introducing me to Jack!!! (And for making me aware just how hellish life can be for trans people. I honestly had no idea and I’ve done a lot of research in the meantime. So THANK YOU!!!)
Also, there’s Jemma, Frazer’s hilarious baby sister. She was such fun to read about and I’d love to hear more from her.
G Benson’s a very good storyteller and I look forward to reading much more from her. It’s not her fault that I couldn’t warm up to her two main characters – can’t love them all – but I so loved Jack and Jemma.
So, four out of five stars and a clear reading recommendation.