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A review by maxwelldunn
The Thing About December by Donal Ryan
3.0
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects my opinions of the book. .
The Thing About December is Donal Ryan's second novel, and the second novel of his that I have read. (I read and reviewed The Spinning Heart earlier this year ).
I enjoy his writing, a lot. It's stream of consciousness and can often be a bit convoluted at times, but it makes for an interesting, flowy narrative.
This book follows Johnsey Cunliffe, a twenty-four year old Irishman, over the course of an entire year. Each chapter is a different month of the year, starting in January, and ending, you guessed it, in December. I really thought that was an interesting and creative approach to the story. All the chapters begin with some sort of memory or meditation on the month, usually of Johnsey remembering something his father would say about the months of the year.
From the very beginning, I was emotionally invested in this book. It is written in such a way that the reader immediately sympathizes with Johnsey. He is a very unique narrator, but I will let you read the book to figure out why.
The writing is beautiful, with many lovely passages that stuck out to me. I thought the development of character was well done, though I would've liked to see the story go on a bit longer.
Just because it was enjoyable but didn't wow me, 3/5 stars.
The Thing About December is Donal Ryan's second novel, and the second novel of his that I have read. (I read and reviewed The Spinning Heart earlier this year ).
I enjoy his writing, a lot. It's stream of consciousness and can often be a bit convoluted at times, but it makes for an interesting, flowy narrative.
This book follows Johnsey Cunliffe, a twenty-four year old Irishman, over the course of an entire year. Each chapter is a different month of the year, starting in January, and ending, you guessed it, in December. I really thought that was an interesting and creative approach to the story. All the chapters begin with some sort of memory or meditation on the month, usually of Johnsey remembering something his father would say about the months of the year.
From the very beginning, I was emotionally invested in this book. It is written in such a way that the reader immediately sympathizes with Johnsey. He is a very unique narrator, but I will let you read the book to figure out why.
The writing is beautiful, with many lovely passages that stuck out to me. I thought the development of character was well done, though I would've liked to see the story go on a bit longer.
Just because it was enjoyable but didn't wow me, 3/5 stars.