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sharonleavy 's review for:
Margot & Me
by Juno Dawson
Read for Booktube-a-thon 2017: Read a Seventh Book
This is set in Wales in 1998 - Felicity and her mother Julia are temporarily living with Margot, Felicity's Grandmother, so that Julia can recuperate after a battle with ovarian cancer. Felicity finds an old diary belonging to Margot, and begins to read. The strong, passionate young woman in the diary is at odds with the harsh, cold woman Felicity knows now - so what happened to change Margot? Or has she really changed all that much?
I really, really enjoyed Margot's diary chapters. They're set in the early 1940s, and the story was so good. Who doesn't enjoy a good love affair set against a backdrop of impending doom?
Felicity's chapters, on the other hand, were what brought the rating down for me. I didn't really care about her - yes, she has had a terrible time, but bar an inappropriate crush, she doesn't really have a storyline.
I also hated that the book had typos - I'd expect (and ignore) that from an ARC, but this was a paperback purchased from Amazon. This clanger appeared 32 pages in: "She's tells me about the great rivalry...". There were others further in, and it put me off slightly.
What also put me off were the constant reminders that this was supposed to be set in 1998. Every clothing brand you could think of was named, every band, every film popular at the time - it's irrelevant to the storyline, it doesn't matter when Fliss' story takes place, so why keep driving it home? Also, were "messy buns" and eyeshadow primer really a thing for 15 year olds in 1998? Granted, London was more than likely more sophisticated than the backarse of nowhere in rural Ireland in the late 1990s, but I don't remember a lot of the stuff mentioned being popular in 1998. One of the characters says she knew Fliss did ballet because "I looked you up online" - where online? There was no Facebook, no Twitter, no MySpace, no Bebo, where did she look her up? Did she Ask Jeeves? I know that this stuff doesn't matter to most people - it's fiction - but when it's trying to be historically accurate by mentioning another "thing" every chapter, it sould be historically accurate.
Margot's story was a really enjoyable read, and I was sad when her diary came to an end. I'd recommend the book just for a read of that.
This is set in Wales in 1998 - Felicity and her mother Julia are temporarily living with Margot, Felicity's Grandmother, so that Julia can recuperate after a battle with ovarian cancer. Felicity finds an old diary belonging to Margot, and begins to read. The strong, passionate young woman in the diary is at odds with the harsh, cold woman Felicity knows now - so what happened to change Margot? Or has she really changed all that much?
I really, really enjoyed Margot's diary chapters. They're set in the early 1940s, and the story was so good. Who doesn't enjoy a good love affair set against a backdrop of impending doom?
Felicity's chapters, on the other hand, were what brought the rating down for me. I didn't really care about her - yes, she has had a terrible time, but bar an inappropriate crush, she doesn't really have a storyline.
I also hated that the book had typos - I'd expect (and ignore) that from an ARC, but this was a paperback purchased from Amazon. This clanger appeared 32 pages in: "She's tells me about the great rivalry...". There were others further in, and it put me off slightly.
What also put me off were the constant reminders that this was supposed to be set in 1998. Every clothing brand you could think of was named, every band, every film popular at the time - it's irrelevant to the storyline, it doesn't matter when Fliss' story takes place, so why keep driving it home? Also, were "messy buns" and eyeshadow primer really a thing for 15 year olds in 1998? Granted, London was more than likely more sophisticated than the backarse of nowhere in rural Ireland in the late 1990s, but I don't remember a lot of the stuff mentioned being popular in 1998. One of the characters says she knew Fliss did ballet because "I looked you up online" - where online? There was no Facebook, no Twitter, no MySpace, no Bebo, where did she look her up? Did she Ask Jeeves? I know that this stuff doesn't matter to most people - it's fiction - but when it's trying to be historically accurate by mentioning another "thing" every chapter, it sould be historically accurate.
Margot's story was a really enjoyable read, and I was sad when her diary came to an end. I'd recommend the book just for a read of that.