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alisonb13's reviews
146 reviews
Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett
5.0
Beautiful book! Loved the language and the snapshot style - an impression here, a memory there - the excitement of the world through the boys' eyes, and the terror. Very hard to put down. The brutality and the way the boys try and deal with it and protect each other ..devastating.
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
5.0
Magical book with terrific feisty heroine. Loved the imagery, starting with the baby Sophie adrift in the cello case, the lyrical, full tilt style, complete disregard for social expectations and the enthusiastic embracing of whatever wild new opportunity presented itself. A real "I can" book, uplifting and full of surprises and delight. Wonderful
Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín
4.0
What an exquisite joy to read a book that so beautifully captures human emotions. Found it breathtaking in its portrayal of Nora's defensiveness bordering on rudeness, her helpless near neglect of her kids and her grouchiness as she almost by accident forges a new way for herself in the wake of the loss of her beloved husband Maurice. How deftly Colm Toibin observes the small spaces and the minutiae of life, the doubts and contradictions and failings that make up our days and renders them beautiful. A quiet, and quite lovely book.
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
3.0
A thought-provoking coming of age story as Eilis moves to Brooklyn from her small Irish hometown at behest of her family to better her opportunities.
Way she is swept along with the tide of what people want for her and from her is at times heartbreaking and at others frustrating. Wanted her to take more control of her destiny rather than just give in to easiest option at time.
Colm Toibim sketches beautifully the bitchy competitive environment of sharing with a group of girls in the Brooklyn boarding house and the stifling and sad environment of her home where her lonely mother is just one more person trying to manipulate her to their ends.
Enjoyed the moral dilemma of which choice of future she should make (although sense that she ran away again - all choices were running away - a bit disturbing). Also the sad corollary that her very leaving home made her opportunities in Enniscorthy both social and economic so much better yet in some way made home impossible to return to.
A picture of our hopes and dreams and the unexpected way they play out. Perhaps the way hers play out would be happier than the end suggests
Way she is swept along with the tide of what people want for her and from her is at times heartbreaking and at others frustrating. Wanted her to take more control of her destiny rather than just give in to easiest option at time.
Colm Toibim sketches beautifully the bitchy competitive environment of sharing with a group of girls in the Brooklyn boarding house and the stifling and sad environment of her home where her lonely mother is just one more person trying to manipulate her to their ends.
Enjoyed the moral dilemma of which choice of future she should make (although sense that she ran away again - all choices were running away - a bit disturbing). Also the sad corollary that her very leaving home made her opportunities in Enniscorthy both social and economic so much better yet in some way made home impossible to return to.
A picture of our hopes and dreams and the unexpected way they play out. Perhaps the way hers play out would be happier than the end suggests