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mariasimson's review against another edition
4.0
A very tragic story about a young son trying to find the meaning of being alive after the death of his father. I found it really moving on how the characters coped with the death of a loved one. In the end, it was nice to see the growth in the characters. I really liked the author's writing style. The story flowed really well and even though it did have 3 parts I found that each part flowed well into the next part. Overall I am happy I decided to read this and I would recommend this to others.
avisreadsandreads's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Dementia, Grief, Mental illness, Abandonment, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Animal death
smalltownbookmom's review
4.0
3.5 rounded up - I was really looking forward to this book about Rich, a British man who gets diagnosed with a brain tumor and only has months to live. Told in alternating POVs from Rich, his wife, Ruth, their son Ollie, who is on the spectrum as well as their extended family members - this book covers a number of heavy issues as the characters deal with their grief over the loss of the man they all loved. As a brain tumor survivor myself, I really connected with Rich, especially with his love of cheese and his deep love of life and his family. What I didn't love so much about this book was how many different perspectives there were. I felt the author tried to do too much instead of focusing on just a few characters. Ruth grapples with a deep-seated depression after her husband's death (something that runs in her family), while still trying to be there for her son, who is struggling to find meaning in life after losing his dad. Rich's mother is not just trying to support her daughter in law and grandson but trying to do right by her husband who is suffering from worsening dementia and needing more care than she can give. In addition, Ruth's sister and mom are also working through their own issues and grief. It all gets to be a little much and in my opinion this book would have been stronger with a few fewer perspectives. Overall very well written and tackles hard topics but I wanted more (or rather less). Recommended for people who enjoy stories about families dealing with loss and grief in their own different ways and great on audio with a full cast of narrators. Thanks to NetGalley for my advance review copy!
kazza27's review against another edition
5.0
I will start with a Trigger warning as there is a cancer diagnosis and bereavement, however it is also beautifully written and honest .
Rich is a husband, a father, a son and a friend and when he is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, his life and the lives of those close to him are tipped upside down.
The book is written from the perspective of those people affected but also most poignantly Ollie, Rich’s son. Ollie find the world a struggle anyway and his Dad often helped him to make sense of this so after he is gone and everything is different he finds life even more of a struggle. Rich leaves a list of presents and they all get muddled and Ollie can not rest until the puzzle is solved.
The story highlights the complex relationships that the families have and how each one has a different way of dealing with loss. This book will make you weep and laugh, it is so raw and real that I could feel the grief, anger and sorrow that they are all going through. I particularly found Ollie’s grief heartbreaking as he cannot understand why his Dad has died and I think this is such a common feeling when someone close to you does die but the way that author is able to articulate this so heart rending it really touched me so deeply.
Although this is not an easy read it is hopeful, remarkable and unique.
5 stars *****
Rich is a husband, a father, a son and a friend and when he is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, his life and the lives of those close to him are tipped upside down.
The book is written from the perspective of those people affected but also most poignantly Ollie, Rich’s son. Ollie find the world a struggle anyway and his Dad often helped him to make sense of this so after he is gone and everything is different he finds life even more of a struggle. Rich leaves a list of presents and they all get muddled and Ollie can not rest until the puzzle is solved.
The story highlights the complex relationships that the families have and how each one has a different way of dealing with loss. This book will make you weep and laugh, it is so raw and real that I could feel the grief, anger and sorrow that they are all going through. I particularly found Ollie’s grief heartbreaking as he cannot understand why his Dad has died and I think this is such a common feeling when someone close to you does die but the way that author is able to articulate this so heart rending it really touched me so deeply.
Although this is not an easy read it is hopeful, remarkable and unique.
5 stars *****
kazza27's review
5.0
Thank you to Anne Cater for my invitation to the tour and to Doubleday books for my copy of the proof in return for a fair and honest review.
I will start with a Trigger warning as there is a cancer diagnosis and bereavement, however it is also beautifully written and honest .
Rich is a husband, a father, a son and a friend and when he is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, his life and the lives of those close to him are tipped upside down.
The book is written from the perspective of those people affected but also most poignantly Ollie, Rich’s son. Ollie find the world a struggle anyway and his Dad often helped him to make sense of this so after he is gone and everything is different he finds life even more of a struggle. Rich leaves a list of presents and they all get muddled and Ollie can not rest until the puzzle is solved.
The story highlights the complex relationships that the families have and how each one has a different way of dealing with loss. This book will make you weep and laugh, it is so raw and real that I could feel the grief, anger and sorrow that they are all going through. I particularly found Ollie’s grief heartbreaking as he cannot understand why his Dad has died and I think this is such a common feeling when someone close to you does die but the way that author is able to articulate this so heart rending it really touched me so deeply.
Although this is not an easy read it is hopeful, remarkable and unique.
5 stars *****
I will start with a Trigger warning as there is a cancer diagnosis and bereavement, however it is also beautifully written and honest .
Rich is a husband, a father, a son and a friend and when he is diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, his life and the lives of those close to him are tipped upside down.
The book is written from the perspective of those people affected but also most poignantly Ollie, Rich’s son. Ollie find the world a struggle anyway and his Dad often helped him to make sense of this so after he is gone and everything is different he finds life even more of a struggle. Rich leaves a list of presents and they all get muddled and Ollie can not rest until the puzzle is solved.
The story highlights the complex relationships that the families have and how each one has a different way of dealing with loss. This book will make you weep and laugh, it is so raw and real that I could feel the grief, anger and sorrow that they are all going through. I particularly found Ollie’s grief heartbreaking as he cannot understand why his Dad has died and I think this is such a common feeling when someone close to you does die but the way that author is able to articulate this so heart rending it really touched me so deeply.
Although this is not an easy read it is hopeful, remarkable and unique.
5 stars *****
melodyrose's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
dogwood123's review
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
lediamond4's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a bit of a rough go. It’s sad. Really sad. Ollie’s father dies a brutal, painful death of brain cancer. His family watches him die. It’s the kind of stuff that makes you cry or, at the very least, have a lump in your throat when you read it.
But it’s also a rough read because it’s full of broken, unhealthy relationships. Nessie and Ruth have a seemingly sound relationship with one another (unless I missed something) but that’s about it. Rick was the one thread that tied them altogether and after he dies, they don’t so much drift apart as break apart. Angran tries and fails repeatedly to do the right thing, to love and care for her daughters, especially Ruth in her time of need. But the three of them are just barely connected.
Rick’s parents, oh boy, were they heartbreaking. Gerald is clearly suffering from dementia and Majorie has to take care of him and deal with the death of her son.
Ollie, poor Ollie. It’s never explicitly said that he has Autism but it is apparent. He can’t process the death of his father, and what was the saddest most frustrating part of this book is that no one really tries to help him to until the very end. They’re all dealing with their own pain, valid, but no one, and I mean, no one really has Ollie.
I wanted to like this book more. I wanted to be uplifted by the message of grief and love and how those two things can coexist. But it was such a struggle, and a depressing one at that. I wish it didn’t take nearly the entire book for the lesson to finally make it’s way to the surface. It just felt kind of tacked on.
But it’s also a rough read because it’s full of broken, unhealthy relationships. Nessie and Ruth have a seemingly sound relationship with one another (unless I missed something) but that’s about it. Rick was the one thread that tied them altogether and after he dies, they don’t so much drift apart as break apart. Angran tries and fails repeatedly to do the right thing, to love and care for her daughters, especially Ruth in her time of need. But the three of them are just barely connected.
Rick’s parents, oh boy, were they heartbreaking. Gerald is clearly suffering from dementia and Majorie has to take care of him and deal with the death of her son.
Ollie, poor Ollie. It’s never explicitly said that he has Autism but it is apparent. He can’t process the death of his father, and what was the saddest most frustrating part of this book is that no one really tries to help him to until the very end. They’re all dealing with their own pain, valid, but no one, and I mean, no one really has Ollie.
I wanted to like this book more. I wanted to be uplifted by the message of grief and love and how those two things can coexist. But it was such a struggle, and a depressing one at that. I wish it didn’t take nearly the entire book for the lesson to finally make it’s way to the surface. It just felt kind of tacked on.
leesommerfeld's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sarahsbookchat's review against another edition
4.0
I just finished this ebook.
It’s a beautiful, heartbreaking little story of a father dying of a brain tumour, and his family around him. How they all react and cope/don’t cope, with what life has thrown them. I think Rich (the dad) had a beautiful outlook on life, and death. I found his mother’s parts the saddest to read. She made me cry. And his Dad too. At times I found them all a bit frustrating- I wanted them to all be quiet and sit down and talk and actually listen to each other - particularly Ollie, but I guess that would not have been a very interesting book.
Harriet Kline writes grief exceptionally well.
Oh and how beautiful is this cover?
It’s a beautiful, heartbreaking little story of a father dying of a brain tumour, and his family around him. How they all react and cope/don’t cope, with what life has thrown them. I think Rich (the dad) had a beautiful outlook on life, and death. I found his mother’s parts the saddest to read. She made me cry. And his Dad too. At times I found them all a bit frustrating- I wanted them to all be quiet and sit down and talk and actually listen to each other - particularly Ollie, but I guess that would not have been a very interesting book.
Harriet Kline writes grief exceptionally well.
Oh and how beautiful is this cover?