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sophieshelves's review against another edition
5.0
a masterpiece! If I could give this more than 5 stars I would
taylor394's review against another edition
4.0
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I enjoyed it, however, the book had absolutely nothing to do with the summary on the back of the novel. As a result I kept waiting for things to happen, and unfortunately those things happened to be in the first and last chapter of the book.
So I'll tell you what it's actually about:
The novel begins when Lewis' father returns from war. The return of this mysterious father figure fractures Lewis' relationship with his mother. After an incident involving his mother Lewis' life will never be the same. As Lewis gets older he turns to self harm and drifts from his father, his new-step mother, and even the friends he spent so much time with in his boyhood summers.
Lewis is emotionally fractured, and after committing a crime at 15 and being sent to prison for 2 years, he returns to find not much has changed, except perhaps Kit, the kid sister of the girl next door. (This book is not a romance - which the original summary made me think it was - instead this is Lewis' story, his struggle with mental health and learning how to live again)
So I'll tell you what it's actually about:
The novel begins when Lewis' father returns from war. The return of this mysterious father figure fractures Lewis' relationship with his mother. After an incident involving his mother Lewis' life will never be the same. As Lewis gets older he turns to self harm and drifts from his father, his new-step mother, and even the friends he spent so much time with in his boyhood summers.
Lewis is emotionally fractured, and after committing a crime at 15 and being sent to prison for 2 years, he returns to find not much has changed, except perhaps Kit, the kid sister of the girl next door. (This book is not a romance - which the original summary made me think it was - instead this is Lewis' story, his struggle with mental health and learning how to live again)
liriostigre's review
3.75
Sadie Jones' debut novel is set in a middle-class town in southern England in the late 1940s and 1950s. It follows Lewis Aldridge from ages 7 to 19, and how he deals with a traumatic event from childhood and the permanent scars of loss, guilt and neglect.
I don't know if this was intentional, but it feels as if the writing gets better as Lewis grows up. Chances are it's just me, but when I started reading it something about the writing style felt a bit amateurish. Some sentences felt like run-on sentences, and I couldn't help noticing a particular prosaic and almost childish tone.
Another complaint is the pacing. It starts quite slow and a bit dull, and by the end the romantic relationship between Lewis and Kit feels a bit rushed; Lewis just abruptly ‘realizes’ she's the one he loves. Readers can easily tell it was coming because we know it the moment we meet Kit, but it happens almost in the blink of an eye. It's a bit hard to process it and even justify it on Lewis end.
A very entertaining read nonetheless. A bit melodramatic but quite grounded, particularly the characters and their personalities, which are a successful portrayal of human complexities. Lewis is very easy to love and understand. I found myself missing him after I finished reading.
I don't know if this was intentional, but it feels as if the writing gets better as Lewis grows up. Chances are it's just me, but when I started reading it something about the writing style felt a bit amateurish. Some sentences felt like run-on sentences, and I couldn't help noticing a particular prosaic and almost childish tone.
Another complaint is the pacing. It starts quite slow and a bit dull, and by the end the romantic relationship between Lewis and Kit feels a bit rushed; Lewis just abruptly ‘realizes’ she's the one he loves. Readers can easily tell it was coming because we know it the moment we meet Kit, but it happens almost in the blink of an eye. It's a bit hard to process it and even justify it on Lewis end.
A very entertaining read nonetheless. A bit melodramatic but quite grounded, particularly the characters and their personalities, which are a successful portrayal of human complexities. Lewis is very easy to love and understand. I found myself missing him after I finished reading.
silverjennydollar's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
jillian_roach's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
alisonjfields's review against another edition
2.0
There was a point about three quarters through this sodden, posh "Rebel Without a Cause" that I started laughing. The book wasn't meant to be funny(in fact, I'd be hard pressed to imagine a more humorless novel I've read this year). In fact, Sadie Jones puts her attractive, well-heeled young characters through a catalog of After-School Special/Lifetime movie horrors so unrelentingly grisly that a medieval martyr would shake her head in "Surely you jest" disbelief.
There is a great deal of good literature about repressive 1950s suburban society. Finding some new angle to exploit is hard to do. Simply tarting up the material up with child abuse, rape, incest, cutting, alcoholism, infidelity, sex-crazed teenagers, arson, bullying and spousal abuse feels cheap and decidedly unearned. It's a soap opera solution.
I think all writers are sadists to a certain degree. We invent imaginary, sometimes idealized friends, unleash Job-like torments upon them and watch them writhe miserably across the page in the name of making a good story. If the story and the characters are lost to the torments, however, then the story becomes explicitly about the torments themselves. There are some fine and interesting books in that category. But (and I could be wrong here) I think Sadie Jones wanted to write Revolutionary Road, not some unintentionally absurd, dishwater Book of Job.
If you're looking for something salacious and horrifying about the effed up children of the English upper crust, you'd be far,far better served seeking out some Edward St.Aubyn and skipping this dreary novel entirely.
There is a great deal of good literature about repressive 1950s suburban society. Finding some new angle to exploit is hard to do. Simply tarting up the material up with child abuse, rape, incest, cutting, alcoholism, infidelity, sex-crazed teenagers, arson, bullying and spousal abuse feels cheap and decidedly unearned. It's a soap opera solution.
I think all writers are sadists to a certain degree. We invent imaginary, sometimes idealized friends, unleash Job-like torments upon them and watch them writhe miserably across the page in the name of making a good story. If the story and the characters are lost to the torments, however, then the story becomes explicitly about the torments themselves. There are some fine and interesting books in that category. But (and I could be wrong here) I think Sadie Jones wanted to write Revolutionary Road, not some unintentionally absurd, dishwater Book of Job.
If you're looking for something salacious and horrifying about the effed up children of the English upper crust, you'd be far,far better served seeking out some Edward St.Aubyn and skipping this dreary novel entirely.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
4.0
This is Sadie Jones's debut novel and I came to it after reading her other books and enjoying them enormously. Set in the stifling world of an English village in the 1950s, the story follows Lewis Aldridge from when he first encounters his father after the war and his troubled life after the death of his mother. Being motherless and then having a young stepmother unprepared to deal with a grieving boy, sets him apart from the rest of his peers and his increasingly destructive behavior get him sent to prison for a few years, but it's his unwelcome return that sets in motion events that change the accepted order of the village.
Jones knows what she's doing, and even her first novel feels self-assured. Her characters are fully developed and the story is well-plotted. It's a melodramatic tale, full of the intense and immediate feelings of adolescence and young adulthood.
Jones knows what she's doing, and even her first novel feels self-assured. Her characters are fully developed and the story is well-plotted. It's a melodramatic tale, full of the intense and immediate feelings of adolescence and young adulthood.
lizzina's review against another edition
5.0
Claustrophobia. This is the sensation that came along my reading. Another thing was "Gilbert, what an idiot you are!", repeated more or less every two pages.
Well, it's really well written, and will definitely love Lewis and Kit. And there's this sense of justice which grows more and more during the reading.
It is more than 400 pages long, but it went like a 50 pages one. Really well done Sadie!
Well, it's really well written, and will definitely love Lewis and Kit. And there's this sense of justice which grows more and more during the reading.
It is more than 400 pages long, but it went like a 50 pages one. Really well done Sadie!
strawfly14's review against another edition
2.0
El argumento era bueno, la idea era buena, el prólogo era bueno... Pero ahí queda la cosa. Se me ha hecho lento y aburrido, me ha costado terminarlo y la idea no ha terminado de cuajar del todo.