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storyman's review
5.0
Had it in the pile for years because of the way I choose the next read, but as I loved Ian Ayris' classic One Day in the Life of Jason Dean, I should have come to this a lot sooner.
I've confirmed that view now I've finally read it, because this is great. Set in London's working class East End, it's initially a coming-of-age yarn I can relate to. Kids playing football, parents struggling to make ends meet, coming to terms with the weirdness of growing up. The protagonist, John Sissons, lives for his friends, his little sister, his mum and dad, and West Ham United. Hardly keeping the household finances together, his mum manages to get him and dad a cup final ticket for the team they bond over.
And from there it all goes south.
From a beautifully rendered tale of growing up, showing heartbreaking darkness among the light, the book turns into a very dark tale of transition to adulthood, featuring prison, gangsters, and all kinds of parasites - and does it without breaking the book's spell. All the buildup gathers pace at the end, rolling into a mass of pain, and makes you ache for all that's gone before.
It's a brilliant book, made better by Ayris' use of local dialect. The constant f-bombing adds to the flavour. If you like crash, bang, wallop, you might struggle with the patient build-up, but I loved the characters, and the seemingly small stakes are still intense and do build-up to an epic showdown. I can't wait to read the sequels.
I've confirmed that view now I've finally read it, because this is great. Set in London's working class East End, it's initially a coming-of-age yarn I can relate to. Kids playing football, parents struggling to make ends meet, coming to terms with the weirdness of growing up. The protagonist, John Sissons, lives for his friends, his little sister, his mum and dad, and West Ham United. Hardly keeping the household finances together, his mum manages to get him and dad a cup final ticket for the team they bond over.
And from there it all goes south.
From a beautifully rendered tale of growing up, showing heartbreaking darkness among the light, the book turns into a very dark tale of transition to adulthood, featuring prison, gangsters, and all kinds of parasites - and does it without breaking the book's spell. All the buildup gathers pace at the end, rolling into a mass of pain, and makes you ache for all that's gone before.
It's a brilliant book, made better by Ayris' use of local dialect. The constant f-bombing adds to the flavour. If you like crash, bang, wallop, you might struggle with the patient build-up, but I loved the characters, and the seemingly small stakes are still intense and do build-up to an epic showdown. I can't wait to read the sequels.
petra_reads's review
5.0
My original Abide With Me audiobook review and many others can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.
What an emotional rollercoaster ride and what an outstanding book! I went from laughing to tearing up to gasping in shock.
Abide With Me is part coming-of-age story and part crime fiction. Although not a Young Adult book, kids could learn a lot from it. It is advertised as a story of football, friendship, hope and gangsters. But it’s an awful lot more than that. Amongst other things, it is also about family, community, adversity and redemption.
Set in the East End of London in the 1970s and 80s, this is the story of John and Kenny, who live on the same street. It’s a rough place, school is tough, expectations are low, money is tight. But John has a relatively settled family life and, like his Dad, he loves supporting West Ham. Kenny, however, is the odd kid, the overweight boy, the one who gets bullied and hardly ever communicates.
Told entirely in John’s first person perspective, the East End vernacular used throughout may take a little getting used to, and the use of the f-word is pretty standard, but through these means, Ian Ayris creates a flawless representation of the setting and the characters.
Growing up in the seventies and being a devoted football/soccer fan, there was a lot there that automatically resonated with me. But even if you hate sports, the story is so powerful and realistic, you are bound to become fully engaged in these two lads’ lives. I made the mistake of listening while dog walking and failed miserably at trying to not cry in public at a particularly tragic moment.
Due to the first person narrative and John’s East End street-smart character, this needed a narrator who could really purvey John’s personality convincingly, and, as evidenced by my emotional turmoil throughout the nearly six hours of listening, Karl Jenkinson definitely pulled it off. He doesn’t seem to have narrated many other books yet, which makes his performance even more outstanding. I was particularly impressed by how he managed to express emotions and create suspense simply by small changes in pace and tone. It sounded so genuine, you really felt as if grown-up John was providing you with a retrospective of his life.
Nothing I say will probably do this book justice, but it is one hell of a debut novel, and I hope it’ll receive the widespread attention it deserves. Can’t recommend this highly enough, a perfect audio book!
I am very curious to see what Ian Ayris will come up with next (soon, hopefully).
Audiobook provided for review by the audiobookreviewer.com
What an emotional rollercoaster ride and what an outstanding book! I went from laughing to tearing up to gasping in shock.
Abide With Me is part coming-of-age story and part crime fiction. Although not a Young Adult book, kids could learn a lot from it. It is advertised as a story of football, friendship, hope and gangsters. But it’s an awful lot more than that. Amongst other things, it is also about family, community, adversity and redemption.
Set in the East End of London in the 1970s and 80s, this is the story of John and Kenny, who live on the same street. It’s a rough place, school is tough, expectations are low, money is tight. But John has a relatively settled family life and, like his Dad, he loves supporting West Ham. Kenny, however, is the odd kid, the overweight boy, the one who gets bullied and hardly ever communicates.
Told entirely in John’s first person perspective, the East End vernacular used throughout may take a little getting used to, and the use of the f-word is pretty standard, but through these means, Ian Ayris creates a flawless representation of the setting and the characters.
Growing up in the seventies and being a devoted football/soccer fan, there was a lot there that automatically resonated with me. But even if you hate sports, the story is so powerful and realistic, you are bound to become fully engaged in these two lads’ lives. I made the mistake of listening while dog walking and failed miserably at trying to not cry in public at a particularly tragic moment.
Due to the first person narrative and John’s East End street-smart character, this needed a narrator who could really purvey John’s personality convincingly, and, as evidenced by my emotional turmoil throughout the nearly six hours of listening, Karl Jenkinson definitely pulled it off. He doesn’t seem to have narrated many other books yet, which makes his performance even more outstanding. I was particularly impressed by how he managed to express emotions and create suspense simply by small changes in pace and tone. It sounded so genuine, you really felt as if grown-up John was providing you with a retrospective of his life.
Nothing I say will probably do this book justice, but it is one hell of a debut novel, and I hope it’ll receive the widespread attention it deserves. Can’t recommend this highly enough, a perfect audio book!
I am very curious to see what Ian Ayris will come up with next (soon, hopefully).
Audiobook provided for review by the audiobookreviewer.com
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