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4.54 AVERAGE
4.54 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What an amazing book! Words fail me. It was full of heartache, quirks, joys, and everything life offers. "The course of one man's life, beginning, and ending in postwar Ireland" didn't prepare me for the beauty of this book. Every single chapter of his life was captivating. I loved Catherine's friendship with the boys in the beginning, I loved Alice and Cyril, Bastiaan and Cyril, so many different dynamics and yet so familiar. I wasn't expecting to have familiar faces make appearances throughout the book and I'm so glad they did. Cyril and Alice dabbing back and forth was such a delight. The family they built makes me so happy. I wish I was a part of it. My goodness how can a book that has such graphic and hardships bring so much joy and happiness as well? 580 pages wasn't enough, I need more.
Hilarious supporting characters, and plausible, thoughtful depiction of how it would have felt to be gay in 60s-70s Ireland.
Usually it drives me bananas whenever a character is willfully dishonest about something, but in this case it actually registered as reasonable.
I was hoping this would get me excited to go to Dublin, but hoo, it's pretty brutal on Ireland (or at least 20th century Ireland; though I guess our track record for that period isn't very impressive either).
I liked the 7 year jumps, it kept a long book moving but not confusingly.
Usually it drives me bananas whenever a character is willfully dishonest about something, but in this case it actually registered as reasonable.
I was hoping this would get me excited to go to Dublin, but hoo, it's pretty brutal on Ireland (or at least 20th century Ireland; though I guess our track record for that period isn't very impressive either).
I liked the 7 year jumps, it kept a long book moving but not confusingly.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a beautiful book! It took a while to settle into it, but once I was in I was hooked. A story of love, forgiveness, loss, and what family means in mid-century to modern Ireland. Highly recommend.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated