Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney

1 review

beriboo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is a dark story of five people whose lives interweave with each other over the course of several years. Based in modern day Cork, Ireland, we see prostitution, drug abuse, drug dealing, murder and complicated relationships. 

 
There are five main characters in this story, Jimmy the local “kingpin”, Maureen his mother, Georgie a local prostitute, her dealer Ryan and his girlfriend Karine. There are also side characters, Ryan’s father Tony and a local busy body Tara. 

I can’t say any of the characters are particularly likeable. I started off liking Ryan, a young boy who has lost his mum and is trying to find his place in the world. But his story takes him to a dark place and his relationship with Karine is very toxic. However, I thought the writing of their relationship and how it gradually turned into something abusive was very well done. 

For a lot of the characters, especially Tony and Maureen, your introduction to them isn’t very warming, but the more you learn about them, the more you understand why they are the way they are. 

A lot happens, it starts with a murder that starts to bring these characters lives together, and is a little thread throughout the book. It takes you into character’s pasts, and also jumps a few forward as their stories progress. I don’t think there is any part of the book that lags or doesn’t have a good pace to it. 

I did enjoy the story, despite it being quite dark topics (make sure to look up the content warnings!) but the book was very well written. The characters have a look of layers to the and you are gradually introduced to them in a subtle way. There is some humour written into the book, which breaks up the heavy topics. 

 For this I listening to the audiobook, and this is where it lost some points for me. The narrator had an odd way of reading, the tempo would pick up suddenly and there would be no breathes, particularly during dialogues meaning you couldn’t tell who was speaking. The voices for the women were often whiny and grated on me slightly. I believe I would have enjoyed this more if I had read the book and not listened to it. 

This is a brutal tale, full of heavy and sometimes uncomfortable topics, still it is quite a journey and I can see why it’s an award winner. 
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