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lectrixnoctis's review
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Phil Stamper, who grew up in a rural village near Dayton, Ohio, released "As Far As You'll Take Me" as his second novel. However, you can tell he is no stranger to writing since he has an M.A. in Publishing with Creative Writing from Kingston University.
"As Far As You'll Take Me" is a heartfelt coming-of-age story about finding people who would always stand by your side.
Marty is a seventeen-year-old boy from Kentucky who flys to London with nothing but his oboe and some money from his summer job. Nonetheless, he is excited to finally live his life without being closeted and trying to slip under the radar. Marty's life looks perfect from the outside: he made friends in less than a few weeks, is closer to having his first relationship, and travels around Europe. But that is just a facade. Marty has not spoken to his deeply religious parents since he arrived in London. After some time, he is tearing his savings, and his anxiety only gets worse and worse. Additionally, he has not come close to finding his dream job in London.
This book is quite tough to rate. I believe I should be the targeted audience. However, I found most characters annoying and somewhat childish. Marty was incredibly naive. Who would move in their right mind to London without any prospects and any plan? He wanted to go to music school but was not accepted, and he only knows his aunt Leah and his cousin Shane there. Did Marty think it easy to find a job in Europe and especially in London of all places?!
As already mentioned, most characters aren't likeable and do not support the plot at all. Most of them could have been cut out, and it would not affect the story much. Marty's love interest Pierce and his best friend Megan were unlikable and even shitty people in general. Marty desperately tries to be the perfect match for Pierce while being extremely ignorant of other people.
Another thing that struggles me was how ignorant Marty, in general, was. His mother is Irish, but it was not specified if she is from Northern Ireland or not. If she is from Northern Ireland, Marty would have British citizenship, but since she is catholic, I believe she is from the republic from Irland. I dispersed the fact that it was never mentioned. Why would not Marty know that British people are different from your average Americans? Furthermore, the author states that you can not find a good coffee shop in London is just laughable. The tea cliche and the British-American word confusing is a bit out of place since Marty's mum is Irish.
Marty mentions that Shane does have an incredibly thick Irish accent, but he mainly lived in London. That sounds super odd in my option. Even if his mum is from Ireland, the child would not have such a strong accent if he spent most of his life in London. I know that is nitpicking, but it really bothered me, and some of the realism went away with it.
Furthermore, I wouldn't say I liked the depiction of religion in this book. I understand that many queer people have a problematic relationship with the church and religion in general. But sometimes, the book felt like it was trying to convince you how lousy believing is and why you should see abdomen faith, and this is coming from an agnostic.
I did not enjoyed the story one bit and only gave 2/5 stars since I like Stamper's writing style. The story felt lacklustre and ignorant to other cultures other than American. I would not recommend this book, but if you're going to read a book by Phil Stamper, please choose "The Gravity of Us". It was much more enjoyable than this.
"As Far As You'll Take Me" is a heartfelt coming-of-age story about finding people who would always stand by your side.
Marty is a seventeen-year-old boy from Kentucky who flys to London with nothing but his oboe and some money from his summer job. Nonetheless, he is excited to finally live his life without being closeted and trying to slip under the radar. Marty's life looks perfect from the outside: he made friends in less than a few weeks, is closer to having his first relationship, and travels around Europe. But that is just a facade. Marty has not spoken to his deeply religious parents since he arrived in London. After some time, he is tearing his savings, and his anxiety only gets worse and worse. Additionally, he has not come close to finding his dream job in London.
This book is quite tough to rate. I believe I should be the targeted audience. However, I found most characters annoying and somewhat childish. Marty was incredibly naive. Who would move in their right mind to London without any prospects and any plan? He wanted to go to music school but was not accepted, and he only knows his aunt Leah and his cousin Shane there. Did Marty think it easy to find a job in Europe and especially in London of all places?!
As already mentioned, most characters aren't likeable and do not support the plot at all. Most of them could have been cut out, and it would not affect the story much. Marty's love interest Pierce and his best friend Megan were unlikable and even shitty people in general. Marty desperately tries to be the perfect match for Pierce while being extremely ignorant of other people.
Another thing that struggles me was how ignorant Marty, in general, was. His mother is Irish, but it was not specified if she is from Northern Ireland or not. If she is from Northern Ireland, Marty would have British citizenship, but since she is catholic, I believe she is from the republic from Irland. I dispersed the fact that it was never mentioned. Why would not Marty know that British people are different from your average Americans? Furthermore, the author states that you can not find a good coffee shop in London is just laughable. The tea cliche and the British-American word confusing is a bit out of place since Marty's mum is Irish.
Marty mentions that Shane does have an incredibly thick Irish accent, but he mainly lived in London. That sounds super odd in my option. Even if his mum is from Ireland, the child would not have such a strong accent if he spent most of his life in London. I know that is nitpicking, but it really bothered me, and some of the realism went away with it.
Furthermore, I wouldn't say I liked the depiction of religion in this book. I understand that many queer people have a problematic relationship with the church and religion in general. But sometimes, the book felt like it was trying to convince you how lousy believing is and why you should see abdomen faith, and this is coming from an agnostic.
I did not enjoyed the story one bit and only gave 2/5 stars since I like Stamper's writing style. The story felt lacklustre and ignorant to other cultures other than American. I would not recommend this book, but if you're going to read a book by Phil Stamper, please choose "The Gravity of Us". It was much more enjoyable than this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Outing, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Cheatingjust_fenne's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
4.5
(Okay so I want to start off by saying: sorry if there are mistakes in this. It’s 3AM and English is not my first language.)
As a LGBTQ+ teen with a “traditional” mum and bad anxiety I relate a lot with Marty. I did not expect this book to take such a dark turn but I do think that Stamper wrote about the right feelings in the right way.
The reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was because I think Marty’s mental and physical health issues were not as well portrayed at the end. The eating issues didn’t get mentioned again. For me it felt like most of his problems “ended” because he was on better terms with his parents. I wish the book/last chapter had been a little longer so these things would’ve been clearer to the reader.
As a LGBTQ+ teen with a “traditional” mum and bad anxiety I relate a lot with Marty. I did not expect this book to take such a dark turn but I do think that Stamper wrote about the right feelings in the right way.
The reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was because I think Marty’s mental and physical health issues were not as well portrayed at the end. The eating issues didn’t get mentioned again. For me it felt like most of his problems “ended” because he was on better terms with his parents. I wish the book/last chapter had been a little longer so these things would’ve been clearer to the reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Outing and Religious bigotry
Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent
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