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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Felix Pink is an Exiteer, a stranger who sits with a terminally ill person whilst they commit suicide. Exiteers are forbidden to assist (commit euthanasia) so they skirt the law on assisted suicide, but they must go in pairs and they use fake names. Felix aka John has sat with several people but this time he is accompanied by a new Exiteer, a young girl named Amanda, and something goes wrong. Somehow the wrong person ends up dead, and Felix is now wanted for murder.
I requested this as I have read Snap by the author and enjoyed it, but unfortunately this one didn't live up to my expectations. I found the MC to be rather dull to be honest, and I expected it to take a darker turn, given the subject matter, than it did. My thoughts seem to be in the minority as many other reviewers seemed to like it, so it obviously was just not my cup of tea.
Thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Random House UK/Transworld, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
I requested this as I have read Snap by the author and enjoyed it, but unfortunately this one didn't live up to my expectations. I found the MC to be rather dull to be honest, and I expected it to take a darker turn, given the subject matter, than it did. My thoughts seem to be in the minority as many other reviewers seemed to like it, so it obviously was just not my cup of tea.
Thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Random House UK/Transworld, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Happy publication day to Exit! 75 year old Felix Pink arrives at number 3 Black Lane to perform an act of kindness and charity - keeping a terminally ill man company as he exits life. Only minutes later, after making the biggest mistake of his life, Felix is on the run from the police. Exit sees Felix trying to work out what went wrong whilst trying to evade the law.
I'll be honest after reading Snap, which I didn't rate I wasn't expecting to enjoy Exit half as much as I did. I have been sitting on my advanced copy of this book from Random House for almost 12 months, after a global pandemic delayed the original publication date, I'm so happy I actually got around to it.
Belinda Bauer has successfully written an intriguing and heart-warming book about a really dark subject matter whilst still managing to maintain a twisty mystery throughout. The characters are so endearing and humorous, reading them was an absolute delight.
I'm so glad I gave Bauer a second chance because I will definitely be reading more in future!
I'll be honest after reading Snap, which I didn't rate I wasn't expecting to enjoy Exit half as much as I did. I have been sitting on my advanced copy of this book from Random House for almost 12 months, after a global pandemic delayed the original publication date, I'm so happy I actually got around to it.
Belinda Bauer has successfully written an intriguing and heart-warming book about a really dark subject matter whilst still managing to maintain a twisty mystery throughout. The characters are so endearing and humorous, reading them was an absolute delight.
I'm so glad I gave Bauer a second chance because I will definitely be reading more in future!
My first but not last Belinda Bauer book. Exit is a book that begins with euthanasia but becomes something else entirely.
I loved the writing style of this book, it was so darkly comedic and I loved the main character Felix, a 75 year old Exiteer who approached every situation with the best of intentions only for it to go so badly wrong in the funniest of ways.
Although at times tragic and with a serious subject at the heart of the book I was laughing out loud at the twists, turns and misunderstandings throughout.
The ending was my favourite the way the elements of each storyline pulled together in such an unexpected way.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I loved the writing style of this book, it was so darkly comedic and I loved the main character Felix, a 75 year old Exiteer who approached every situation with the best of intentions only for it to go so badly wrong in the funniest of ways.
Although at times tragic and with a serious subject at the heart of the book I was laughing out loud at the twists, turns and misunderstandings throughout.
The ending was my favourite the way the elements of each storyline pulled together in such an unexpected way.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Felix Pink is an Exiteer. He supervises assisted suicides. But one day it goes wrong, the wrong person ends up dead and now Felix Pink is wanted for murder…
This was not at all the book I was expecting.
I thought it was a thriller (it is in fact variously labelled thriller/crime/mystery) but it was above all a black comedy.
This is not a complaint – in fact, it was a pleasant surprise and the book started off with 5-star potential – but I had to re-read the synopsis because I didn’t remember requesting anything like this. And I didn’t, really.
The synopsis seems to set the reader up for a traditional fast-paced, thriller/crime novel, especially with the black cover. I wasn’t familiar with Belinda Bauer, perhaps this is her style and I was supposed to know. It actually reminded me of Anxious People in places with the comedy/crime.
Anyway, as I said, it had 5-star potential. I was hooked and it was funny! However, getting towards the halfway point things seemed to stall. The plot wasn’t progressing, and I was getting bored. I found myself making a real effort with the second half of the book and perhaps it was because I’d lost interest, but the plot became silly and convoluted. The ending wasn’t exactly a surprise.
That said, in the beginning, Felix Pink reminded me of Ralph Roberts from Stephen King’s Insomnia (one of my all-time favourite characters), just an old man who gets sucked into a matter of life or death. My favourite characters in Exit were Calvin Bridges the Police Officer and, of course, Mabel the dog (Bauer is clearly a dog-lover).
There is something to say about euthanasia here, but I’m not sure what it is… beware the potential crime? But any crime happening here could happen with or without the Exiteers.
Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for this ARC!
I love Belinda Bauer.
Felix was pretty adorable too, oh and Mabel!
Felix was pretty adorable too, oh and Mabel!
A good thriller from an experience author. There are already a lot of smart reviews for this, so I'll just recommend it to thriller fans.
Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!
Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!
'Felix' is an exiteer, he 'helps' people who are terminally ill to die.
He watched the loves of his life die cruelly and is trying to stop the same thing happen to other people. But there are rules and there are standards.
These are broken and 'Felix' has to step away from what he has always known to find out how his noble ideals are being exploited.
How can a book about such a grim topic be so heartwarming? It made me smile, it did make me laugh, but it also made me think.
Great.
He watched the loves of his life die cruelly and is trying to stop the same thing happen to other people. But there are rules and there are standards.
These are broken and 'Felix' has to step away from what he has always known to find out how his noble ideals are being exploited.
How can a book about such a grim topic be so heartwarming? It made me smile, it did make me laugh, but it also made me think.
Great.
challenging
funny
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I look forward to everything Belinda Bauer writes. You can trust her to take a fresh look at real life with its trials, tragedies and compromises. Exit combines gentle humour with a hard edge and an unlikely blundering hero.