Reviews tagging 'Death'

Exit Management by Naomi Booth

1 review

abbie_'s review

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Free review copy received from the publisher

This book is good. It’s very, very good. It’s the kind of good where I went online and bought the author’s debut novel halfway through reading because I knew, as I gulped down Exit Management, that I would need more Naomi Booth in my life.
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The premise doesn’t do the execution justice. On the surface, it’s about a young man befriending an older Hungarian immigrant, becoming his carer, and his new girlfriend who’s intent on shedding her past self for a shiny new London self. Like, that doesn’t sound BAD, it sounds very interesting, but I wasn’t expecting the visceral feeling evoked in me while reading. Booth’s style reminded me of Ali Smith and Sally Rooney, fragmented thoughts and stream of consciousness running through, an effortless blend of personal and political.
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Because behind Callum, József and Lauren’s relationships, Booth is poking around in the mess that is the UK today (pandemic aside, since this was published last year and presumably started before it hit). Brexit, class divides, wealth gaps, zero hour contracts, xenophobia, gentrification, it’s all there, simmering away in the background.
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I read this book feverishly. It’s raw and painful at times (full content warnings on @the.storygraph but major TW for miscarriage), but Booth’s style is compulsive, she keeps her cast of characters tight so they feel all the more real. I’m annoyed at myself for not reading my copy sooner, but extremely grateful to @deadinkbooks for sending it over!
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