darkclouds's review against another edition
5.0
This book has one of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen. And with a beautiful cover is an equally beautiful story.
Paper Swans tells the story of two ambitious adults - Ben Lawrence and Effy Jones. Whilst Ben is known as a business prodigy in one of London's most famous PR company's, Effy is working to achieve her dream to open a charity to help those unfortunate in Uganda. Ben's company decides to help fund and support Effy's charity which leads to them both having to work together. When Ben and Effy start a relationship, one small mistake from Ben leads everything into disaster.
Whilst the summary may give off the impression that this book is about a 'lovey dovey' relationship, the story is far more than that. Paper Swans is one of the rare books I have read where it deals with mental illness. In this case - Ben. After suffering from a tragic loss as a teenager, it continues to haunt him in his years and affect his life in the worst way possible as he grew into an adult. He continues to blame himself for what had happened which leads him to neglect close relationships with people, especially women, in fear he would only end up hurting them too.
It was easy to sympathize and love Ben as we are briefly given small fragments of his past as he speaks to his psychologist. Both Effy and Ben are flawed characters that were developed flawlessly. The writing is a mix between simplistic and descriptive yet casual and enjoyable at the same time. Thompson's writing just draws you in and really has you mold into the world she has created. The story takes place within modern day and age, moving forwards into 2015. The story was told at a good pace from both character's points-of-view.
I was taken by how realistic everything seemed, it's clear the author really knows her stuff. You really are forced to feel emotions throughout the book. I'm amazed with how Ben had progressed and handled his mental illness as he slowly built up confidence once meeting Effy. Their relationship was something I admired and loved reading about. I'm sure this book is easy to relate to concerning the characters, and did well to relay the message of how people with depression and other mental illnesses are really suffering and can easily hide it away from other people.
Overall, this was a lovely and breath-taking book and I loved every single page. I would highly recommend people to read this.
Paper Swans tells the story of two ambitious adults - Ben Lawrence and Effy Jones. Whilst Ben is known as a business prodigy in one of London's most famous PR company's, Effy is working to achieve her dream to open a charity to help those unfortunate in Uganda. Ben's company decides to help fund and support Effy's charity which leads to them both having to work together. When Ben and Effy start a relationship, one small mistake from Ben leads everything into disaster.
Whilst the summary may give off the impression that this book is about a 'lovey dovey' relationship, the story is far more than that. Paper Swans is one of the rare books I have read where it deals with mental illness. In this case - Ben. After suffering from a tragic loss as a teenager, it continues to haunt him in his years and affect his life in the worst way possible as he grew into an adult. He continues to blame himself for what had happened which leads him to neglect close relationships with people, especially women, in fear he would only end up hurting them too.
It was easy to sympathize and love Ben as we are briefly given small fragments of his past as he speaks to his psychologist. Both Effy and Ben are flawed characters that were developed flawlessly. The writing is a mix between simplistic and descriptive yet casual and enjoyable at the same time. Thompson's writing just draws you in and really has you mold into the world she has created. The story takes place within modern day and age, moving forwards into 2015. The story was told at a good pace from both character's points-of-view.
I was taken by how realistic everything seemed, it's clear the author really knows her stuff. You really are forced to feel emotions throughout the book. I'm amazed with how Ben had progressed and handled his mental illness as he slowly built up confidence once meeting Effy. Their relationship was something I admired and loved reading about. I'm sure this book is easy to relate to concerning the characters, and did well to relay the message of how people with depression and other mental illnesses are really suffering and can easily hide it away from other people.
Overall, this was a lovely and breath-taking book and I loved every single page. I would highly recommend people to read this.
ingridboring's review against another edition
1.0
I hated this. The storyline and theme of mental health had a lot of potential but it skimmed the surface despite being so bloody long and so many of the periphery characters were cliched and unrealistic. Also hate the general vibe of a relationship being the answer to everyone's problems. Boooooo
chainaze's review against another edition
1.0
DNF
I've picked this book in an airport bookstore in 2015 and started it immediately but could not get past 200 pages. This book is just not for me.
I've picked this book in an airport bookstore in 2015 and started it immediately but could not get past 200 pages. This book is just not for me.
ljbentley27's review
4.0
Synopsis
Can two people from different worlds be together? It seems that maybe they can. When Ben’s PR company take on Effy’s cause as part of their charity scheme the two seem like polar opposites; Ben, the high flying executive with the fancy apartment and expensive car and Effy, the driving force behind a new charity to fund the set up of hospitals in the desperately deprived Uganda.
Yet despite their differences, these two fall for each other, they fall hard. As with life, the course of true love never runs smoothly. A secret about Ben’s job threatens not only their relationship but all the hard work that Effy has done.
Can Effy and Ben survive this?
Review
Jessica Thompson has only bloody done it again. I absolutely loved her first two books (This is a Love Story and Three Little Words) and I have waited ever so patiently for the release of Paper Swans. The wait was worth it.
Thompson, somewhat ironically, has a flawless way of writing flawed characters. She does so in a way that you cannot help but empathise with them. Ben is essentially a mess. Broken by events of his past that he hasn’t ever dealt with and yet his so called perfect life would lead anyone to believe that he doesn’t have a care in the world. Effy is a beautiful girl who sees the good in everything…until that thing lets her down. She wants things to be perfect, to right and good and when Ben shows a tiny chink in his armour she feels too let down to carry on. It takes the full story for them to both realise perfection isn’t something that you can achieve.
With Paper Swans, Thompson had me chuckling away to myself, getting angry and telling the characters off and also swooning at the loveliness of certain chapters. What she also manages to do is raise awareness of a serious topic. The theme that runs throughout this novel is one of mental health and the stigma attached to it. What Thompson tries to do, and in my opinion does quite successfully, is show that it isn’t a certain stereotype that can suffer with mental health problems. She shows that the world of mental health covers a wide spectrum and none of us are immune to needing a little help from time to time.
The symbolism of swans was really clever especially when used as an allegory for Ben who seemed to be gliding through life seamlessly whilst working his backside off just to stay afloat. And with the swans, who mate for life, representing the ever lasting love that he wants to have with Effy was seamlessly interwoven into the story and once again shows Thompson’s skill.
Thompson’s stories are beautiful, romantic and full of heart but more than that they have the backbone of contentious issues which distinguish her stories from those of her contemporaries.
Can two people from different worlds be together? It seems that maybe they can. When Ben’s PR company take on Effy’s cause as part of their charity scheme the two seem like polar opposites; Ben, the high flying executive with the fancy apartment and expensive car and Effy, the driving force behind a new charity to fund the set up of hospitals in the desperately deprived Uganda.
Yet despite their differences, these two fall for each other, they fall hard. As with life, the course of true love never runs smoothly. A secret about Ben’s job threatens not only their relationship but all the hard work that Effy has done.
Can Effy and Ben survive this?
Review
Jessica Thompson has only bloody done it again. I absolutely loved her first two books (This is a Love Story and Three Little Words) and I have waited ever so patiently for the release of Paper Swans. The wait was worth it.
Thompson, somewhat ironically, has a flawless way of writing flawed characters. She does so in a way that you cannot help but empathise with them. Ben is essentially a mess. Broken by events of his past that he hasn’t ever dealt with and yet his so called perfect life would lead anyone to believe that he doesn’t have a care in the world. Effy is a beautiful girl who sees the good in everything…until that thing lets her down. She wants things to be perfect, to right and good and when Ben shows a tiny chink in his armour she feels too let down to carry on. It takes the full story for them to both realise perfection isn’t something that you can achieve.
With Paper Swans, Thompson had me chuckling away to myself, getting angry and telling the characters off and also swooning at the loveliness of certain chapters. What she also manages to do is raise awareness of a serious topic. The theme that runs throughout this novel is one of mental health and the stigma attached to it. What Thompson tries to do, and in my opinion does quite successfully, is show that it isn’t a certain stereotype that can suffer with mental health problems. She shows that the world of mental health covers a wide spectrum and none of us are immune to needing a little help from time to time.
The symbolism of swans was really clever especially when used as an allegory for Ben who seemed to be gliding through life seamlessly whilst working his backside off just to stay afloat. And with the swans, who mate for life, representing the ever lasting love that he wants to have with Effy was seamlessly interwoven into the story and once again shows Thompson’s skill.
Thompson’s stories are beautiful, romantic and full of heart but more than that they have the backbone of contentious issues which distinguish her stories from those of her contemporaries.
bookishnat's review
5.0
A bit different way of reading this for me - I listened to the audio book. Really enjoyed the story and I adored the characters. I always do enjoy books by this author.
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