greatexpectations77's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This one didn't upend my brain, but I liked it. I think it's an interesting look at survival during basically wartime. Everyone has to keep moving, but it also feels impossible to do so. I didn't love Cushla, but I don't think I had to, and maybe it created a nice separation to be able to look at the whole story. I DID love the precious little boy at school. And I do tend to like a little forbidden romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Death, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Bullying, and Violence
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Stalking
doireann_ni_chaoimh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Bullying, Alcoholism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Cursing, Death of parent, Classism, Police brutality, Infertility, Hate crime, and Grief
jennikreads's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
lostinthelibrary's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a great book for anyone with an interest but basic knowledge about The Troubles. There is a lot of violence which escalates throughout the book both for the characters and in general from well placed news snippets.
But this book is only partly about that. It is also about relationships, family dynamics and the unfair position working class people and women were put into during this era. While few characters were likeable, their actions made sense amongst the setting and the writing was very evocative of the era.
There were a few things that bothered me along the way in the writing (please use speech marks, it's pretentious not to) and the plot (wanting to shake Cushla throughout) but overall a very positive reading experience that provided a great discussion for our book club.
But this book is only partly about that. It is also about relationships, family dynamics and the unfair position working class people and women were put into during this era. While few characters were likeable, their actions made sense amongst the setting and the writing was very evocative of the era.
There were a few things that bothered me along the way in the writing (please use speech marks, it's pretentious not to) and the plot (wanting to shake Cushla throughout) but overall a very positive reading experience that provided a great discussion for our book club.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcoholism, and Infidelity
Moderate: Murder and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Classism
rachmco's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
mraddd's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Religious bigotry, War, Alcoholism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Police brutality
ellegraf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Alcoholism
Moderate: Murder
bookmaddie's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
the ending… i cry :-(
-
Cushla teaches at a Catholic elementary school during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and works at her family bar, where she meets an older man and begins an affair. I feel like this book is sold as a love story, but I found that to be the least compelling aspect of the story. Instead, I think of this novel as a coming-of-age in a confining community during a time of random, unceasing violence. Cushla gets involved in the life of one of her students, and has a stumbling, charming friendship with one of her fellow teachers. Both of these relationships felt like gems sparkling amongst the dust and darkness of the rest of the story, and I relished the moments I spent with them.
Even if I didn't find the love story that captivating, I think it was necessary to help Cushla come into her adulthood and understand a different part of her life, especially within a deeply segregated, yet small, community. Kennedy's writing is without flourish, yet unflinching, honest, and surprisingly funny at times. Cushla's clever comebacks always surprised and delighted me—they felt unstudied yet precise.
Full of tenderness and mundane catastrophe, with vivid characters who light up every page, this novel is powerful even in its quietest moments. I look forward to reading what Kennedy writes next!
-
Cushla teaches at a Catholic elementary school during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and works at her family bar, where she meets an older man and begins an affair. I feel like this book is sold as a love story, but I found that to be the least compelling aspect of the story. Instead, I think of this novel as a coming-of-age in a confining community during a time of random, unceasing violence. Cushla gets involved in the life of one of her students, and has a stumbling, charming friendship with one of her fellow teachers. Both of these relationships felt like gems sparkling amongst the dust and darkness of the rest of the story, and I relished the moments I spent with them.
Even if I didn't find the love story that captivating, I think it was necessary to help Cushla come into her adulthood and understand a different part of her life, especially within a deeply segregated, yet small, community. Kennedy's writing is without flourish, yet unflinching, honest, and surprisingly funny at times. Cushla's clever comebacks always surprised and delighted me—they felt unstudied yet precise.
Full of tenderness and mundane catastrophe, with vivid characters who light up every page, this novel is powerful even in its quietest moments. I look forward to reading what Kennedy writes next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence
Moderate: Murder
_inge's review against another edition
I loved how Irish this was. The characters all felt really real. Father Slattery was hilariously awful, I could practically smell the pub and hear the banter inside, and the Irish phrases used I could sometimes ‘hear’ on paper.
The story mostly focuses on how The Troubles influenced people in their daily lives. This was visible at the start of every second chapter or so, for instance. It would start by summarising news from the area, and sometimes you’d get to hear how this news impacts the protagonist or if it’s connected to her in any way, yet other times this isn’t brought on as there’s no connection between her and the news whatsoever. This really showed how odd it must’ve been to live during this period; if the news doesn’t broadcast anything on someone you may now, you’d still be wary that this might happen another day. People try to go on with their daily lives but current affairs always seep through. I found this perspective refreshing.
The style of writing included a lot of shifts. Sometimes you’d not hear what a character is up to, but it would be alluded to it. Someone might stand in front of a house, for instance, but the next sentence describes how the doorknob feels. This character would be inside the house in the sentences that follow. So you don’t read about them twisting the doorknob themselves, or even stepping inside, but from the next few lines you get that they must now be inside the house. Every chapter started at a completely different point of the story too. In the previous chapter you may have read about the protagonist leaving one place, but the next chapter would cut to her being somewhere entirely different. This fragmented style sometimes means you have to actively work out what’s happening. It’s never too difficult, but I have had times where I got lost in the details of a certain place and got confused at the location of the next scene. The author doesn’t use quotation marks either, but because there’s quite a few characters in this you might have to work out who’s speaking, too.
I did find it interesting how every character is referred to by their first name. Even Cushla’s mum or brother are never referred to as being that to her. This makes for interesting writing concerning the affair; just like the protagonist you don’t know who Michael is to her. I don’t know whether this was a fully conscious choice, but I did like it.
This could’ve been a hard read, and I could get that this character focused story could make that even more so for some, but there was hope found within the pages. People were as horrible as they were kind to each other. Throughout reading you’re never too sure what the intentions of each character are, and if their actions are wrong or right. That makes for an interesting read.
The story mostly focuses on how The Troubles influenced people in their daily lives. This was visible at the start of every second chapter or so, for instance. It would start by summarising news from the area, and sometimes you’d get to hear how this news impacts the protagonist or if it’s connected to her in any way, yet other times this isn’t brought on as there’s no connection between her and the news whatsoever. This really showed how odd it must’ve been to live during this period; if the news doesn’t broadcast anything on someone you may now, you’d still be wary that this might happen another day. People try to go on with their daily lives but current affairs always seep through. I found this perspective refreshing.
The style of writing included a lot of shifts. Sometimes you’d not hear what a character is up to, but it would be alluded to it. Someone might stand in front of a house, for instance, but the next sentence describes how the doorknob feels. This character would be inside the house in the sentences that follow. So you don’t read about them twisting the doorknob themselves, or even stepping inside, but from the next few lines you get that they must now be inside the house. Every chapter started at a completely different point of the story too. In the previous chapter you may have read about the protagonist leaving one place, but the next chapter would cut to her being somewhere entirely different. This fragmented style sometimes means you have to actively work out what’s happening. It’s never too difficult, but I have had times where I got lost in the details of a certain place and got confused at the location of the next scene. The author doesn’t use quotation marks either, but because there’s quite a few characters in this you might have to work out who’s speaking, too.
I did find it interesting how every character is referred to by their first name. Even Cushla’s mum or brother are never referred to as being that to her. This makes for interesting writing concerning the affair; just like the protagonist you don’t know who Michael is to her. I don’t know whether this was a fully conscious choice, but I did like it.
This could’ve been a hard read, and I could get that this character focused story could make that even more so for some, but there was hope found within the pages. People were as horrible as they were kind to each other. Throughout reading you’re never too sure what the intentions of each character are, and if their actions are wrong or right. That makes for an interesting read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Infidelity, Grief, Death, Addiction, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
madamelacy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Spoiler
Set in Northern Ireland during the 1970s the story follows Cushla, a Catholic teacher and occasional bartender, as she embarks on a relationship with Michael, a married, Protestant barrister. Their relationship happens to a backdrop of The Troubles, with people trying to live normal lives despite daily acts of terror occurring in their communities.Cushla befriends a Catholic family in need after the father of one of her pupils is severely beaten. The two strands of her life, as a teacher and as Michael’s lover, become inextricably linked.
Spoiler
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Death of parent