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yilliun's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What does it mean to have a love/ hate relationship with where you’re from and how can you grow past that? This book explores these questions through the lens of Sean, who feels trapped by his past and unable to break the cycles that keep him trapped. It took me about 70 pages or so to become really interested in the story. I think Mairead entering the picture represented a turning point for both myself as the reader and Sean. I enjoyed the nonlinear path of Sean’s life and I think it made him a more realistic character to me. You would think he’s on the right track then Finty and Ryan pull him right back again into old patterns.
Adjusting to the Irish slang used throughout the book took some getting used to, and I do think that contributed to how I struggled to get into the story itself. I think you also need to go into this book with the knowledge of what The Troubles represent in Northern Ireland even to the present day.
Adjusting to the Irish slang used throughout the book took some getting used to, and I do think that contributed to how I struggled to get into the story itself. I think you also need to go into this book with the knowledge of what The Troubles represent in Northern Ireland even to the present day.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Child abuse
starrynight_1999's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Drug use
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Child abuse
potterpav's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this book is incredible .. my first five star review of the year and i am gassed abt it. taking on the form of sally rooney by not using speech marks made this work SO WELL !!!! the characters felt so understandable and real and it’s strange bc i grew up with so many people like this .. it felt even worse to see where they ended up and spent their time . this book is a testament to brotherhood and the length siblings go for one another, as well as the lengths mothers go for their children, even when fighting their own battles too big to fight alone . stunning prose and story telling despite there being very little “moving” plot , sean’s inner monologue kept the story moving and kept the reader reaching out for more and more w some of the most complex characters ever (anthony) . wonderfully written and heartbreakingly sad🙏🏼
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, and Child abuse
kirstym25's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Mental illness
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Close to Home is a debut novel set in contemporary Belfast. It opens with a bang - literally - as Sean assaults a fellow partygoer knocking him to the ground. There’s a lot more to Sean than this opening scene might suggest. He is from a working class background, went to Liverpool and earned a degree in English literature. Finding a job has been a struggle so he’s back home, working at a bar, hanging with his old crowd, drinking too much and taking too many drugs. It doesn’t take much imagination to see the role these facts played in the assault. I really enjoyed this novel. Sean, despite his flaws and poor behaviour, was a likeable character and I spent the book rooting for him to get a break and to make good choices. The exploration of themes like toxic masculinity, men suppressing their emotions, the reliance on drugs and alcohol to mask emotional pain, the class divide, the impact of economic recessions, the legacy of the Troubles, sexual abuse, divided families and the lack of positive male role models for boys, were all handled well. Magee has painted a really nuanced picture of Sean as a young man caught between two worlds - trying to get a foothold in the world of writing, arts and university but being beset by rejections and constantly feeling pulled back to his old life of poverty, theft, poor insecure housing, substance overuse, and casual violence. Definitely gritty in places but realistic, relevant and important. The hopeful ending prevents it from feeling unbearably bleak.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Colonisation, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child abuse
sammygoosereads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Cursing, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Addiction
Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Mental illness, and Child abuse
Minor: Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
reads_eats_explores's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Drawing on personal experiences in Close to Home, Magee delves into a poignant exploration of toxic masculinity amidst the cross-generational trauma of the Troubles and events closer to home.
Our narrator, Sean, is the first in his family to go to university, an undertaking he thought would lead him to a new life full of prospects and far from the kind he witnessed growing up in Twinbrook, a predominately working class, Republican area of West Belfast.
Sean's dream falls away as he graduates in a post-crash era, and void of prospects, he returns home and falls in with a rather iffy crowd he has known since childhood.
Sean is from a single parent household. His Da vanished a long time ago. His poor Ma struggled, scrimped and worked two jobs to provides for her kids. And Sean feels people look down on him for this, even though they don't know him; they know his language his accent, and he feels hemmed in by it.
Sean knows he needs to be putting more effort into sorting his life out, but alongside his housemate, Ryan living the party life is much more appealing, for a while anyway. But these parties lead to trouble, the missing work and losing your job trouble, the punching a fella at a house party and ending up in court receiving a community service order kinda trouble.
Things go from bad to worse as Sean loses his job, the flat is about to be repossessed, and he’s forced to move in with his long suffering Ma. While back at home, he learns or perhaps revisits some family traumas, which makes him take a long hard look at why he and his brothers lead the lifestyles they do.
Bleak at times, with some potentially triggering subjects tackled, but the narrative is strewn with deadpan humour to balance it out. 4⭐
Our narrator, Sean, is the first in his family to go to university, an undertaking he thought would lead him to a new life full of prospects and far from the kind he witnessed growing up in Twinbrook, a predominately working class, Republican area of West Belfast.
Sean's dream falls away as he graduates in a post-crash era, and void of prospects, he returns home and falls in with a rather iffy crowd he has known since childhood.
Sean is from a single parent household. His Da vanished a long time ago. His poor Ma struggled, scrimped and worked two jobs to provides for her kids. And Sean feels people look down on him for this, even though they don't know him; they know his language his accent, and he feels hemmed in by it.
Sean knows he needs to be putting more effort into sorting his life out, but alongside his housemate, Ryan living the party life is much more appealing, for a while anyway. But these parties lead to trouble, the missing work and losing your job trouble, the punching a fella at a house party and ending up in court receiving a community service order kinda trouble.
Things go from bad to worse as Sean loses his job, the flat is about to be repossessed, and he’s forced to move in with his long suffering Ma. While back at home, he learns or perhaps revisits some family traumas, which makes him take a long hard look at why he and his brothers lead the lifestyles they do.
Bleak at times, with some potentially triggering subjects tackled, but the narrative is strewn with deadpan humour to balance it out. 4⭐
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, Drug use, Mental illness, Death, Gaslighting, Stalking, Hate crime, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
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