Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Close to Home by Michael Magee

10 reviews

jmyers1's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I thought the narrator was incredible. Apart from that, I found that there wasn't really a plot to this book, it was more of just a narration of a normal person's life. 
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mossymoment67's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.5

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rhibeetle17's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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rosy24's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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psampat22's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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h_tom's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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sasha99's review against another edition

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4.75

really easy to read, likeable characters, REALLY reminded me of normal people a lot. Just really enjoyed it, nice, easy to read (probs would have finished in a day or two if I put my mind to it lol) and well written, good characters - first and last time I’ll say it, could have been longer just loved it, and it would have wrapped up more things too

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livloid's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

I really loved this book: its tone, its pace, its characters. Above all it was beautifully written.
It deals with trauma but in a way that isn’t over the top or graphic. i slowly developed real empathy for characters who at first i was inclined to judge for their decisions.
The book transitioned from a bleak setting for its characters, which I didn’t think they’d get past, to a hopeful ending. I left it with the feeling that things might get better after all (!)
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bookishstevie's review against another edition

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3.5

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reads_eats_explores's review against another edition

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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⭐
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