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thebobsphere's review against another edition
3.0
Had Willy Vlautin’s debut, The Motel Life been the first one I read by him, I’m not sure I would actually bother to buy his books. However, I did read it after the excellent The Night Always Comes and Don’t Skip out on me and I saw it merely as a solid first novel.
The plot focuses on two brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee. One day Jerry Lee accidentally runs over a child and the duo escape their town, only to return. The guilt affects Jerry lee so much that he tries to find ways of escaping. meanwhile Frank is trying to mend some past mistakes and hone his storytelling craft as well.
There are a lot of bugs in The Motel Life, the story lags a bit, the characters are not so convincing and the dialogue feels forced. There’s a lot of potential and one feels it as the plot has a decent structure and Vlautin does capture small town mentality well. It does not feel fully realised.
Thankfully in future novels, these problems have been ironed out. My advice, don’t start with this one and explore the other instead.
The plot focuses on two brothers, Frank and Jerry Lee. One day Jerry Lee accidentally runs over a child and the duo escape their town, only to return. The guilt affects Jerry lee so much that he tries to find ways of escaping. meanwhile Frank is trying to mend some past mistakes and hone his storytelling craft as well.
There are a lot of bugs in The Motel Life, the story lags a bit, the characters are not so convincing and the dialogue feels forced. There’s a lot of potential and one feels it as the plot has a decent structure and Vlautin does capture small town mentality well. It does not feel fully realised.
Thankfully in future novels, these problems have been ironed out. My advice, don’t start with this one and explore the other instead.
custard's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ghoulwrangler's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
exhausted__reader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-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
silviaamaturo's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
celtic67's review against another edition
4.0
This is a sparsely written book, by an author who was recommended to me. This is at times a depressing read but is one worth reading. The story is about 2 brothers who have a myriad of problems. The story centres round an incident in Jerry Lee's life and how it affects him, his brother and others who are in contact with them. At times depressing, funny and strangely uplifting. I'm glad I read this book.
didactylos's review against another edition
Subject matter, narrative style grated on me.
missmelia's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75