Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Talking at Night by Claire Daverley

6 reviews

yourpalwhit's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Although this is the first lit fic i could actually finish is several months, there is something about it that really perturbs me. It's not just that rollercoaster ride of emotions i can only equate to a Disney princess film, but also, something about the introduction of the brother's sexuality, the focus on developing his reactions to it rather than actually developing him into an endearing character before writing him into what reads like a pretty clique ending--almost like he was developed to be the "token" in a contemporary novel just so people would buy it. Like when people say "I have a friend who's <insert Black, Latino, Trans person, gay> here. 

Another thing that perturbs me about this book is the ending. I had to fight the urge to skip ahead in some parts of the story...to will myself not to just skip to the last page, only to get to the last page and have the author give out. I don't always need a happy ending, but some kind of ending would have been nice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, and Toxic friendship

alyssastager's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

scottishgremlin's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

A poignant narrative and some beautiful prose. However, the Rooney-esque lack of speech marks did annoy me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Suicide

bella_cavicchi'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

4.5

This has my name written all over it, Daverley's stunning, understated writing the clear highlight. It feels particularly resonant when questions of what one (I) wants to do in life, à la Mary Oliver, weigh heavily.

Recommend, and with pleasure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Pregnancy

rhi_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

reads_eats_explores's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.5

One cold November night, teenagers Will and Rosie meet while sitting around a bonfire, surrounded by their school friends, including Rosie’s twin brother and Will’s good friend, Josh. 

This is a story as old as time – the overprivileged, shy, straight-A girl who falls for the achingly handsome, wrong-sides-of-the-track bad boy. 

But maybe as we follow Will and Rosie on their ‘will they/won’t they’ journey, things will not be quite as they seem.

Talking at Night begins in a small Norfolk town in the 1990s and is split into three parts entitled ‘before’, ‘after’, and ‘long after’, and as the book unravels, we learn about the shared traumas that give reason behind these headings.

The book overall felt very YA in narrative style, and I suppose 20-year-old me would lap this up; 40-year-old me wanted a grittier read that I could really get my teeth into.

Saying that, I did enjoy the read and found it nostalgia inducing and highly immersive (a book to binge in one or two long lazy sittings) once I got over my initial irritation with Rosie, much preferring Wills's point of view and backstory. I'll certainly read more from this author in future; this is undoubtedly a solid debut. 3.5⭐

Many thanks to the author and publisher for this advance copy. As always, this is an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism