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marthaos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Greens move to London from Ireland in the eighties to escape the judgment and social castigation that a teenage pregnancy would bring. Carmel, young, beautiful and with an imagined future of success, has to sacrifice much of what she wanted for herself but despite the sacrifices, cannot give herself to motherhood fully, remaining detached and cold towards her child Lucy. Lucy is the ten-year-old in question accused and questioned about the tragedy involving Mia, and when reporter Tom gets hold of the story, we see how a family can be scapegoated for no reason other than their position in society.
Through wonderfully rich character portrayals and descriptions, we learn how a series of ordinary human failings can compound a family, how shame and secrecy can feed off each other and over time smother a family and stop any growth. As we learn about the various members, we see how alcoholism and addiction can burn deep, we see how dreams and hopes can be buried in a culture of shame and failure and ultimately how it takes an open and brave confrontation with truth to break the cycles that can keep a family bound.
While this was quite a dark book, it was nuanced in its tone. The characters were very believably portrayed; ordinary humans who were neither vilified nor deified but who were navigating this life as best they could.
Overall this was a rich and immersive read and the Green family will stay with me for a long time and the quality of writing made it an enriching and enjoyable listen.
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
happyknitter2020's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Intergenerational story of challenging lived experiences, which led a 10 year old to take the life of a toddler.
Reflects on the impact of trauma attachments throughout a whole family & the media culture too.
A tragic story, hopefully will be shortlisted.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
katiemanring's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
I appreciate and thank NetGalley and the publisher for the galley ARC for an honest review!
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, and Abortion
linguaphile412's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, and Alcohol
Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, and Pregnancy
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
bubblegum_or_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, and Grief
reads_eats_explores's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Fiercely ambitious Tom is determined to get to the bottom of the events, but he has a brisk disregard for the ‘peasants,’ i.e. anyone, not a celebrity or journalist; he believes that nothing should get in the way of a good story, particularly none of the ‘ordinary human failings’.
Tom convinces the newspaper to put the family up in a hotel with all expenses paid. In the conversations that follow, the family are forced to confront the secrets, prejudices and silences that have trapped them for generations.
Told in a stream-of-consciousness style from various characters' points of view, this adds intimacy and depth to the narrative that would otherwise be difficult to achieve so well here. The author's exploration of love, desire, and mental health is poignant and beautifully done.
Nolan’s characters are tangible and diverse in their physicality and emotion. There is a grittily true sense of the familial ties of the Green family; Nolan’s observation of their inner and outer emotional lives and the predispositions to why they act as they do are spot on.
Ultimately this is a stunning portrait of what it is to struggle in the face of incomprehensible circumstances, of repression, and its resulting damage.
I expected this book to be more like ‘Acts’ a "messy woman" book which I adored, but this is much more of a thriller/mystery. And I loved it; utterly compelling reading. 4.5 ⭐
Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy.
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism