camsou's review against another edition
5.0
A really enjoyable book
A Note in the Margin was soft and beautiful, the kind of book you want to read on a rainy day or at night when sleep eludes you. It's not all teddy bears and rainbows (far from it) but a certain calm radiates from it and I was glad to have it during a tenacious bout of insomnia.
A Note in the Margin was soft and beautiful, the kind of book you want to read on a rainy day or at night when sleep eludes you. It's not all teddy bears and rainbows (far from it) but a certain calm radiates from it and I was glad to have it during a tenacious bout of insomnia.
daisy_c_bel's review
5.0
This was a great read. Two broken men, each with their own set of problems. Beautifully described how they get together, each step of the way (even if it was with two steps forward, one step back!). I loved it.
jaimesamms's review against another edition
4.0
So this is one of those books that leaves you thinking. The characters are not fantasticly handsom, strong, uber competant men. They're just a few guys trying to get from one end of the day to the other. They are flawed, they make mistakes, and they pay for those mistakes. And they have big hearts, patience, and are the kind of guy we all want. Isn't it always the way, they get each other.
John has the best grasp of his own emotional state I have ever seen in a man. It's really too good to be true. And then he goes and does something boneheaded, and the world tilts back to normal.
David is about as broken a character as I've ever seen. It's almost fantastic how he manages to stay alive and sane through everything he endures. You almost can't believe a man that damaged is capable of loving another person. Then he goes and does something completely selfless, and the world is righted.
It's amazing how the author has managed to create two such different, flawed yet perfect men, bring them together and rebuild their lives in such a way that the reader never doubts for a second that that's how it would really happen.
My Recommendation: Just read the book, and brace yourself.
John has the best grasp of his own emotional state I have ever seen in a man. It's really too good to be true. And then he goes and does something boneheaded, and the world tilts back to normal.
David is about as broken a character as I've ever seen. It's almost fantastic how he manages to stay alive and sane through everything he endures. You almost can't believe a man that damaged is capable of loving another person. Then he goes and does something completely selfless, and the world is righted.
It's amazing how the author has managed to create two such different, flawed yet perfect men, bring them together and rebuild their lives in such a way that the reader never doubts for a second that that's how it would really happen.
My Recommendation: Just read the book, and brace yourself.
jerseygirl2912's review against another edition
5.0
What a fantastic read! A beautiful, sad, heartbreaking, heartwarming and hopeful story. I loved the characters and the story line was different from everything I have read so far.
suze_1624's review against another edition
5.0
Despite having to piece together what happened to David to set him on his course to homelessness, i really felt for him as he came through into having people care for him again and its one that kept me reading when I should have been doing so many other things. It always seems wrong to say you enjoyed a story when it is based on suffering, and David had his share. I liked that there was no instant novel fix, and even at the ending, you know it is going to be the dreaded 2 forward, 1 back.
John also was a complex character and his initial reaction to David is probably that of most of us so it was interesting to see his change and how he dealt with David.
As a greedy reader I wanted to know more about how Adam and David continue to find their way back to each other and wanted to know about how David's abandonment had affected him.
Jaime was a fun bouncy puppy and provided the lighter relief
It is a story that lingers in your head for the interactions of the characters and the hopeful ending, leaving you wanting to know more
John also was a complex character and his initial reaction to David is probably that of most of us so it was interesting to see his change and how he dealt with David.
As a greedy reader I wanted to know more about how Adam and David continue to find their way back to each other and wanted to know about how David's abandonment had affected him.
Jaime was a fun bouncy puppy and provided the lighter relief
It is a story that lingers in your head for the interactions of the characters and the hopeful ending, leaving you wanting to know more
tiggers_hate_acorns's review
4.0
What a lovely story! Liked how David wasn't instantly fixed but still was having difficulties at the end of the story. It is amazing how many of the homeless were once in well paying jobs but then have a mental breakdown and fall between the cracks of the welfare system. It takes a special person to look beyond the rags and smell to see the person underneath. A story full of love and hope for the future.
The constant time shifts without warning kept throwing me out of the story. I had downloaded this from DSP to my Kindle so not sure if something got lost in translation but it was annoying, hence the loss of a star.
The constant time shifts without warning kept throwing me out of the story. I had downloaded this from DSP to my Kindle so not sure if something got lost in translation but it was annoying, hence the loss of a star.
pam_h's review against another edition
2.0
I'm in the minority on this one, and I totally get why, but John was so problematically weird during the sex scenes that I can't seem to separate that from how I feel about the rest of the book, even though it only affected a few scenes.
The POV shifts from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph, also got confusing at times, and that's something I have a high tolerance for.
But the sex scenes were essentially: One kiss. Two kiss. "Turn around. I need to be inside you right now." Um...who the fuck said you were allowed inside of me??! It happens with And the internal dialog makes it pretty clear that it wouldn't necessarily be their first choice in that exact moment, but ok sure, they'll do it since it's clearly what John wants. So they "turn around" and it's very quickly shove it in and pound them into the mattress until John comes. Wtf?????!!!! It's so fucking weird.
The first time wasn't as bad, but the second time directly follows a giant fight they've had about which he does apologize for, but that apology is followed by this extreme and so very selfish sexual aggression. I mean...read the damn room!!
Humanizing the homeless population is a huge part of the book, and done really well, so it's tempting to rate this higher, but the stuff during the sex scenes was very de-humanizing, which I guess was my whole problem with it in the first place. (And obviously some people like that kind of sex -- I have read and enjoyed many of those books -- but in this book the feeling is neutral at best, and more importantly, John doesn't even bother asking his partner's opinion or seem to realize how he's behaving in the first place.) It's literally two scenes, so I can see why that would not be so heavily weighted for plenty of people, but it completely canceled out the good stuff for me.
The POV shifts from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph, also got confusing at times, and that's something I have a high tolerance for.
But the sex scenes were essentially: One kiss. Two kiss. "Turn around. I need to be inside you right now." Um...who the fuck said you were allowed inside of me??! It happens with
Spoiler
both people he sleeps with, the very first time he sleeps with them, he barely know either one of them at the time, and there has been no previous discussion leading up to this beyond a confirmed physical attraction.The first time wasn't as bad, but the second time directly follows a giant fight they've had about
Spoiler
the other guy's sex work, which he only does when he's desperate for money and is clearly ashamed about. The characters have not been seeing each other before this, so John has no right to judge him for it anyway,Humanizing the homeless population is a huge part of the book, and done really well, so it's tempting to rate this higher, but the stuff during the sex scenes was very de-humanizing, which I guess was my whole problem with it in the first place. (And obviously some people like that kind of sex -- I have read and enjoyed many of those books -- but in this book the feeling is neutral at best, and more importantly, John doesn't even bother asking his partner's opinion or seem to realize how he's behaving in the first place.) It's literally two scenes, so I can see why that would not be so heavily weighted for plenty of people, but it completely canceled out the good stuff for me.
alisonalisonalison's review against another edition
2.0
This was okay. I don't have a particularly good track record with the really popular older "classics" of m/m romance, but I've had this on my Kindle for ages and decided to have a look. I didn't connect with the story or the characters at all and it all felt a bit flat and honestly, a bit boring. I also thought there were many unanswered questions at the end. Not my cup of tea.