Reviews

Mayflies by Andrew O'Hagan

alexboccardo's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

“Other guys were funny and brilliant and better at this and that, but Tully loved you.”

“And when we are gone from the world, there will still be spores of delight, somewhere in the universe, recalling the moment Tully Dawson ran down the steps of the Britannia hotel and spread himself over the bonnet of The Smiths’ posh vehicle, his face pressed with contorted affection against the windscreen.”

“The water was cold but it soon warms up when the boys are made of sunshine.”

“He was making room for death, while, all around him, people arrived with new furniture for a different room altogether, a place of honouring and cherishing, where comfort and light are believed to obliterate the dark.”

“Go gently with people’s pain. It’s the same as yours.”

janey's review against another edition

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5.0

Lovely. In a way, it's a companion piece to Amy Bloom's In Love.

naomigre's review against another edition

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

4.0

kat_ellison's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm going through my "books about friends" phase and this is well and truly that. Extra points if it's sad.

tuulpohjas's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

kristina_reads23's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jenniferroach's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

lilly_isabel's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

murph2244's review against another edition

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emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was a great emotional journey through two moments in time, youth and adventure for a weekend and a slow decline with cancer in middle age. He did a great job building out the characters in youth and maturity and giving them realistic struggles even as they tried to live as ideals of themselves. The ending was particularly well done, as it balanced notions of life being too short with a celebration of all they had packed into it. 

kaedenslibrary's review against another edition

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3.0

After a month of leave I have finally returned finishing this book. I want to start by saying this book is written with a feeling of nostalgia imbued into it. The writing itself was instantly engaging however I found myself unable to connect with it. The friendship was definitely there, I really enjoyed reading about the friendship that Tully and James had. A main reason that I didn’t connect with this was entirely from my personal life, I have been riddled with exams recently and haven’t given time to anything else, so I am partly back, I still have multiple exams in two weeks and then a few weeks after that :’/