Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Sweet Sorrow: The Long-Awaited New Novel from the Best-Selling Author of One Day

David Nicholls is one of my favourite authors and this is the last book of his left on my TBR. I read One Day when it first came out 20 years ago, a time when I was as prolific a reader as I am now. I had a big chunk of years between that when I hardly read anything at all. (Bad men, mostly, but that is another tale!) Everything I've read of his, I adored, so I don't quite understand how this was off my radar until recently.

Charlie is a troubled 16 year old, who is living with his Dad, his Mum left years ago, taking his sister with her. She's still on the scene but not really there, leaving Charlie to take care of his Dad's addiction to booze & prescription pills whilst battling depression. He's also drifting apart from his high school friends, some not entirely likeable kids who spent most of the time messing about. In the summer between exams and results, he meets Fran, who is beautiful, clever and funny. She convinces him to join a theatre group performing Romeo and Juliet and so their own love story begins. It flips between Charlie then and Charlie as an adult - about to get married and finally settle down.

There are some tough bits to get through and his Dad's battle was hard to read as was his mother's indifference. I really hated her! But it's also very funny, nostalgic and sweet.

I'm bereft that I have nothing left of his to read but I might have to pick One Day up again soon in honour of the anniversary.

Content Warnings

aquakerwitch's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I’ve read three other books by David Nicholls which I remember enjoying more than this one. It was strange to read the majority of the book in the head of a 16 year old in a novel written for adults. It’s kind of framed as him looking back on one summer when he’s middle aged, but there’s barely any set in this present day timeline. Maybe it’s because I was born in 1996 and this book is set in 1997 so I’m too young for 90s nostalgia but I just didn’t warm to this book.

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pkc's review against another edition

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funny hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

maysa2005's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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zoebill96's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really enjoy David Nicholls writing style. It’s so beautiful and funny yet not cringey YA style. I found the characters very loveable and I followed the story well, I just felt the book was longer than it needed to be. The story line lacked lustre but never the less I still enjoyed it, taking me back to summer romances - very nostalgic!

Content Warnings

esbarnard_'s review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

sophieduncan's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

lenin_lover_69's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book so much, the tender melancholy was beautiful throughout - I weirdly had the show Sex Education in my mind as I was reading it, the characters were all so funny and expressive. I also found all the usual problems with middle-aged men writing about sex absent and for the interactions between the protagonists to be authentically and movingly described - I felt so full of love when it was finished.

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