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marthaos's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
This is a really well-written book, a story whose plot involves a tragedy outlined in the opening sequence, but which turns out to be much more than the procedural it is set up to be. It is a wonderful character study, a look at a time in social history that is bleak and rife with a sort of opportunism that thrives on judgment and cover-ups and where if a person is down, they are down.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
victoria_catherine_shaw's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
_inge's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a pageturner! And not necessarily because of the crime - this is the catalyst for uncovering the family’s story, the act itself doesn’t take center stage. I was invested in all the members of the Green’s family ánd Tom, so I was keen to keep reading to figure out how everyone related to each other.
This book doesn’t use quotation marks, and the numbered chapters usually indicate a shift in perspective. This does make it a bit confusing to follow sometimes. You could be reading multiple chapters from Carmel’s perspective, only to find a chapter from Ritchie’s point of view following those up without a prior warning. There’s quite a few characters to keep up with too, initially. I had to backtrack sometimes, either to figure out who’s who, but also to see who’s perspective I’m reading from. It doesn’t help that certain segments are paragraphs filled with a character’s thoughts, either.
In the interview on the last pages of my paperback copy, the author states they’d decided to remove major parts featuring Tom’s perspective as the focus should be on the family, not on him. I do get where this is coming from, but at the same time I thought Tom was always meant to be the one tying the story together. He’s the only character completely outside of the family, and he’s pretty one-sided most times (which the family isn’t either). He’s downright awful! But that’s what made his perspectives a nice change. He’s the only character who’s this full of himself, thinks this lowly of others and who has ulterior motives. I found his character fascinating and would’ve liked to see more of him. Once again during my Women’s Prize For Fiction 2024 reading I’m also noticing the blurb doesn’t really do this justice. The blurb made it out to be like Tom is the main focus here, so going into this I thought we’d get a deep delve into how the press works and what they’re capable of to get to a story first. These elements were there, but they never felt that important now.
Similarly, Lucy’s perspective wasn’t needed, in my opinion. In the interview Nolan says she wrote from her perspective when Lucy becomes a teen, to avoid having to write for a kid. But because the writing style doesn’t change from any of the (adult) characters in this book whatsoever, Lucy’s perspective felt a bit off. I knew she wouldn’t be thinking in the way she’s described to be doing here, which is lengthy sentences and an expansive vocabulary for how she really feels.
This is a really captivating read, every character felt alive to me. I would’ve liked less of Lucy and more of Tom, but that’s all personal preferences and I get why the author chose to go in this direction instead.
This book doesn’t use quotation marks, and the numbered chapters usually indicate a shift in perspective. This does make it a bit confusing to follow sometimes. You could be reading multiple chapters from Carmel’s perspective, only to find a chapter from Ritchie’s point of view following those up without a prior warning. There’s quite a few characters to keep up with too, initially. I had to backtrack sometimes, either to figure out who’s who, but also to see who’s perspective I’m reading from. It doesn’t help that certain segments are paragraphs filled with a character’s thoughts, either.
In the interview on the last pages of my paperback copy, the author states they’d decided to remove major parts featuring Tom’s perspective as the focus should be on the family, not on him. I do get where this is coming from, but at the same time I thought Tom was always meant to be the one tying the story together. He’s the only character completely outside of the family, and he’s pretty one-sided most times (which the family isn’t either). He’s downright awful! But that’s what made his perspectives a nice change. He’s the only character who’s this full of himself, thinks this lowly of others and who has ulterior motives. I found his character fascinating and would’ve liked to see more of him. Once again during my Women’s Prize For Fiction 2024 reading I’m also noticing the blurb doesn’t really do this justice. The blurb made it out to be like Tom is the main focus here, so going into this I thought we’d get a deep delve into how the press works and what they’re capable of to get to a story first. These elements were there, but they never felt that important now.
Similarly, Lucy’s perspective wasn’t needed, in my opinion. In the interview Nolan says she wrote from her perspective when Lucy becomes a teen, to avoid having to write for a kid. But because the writing style doesn’t change from any of the (adult) characters in this book whatsoever, Lucy’s perspective felt a bit off. I knew she wouldn’t be thinking in the way she’s described to be doing here, which is lengthy sentences and an expansive vocabulary for how she really feels.
This is a really captivating read, every character felt alive to me. I would’ve liked less of Lucy and more of Tom, but that’s all personal preferences and I get why the author chose to go in this direction instead.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, and Death of parent
amy_park's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Short book depicting the lives of ordinary people. This book was readable and gripping. Although there is not alot of plot (all of it is in the blurb), it was a real character study of one family and a journalist. With it being popular on booktube and longlisted for the Women's prize, I picked it up.
I did really enjoy this book, for the majority of this book I rated it 5 stars, however as we got more towards the end and explored the two male characters in the family I wasn't as interested, hence the not "perfect" rating. I will definetly pick up Megan's debut novel in the future and wish this book is shortlisted for the 2024 prize!
I did really enjoy this book, for the majority of this book I rated it 5 stars, however as we got more towards the end and explored the two male characters in the family I wasn't as interested, hence the not "perfect" rating. I will definetly pick up Megan's debut novel in the future and wish this book is shortlisted for the 2024 prize!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Abortion
happyknitter2020's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Read as was listed for Women's Prize longlist 2024.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
theunfinishedbookshelf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Abortion, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Death of parent
kirstym25's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Death, Abortion, and Death of parent
grunbean's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
I read this with a book club, and this is a firm first five star of the year. It is deeply emotional. I have never read the ‘ordinary human failings’ of life like this.
Though centred around a tragic event, this story isn’t focused on this and the answer to it. It explores the stories of the family members and what made them who they are. I wanted to cry when I read the paths the characters were taking. I think it’s very much a book to be read than explained. I will be looking into the others books from this author.
My final thought is a sincere f@!# you to Tom Hargreaves.
Though centred around a tragic event, this story isn’t focused on this and the answer to it. It explores the stories of the family members and what made them who they are. I wanted to cry when I read the paths the characters were taking. I think it’s very much a book to be read than explained. I will be looking into the others books from this author.
My final thought is a sincere f@!# you to Tom Hargreaves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism
brinnavirginia's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
This book is fine. It did not move me, but for what it’s worth it also didn’t bore me. The description of the book makes it sound like it will revolve primarily around the character of Carmel and her life in the wake of the violent crime allegedly committed by her young daughter, and this is a WILD misrepresentation. We see Carmel the least of all of the main characters. And it’s soooo male-centric I kinda can’t believe a man didn’t write it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Blood, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
linguaphile412's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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