The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
jfr_wi's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars rounded up: I probably would have rated this 3.5/4 stars had my expectations not been so high. I read this after finishing the 3 books of the Edward series. I thoroughly enjoyed that series; I felt like I really got to know the characters and the story line held my interest throughout. When I saw this as the back-story on Hugo (introduced in #3), I bought it right away. I struggled maintaining interest for the 1st 1/2, but then it did pick up. Not sorry I read it, but no real lasting or memorable impressions for me.
jan2bratt's review against another edition
4.0
This book caught my attention immediately and held it throughout the whole story. Boxing has never interested me but this story was more about the people and their struggles to learn to live truthful lives. I liked it a lot. This was my first book by this author and I'd definitely try another.
iprobablywontlikeit's review
4.0
I reviewed this one right after its publication in 2014, after a long and jaded dry spell reading nothing but nonfiction. I reviewed it on Amazon long before joining Goodreads. A lot of life has happened since then, and I don't know how well that past self would recognize me today. But here it is anyway for posterity.
**********************************
I lost my faith in the power of the novel years ago. I won't say that Craig Lancaster has renewed that faith, but he has -- in keeping with one of the novel's major themes -- given me hope.
I'm usually wary of novels written in the first person because the narrators are often little more than filters for the action and aren't really actors themselves, not on a truly human level, anyway. But here the narrator, Mark Westerly, is a fully realized human being, as are all the characters in this book. So well realized, in fact, that at times it's easy to forget that this is fiction and not a memoir. The dialog Lancaster conjures from these characters strikes that perfect balance: real enough to be believable and fictional enough to be entertaining. And more than that, Lancaster performs the seemingly impossible time and again: his characters utter deep sentimental truths that feel genuine to the ear.
But now a confession. I read this book in a day and a half while spending the night in a hospital with one of my young children. And there's something very special about reading an entire novel in so short a time when there's little else to do but kill time between nurse visits. It makes me wonder if I would have finished this novel under normal circumstances because I could tell the novel was losing its energy in the middle (where most novels lose energy). The characters and dialog weren't losing energy, but the plot was slipping away with the end too far out of sight (hence the four stars instead of five). However, not finishing this book would have been as tragic as any number of the title character's squandered opportunities. Read this novel, but read it quickly, in long stretches, in a waiting room or on a long flight.
One more thing. I don't believe this novel is really about redemption, as so many have said, because even though both Mark and Hugo try repeatedly to redeem their pasts, they never truly succeed. What they experience is not redemption, but grace. And what makes this novel work so well -- what sets it apart -- is that not only does the grace offered to these characters feel genuine, but their acceptances of those acts of grace make you want to cheer.
**********************************
I lost my faith in the power of the novel years ago. I won't say that Craig Lancaster has renewed that faith, but he has -- in keeping with one of the novel's major themes -- given me hope.
I'm usually wary of novels written in the first person because the narrators are often little more than filters for the action and aren't really actors themselves, not on a truly human level, anyway. But here the narrator, Mark Westerly, is a fully realized human being, as are all the characters in this book. So well realized, in fact, that at times it's easy to forget that this is fiction and not a memoir. The dialog Lancaster conjures from these characters strikes that perfect balance: real enough to be believable and fictional enough to be entertaining. And more than that, Lancaster performs the seemingly impossible time and again: his characters utter deep sentimental truths that feel genuine to the ear.
But now a confession. I read this book in a day and a half while spending the night in a hospital with one of my young children. And there's something very special about reading an entire novel in so short a time when there's little else to do but kill time between nurse visits. It makes me wonder if I would have finished this novel under normal circumstances because I could tell the novel was losing its energy in the middle (where most novels lose energy). The characters and dialog weren't losing energy, but the plot was slipping away with the end too far out of sight (hence the four stars instead of five). However, not finishing this book would have been as tragic as any number of the title character's squandered opportunities. Read this novel, but read it quickly, in long stretches, in a waiting room or on a long flight.
One more thing. I don't believe this novel is really about redemption, as so many have said, because even though both Mark and Hugo try repeatedly to redeem their pasts, they never truly succeed. What they experience is not redemption, but grace. And what makes this novel work so well -- what sets it apart -- is that not only does the grace offered to these characters feel genuine, but their acceptances of those acts of grace make you want to cheer.
herownbeat's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful character development
A good story with great development of the main characters—Hugo and Mark. You gain great insight into the characters and their emotions, and you find yourself caring for them (through the good and the bad). With this type of development, however, sometimes the story seemed like it was dragging. I loved the writing because it definitely sounded like a journalist was sharing a feature story. I recommend it this story.
A good story with great development of the main characters—Hugo and Mark. You gain great insight into the characters and their emotions, and you find yourself caring for them (through the good and the bad). With this type of development, however, sometimes the story seemed like it was dragging. I loved the writing because it definitely sounded like a journalist was sharing a feature story. I recommend it this story.
bluepigeon's review
3.0
I don't read chick lit, but I imagine The Fallow Season of Hugo Hunter is like chick lit written from a guy's perspective? I don't even know if that makes sense. The writing shines at moments, and at others, is over the top. Some events are repeatedly evaluated by several of the characters, which makes the plot seem stationary. Perhaps the most puzzling character is the narrator; somehow his first marriage was doomed to fail, though we never really understand why, and now he is in this great relationship, with an amazing woman, who brings out the best in him. Really? Sounds implausible, especially for someone who hasn't had any other major tries at being in relationships. He also insists on calling younger males "bud" and his girlfriend/wife "girl," which must be a Montana thing... The basic plot is set well, and the plot twists (secrets in the common past of the characters) are revealed at a good pace, but the reader spends too much time in the narrator's head, a time that is spent mostly on psychoanalyzing everyone and evaluating and re-evaluating where things went wrong. There is a lot of talk about how a journalist is supposed to be and how the narrator fails to be objective like a proper journalist regarding Hugo, but the heart of the matter never really goes beyond some sentimental banter (for example, if the journalist did his job, Hugo's failures would be known fully in the media, which might have helped Hugo clean up his act [or not], and Hugo's birth father would come to light, which, again, could have significantly altered the boxer's life.) In the end, I didn't care much about the narrator, his new life, or anyone else; maybe a little about Hugo, only because he was portrayed as such an affable loser.
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