breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
scoutyheartland's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Allison Johnson deserves only good things.
megcookson's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
bradycherish's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tommooney's review against another edition
4.0
NORTHLINE by Willy Vlautin.
God damn, he knows how to tug at the heartstrings. This is the story of Allison, a suicidal 22-year-old drunk, pregnant by her asshole racist boyfriend, who runs away from her Vegas home to Reno, trying to forget what mess she has left behind.
It's Vlautin, so of course the novel is written in his trademark style, prose so spare and seemingly simple that it catches you by surprise when he cuts so deep. His stories are so sad and yet leave you with hope and a fresh perspective on the human race. He's one of my favourite living writers and I am gutted that I've now read all his novels.
God damn, he knows how to tug at the heartstrings. This is the story of Allison, a suicidal 22-year-old drunk, pregnant by her asshole racist boyfriend, who runs away from her Vegas home to Reno, trying to forget what mess she has left behind.
It's Vlautin, so of course the novel is written in his trademark style, prose so spare and seemingly simple that it catches you by surprise when he cuts so deep. His stories are so sad and yet leave you with hope and a fresh perspective on the human race. He's one of my favourite living writers and I am gutted that I've now read all his novels.
imfullybooked's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, this one is a tough one. There's a part of me that wants to give this book a full 5 stars and another part that knows for sure it wasn't quite there for me.
Northline has been on my radar for years and years and when I finally came across it in a charity shop, I knew I needed to finally pick it up and read it. I've no regrets.
I didn't know what to expect from the book, to be perfectly honest. All I knew going into it that it's a book about a girl in her twenties, who escapes an abusive relationship after she finds out she's pregnant. Turns out there really isn't much more to the plot, other than what the blurb already tells you. And honestly - it's a good thing.
Allison isn't a very likeable character, and yet I felt a lot of sympathy for her. She has a really low self-esteem, her home situation is far from ideal, she works a dead end job and her boyfriend is a major asshole. She fucks up a lot and I don't even blame her, because she has no real support system in her life and instead ends up getting wasted and talking to Paul Newman in her head.
In less than 200 pages Vlautin packs a lot of emotion. So what the book lacks in plot, it makes up tenfold in atmosphere and overall mood. Allison's story is not pretty, it's actually quite bleak, but it's broken up by a lot of encounters with kind people and it gives you hope that things will get turned around.
I think I'll settle on 4.75 stars.
Northline has been on my radar for years and years and when I finally came across it in a charity shop, I knew I needed to finally pick it up and read it. I've no regrets.
I didn't know what to expect from the book, to be perfectly honest. All I knew going into it that it's a book about a girl in her twenties, who escapes an abusive relationship after she finds out she's pregnant. Turns out there really isn't much more to the plot, other than what the blurb already tells you. And honestly - it's a good thing.
Allison isn't a very likeable character, and yet I felt a lot of sympathy for her. She has a really low self-esteem, her home situation is far from ideal, she works a dead end job and her boyfriend is a major asshole. She fucks up a lot and I don't even blame her, because she has no real support system in her life and instead ends up getting wasted and talking to Paul Newman in her head.
In less than 200 pages Vlautin packs a lot of emotion. So what the book lacks in plot, it makes up tenfold in atmosphere and overall mood. Allison's story is not pretty, it's actually quite bleak, but it's broken up by a lot of encounters with kind people and it gives you hope that things will get turned around.
I think I'll settle on 4.75 stars.
angarena's review
3.0
This is the first Willy Vlautin book I’ve read. He is very popular here in PDX, because he lives here. I like it. Vlautin has a knack for writing about characters that live on the edge of society. Set in Reno, the main character is a young woman named Allison Johnson. She has a drinking problem and terrible taste in men. Every time she gets knocked down she manages to get back up. One way she does this is by having imaginary conversations with the actor, Paul Newman. He tells her the things she needs to hear. Gradually, she starts to make better decisions and better people come into her life. Something about this story rang true for me. The edition I read comes with a CD of original music composed just for the book. Vlautin is also a musician and plays the band Richmond Fontaine.
psteve's review against another edition
4.0
For much of this book, its grimness was almost too much for me to handle. The main character seems to be adrift, under the influence of some pretty worthless people, and with little or no direction herself, and though the writing was very good, it didn't overcome the essential sadness. But by the end I had shifted, and could see the qualities of the characters and the glimmers of positivity that were showing through, and the ending, which came as a surprise to me (because there were more pages in the book, an excerpt from his next novel), was very special. I don't remember hearing of this author before, but in the end this book really affected me, it seemed true, and made me want to look at others.