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A review by missusb21
The Things That Will Not Stand by Michael Gerard Bauer
5.0
This cover is sort of perfect. Seemingly light and humorous on the surface, but ultimately a lot more going on underneath (of course).
This is both tender and hilarious. Bauer’s humour is restrained here, with the banter between Sebastian and best friend Tolly, a sharp witty back and forth, rather than anything physical or exaggerated. The compressed timeline of one day keeps the narrative moving, and one liners flowing. The gentle truth about the title, That will not stand, is a strong testament to pro-active people who refuse to see others suffer, or injustices perpetrated.
While it predominantly deals with the developing friendship between Sebastian and Frida, the subsequent revealing secrets they both hide, Bauer also explores other themes, including the nature of time, future careers, and grief. It’s a tight group of characters that are responsible for entertaining us, but they do more than that. We loved it because it didn’t just make us laugh, we also cried, and were challenged to re-think some of our preconceived assumptions about people and friendship.
This is both tender and hilarious. Bauer’s humour is restrained here, with the banter between Sebastian and best friend Tolly, a sharp witty back and forth, rather than anything physical or exaggerated. The compressed timeline of one day keeps the narrative moving, and one liners flowing. The gentle truth about the title, That will not stand, is a strong testament to pro-active people who refuse to see others suffer, or injustices perpetrated.
While it predominantly deals with the developing friendship between Sebastian and Frida, the subsequent revealing secrets they both hide, Bauer also explores other themes, including the nature of time, future careers, and grief. It’s a tight group of characters that are responsible for entertaining us, but they do more than that. We loved it because it didn’t just make us laugh, we also cried, and were challenged to re-think some of our preconceived assumptions about people and friendship.