A review by littlesparrowreads
Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls
5.0
A gorgeous, slow-burning story of teenage love, written between adult hindsight and a nostalgically pertinent teenage perspective.
The use of a Shakespeare production to structure the plot inevitably leads you to compare the stories of Fran and Charlie with that of Romeo and Juliet, which was deeply satisfying and reminded me about why I love the play so much; not for it's romance, but the painfully accurate reflections of nauseating teenage romance.
David Nicholls is an expert of making the ordinary and grottier details of romance so special that you want to jot down a particular turn of phrase, or description. For instance, one of the opening chapters about year 11 leaver's day had me yearning to relive the last moments of school, just so I could sit back and spend an extra couple of minutes taking it in, as seemingly underwhelming as it was at the time.
The standout strand of Sweet Sorrow is the relationship between Charlie and his dad. The dynamic of a parent/child dealing with depression, alcoholism, and contagious anxiety was honest, unpreachy, and poignant. I haven't seen similar issues dealt with in such an openhearted tone before.
The use of a Shakespeare production to structure the plot inevitably leads you to compare the stories of Fran and Charlie with that of Romeo and Juliet, which was deeply satisfying and reminded me about why I love the play so much; not for it's romance, but the painfully accurate reflections of nauseating teenage romance.
David Nicholls is an expert of making the ordinary and grottier details of romance so special that you want to jot down a particular turn of phrase, or description. For instance, one of the opening chapters about year 11 leaver's day had me yearning to relive the last moments of school, just so I could sit back and spend an extra couple of minutes taking it in, as seemingly underwhelming as it was at the time.
The standout strand of Sweet Sorrow is the relationship between Charlie and his dad. The dynamic of a parent/child dealing with depression, alcoholism, and contagious anxiety was honest, unpreachy, and poignant. I haven't seen similar issues dealt with in such an openhearted tone before.