A review by ablotial
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

3.0

For the first quarter of this book, I really loved it. I loved the idea of this old man walking to his mailbox to post a letter, but deciding to mail it by hand instead. It was great to "hear" his thoughts as he walked and to watch his mindset change, and to see the other people's reactions to his journey. But after a while, it got a bit repetitive. To be fair, I bet it would get pretty repetitive to be the one walking for so many months. And then the stuff with his family got a little weird and .. I dunno. By the end of the book, I had mostly lost interest. The ending itself was good -- both Harold and his wife had grown as people, and their relationship seemed to be taking on a totally different tone. It's sad that this walk had to occur for them to take those steps but ... that's life I suppose.

It was a cute book, and had a few very good moments that really made you think about life and appreciating all you have and not taking for granted all of the small blessings. But I think the book has a whole could have been done differently (better?) and had even more impact.