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A review by leesahbee
My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was a good book, but I did a *lot* more crying in this book than I expected to going into what looked like a fun British romcom.
What I loved:
All the poetry references and literature academia vibes were great — I liked that aspect of the book a lot.
What I feel conflicted about :
- a family dealing with their son slowly but surely dying of cancer is absolutely a central theme of this book. This character is the male romantic lead so that’s also a central part of the romantic relationship. Not a fun, light romp. I didn’t know this going in.
- I actually don’t feel like I ever got terribly invested in their relationship.
What was done really well:
The pacing of how to fast-forward through big sections of time and tell the story of what went on during that time was done really well.
- I appreciated how the book ended. For all that Jamie’s still dying, it still felt like a happy, hopeful ending, which is impressive.
- this book genuinely made me think a lot about the different emotional ways to experience and work through dying and losing loved ones. Hence all the crying, but it was a more thought-inspiring book than I expected.
What I loved:
All the poetry references and literature academia vibes were great — I liked that aspect of the book a lot.
What I feel conflicted about :
- a family dealing with their son slowly but surely dying of cancer is absolutely a central theme of this book. This character is the male romantic lead so that’s also a central part of the romantic relationship. Not a fun, light romp. I didn’t know this going in.
- I actually don’t feel like I ever got terribly invested in their relationship.
What was done really well:
The pacing of how to fast-forward through big sections of time and tell the story of what went on during that time was done really well.
- I appreciated how the book ended. For all that Jamie’s still dying, it still felt like a happy, hopeful ending, which is impressive.
- this book genuinely made me think a lot about the different emotional ways to experience and work through dying and losing loved ones. Hence all the crying, but it was a more thought-inspiring book than I expected.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent