INTRO
You may have noticed that this post is a new edition to POMELO: I used to post my mini book reviews on Instagram but I’ve decided to migrate them over to my newsletter. For all of those who are interested in book content, here you’ll be able to find everything I have to say about what I’m reading and what I’ve read. I think that for those who are interested in books, this is the easiest way because you’ll be able to find it all in one place instead of scrolling on Instagram looking for it or worse, forgetting about its existence (which tends to be the case with IG).
I won’t be sending out emails for book content, I’ll publish it directly to my Substack page and let you know on Instagram that it has been published along with the link.
MAY BOOKS
During May I read three books:
Exciting times; Naoise Dolan
A long way down; Nick Hornby
Less; Andrew Sean Greer
EXCITING TIMES was well… fun but not amazing.
This book is about Ava (a 22 year old Dubliner) who moves to Hong Kong to work as an English teacher for very little money. There, she meets Julian (a single, 30 year old man who has a load of money and doesn’t mind spending a lot of it on Ava) - who is, of course, not his girlfriend, they are “friends” with no feelings attached *rolls eyes*.
Life seems to be going well for Ava who’s living with Julian in his lovely apartment in the nicer part of the city, saving all of the money she earns with her teaching job whilst doing whatever she wants without anyone’s disapproval (apart from her mother back home in Ireland who expects things from her such as: a “proper” job, a “proper” boyfriend and moving back home to Dublin) until she meets Edith. These two women meet while Julian is on a business trip in London and well… without spoiling anything, the two of them feel a strange connection which makes her have to take hard decisions - something Ava isn’t very good at.
This book reminds me of Sally Rooney’s writing, it’s the same sort of vibe the way its written along with the type of characters. There’s not much action happening but there are a lot of feelings. Ava feels lost, misunderstood and has to deal with work and personal relationships all while trying to please everyone at the same time.
If you enjoy feeling what the characters are going through and enjoy a modern novel, you’ll like this one. It’s easy to read and Ava is mean and funny, which makes you feel a bit shocked along with making you giggle.
I personally found the most difficult thing about this book being Dublin, Ava speaks a lot about “back home” and the way life is in Dublin and also compares it to the UK so there were a few things I didn’t really catch on to - but this didn’t affect the reading experience or the novel’s plot.
Rating: 8/10
A LONG WAY DOWN made me reconnect with my British side. It’s still there no matter how long I’ve spent away from the UK and let me tell you, I’ve forgotten a lot of swear words. I loved listening to the *very* British characters speak to me throughout the book.
A Long Way Down is about 4 people: Martin, Maureen, Jess and JJ, who meet by accident on the top of a tower-block in London all with the same intention, committing suicide on New Year’s Eve. Yep, when I read the blurb I was shocked too, but you’re not shocked one bit throughout the read.
Suicide is (in my humble opinion) a very serious topic and it’s also an extremely tragic event, but the book makes it seem as if it has the same importance as going to the supermarket for your weekly shop.
The four main characters of this book aren’t very likeable but they grow on you and you end up feeling compassion for some of them.
The story starts off strong on the top of the tower block with very clear intentions but as you read, each character’s life story begins to shine through, making the reader understand why they wanted to jump off the roof on New Year’s Eve. The four are very different in personality and age but they all share a common feeling of being lost and disappointed with life.
This book will make you laugh and also cringe. The characters are depicted in a marvellous way, you can hear each person’s voice in your head very clearly and you’re able to connect with each one from the start of the book. Some are very “hateable” and others make you want to jump inside of the book to give them a hug.
The book follows a common plot, with a few flashbacks in each person’s life to give context to each situation, but the narration mostly jumps from character to character. This way, sharing similar experiences from different points of view, along with criticism and very unreliable narration, which is fun.
I enjoyed the characters and the Britishness of the book. I didn’t love the topic and the way the author decided to represent it, maybe its very real and raw, or maybe he’s just having a laugh? I think he had clear intentions on making the reader feel hatred and cringe throughout the book - something different.
I enjoyed it, but having finished it, I wouldn’t say that it’s a book you *must* read. If you’re looking for something light and different then give it a go!
Rating: 7/10
LESS… I read this book because I kept seeing it everywhere and it was being hyped in some way or another and well… I thought it was terrible.
I finished the book thinking “what even happened?” I couldn’t summarise the plot or the writing in any way other than: Arthur Less is about to turn 50 years old and he gets invited to his ex-boyfriends wedding. He’s not able to face the music (does he still have feelings)? So he signs himself up to every single plan he can find during the “wedding month” as an excuse to “be away” instead of plainly declining the invite and driving himself up the wall alone in his house or dealing with it.
I thought that the writing was really weird, I felt like I wasn’t understanding anything whilst I was reading. I didn’t understand the joining of events which make up the plot, I didn’t connect with Arthur until the very end of the book and then, once I was starting to like it, it finished with a disappointing ending.
Would I recommend this book? No, sorry.
Rating: 4/10
OUTRO
Thank you for being here, thank you for helping me grow as a writer, reader and person. I hope that this is the first POMELO book review post of many more to come 💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘.
If you have read any of the books mentioned above or would like to recommend one to me, please comment below to start the conversation. You can also share it with someone else who likes reading by pressing the share button below.