ClareR (6118 KP) rated Light Perpetual in Books
Mar 13, 2021
I loved everything about this book, and I can’t believe that I haven’t read any Francis Spufford before. I shall have to rectify that. In the meantime, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this - it’s just my kind of book.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for helping me out with my NetGalley list once again (it happens a lot!), and to Francis Spufford for reading along with us.
Jonathan Higgs recommended Showbiz by Muse in Music (curated)
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Crush (1993) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020 (Updated Sep 19, 2020)
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After this, he seems out of control of his life, and he drifts from one set of circumstances to another, one job to another (including the army) and one sexual encounter to another. He’s a man of few words, which in Istvan’s words, is “OK” by me. Sentences are short, both Istvan’s speech and the narrative in between, and I felt this made the book highly readable. I stormed through this book.
At its heart, it’s a story about the changing role of men, both in fatherhood and life generally. It gives the impression that he’s being carried along in his life, never quite sure what’s expected of him (at least that’s what I thought).
I can see this is a very ‘marmite’ book - you’ll either love it or hate it. I think it deserved its Booker Prize win 🤷🏼♀️
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated 13 Minutes in Books
Feb 13, 2018
I've never read a novel by [a:Sarah Pinborough|457300|Sarah Pinborough|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1463056151p2/457300.jpg] before, and I was pretty impressed. She's a great writer, and <i>she certainly knows how to capture the voice of the teenagers within the pages of her novel</i>. I don't think I realized this book would be quite so YA, if that makes any sense. I <i>kept waiting for there to be a bit more to the story than teenage politics</i>, but it's truly sort of a <i>Pretty Little Liars</i>-type tale. That's not to say it's not well-done. It may have just been a tad bit young for me; still, <i>it's an excellent novel and would be a truly wonderful read for most teens</i>, too.
Part of the novel's brilliance comes in its format. It's told from the point of view of Becca and Tasha, but we also get excerpts from Tasha's diary; case files from the Inspector on Tasha's case; notes from Tasha's psychologist; texts between the teens; and more. <i>I enjoyed the format, and it was quite effective at building suspense and tension. </i>
Because,<i> wow, yes, the book is certainly tense and compelling.</i> You're constantly wondering how reliable our teenage narrators are and questioning everything that happens. Now, as mentioned, there's a lot of teenage drama. A LOT. <i>These teens are truly a little scary</i>, and this was yet another book that makes me a tiny bit frightened for my five-year-old daughters to grow up. My goodness. At times, I got a bit bogged down in all the teen antics, but it was still quite interesting.
Becca was definitely a bit of a kid, but I still liked her (for the most part). She was well-written, just a little young for me. Pinborough is truly amazing at getting in the head of these teenagers--capturing the pettiness, meanness, and honestly, sometimes the dumbness, of their mindset. But she also caught the brutal neediness behind some of their actions: that raw need of kids that age to fit in with their peers.
I had a decent idea how this one was going to play out pretty early on, but that didn't stop me from reading (as mentioned, I tore through this in about 24 hours). There's something oddly compelling about this book and its characters. Pinborough weaves in <i>The Crucible</i> as a backdrop--it's the school play--which is a really clever move, as there are a lot of parallels between said drama and the melodrama unfolding among Tasha, Hayley, and Jenny.
Overall, this novel really just hinges on the duality of the hatefulness and vulnerability of teenagers. It may come across as a little too YA and predictable for some adults, but I can't deny that it's well-written and crisp. It's hard to like some of the characters, but I think it would make a great book for teens (albeit it's rather freaking scary). I was leaning toward 3.5 stars before writing this review, but I think I'll do 3.75 and bump up to 4 stars here on Goodreads (that's not complicated at all, right? Perhaps fitting for this complicated and twisty novel).
I received a copy of this novel from Netgalley and the publisher (thank you!) in return for an unbiased review; it is available everywhere as of 10/03/2017.
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