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ClareR (5667 KP) rated Space Hopper in Books

Feb 9, 2021  
Space Hopper
Space Hopper
Helen Fisher | 2021 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Space Hopper is a wonderful story about the love of mothers and daughters, loss, reconnection and time travel. Quite a mix there, and that’s exactly what drew me to this book.
Who, in Faye’s position, wouldn’t take the opportunity to visit someone they had loved and lost? What makes it all the more intriguing is the fact that this person is Faye’s mother. Although Faye is happily married with two young children, she feels a gap in her life - and the person she wants to fill that gap is her mother. But she died when Faye was 8 years old. When she accidentally steps inside the Space Hopper box that she has kept since childhood, that strength of feeling transports her back to the 1970’s and her childhood home.
This isn’t a book that you can rationalise, so it’s best not to, after all, it’s the strength of Faye’s feelings, I think, that take her back in time. It’s a very sad book at times, and if I was faced with Faye’s decision - to stay with my family or to see my mum after not seeing her for 30 years - I would be hard pressed to make the right choice. After all, what IS the right choice?
It does seem a little selfish of Faye to choose to go somewhere where she might not be able to return from, but there’s no doubting Faye’s love for her husband and children. But to be able to speak to her mum as an adult after so long - you can imagine how compelling that must have been for Faye.
I really enjoyed this, and I have so many thoughts about it that I could go on and on about it! It would make such a good book club book - there’s so much to discuss.
The writing is quite beautiful, and I cried at the end - I think that says it all, really.
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this thought-provoking book.
  
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Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated 11.22.63 in Books

Nov 30, 2020  
11.22.63
11.22.63
Stephen King | 2012 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller
8
8.8 (47 Ratings)
Book Rating
When this book first came in, back in 2011, I blew it off, despite a marked interest in all things JFK/Lee Harvey Oswald conspiracy related. However, when I saw who had written it, that interest was dashed bits. Jumping ahead to yesterday, when I completed the book, I find myself having to rough myself up mentally for not reading this sooner!

The novel is unlike anything I've read by King. The prose was just right, not too much. Even the use of profanity was toned down = not sure if this was because of the era it was set (unlikely, I apt to believe, as life was not "The Donna Reed Show", contrary to what we would like to believe) or attributable to the fact that Mr. King has, in fact, grown up as a writer. In any case, I liked a whole heckuva lot!

The book had so many good plot elements: time-travel, romance, epic dilemmas, and characters that you genuinely cared about! All of the aforementioned elements added up to a novel worthy of praise and adulatation - many times over!

The story within was so engaging that I finished it within a week after starting it - something I haven't been able to do with a Stephen King novel in a loooong time! Throughout the tale, I found myself smiling, laughing, gripped with tension and suspense, and the hardest emotion to pull: tears of sadness and delight!

Look, I will not mislead or try to "lure" you into reading this. What I do is tell it like this: there more books on the NY Times bestseller list that are just filler for writers' contractual obligations, lacking the real substance or feeling needed for a proper tale.! '11/21/63' has plenty of feeling and substance, enough to offer to some of the other bestsellers on the list now, and then.

And conclusion, I will leave like this: Seriously? You do a lot worse that giving this book the shot it deserves.
  
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