Hannah
I really liked the format of this book and found it to be a really interesting way of setting out the story, but definitely feel like it could have been used more to give more clues, although this wasn't really needed as it was easy to guess who it was within the first 20 pages. That being said, the ending garnered an extreme eye roll from me, even though I had suspected that person for most of the book. It was just a bit ridiculous. The way in which the characters are involved in the case also became ridiculous and just removed any plausibility of the story for me as it just went too far.
I spent a lot of time at the beginning of the book poring over the CVs and other documents and quickly realised this was a waste of my time. There were lots of things unresolved at the end which frustrated me.
I really liked the premise of this book and was interested to see where it went but I couldn't get past the 5 page (on Kobo) graphic description of diarrhoea and subsequent eating of it, then the 5 or so pages of graphic description of vomiting after she's eaten her own faeces. Wtf?!
In terms of plot, I found it hard to believe that 1 year of homelessness (after 30+ years of “normal” life) had changed the character so much that she was unable/unwilling to function normally and enjoy home comforts, like a bed, not sitting in your own soiled clothes etc.
The main character really irritated me, the lengthy descriptions of everything (5 pages describing a tube journey in all manner of similes and metaphors) were just unnecessary and there really should have been warnings about the horrendously graphically detailed descriptions of bodily functions somewhere in the blurb. I'm glad this was a library book and not one I had purchased.
I really loved this book and the journey you go on with the main character. I found this to be similar to Eleanor Oliphant which is another book I loved. You can get annoyed with the main character at times but overall she is endearing and you want her to do complete her “task”.
I found the backstory of her mum and dad interesting/controversial and wish this would have been explored further and that we had got to hear her side of the story but with the plot it is understandable why we don't.
The ending is so lovely and heartwarming and leaves it open enough for you to be able to imagine more happiness for her.
A decent enough read with an interesting twist at the end which made me question what I would do or how I would feel in that situation.
The story however does happen extraordinarily fast, which makes huge parts of it unbelievable. When Steph and Connor break up, there is not much time (only a few hours) before Steph has moved on. Similarly, her and Jamie's relationship moves incredibly quickly and makes it difficult to empathise with the main character as her friends are telling her to slow down, which she blatantly ignores. Another jarring part of her character are her inability to stand up to her awful family and I found myself becoming annoyed with Steph for most of the book. The job promotion is also ridiculous...
That being said, it's a nice easy read for the New Year season and touches on issues not often dealt with in contemporary fiction.
I really enjoyed this book and it did indeed remind me of Neil Gaiman's writing but also that of T.J. Klune, who I have been reading voraciously.
The British humour was brilliant and appealed to me, and I also liked getting to know the four horsemen and seeing what the author's take on them was. His depictions of them and how death works was interesting and humorous.
I think the romance could have been woven through the book a little more but then again, romance is my go-to genre!
Thank you to the author for this advanced reader copy. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend to those who enjoy books like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as the humour is similar.
Recieved in A Book and A Brew subscription box
The concept of this book really intrigued me and I was excited to start reading it. From the start I didn't like the main character at all (I actually didn't like any of the characters), but persevered because of books like Eleanor Oliphant, where I didn't like the characters at first but grew to love them.
The main character in this is just crass, inappropriate and completely unrelatable. The plot (if you can call it that) is not much better. It is completely bizarre and unbelievable. The demon part is not conceived in enough depth to be a significant part and if developed further could have been an interesting aspect to the book. As it is, the book seems half finished, with more questions than there are answers. It feels like a tangled mess of half complete ideas with awful characters.
I started this book disliking the characters, but as I continued to read they had some great character development. While there are lots of extreme portrayals of “modern” women, O'Porter covers a range of mental health issues in a refreshing way. I enjoyed the links between the characters and the references to social media.
I absolutely loved the concept of this book, it was so mysterious the whole way through. I usually guess what's going on but couldn't with this one, and thought the ending was such an interesting twist and made me question my thoughts and opinions on the subject matter. It took me a longer time to read than anticipated, which I found frustrating, but it was worth it!
