Belinda McKeon

Darn, I was so excited to read this after reading Tender, which I think is an excellent book, the best I've read all year, but I can't help being disappointed.
My expectations were obviously too high. I still love the prose, the realism, and the ending. But there was something about the tragedy that was a bit corny to me, and I do wish she would have given us readers a couple of pay-offs here or there; some moment of connection between our young couple- some puzzle piece that comes full circle, without being something too obvious- there are a couple attempts at this, but neither quite works. Is the family that Joanne is representing at the beginning of the book meant to mirror her own family at the end of the story? And more importantly, what becomes of her louboutin-sporting colleague? I enjoyed the book, but I think there were some problems with the pacing, and telling parts of the story in retrospect seemed messy to me. There seemed to be a constant attempt at not letting us see the relationship of the couple or any dialogue in the present between them- I think this was done purposely, but I can't quite figure it out. I'm rambling, but at least I'm not giving a book report like half the people on here :) On to some Philip K. Dick to keep things interesting!… (mere)

When this opened I thought, I might like this. University life in Dublin - shades of Normal People. Even the audiobook's narrator, Michelle Ferguson, with a strong Irish accent in my books, was understandable with a reasonably pleasant timbre - two qualities I haven't always found with the Irish narrators chosen to read Irish stories.

And I quite enjoyed the style of writing, the sharp eye for detail, the perceptions.

Didn't much like the swearing, which wasn't in direct speech but in the author's writing, strangely.

But I couldn't get into the story. The story was a non-story, despite the sharp detail in the telling - where was it going?! So I gave up listening to the audiobook after 3/13 parts.… (mere)