Our Country Friends follows a group of 8 friends over a 6 month lockdown. This had the potential to be a extremely humorous and thoughtful read however I feel like it doesn't reach said potential.
The characters themselves, which very distinctive when describing them, were one blur when reading the story. Although each character individually was interesting to read about, the prose itself made the reading experience difficult. The novel has multiple povs but there is no difference between them and it would take me an entire page to realise it was a new pov. Their voices were too similar and completely unoriginal.
The highlight for me was the character of Nat who was unique, fun to read about and everything I aspired to be at her age, despite what the novel considered flaws. She was also the only one with any semblance of sense.
I thought the plot was basic and convoluted and at times annoying, especially with the Actor. It was a tedious process to read and by about 75% it felt like the author had run out of ideas.
The characters themselves, which very distinctive when describing them, were one blur when reading the story. Although each character individually was interesting to read about, the prose itself made the reading experience difficult. The novel has multiple povs but there is no difference between them and it would take me an entire page to realise it was a new pov. Their voices were too similar and completely unoriginal.
The highlight for me was the character of Nat who was unique, fun to read about and everything I aspired to be at her age, despite what the novel considered flaws. She was also the only one with any semblance of sense.
I thought the plot was basic and convoluted and at times annoying, especially with the Actor. It was a tedious process to read and by about 75% it felt like the author had run out of ideas.