This book reminded me of Virgin Suicides in that the entire book felt like a preface to a book that doesn't exist. Despite this, it was quite an enjoyable read.
Majority of the first half was the main character telling stories or anecdotes from her childhood that didn't really need to be in the book but made the character seem more like a friend or someone I knew.
The ending of the book felt very lazy as it stopped seemingly in the middle of the story, I understand the characters were at peace after having struggled throughout the novel but the story didn't feel complete and left me unsatisfied.
The lack of plot made it a lightweight read despite the morbid display of mental illness throughout the book. I cant explain how this is but the struggle of mental illness is portrayed so badly that it the book was actually enjoyable because it made mental illness seem not all that bad, the only person who really struggled was the mum who was shown to be more clinically insane than struggling with mental health.
In terms of genre, this is a coming of age story about a teenager in Dublin and yet it doesn't seem like a young adult novel, its more of an adult contemporary and even at that I don't think a lot of people would approve due to the poor portrayal of mental health issues.
In my opinion, I thought the story was slightly enjoyable despite the fact that nothing much happened in this book but the author's note at the end was incredibly interesting and may have just been the best thing about this book.
Majority of the first half was the main character telling stories or anecdotes from her childhood that didn't really need to be in the book but made the character seem more like a friend or someone I knew.
The ending of the book felt very lazy as it stopped seemingly in the middle of the story, I understand the characters were at peace after having struggled throughout the novel but the story didn't feel complete and left me unsatisfied.
The lack of plot made it a lightweight read despite the morbid display of mental illness throughout the book. I cant explain how this is but the struggle of mental illness is portrayed so badly that it the book was actually enjoyable because it made mental illness seem not all that bad, the only person who really struggled was the mum who was shown to be more clinically insane than struggling with mental health.
In terms of genre, this is a coming of age story about a teenager in Dublin and yet it doesn't seem like a young adult novel, its more of an adult contemporary and even at that I don't think a lot of people would approve due to the poor portrayal of mental health issues.
In my opinion, I thought the story was slightly enjoyable despite the fact that nothing much happened in this book but the author's note at the end was incredibly interesting and may have just been the best thing about this book.