andintothetrees's reviews
567 reviews

I thought I would love this as I love Berlin and find the DDR fascinating. But I couldn't get into it. I think I was just really aware that I was reading something written in English about an German experience and that jarred for me. It's the same thing I feel about TV/movies that have English dialogue whilst being set in other countries (worst of all if they adopt "accents" whilst doing it), though I'll happily watch subtitled shows/movies originally filmed in the language of the country they're in. I realise this is personal weirdness and this seems to be a really good book going by others' reviews but it just put a wall up for me (sorry not sorry for the pun).

DNF - It might have been because I had a virus when I started reading this but looking at the reviews I'm not alone in finding it confusing and hard to get into. The setting didn't really appeal to me either but that's just personal preference and if the plot/characters had brought me in more I'd have been able to get over it.

Plot/compellingness 3/5 - I didn't feel desperate to pick the book up but once I did it rumbled along nicely
Themes 3/5 - interesting themes but somehow it didn't quite go deep enough
Characters 3/5
Emotional resonance 3/5
Writing style 4/5 

One thing I really liked about the book was that Nicki and her partner were a carer and a removal man respectively. It was really refreshing to read a book where the characters weren't all working in corporate/media office jobs!

There were a few things that didn't quite make sense and which I was surprised weren't picked up in the editing process (minor spoilers follow)
- a 90s-esque answering machine is referred to as a "voicemail", even by it's elderly owner. This could be a regional thing but I've never heard people refer to an old school machine in this way
- there is reference to someone needing a "scholarship" to attend a particular university. This isn't something I've ever heard of in the UK
- likewise one of the characters is taking "Advanced English" in a 6th form in England. This isn't a thing I've ever heard of - I thought people just did A Levels in 3 or 4 subjects?
- Nicki talks about how she could never afford a detached 3 bedroom house in Hove because it's £200k. Did the author do no research at all on this?! That's what you'd pay to live in a house like that in my small Scottish town, in Hove you'd be looking at something nearer a million! Nicki and her partner are apparently often on Zoopla, but it doesn't seem like the author was
(I know these are very minor points but they made the novel feel less believable for me)

I've read a lot of books about autism and I think this is my favourite. Listened to the audiobook and I really enjoyed the author's delivery too (he has a very listen-able voice). 

What I liked/didn't like - potentially spoiler-y

Liked:
- The early 00s nostalgia
- Especially as I also met my partner in the early 00s when we were teenagers, the whole mixtape-in-the-post scene was incredibly relatable, in the best possible way
- I think the descriptions of life/emotions in your teens/university years were very well done (and again nostalgic)
- I thought the subplot about sobriety was interesting and well-done
- The book was easy/enjoyable to read, I didn't feel it was a chore to pick it up

Disliked:
- That said, I was glad to finish it and I don't feel the need to seek out podcasts etc. discussing it - those are both signs this didn't really hit the spot for me
- The whole "OMG 30 is sooooooo old"-ness of the "now" plotline
- Also it wasn't really "now", was it? It was c2017, which is 7 years ago
- Tbh, the whole central premise was kind of annoying! Neither Lowe or Ella ever say how they feel out loud to each other, and at the times one at least kind of does, the other isn't receptive to it. I don't buy that it was some sort of "true love" tbh, if it was why TF did it take them so long to actually communicate that to each other?! (I know the idea was that they didn't want to spoil their ~beautiful friendship~ but nah, not buying it.)
- As the novel is very much based on the author's real life (she has said this), it felt a bit self-congratulatory, especially towards the end of the book when Ella is going on about how amazing she is; and in all the sections about how incredibly successful Lowe's band were
- Although some parts of the novel were very relatable, a lot of it was not your average UK-00s-teen experience: Ella goes to the BRIT school and the book is full of people who live in London and work in ~media~. I get that that is the author's world (and that of many people, though only a small minority) but I am a bit bored of reading things set there

I have Laura Dockrill's memoir to read too but I'm not sure now if it'll be annoying for similar reasons...

Plot/compellingness 3/5
Themes 3/5
Characters 3/5
Emotional resonance 3/5
Writing style 4/5

I enjoyed the style of this book and the two-strand plot structure was cleverly done. I just didn't really feel particularly emotionally engaged or compelled by the story. I think a lot of that was because I found the main character difficult to like (and not in a fun way! She was just very passive a lot of the time, and made a fair few questionable decisions. There weren't very many supporting characters either and those there were seemed kind of... bland?). I will continue to read Kate Sawyer's work as I think she has a lot to offer, but this wasn't my favourite.

Plot/compellingness 3/5
Themes 4/5
Characters 2/5
Emotional resonance 3/5
Writing style 5/5 

Plot/compellingness 3/5
Themes 4/5
Characters 4/5
Emotional resonance 4/5
Writing style 4/5

Listened to the audio book. Loved Sofie's reading of it. It's a good blend of personal accounts, interviews with experts and self-reflection. 

3.5 stars, it just didn't quite hit the spot for me and the plot was predictable/had a few holes. The characterisation was good though and

I thought the portrayal of PND was good.

Plot/compellingness 2/5
Themes 4/5
Characters 5/5
Emotional resonance 3/5
Writing style 3/5