This week’s review is of The State We’re in by Adele Parks. What do I say about this book?
Is it chick lit? Perhaps. It’s certainly about the things that women seem to concern themselves about. Family, love, loss, children. The future. Partnerships/marriage. (Perhaps our world would be a rather better place if men concerned themselves a little more openly with some of those things.) Chick lit seems such a demeaning and throwaway term for a book that had me in tears at the ending though. Perhaps my problem there is with the term, rather than the material though. I feel more pondering on genre titles coming on.
The characterisation is thorough and believable. The storyline could grace a magazine with the headline truth is stranger than fiction, though hopefully never has. The ending. Oh dear. I will #KeepTheSecret, but I will say that I read ever faster as I got near the end, with my eyes glued to the page I was on, terrified that I’d skip across and see something before I was ready to. There were so many different ways it could have gone, and some would perhaps have been easier, but the authenticity of it is what had me in tears.
Have I told you enough? Or do you need to know that it covers aspects of a story that starts in 1976? Gives you two generations of characters to get to know? Goes into detail from a number of different viewpoints, some rather more likeable than others?
Sometimes I’m very pleased I’m a book blogger. I don’t think I would ever have thought to pick this book up for myself. I’m very pleased to have read it for review. And I’m still rerunning the ending in my head.
If you read it, when it’s available, I’d love if you popped back to let me know what you think.
Other than that, I’d very much like to know what you have been reading. Got any recommendations for me?
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The background: I’ve challenged Big to read 52 books this year. She will probably be mentioning them over here on her blog. I’m also going to have a crack at reading at least 52 books myself, and more importantly, I’m going to keep track of what books I’m reading to the little ones. I’m going to do all of that in a weekly post, and I’ve also set up a google plus community which you’re very welcome to join. (If you need an invitation, leave me a comment using relevant email address – which will stay hidden.)
Ross Mountney says
Hi Jax, are you interested in reading ‘A Funny Kind Of Education’? 🙂 Story of family life, family love and random education! Happy to send you a copy if so! xx
Jax Blunt says
Definitely. Will drop you an email
Mommy Has a Headache says
I love Adele Parks so I will definitely be checking this one out. Thanks for the review. At the moment I am reading Jennifer Worth’s Call the Midwife which is a memoir of a midwife who worked in the East End in the 1950s and is absolutely mesmerizing.
Jax Blunt says
I’ve heard about that a few times. Must check it out.