Book Review - Half A World Away by Mike Gayle - #HolidayReading Madeira

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Amazon UK

Title: Half A World Away

Author: Mike Gayle

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication Date: 19th March 2020

Rating: 5 Stars

Strangers living worlds apart.
Strangers with nothing in common.

But it wasn't always that way...

Kerry Hayes is a single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never hope to afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot ever forget her past.

Noah Martineau is a successful barrister with a beautiful wife, daughter and home in fashionable Primrose Hill. Adopted as a child, Noah always looks forward, never back.

When Kerry reaches out to the sibling she lost on the day they were torn apart as children, she sets in motion a chain of events that will have life-changing consequences for them both. 

By turns funny and moving, Half a World Away is a story that will stay with you long after you read its powerfully emotional, heartbreaking final page.

Words can't describe adequately what I feel about this book. 

Without a doubt Mike Gayle's best book, and I've read them all, and its such a powerful but heartbreaking story, 

I was almost in floods of tears for most of the last fifth of the book, and kept having to swallow the lump in my throat, purely as I didn't want people wondering why on earth I was crying poolside on holiday. 

Kerry and Noah couldn't have had any more different upbringings if they tried, but yet there are a few similarities in their lives. 

This is a story of siblings reconnecting after many years apart, but its also about family, and deals with tough subjects too, but in a sensitive manner. 

i really don't want to say much about the plot, purely as I feel its best discovered for yourself.  I went in completely blindly, having downloaded this purely because I love the author, and was rewarded with a fabulous experience. 

Such a fantastic story that I feel has enriched my life for having read it 

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton on Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - The Man I Think I Know by Mike Gayle

Amazon UK

Title: The Man I Think I Know

Author: Mike Gayle

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication Date: 19th April 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Ever since The Incident, James DeWitt has stayed on the safe side.

He likes to know what happens next.

Danny Allen is not on the safe side. He is more past the point of no return.

The past is about to catch up with both of them in a way that which will change their lives forever, unexpectedly.

But redemption can come in the most unlikely ways.

Really no idea about to review this as the specifics that make James and Danny such special characters are best discovered by the reader. I truly believe going into this book with no preconceptions or thoughts as to what greatness would lie between its pages was the best way forward as anything else would have spoilt the surprise. 

I have always enjoyed Mike Gayle's writing but although this does feature male friendship this a book that is sweet, heartwarming, and talks of new chances and two characters who really do experience huge personal growth as the story progresses. 

Although they don't realise it at first both Danny and James really need each other in their lives, and they both think they are helping the other.  It is not the most likely of fledgling friendships how it begins, especially once you know both mens startin circumstances, 

What I am delighted to be able to say was that I was gripped and moved by the story, I just wanted more and more of these two remarkable young men and their stories. The book alternates viewpoints between James and Danny and I loved getting to know both of them on many levels. 

This book felt very different to the majority of the others I've read by Mike Gayle and if this is the new direction he is taking his writing, then I can only applaud him. The Man I Think I Know is a remarkable book that I wish could have continued for longer. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - The Hope Family Calendar by Mike Gayle - Back Catalogue Books - #AroundTheUKIn144Books #Surrey

Back Catalogue Books is my new regular Saturday feature, focusing on books that are not the latest releases. There is going to be a mix of Q&As and also reviews, depending on what I have the space for. 

If you are an author wanting to take part in Back Catalogue Books then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you. 

I hope everyone enjoys this weekly look back at some of the slightly older books that are about but still great, going to aim to read books that have been out for at least 6 months, and that I eventually make a dent in my TBRs as a result of it!

Given I downloaded this in July of last year, I can't help but think its definitely valid for this feature, and about time I read it!  

Amazon UK

Title: The Hope Family Calendar

Author: Mike Gayle

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication Date: 16th June 2016

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Tom Hope is broken. Ever since his wife Laura died he hasn't been the same man, and definitely not the same father. Luckily for Tom his mother-in-law Linda is around to pick up the pieces and look after his two struggling daughters, Evie and Lola.

But Tom getting arrested on the first anniversary of his wife's death is the last straw for Linda.

In a last bid attempt to make Tom reconnect with his daughters she takes drastic action and leaves for Australia. With two fast-maturing daughters Tom has to learn how to accept his responsibilities and navigate the newly discovered world of single fatherhood - starting immediately.

With only himself to rely on, will Tom fall back into grief or finally step up and be the father his girls need?

Far more serious in places than the average Mike Gayle novel, this is one family's journey to come to terms with the death of Laura, husband to Tom, and daughter to Linda, and mother to Evie and Lola. One year on from her death, and Linda is at her wits end, as Tom is still deep in grief but turning into a workaholic and barely spends any time with his daughters, while she has moved in and taken over Laura's role. 

Linda realises there is only one thing she can do to force Tom to take control of his own actions, and make him step up to the world of single parenthood, and she flies off to Australia for 6 months, despite it hurting her to be separated from her grandchildren. 

The book is told from both Tom and Linda's perspectives and on the whole it is an uplifting story, there are moments that will make you smile, and Mike Gayle's normal wit is definitely there to shine through in places, such as Clive, Tom's new friend. 

I loved reading about what Linda was getting up to Australia, and how she was coping. She has her ups and downs but its lovely to read about. Tom on the other hand struggles big time at first, and slowly learns and remembers how to be a parent. He is scared of doing the wrong thing, but his daughters are generally great girls and I especially loved Lola the youngest. 

Tom over the course of the book experiences a real rollercoaster of emotion, as he tries to get life back on track for him and the girls. Sometimes he is a typical non thinking man, others he is a compassionate father and goes to great lengths to make sure he can fulfill promises to his daughters. 

The Hope Family Calendar is a pleasureable story that I think would give griefing people some hope at the end of the tunnel. Tom and Linda both do a lot of growing in the novel, and after part 1 was finished, and the story was moving in the right direction, I found it very hard to put down, as I was enamoured in their story, while crossing my fingers that things would work out well. 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hodder for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.