Amazon UK
Title: Home
Author: Matt Dunn
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: 10th November 2015
Rating: 4.5 Stars
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| Amazon UK |
It’s been eighteen years since Josh Peters left dreary, dying Derton—the seaside town where he grew up—and headed for the bright lights of London. Now his dad is sick and his mum needs him, so he’s back—though he’s promised himself he won’t be staying for long...
Then Josh finds himself unexpectedly detained in Derton, living in his cramped teenage bedroom, with simmering family tensions a little too close for comfort. Back amongst the old friends, old enemies, and old flames he left behind, he’s worried that some things may never change.
But is Derton the same place he couldn’t wait to escape from back then, full of failures and bitter memories, or has it been doing just fine without him? As Josh revisits his past, will he find that the only one who hasn’t moved on is him?
His London life is calling him back—but sometimes there’s no place like home...
Then Josh finds himself unexpectedly detained in Derton, living in his cramped teenage bedroom, with simmering family tensions a little too close for comfort. Back amongst the old friends, old enemies, and old flames he left behind, he’s worried that some things may never change.
But is Derton the same place he couldn’t wait to escape from back then, full of failures and bitter memories, or has it been doing just fine without him? As Josh revisits his past, will he find that the only one who hasn’t moved on is him?
His London life is calling him back—but sometimes there’s no place like home...
Eighteen years ago Josh Peters left Derton-on-Sea, thinking it was a backward place, and was never going to live up to the possibilities of London. He has barely been back in the between times, and now has gone back to visit his parents, and to take his Dad to a key medical appointment.
After receiving the worst news at the appointment, Josh decides he has to stick around to support his parents, however long it takes, even at the cost of his job and girlfriend.
My first thoughts on a book starting in this way was that it would be a very depressing story, as we watch the decline of Josh's father, however I couldn't have been more wrong. Home is still a romantic comedy, written in Matt Dunn's distinctive style. At some points the comedy is Josh's dad making bad jokes about his situation and about anything, but it was his coping mechanism, and on the whole, the book is very upbeat, even if I was very emotional towards the end.
While Josh is back in Derton he meets up with old friends, his ex-girlfriend, which upon meeting her again, he starts to wonder why his 18 year old self let her go, and also his old nemesis. He also discovers that Derton has moved with the times and is close to a thriving tourist town again, and it seems to him, that only thing that hasn't changed, is himself.
Home really is about where you can call home, and about family. Josh never had a great relationship with his father, but as this book progresses, they finally start to get along a lot better, or at least understand each other.
I found Home to be quite refreshing compared with a lot of the books I have been reading recently, as its always nice to read a book aimed at women, written by a man, with a male lead character, and Josh just proves that age old conclusion, that men find it hard to work out what a woman is thinking!
This is a brilliant book, that I have really enjoyed reading. Its a reasonably quick to read story, and feels in places a bit more mature than previous books by Matt Dunn. Home is a great introduction to this author, if you have never read anything by him before.
Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.
After receiving the worst news at the appointment, Josh decides he has to stick around to support his parents, however long it takes, even at the cost of his job and girlfriend.
My first thoughts on a book starting in this way was that it would be a very depressing story, as we watch the decline of Josh's father, however I couldn't have been more wrong. Home is still a romantic comedy, written in Matt Dunn's distinctive style. At some points the comedy is Josh's dad making bad jokes about his situation and about anything, but it was his coping mechanism, and on the whole, the book is very upbeat, even if I was very emotional towards the end.
While Josh is back in Derton he meets up with old friends, his ex-girlfriend, which upon meeting her again, he starts to wonder why his 18 year old self let her go, and also his old nemesis. He also discovers that Derton has moved with the times and is close to a thriving tourist town again, and it seems to him, that only thing that hasn't changed, is himself.
Home really is about where you can call home, and about family. Josh never had a great relationship with his father, but as this book progresses, they finally start to get along a lot better, or at least understand each other.
I found Home to be quite refreshing compared with a lot of the books I have been reading recently, as its always nice to read a book aimed at women, written by a man, with a male lead character, and Josh just proves that age old conclusion, that men find it hard to work out what a woman is thinking!
This is a brilliant book, that I have really enjoyed reading. Its a reasonably quick to read story, and feels in places a bit more mature than previous books by Matt Dunn. Home is a great introduction to this author, if you have never read anything by him before.
Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.
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