Review: Each Vagabond By Name

Review:  Each Vagabond By Name

By Margo Orlando Littell

Is it possible for a book to be both quiet and explosive all at once? If so, this author has managed to do it.

I went into this book pretty blind, which is what I tend to do with a lot of books. I enjoy the story more that way without having any expectations. Each Vagabond by Name was published by Uno Press and I was thrilled they sent a copy my way for an honest review. 

It's not often that I can say that I loved a book from beginning to end but this one I did.  This is about a small quiet town full of people that trust each other and know every one by their first name. Our main character is Ramsy, who runs the local tavern and serves the locals on a nightly basis. The peacefulness of this town is soon destroyed when a group of gypsies start looting people's houses and terrifying the townsfolk and what ensues afterward when anger and revenge start to tear their ugly heads. 

 This story is about loss, heartbreak, rage, losing hope and finding it again, forgiveness and compassion. 

I encourage everyone to pick up this book if you enjoy quiet but passionately written stories. This is definitely an author I want to check out more of in the future. 

My rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Review ~ The Lesser Bohemians

Review: The Lesser Bohemians

Author:  Eimear McBride

Series: Standalone

Publisher:  Hogarth

How I got it: Blogging for Books

Pub Date:  Sept 20, 2016

Pages:  320

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary

Format: Hardcover

ISBN:  9781101903483

My Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amazon Description:  

Shortlisted for the 2016 Goldsmiths Prize

Shortlisted for the 2016 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards Eason Novel of the Year

The breathtaking new novel from Eimear McBride, about an extraordinary, all-consuming love affair

Eimear McBride’s debut novel A GIRL IS A HALF-FORMED THING was published in 2013 to an avalanche of praise: nominated for a host of literary awards, winner of the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction and the inaugural Goldsmith’s Prize, declared by Vanity Fair to be "One of the most groundbreaking pieces of literature to come from Ireland, or anywhere, in recent years," McBride’s bold, wholly original prose immediately established her as a literary force. Now, she brings her singular voice to an unlikely love story.

One night an eighteen-year-old Irish girl, recently arrived in London to attend drama school, meets an older man – a well-regarded actor in his own right. While she is naive and thrilled by life in the big city, he is haunted by more than a few demons, and the clamorous relationship that ensues risks undoing them both.

A captivating story of passion and innocence, joy and discovery set against the vibrant atmosphere of 1990s London over the course of a single year, THE LESSER BOHEMIANS glows with the eddies and anxieties of growing up, and the transformative intensity of a powerful new love.

My Review:

What an enjoyable surprise!  

It took me awhile to get going with this book because of the writing, but once I got the hang of it, I loved it.  

If you're not used to reading a book like this, you may feel the same.  It's written in a kind of stream of consciousness prose and can be confusing.  One thing that helped me was reading some of it out loud and the other thing that helped was watching and listening to a YouTube video of Eimear McBride reading this book at a public event.  Once I did, it made it easier to figure out how it should be read.

This is a story about a girl who has arrived at drama school in London and is beginning a new life for herself.  She meets an older fellow actor and they enter into a relationship.  The age gap of course causes issues, seeing as how he has been through and seen much more of life than she has.  

This is a tale about passion, growing up, and coming of age.  I loved everything about it and look forward to reading McBride's first novel A Girl is a Half Formed Thing and any work she comes out with in the future.  I give it 4 stars only because of the difficulty I had in the beginning getting used to the writing style and it took me much longer than normal to get this book read.  Other than that, I loved it.

 I received this book from Blogging For Books for this review.

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