July book review
Short but sweet
A brilliant start to the month with another 5 star read, perfect for summer. However, I now find myself at the end of the month trying to escape a miserable reading slump relying on short Faber stories and friend’s 5 star reccomendations to get me out of it (unsuccessful so far but we are slowly getting there). I have been attemtping to get through The Island by Victoria Hislop, the pace isn’t there for me yet and I REFUSE to DNF (my own red flag)… fingers crossed you will see it in next month’s book review. But until then enjoy July’s BR :)
Evenings & Weekends by Oisin McKenna - 5/5
Evenings & Weekends by Oisín McKenna floored me. It’s one of those rare novels that you fall into immediately, the kind of story that doesn’t wait for you to settle in but pulls you under from the first page. I found myself utterly submerged in the characters’ lives, their relationships, and the emotional undercurrents that ripple through every chapter. It’s sharp, deeply moving, and effortlessly layered.
One of the standout elements for me was McKenna’s use of multiple perspectives and a dialogue-heavy structure. I love novels that take this approach, and Evenings & Weekends does it exceptionally well. The switching viewpoints added a raw, intimate feel to the storytelling. You get to know each character not just through their own lens, but through the perceptions and projections of others. This web of voices builds such a rich emotional texture and really amplifies the tension and vulnerability threaded throughout the book. Every character arc felt deeply considered and emotionally honest. But what really stood out was the unexpected, tender friendship between Roseleen and Joan, the two mothers. There was something so powerful in watching these women, so different in temperament and circumstance, find space and care in one another’s company. Their dynamic offered a sense of grounding and warmth that contrasted so beautifully with the chaos and emotional friction in the younger characters' lives.
Thematically, this novel is nothing short of brilliant. McKenna explores class, queerness, family, mental health, addiction, ambition, identity, and the anxiety of trying to hold everything together when your world feels like it’s coming undone. What struck me most was how these themes were not just inserted for effect, they’re deeply embedded in the characters' lives, choices, and interactions. There’s a rawness to how trauma and love coexist, how generational patterns repeat or break, and how people yearn for connection while constantly sabotaging it out of fear or pride.
I was particularly drawn to how masculinity and emotional repression were handled, especially through the younger male characters. There’s a lingering tension between what they feel and what they’re allowed or able to express. This created some of the novel’s most quietly heartbreaking moments.
At the same time, the book is also funny, biting, and genuinely entertaining. It captures the chaotic beauty of modern London so well, the messiness of flat shares, night buses, working multiple jobs, getting too drunk at the wrong time, trying to make art and still pay rent. London isn’t just a backdrop here; it’s a breathing, flawed, vibrant presence. A character itself.
Reading this felt like being on an emotional rollercoaster (in the best, most non-cliché way possible). There were moments I felt crushed, then suddenly elated, and then quietly devastated again, all within the space of a few pages. McKenna’s writing is that emotionally agile. It manages to hold heartbreak and joy, frustration and hope, side by side. In short, Evenings & Weekends is a tender, unflinching, and unforgettable novel. It’s the kind of book that keeps circling back in your mind days after you finish it. I already know I’ll be recommending it to anyone who asks for something emotionally intelligent, beautifully written, and unapologetically real. A solid five stars.
A Cheater’s Guide to Love: Faber stories by Junot Diaz - 1.75/5
This was such an incredibly bizarre short story, in all honesty I picked this up as a short story to try push me past the reading block that loomed towards the end of my trip. After previous success with Faber stories this unusual title enticed me. However, the narrative and unberable characters within are far from enticing and had me grimacing throughout.
This story follows Yunior as he navigates five years of emotional wreckage after his long history of infidelity (serial-cheater), chronicling Yunior’s slow, painful attempt to recover from heartbreak, guilt, and the consequences of his own self-destructive behavior. Told in the second person, the story creates a raw intimacy, pulling readers directly into Yunior’s regret, loneliness, and longing. As he tries to move forward through casual flings, writing projects, and failed attempts at introspection, he is haunted by the loss and by his inability to truly change. The story explores themes of masculinity, fidelity, identity, and the struggle for redemption. But both our main character and author fail to address his blatant and rather disturbing addiction to sex, with dangerous rhetoric flowing freely throughout short story, I was left with an eerie feeling of another reflection of society. There is no break through, he doesn’t deserve one.
Come Rain or Come Shine by Kazuo Ishiguro - 3/5
In an attempt to escape the book slump I currently find myself in, I have been exploring the Faber Stories (hoping to find a catch). This would be the third short story I have read from the landmark collection and I am still unsure, each piece has ranged so dramatically that I unfortuantely do not feel cured as of yet despite last month’s success. Nethertheless, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Come Rain or Come Shine is an absurdly intriguing novella exploring themes of nostalgia, worth, and friendship.
‘Come Rain or Come Shine’ - where the words themselves were happy, but the interpretation was pure heartbreak - pg 5.
The scene setting feels asthough it is engulfed in music, more specifically the smooth tones of Jazz rather than the location itself, establishing the nostalgic feelings of friendship as a pretense to the manipulation of loyalty. The story follows Ray, a middle-aged man whose university friendships with couple Charlie and Emily have since disipated despite Charlie’s claims of loyalty shien through guilt and desperation. There is an unsettling tone throughout the piece as Ray is turned into Charlie’s pawn in attempts to loosen tensions with the ‘queen’ (his wife, Emily). With such a heavy emphasis on worth and performativeness, you cannot help but feel uncomfortable at the extent of the couple’s superficial middle-class behaviours, their obssession with adulthood and success with the consistent comparisons to Ray.
This leads to an ongoing lack of accountability between all three characters, a constant blame-shift between each other and therefore a rise in both tension and confusion. Their safety comes in nostalgia, in jazz the music bringing them minuetes of peace as though excusing their misbehaviours in the present.
Any tips welcome on getting out of this reading slump I feel like I have tried everything!