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Brass
In this “spellbinding and utterly unique” coming of age novel, a nineteen-year-old Liverpool student drifts into a world of drugs and sexual hedonism (The Independent). Millie and her best friend, Jamie, have been through it all together. However, as Jamie begins to settle down with his girlfriend, Millie is lured away from a promising academic career toward a life of numbing drugs and increasingly deviant sexual encounters. Feeling betrayed by one of the few nurturing relationships in her life, Millie’s increasingly reckless behavior leads her to discover her own limitations, as well as the adult complexities of a family she thought she knew. Portraying a generation of youth—those coming of age in the eighties and nineties—through the prism of Millie, Helen Walsh has created one of the most startling novels to come out of Britain since Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting. “If you want to find out what is like to be a woman in England today [read] Brass.” —British Vogue “You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more ballsy, obnoxious, quick-witted, and lusty heroine than . . . Millie. . . . She’s just the kind of character you’ll be drawn to like a magnet.” —Bust “Walsh’s prose is rhythmic and carefully judged, and her descriptions are convincingly tactile.” —The New Yorker “A damn good read.” —TimeOut New York “Millie’s caustic commentary on the electro-charged sexual and intellectual power of post-adolescent women heralds the arrival of a promising new voice from the darker fringes of anti-girlhood.” —Publishers Weekly
308 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2004
47 people are currently reading
594 people want to read
About the author
Helen Walsh
31 books74 followersHELEN WALSH was born in Warrington in 1977 and moved to Barcelona at the age of sixteen. Working as a fixer in the red light district, she saved enough money to put herself through language school. Burnt out and broke, she returned to England a year later and now works with socially excluded teenagers in North Liverpool. Brass is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
June 29, 2012
I read Brass so you don't have to.
Brass forced me to compare it with Trainspotting. It shouldnta done that. Here’s why.
Trainspotting – published 1993, author Irvine Welsh aged 35 at the time
Brass – published 2004, author Helen Walsh (note surname is only one letter different) aged 27 at the time.
Trainspotting & Brass are both first novels. And may be said to reflect something of the authors’ former (so they said) lifestyles. So I'm glad I wasn't standing anywhere near them when they were doing this stuff.
Trainspotting and Brass - both written entirely in dialect. Trainspotting scores an impressive 90 on the Clockwork Orange scale, whereas Brass is a less challenging 50 to 55.
Trainspotting and Brass are both about a bunch of young scallies involved with largescale continual unrelenting substance abuse, especially of Class A drugs, plus alcohol. Sexual shenanigans are also involved. In Trainspotting there is more spiking up than shagging and in Brass there is more shagging than beaking but we will not split hairs. There is a lot of everything very bad for you.
Trainspotting and Brass both riotously exuberantly contemptuously blaringly use the grossest, vilest language just when mates are greeting each other in the bleary morning, never mind when something of a more fraught nature is occurring.
At the end of both Trainspotting and Brass the main character breaks free of this debauched lifestyle. So after 300 pages of bleakness, a little ray of sunshine pokes out. Ah.
Now here's a difference.
Trainspotting is uproariously gutwrenchingly gurgling-noises-and-mopping-of-face-area-in-public funny, it could be the funniest novel ever. Whereas Brass is dour. I may have smiled once or twice while reading it but that was when I remembered what this guy said yesterday about this woman at work, completely irrelevant to the book, I don’t even know why I’m mentioning it.
Whilst Trainspotting is a stone cold modern classic, Brass is not bad for a first novel.
Whilst Trainspotting is about Scottish scagheads, Brass is about scousers, particularly Millie who we meet aged 13 and who regales us throughout with the tales of her sexndrugs forms of entertainment and those of the other young female teens of Liverpool.
Millie is without doubt one of the all time most sex-obsessed characters in fiction. I’d like to quote a couple of bits so you get the (heh heh) flavour of the Millie experience. The thing about Millie is that she is same sex orientated but does not self-identify as gay, I think that’s how you describe it these days. So she’s always trawling the streets of Toxteth for a pickup. In these quotes please note I have replace the vulgar word for the female pudenda, which I know offends some people, with the word briefcase, which I trust will not offend anyone.
I can see her clearly now. She pauses outside the newsagents, hitches up her skirt and thrusts her hips out casually, classic hooker stance, like she’s just taking a rest. My briefcase is throbbing.
His voice is stripped of all emotion and I feel it resonate deep deep in my briefcase
There’s hatred in those eyes too and when he’s been drinking his pupils contract into demented, dangerous pinpricks. But to be sat within such proximity of such impossible physical architecture floods my briefcase with a woozy warmth.
Brass is set in Liverpool, one of those books where the city itself becomes a character, as they say. Things happen to Liverpool, it’s big and boozy and beatley and boisterous. City of joy, city of sorrow, city of loudmouths, city of poets, city of comedians. During the Second World War the Nazis bombed it on 80 separate occasions and killed 2500 people. About half of all houses were either destroyed or damaged. John Lennon was born in the middle of one of these air raids. One bomb falling in a slightly altered trajectory and that’s it, no Beatles. In 1985 Liverpool fans rioted and caused the Heysel football stadium disaster. Four years later 96 Liverpool football fans died at Hillsborough (in Sheffield, another town). Four years after that was the murder of James Bulger, one of those crimes which truly shock an entire nation. There were the Toxteth riots. It's a hell of a town. But last time I went there I thought it was great. I recommend a visit.
Just make sure you steer clear of anyone called Millie and her throbbing briefcase.
*********
TOILET SEX
In this book there's a long sex-in-a-public-toilet scene, very detailed, and as usual with these things, I got lost. I kept thinking okay, that goes there, then she puts her head there... wait a minute, that wouldn't work, she'd have to be the other way round - but then surely she's going to slip right off because one hand is already there and the other - well, we know where that is. So what would she have left for balance? Eventually I was wishing Helen Walsh could have provided either an appendix of diagrams or maybe a power point presentation on Youtube explaining how the hell it was done and why no one got a dislocated shoulder. I remember there was a scene in a controversial feminist slasher novel in the 80s called Dirty Weekend which was criticised very specifically for a car sex scene. The reviewer said the scene was a physical impossibility as the gear stick would have been in the way and moreover there would have been an 18 inch gap between the heroine's head and the object of her affection (as it were), given the fact that at the time her hands were bound to the steering wheel. I think the same thing is going on here in helen Walsh's toilet. But I wonder if we're actually supposed to visualise the move by move play in such scenes, or just get high on the Pavlovian repetition of the word briefcase.
Brass forced me to compare it with Trainspotting. It shouldnta done that. Here’s why.
Trainspotting – published 1993, author Irvine Welsh aged 35 at the time
Brass – published 2004, author Helen Walsh (note surname is only one letter different) aged 27 at the time.
Trainspotting & Brass are both first novels. And may be said to reflect something of the authors’ former (so they said) lifestyles. So I'm glad I wasn't standing anywhere near them when they were doing this stuff.
Trainspotting and Brass - both written entirely in dialect. Trainspotting scores an impressive 90 on the Clockwork Orange scale, whereas Brass is a less challenging 50 to 55.
Trainspotting and Brass are both about a bunch of young scallies involved with largescale continual unrelenting substance abuse, especially of Class A drugs, plus alcohol. Sexual shenanigans are also involved. In Trainspotting there is more spiking up than shagging and in Brass there is more shagging than beaking but we will not split hairs. There is a lot of everything very bad for you.
Trainspotting and Brass both riotously exuberantly contemptuously blaringly use the grossest, vilest language just when mates are greeting each other in the bleary morning, never mind when something of a more fraught nature is occurring.
At the end of both Trainspotting and Brass the main character breaks free of this debauched lifestyle. So after 300 pages of bleakness, a little ray of sunshine pokes out. Ah.
Now here's a difference.
Trainspotting is uproariously gutwrenchingly gurgling-noises-and-mopping-of-face-area-in-public funny, it could be the funniest novel ever. Whereas Brass is dour. I may have smiled once or twice while reading it but that was when I remembered what this guy said yesterday about this woman at work, completely irrelevant to the book, I don’t even know why I’m mentioning it.
Whilst Trainspotting is a stone cold modern classic, Brass is not bad for a first novel.
Whilst Trainspotting is about Scottish scagheads, Brass is about scousers, particularly Millie who we meet aged 13 and who regales us throughout with the tales of her sexndrugs forms of entertainment and those of the other young female teens of Liverpool.
Millie is without doubt one of the all time most sex-obsessed characters in fiction. I’d like to quote a couple of bits so you get the (heh heh) flavour of the Millie experience. The thing about Millie is that she is same sex orientated but does not self-identify as gay, I think that’s how you describe it these days. So she’s always trawling the streets of Toxteth for a pickup. In these quotes please note I have replace the vulgar word for the female pudenda, which I know offends some people, with the word briefcase, which I trust will not offend anyone.
I can see her clearly now. She pauses outside the newsagents, hitches up her skirt and thrusts her hips out casually, classic hooker stance, like she’s just taking a rest. My briefcase is throbbing.
His voice is stripped of all emotion and I feel it resonate deep deep in my briefcase
There’s hatred in those eyes too and when he’s been drinking his pupils contract into demented, dangerous pinpricks. But to be sat within such proximity of such impossible physical architecture floods my briefcase with a woozy warmth.
Brass is set in Liverpool, one of those books where the city itself becomes a character, as they say. Things happen to Liverpool, it’s big and boozy and beatley and boisterous. City of joy, city of sorrow, city of loudmouths, city of poets, city of comedians. During the Second World War the Nazis bombed it on 80 separate occasions and killed 2500 people. About half of all houses were either destroyed or damaged. John Lennon was born in the middle of one of these air raids. One bomb falling in a slightly altered trajectory and that’s it, no Beatles. In 1985 Liverpool fans rioted and caused the Heysel football stadium disaster. Four years later 96 Liverpool football fans died at Hillsborough (in Sheffield, another town). Four years after that was the murder of James Bulger, one of those crimes which truly shock an entire nation. There were the Toxteth riots. It's a hell of a town. But last time I went there I thought it was great. I recommend a visit.
Just make sure you steer clear of anyone called Millie and her throbbing briefcase.
*********
TOILET SEX
In this book there's a long sex-in-a-public-toilet scene, very detailed, and as usual with these things, I got lost. I kept thinking okay, that goes there, then she puts her head there... wait a minute, that wouldn't work, she'd have to be the other way round - but then surely she's going to slip right off because one hand is already there and the other - well, we know where that is. So what would she have left for balance? Eventually I was wishing Helen Walsh could have provided either an appendix of diagrams or maybe a power point presentation on Youtube explaining how the hell it was done and why no one got a dislocated shoulder. I remember there was a scene in a controversial feminist slasher novel in the 80s called Dirty Weekend which was criticised very specifically for a car sex scene. The reviewer said the scene was a physical impossibility as the gear stick would have been in the way and moreover there would have been an 18 inch gap between the heroine's head and the object of her affection (as it were), given the fact that at the time her hands were bound to the steering wheel. I think the same thing is going on here in helen Walsh's toilet. But I wonder if we're actually supposed to visualise the move by move play in such scenes, or just get high on the Pavlovian repetition of the word briefcase.
April 14, 2023
This is a book I've had for years on my bookshelf, having read it and found it edgy in the past.
On a re-read, I think this should be renamed Trash! It is literally fucking, fanny, beak, cunt, aul arse, fucken shite all the way through!
Just to clarify, I'm a Scouser! So the language of this book is known to me but it doesn't sum up the world of Liverpool for me at all! It is base, boring, lazy writing about a girl who likes shagging her way around Liverpool whilst either bevvied or high! There is nothing intelligent or interesting about the story. It is sensationalism at its worst!
Off this goes in my book purge, 1 star bollocks!
On a re-read, I think this should be renamed Trash! It is literally fucking, fanny, beak, cunt, aul arse, fucken shite all the way through!
Just to clarify, I'm a Scouser! So the language of this book is known to me but it doesn't sum up the world of Liverpool for me at all! It is base, boring, lazy writing about a girl who likes shagging her way around Liverpool whilst either bevvied or high! There is nothing intelligent or interesting about the story. It is sensationalism at its worst!
Off this goes in my book purge, 1 star bollocks!
October 23, 2019
Interesting “things fall apart” plot that really lacked a reason for the blatant sexual content. This book has been compared to Trainspotting, by Irvine Welsh, but it lacks the moral arc of that story. A reviewer on Amazon said it reminded her of Catcher in the Rye. Again, there’s no real underlying story. While I like literature that doesn’t necessarily have a main story arc, it needs to have some grounded philosophical point to make. You want to sympathize with Millie, but I just can’t. It has a Hollywood ending, too.
November 7, 2013
other reviews have called this book shocking, raw and gritty, but the only thing shocking about it to me was the pretense. self-indulgent, all angst and no breath of fresh air anywhere along the way. there were some humorous moments and it's certainly not the worst book i've ever read, but i wouldn't recommend it to anyone. didn't give me anything new to think about and nothing was said in a different or unique way.
March 9, 2011
Ho letteralmente ingoiato questo libro.
E' inebriante, stancante, altalenante come una sbronza.
E ho amato, senza pudore, ogni singola, durissima, dolcissima, acida, anfetaminica, alcolica parola.
Mi sono arresa, non ho opposto nessun tipo di resistenza.
L'ho ingoiato senza farmi domande.
Non mi succedeva da tempo, lasciarmi andare alla lettura senza riflettere, senza analizzare la tecnica o li stile, o la struttura nascosta del testo.
L'ho letto. E basta.
Ho camminato con Millie per le strade di Liverpool, mi sono ubriacata, mi sono drogata. Ho riso, ho sorriso e ho pianto, con la piccola, dolcissima, stronza Millie. Ho sentito il vuoto della mancanza e il calore dell'amicizia. Ho sentito la testa pesante per il rincorrersi incessante dei pensieri e il cuore gonfiarsi a sentire quelle frasi che da sole bastano a spazzare via tutto.
Helen Walsh scrive davvero bene, ha una incredibile padronanza del mezzo. La sua scrittura riesce ad essere contemporaneamente sporca e pulita, dolce e insensibile, ironica e triste, sicura e debole. In questo romanzo niente è di troppo, niente è lì per caso. Ti costruisce intorno un mondo che puoi vedere, toccare, sentire, annusare. Nessuna scena è fine a se stessa, niente è davvero volgare come sembra, ogni cosa che accade accade perché i personaggi la possano vivere e tu con loro.
Ogni avvenimento, ogni pensiero, ogni frase è lì per costruire un percorso che segui, e vuoi seguire, fino alla fine.
Certi passaggi spezzano il fiato, ti inondano di tenerezza. Altri ti spiazzano, resti immobile.
Ho riconosciuto tutto, anche quello che non ho mai vissuto.
E' inebriante, stancante, altalenante come una sbronza.
E ho amato, senza pudore, ogni singola, durissima, dolcissima, acida, anfetaminica, alcolica parola.
Mi sono arresa, non ho opposto nessun tipo di resistenza.
L'ho ingoiato senza farmi domande.
Non mi succedeva da tempo, lasciarmi andare alla lettura senza riflettere, senza analizzare la tecnica o li stile, o la struttura nascosta del testo.
L'ho letto. E basta.
Ho camminato con Millie per le strade di Liverpool, mi sono ubriacata, mi sono drogata. Ho riso, ho sorriso e ho pianto, con la piccola, dolcissima, stronza Millie. Ho sentito il vuoto della mancanza e il calore dell'amicizia. Ho sentito la testa pesante per il rincorrersi incessante dei pensieri e il cuore gonfiarsi a sentire quelle frasi che da sole bastano a spazzare via tutto.
Helen Walsh scrive davvero bene, ha una incredibile padronanza del mezzo. La sua scrittura riesce ad essere contemporaneamente sporca e pulita, dolce e insensibile, ironica e triste, sicura e debole. In questo romanzo niente è di troppo, niente è lì per caso. Ti costruisce intorno un mondo che puoi vedere, toccare, sentire, annusare. Nessuna scena è fine a se stessa, niente è davvero volgare come sembra, ogni cosa che accade accade perché i personaggi la possano vivere e tu con loro.
Ogni avvenimento, ogni pensiero, ogni frase è lì per costruire un percorso che segui, e vuoi seguire, fino alla fine.
Certi passaggi spezzano il fiato, ti inondano di tenerezza. Altri ti spiazzano, resti immobile.
Ho riconosciuto tutto, anche quello che non ho mai vissuto.
February 18, 2016
It was a quick, easy-to-read book despite of the parts that were written in dialect. The narrative was written so fluently you could almost hear it. Unlike most books, the sex scenes here are quite long and disturbing but it has just the right amount of vagueness to not make one uncomfortable. The ending, though, seemed like it was written fast-paced which made me rather sad since I did not want to stop reading just yet. I got a copy of this book four years ago, when I was just 17 but lost it to some good old friends so I had to buy another one and I am just glad to have read it just now when I'm a little more mature. I know I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much then as I do now. It's definitely one of my favorites.
September 26, 2012
i am the type of person who will finish a book even though i dont like it... but with this book i almost stopped reading it 1/3 of the way in. but i did finish it... the ending was the best part of the book so i am glad i finished it but i will not be reading this book more than once.
November 30, 2010
While at times shocking, which is the reason I wanted to read it, this book just seems pointless.
March 4, 2013
Raw and unforgiving, the writing is strong and pulls you in. I thought Millie was one of the more engaging protagonists I've come across in a while, but ultimately two things bother me about this book and make me want to give it more of a 3 and 1/2 star rating:
01. The lack of reason behind her outlandish behavior. Everything she did was so extreme, I was expecting a big revelation about her past or her family. What we got was less meaningful than I had expected. And if her actions weren't influenced by an outside source, I'd like to have seen her acknowledge and work towards fixing whatever inside of her that was broken.
02. The rape scene. Millie does, without a doubt, rape a young and drugged/drunk girl but never actually acknowledges this. Millie herself was fucked out of her mind but it doesn't excuse it, and it doesn't excuse the author for never coming back to that and leaving it as just another of her sexual escapades, which it was not. This is really irresponsible writing, and I'm not sure the author even realized how horrible this event was.
But as a reader, I can't help but force myself to ignore these weaknesses, because the book as a whole was engrossing, unyielding, and dynamic. And I felt the relationship between Jamie and Millie was one of the strongest written relationships I've read in a while.
01. The lack of reason behind her outlandish behavior. Everything she did was so extreme, I was expecting a big revelation about her past or her family. What we got was less meaningful than I had expected. And if her actions weren't influenced by an outside source, I'd like to have seen her acknowledge and work towards fixing whatever inside of her that was broken.
02. The rape scene. Millie does, without a doubt, rape a young and drugged/drunk girl but never actually acknowledges this. Millie herself was fucked out of her mind but it doesn't excuse it, and it doesn't excuse the author for never coming back to that and leaving it as just another of her sexual escapades, which it was not. This is really irresponsible writing, and I'm not sure the author even realized how horrible this event was.
But as a reader, I can't help but force myself to ignore these weaknesses, because the book as a whole was engrossing, unyielding, and dynamic. And I felt the relationship between Jamie and Millie was one of the strongest written relationships I've read in a while.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2011
Actually slightly less than "OK". There are a few thoughtful observations and interesting events (to say the least) but most of what's good in this novel is lost in pretense and--I hate saying it-- amateurish writing. Most non-UK readers will probably have a difficult time getting through the thick Scouse (Liverpudlian) dialect and UK slang and references. Millie, the main protagonist, seems like an attempt at a female British Holden Caulfield who at once revels in and rebels against the UK rave, drug and sex culture. Brass is more about characters (who are hard to care for), scenes and relationships. Sorry then 'la, there's just not much of story here.
April 9, 2010
Don't know where I got the impression that I had to read this book, but for some reason I was expecting it to be fantastic, but I couldn't make it through it. I don't often give up on a book, I'm normally quite stubborn.
September 11, 2019
Really enjoyed this - reminded me if Naill griffiths just wished it was a little longer
November 23, 2024
Trying so hard to be edgy that it turned silly.
An annoying read. The last pages are a little better but definitely not enough.
An annoying read. The last pages are a little better but definitely not enough.
November 3, 2008
This would've been 5 stars if the main charecter didn't claim to be bisexual. But I get it as part of the struggle.
It's a dark seedy read into the life of a 19 year old uni student... and as all 19 year old uni students... drink, drugs... parents... everything is a problem. Lying under that deep love for a man though she has her rocks off better with common street hookers.
It's nice on the level of "finally a book where chicks use hookers..." but it's not all there. Love and lust are tossed around so much I'm glad I'm not a 19 year old uni student any longer.
The sex scenes are really well written though.
It's a dark seedy read into the life of a 19 year old uni student... and as all 19 year old uni students... drink, drugs... parents... everything is a problem. Lying under that deep love for a man though she has her rocks off better with common street hookers.
It's nice on the level of "finally a book where chicks use hookers..." but it's not all there. Love and lust are tossed around so much I'm glad I'm not a 19 year old uni student any longer.
The sex scenes are really well written though.
May 18, 2011
I'm debating between three and four stars. The weak points in this book are probably its slightly overeager writing that repeats certain words over and over again. However the character Millie is impossible to get out of your head once you've read this book, I finished it in a day. It really draws you in despite the occasional writing hiccup. Basically if you've ever read an Irvine Welsh book and thought, wow I'd really like a female take on this, pick up Brass.
Read
January 7, 2012LOVED this book!!!
Once again...not for the faint of heart. This book takes place in the East End of London again...the slums, around the late '90s. It is a horrific account of street life, including drug addiction, prostitution, and of one little girl who hurled herself into the mire, forcing herself to grow up much too fast.
Once again...not for the faint of heart. This book takes place in the East End of London again...the slums, around the late '90s. It is a horrific account of street life, including drug addiction, prostitution, and of one little girl who hurled herself into the mire, forcing herself to grow up much too fast.
June 29, 2013
Set in the Liverpool suburb of Toxteth, a young girl's friendship with an old crush and sexual desires for him (a very dangerous and violent individual) are revealed through torturous, self destructive binges on drink and drugs whilst she has powerful cravings for female prostitutes and strange men. Frank, coarse and graphic. "Trainspotting" for the scousers.
June 20, 2011
I read this book in high school, and then again last year. It's set in London, which I love, but the subject matter is very racy and controversial, so, again, not recommended for the faint-hearted. If you can get past that, however, it was a good read because it was so startlingly honest.
September 12, 2012
Distasteful and absolutely filthy but a great read, believable characters and very convincing, and actually quite moving. Helen Walsh is an excellent writer. I could happily read it again which, for me, is the mark of a great novel.
March 6, 2008
I know I read this book, but I can't for the life of me recall what it's about, which should tell you how memorable it was.
April 2, 2008
i don't understand english slang. it's like listening to the jamaican at work talk, no idea what dude's sayin'.
July 17, 2013
Reminded me of Last Exit to Brooklyn (by Hubert Selby, Jr.) -- which I much preferred.
September 9, 2013
Want to unread.
July 8, 2023
Absolute filth, like descriptions of fingering prostitutes and sniffing lines every other page, bonus points for lots of lesbian sex. Not the best writing but extremely fun read :)
October 16, 2019
A good example of the new sexual genre from young female writers. Daring, bold and breathtaking both in good and bad. To be devoured fast with all the spicy ingredients without moralization or prejudice. Enjoy or dislike, there is no middle ground.
This wasn't as angry and full of rage as Baise-Moi by Virginie Despentes but there was the similar "Just don't care" attitude almost all over. The smooth movielike ending leveled down the preceding rough ride trough rainy alleys and shadowy pubs. Unnecessary softness some might say. It was a bit like an apology before the end titles filled the imaginary silver screen before my eyes. I didn't mind.
After all the crime novels I had read in a row before this, Brass was a refreshing and welcome exception. Both the subject and the language. And the location too. Liverpool, not always the same old London or some pretty village on the English countryside.
Almost a four star novel on my rigorous scale :-)
Lutka
Like 2006
This wasn't as angry and full of rage as Baise-Moi by Virginie Despentes but there was the similar "Just don't care" attitude almost all over. The smooth movielike ending leveled down the preceding rough ride trough rainy alleys and shadowy pubs. Unnecessary softness some might say. It was a bit like an apology before the end titles filled the imaginary silver screen before my eyes. I didn't mind.
After all the crime novels I had read in a row before this, Brass was a refreshing and welcome exception. Both the subject and the language. And the location too. Liverpool, not always the same old London or some pretty village on the English countryside.
Almost a four star novel on my rigorous scale :-)
Lutka
Like 2006
April 9, 2023
What a staggering ride. Was not expecting to be shocked — didn’t think I could be shocked, to be honest. But this book takes your expectations and facile assumptions and puts them on the slag heap.
Central to the narrative, protagonist Millie’s voice and energy propel the reader through every high and low conceivable (plus a few one might not conceive). It all feels picaresque for the first two thirds, but the strands knit around Millie’s assumption of what has shaped her entire life and the momentum picks up rapidly. Reading this, one thinks, don’t judge, don’t moralize, but decisions made and bad judgment exercised with desperate vigor makes one gasp.
When all is said and done, this book reveals empathy and compassion without facile and glib sentiments.
Central to the narrative, protagonist Millie’s voice and energy propel the reader through every high and low conceivable (plus a few one might not conceive). It all feels picaresque for the first two thirds, but the strands knit around Millie’s assumption of what has shaped her entire life and the momentum picks up rapidly. Reading this, one thinks, don’t judge, don’t moralize, but decisions made and bad judgment exercised with desperate vigor makes one gasp.
When all is said and done, this book reveals empathy and compassion without facile and glib sentiments.
August 7, 2023
Well!
I borrowed this from our company bookshelf as it looked interesting and I wasn’t disappointed.
It’s like a modern Catcher in the Rye in my view (lost soul struggling with childhood trauma and the routine boredom of everyday life), but much, much more gritty and realistic….and not unlike Trainspotting. I can’t remember seeing the c-word appear so many times in one book!
The cover states that the book works on the reader like a binge or a spree - and it definitely does.
I was left questioning where does Millie, the student, get all the cash for these benders and the hedonistic lifestyle. I guess that isn’t the point?
I borrowed this from our company bookshelf as it looked interesting and I wasn’t disappointed.
It’s like a modern Catcher in the Rye in my view (lost soul struggling with childhood trauma and the routine boredom of everyday life), but much, much more gritty and realistic….and not unlike Trainspotting. I can’t remember seeing the c-word appear so many times in one book!
The cover states that the book works on the reader like a binge or a spree - and it definitely does.
I was left questioning where does Millie, the student, get all the cash for these benders and the hedonistic lifestyle. I guess that isn’t the point?
July 22, 2020
I liked this book. I could relate to Millie in some ways with her spiraling and numbing herself. I enjoy pulp and raunch so I wasn't so put off by the graphic'ness of the sexual exploits. I felt connected to the characters and could feel the pain and conflict that they went through. when i read the synopsis prior to reading i thought that Millie would delve into the world of prostitution as a working girl, so in a way i kept waiting for that to happen.
February 24, 2021
I can imagine that the brutal tone of this book would put an awful lot of people off. It pulls no punches and as much as I admire that I found the central character, Millie, so hateful and loathsome that I never really felt any real empathy for her. For me, the best bad guys are the ones that you feel a bit conflicted about, but I felt no conflict here and I was actually really annoyed at the ending. I won't give any spoilers but I felt strongly that she didn't deserve that ending.
August 6, 2023
I got this book on a second hand book sale and did not know the author. It was not an easy read given all the slang, but overall it was an interesting read and I finished the book.
There is a vast array of explicit sexual scenes and I always ask myself whether this really adds to the quality and if the book would really have been worse without it.
I think the struggles of Millie could have been described differently as well, but on the whole and for a debut, it wasn’t too bad.
There is a vast array of explicit sexual scenes and I always ask myself whether this really adds to the quality and if the book would really have been worse without it.
I think the struggles of Millie could have been described differently as well, but on the whole and for a debut, it wasn’t too bad.
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