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Cyril Blanchard #1
Surviving Cyril
When Robin Matheson’s husband is killed in Afghanistan, she finds herself suddenly alone: an outsider in a community grieving for the hometown hero it never really knew. Though the thought of spending the rest of her life without Tavis is exhausting, Robin has no choice but to pull herself together for the sake of their son. She finds some satisfaction in cutting ties with Tav’s obnoxious best friend, Cyril—a 500-pound hacker who didn’t even bother to come to the funeral.
Unfortunately, her three-year-old decides Cyril is now his best buddy, and Robin can’t bear to take anything else away from her son. A few hot dogs and video games won’t do any permanent damage… right?
Cyril doesn’t magically transform into a good person—or even a decent one—but he does prove to be a better role model than Robin expected. Gradually, she also begins to realize that Cyril may be the one person who truly understands the magnitude of her loss.
He also knows far more about her husband’s death than he’s been letting on.
Unfortunately, her three-year-old decides Cyril is now his best buddy, and Robin can’t bear to take anything else away from her son. A few hot dogs and video games won’t do any permanent damage… right?
Cyril doesn’t magically transform into a good person—or even a decent one—but he does prove to be a better role model than Robin expected. Gradually, she also begins to realize that Cyril may be the one person who truly understands the magnitude of her loss.
He also knows far more about her husband’s death than he’s been letting on.
346 pages, Paperback
Published April 18, 2017
323 people are currently reading
1025 people want to read
About the author
Ramsey Hootman
5 books126 followersRamsey Hootman lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area. She loves hearing from readers via email (ramseyhootman@gmail.com) and is almost guaranteed to say "yes" if you ask her to do a Skype session with your library or book club.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
August 10, 2017
It has now been a month since I read this book but I am still thinking about it. Especially that 'entreaty', 'demand' at the end. And the more I remember it the more perfect I find it. Because looking back as the book demands I can see that Hootman reached perfection there. Because that sentence has so, so much packed into it.
bacha bazi or the price paid for 'saving the world - vive le liberte'
bacha bazi or the price paid for 'saving the world - vive le liberte'
May 9, 2017
Surviving Cyril
Brilliant storytelling with very real characters!
I was curious when I saw this on Netgalley but decided to give it a chance. I hadn't read anything by this author before and I thought this would be a good place to start.
I wasn't wrong. This is a well written story. It manages to be moving, deeply emotional, funny and yet heartbreaking all at the same time. It explores love, hope, compassion and grief.
When Robin loses her husband to the war in Afghanistan she faces an unfathomable grief but she starts to crawl her way through because she has to survive for her four year old son Seth. Robin is a survivor but being a young widow pushes her to the brink. She knows she will get through this but she misses Tavis, her husband, and she knows she now has to learn to live without him. Dealing with her own loss is hard enough but having to manage the way other people deal with her loss is not something she has the time or patience for. She wants to grieve but she doesn't want to have to deal with other people's well meaning platitudes or their own grief. She also doesn't want to deal with her mother's grief.
And the there are her husband's friends. They weren't really her friends and she can keep them at a suitable distance despite their attempts to get her to join their outings and church activities.
And then there is Cyril.
Cyril is Tavis's no-hoper friend and best buddy. Hugely overweight, utterly mannerless and with no sensitivity whatsoever Cyril is the last person on earth that she wants to spend time with. Unfortunately just like his dad, four year old Seth adores Cyril or 'cereal' as he calls him and so Robin can't edge Cyril out of their life as she would really like to, in fact to some extent she has come to depend on him.
And so she dutifully takes Seth to visit Cyril and Cyril gets to act as uncle and slowly, slowly through shared grief and hope she gets to know Cyril and to see him as a human being not just a friend of her husband.
But there is so much more to Cyril than meets the eye and when Robins's life takes a sudden unexpected turn, Robin realises that Cyril is someone who is there for her without smothering her, someone she can depend on without losing the strong independent part of who she really is and she can weep, laugh, rage or be silent and Cyril is able to give her the space to do all those things. Having said this he is still the objectionable person he always was, until Robin finds out that her husband's death may not have been an accident and somehow Cyril has information about what really happened in Afghanistan.
Robin then has to face, not just the challenges of grief and loss but also the pressures of being in the middle of a media whirlwind, coping with both tragedy and with an unexpected life changing event.
This is such a wonderful story. The emotions just flow from the page and although the story starts from a sad place it is a story of hope. It is also a story about life, family and friendship and being able to make a way through life's devastations. And it is just gripping because Cyril is a pure anti-hero. He isn't a likeable character at all and that's what makes him so interesting. No six pack romantic here, just a foul mouth, overweight, slovenly computer nerd who grieves for his best friend in his own way and reluctantly becomes family for a widow and a small child.
I really liked the grittiness of the story telling and the rich characterisation. There were times I disliked Robin and thought she was an ingrate. I thought her mum was a bit smothering and her friends were not just that close. I quite liked Cyril and the way in which he tried to get the justice his dead friend had been seeking. He might have been overweight but his heart was in the right place. I also really liked the cameo appearance from characters who are in another novel by this author and I adored Seth. I think this kind of beautiful characterisation really brings a story to life and when the characters are held together by an interesting story that's all you really need as a reader.
The ending is left open for us to reflect on but the author has included some discussion questions at the end of the book. I think this would be a great story for a buddy read because I was left with so many questions and I was left with a deep admiration for Cyril.
I finished up and felt as if I had just finished a really good meal and of course by reading this book I had done.
I adored this story. I took a chance on it when I saw it on Netgalley and before I had finished this I went to buy the other book that the author has written. From now on everything she writes will go to the top of my humongous to read pile because this story gripped me and held my attention from start to finish.
At the end of the story I gave a huge sigh of satisfaction knowing that I will never forget this story and it is going on my list of exquisite reads of 2017.
I do hope we will get glimpses of Cyril in future books, just in the same way we have glimpses of Cooke in this one.
Copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Brilliant storytelling with very real characters!
I was curious when I saw this on Netgalley but decided to give it a chance. I hadn't read anything by this author before and I thought this would be a good place to start.
I wasn't wrong. This is a well written story. It manages to be moving, deeply emotional, funny and yet heartbreaking all at the same time. It explores love, hope, compassion and grief.
When Robin loses her husband to the war in Afghanistan she faces an unfathomable grief but she starts to crawl her way through because she has to survive for her four year old son Seth. Robin is a survivor but being a young widow pushes her to the brink. She knows she will get through this but she misses Tavis, her husband, and she knows she now has to learn to live without him. Dealing with her own loss is hard enough but having to manage the way other people deal with her loss is not something she has the time or patience for. She wants to grieve but she doesn't want to have to deal with other people's well meaning platitudes or their own grief. She also doesn't want to deal with her mother's grief.
And the there are her husband's friends. They weren't really her friends and she can keep them at a suitable distance despite their attempts to get her to join their outings and church activities.
And then there is Cyril.
Cyril is Tavis's no-hoper friend and best buddy. Hugely overweight, utterly mannerless and with no sensitivity whatsoever Cyril is the last person on earth that she wants to spend time with. Unfortunately just like his dad, four year old Seth adores Cyril or 'cereal' as he calls him and so Robin can't edge Cyril out of their life as she would really like to, in fact to some extent she has come to depend on him.
And so she dutifully takes Seth to visit Cyril and Cyril gets to act as uncle and slowly, slowly through shared grief and hope she gets to know Cyril and to see him as a human being not just a friend of her husband.
But there is so much more to Cyril than meets the eye and when Robins's life takes a sudden unexpected turn, Robin realises that Cyril is someone who is there for her without smothering her, someone she can depend on without losing the strong independent part of who she really is and she can weep, laugh, rage or be silent and Cyril is able to give her the space to do all those things. Having said this he is still the objectionable person he always was, until Robin finds out that her husband's death may not have been an accident and somehow Cyril has information about what really happened in Afghanistan.
Robin then has to face, not just the challenges of grief and loss but also the pressures of being in the middle of a media whirlwind, coping with both tragedy and with an unexpected life changing event.
This is such a wonderful story. The emotions just flow from the page and although the story starts from a sad place it is a story of hope. It is also a story about life, family and friendship and being able to make a way through life's devastations. And it is just gripping because Cyril is a pure anti-hero. He isn't a likeable character at all and that's what makes him so interesting. No six pack romantic here, just a foul mouth, overweight, slovenly computer nerd who grieves for his best friend in his own way and reluctantly becomes family for a widow and a small child.
I really liked the grittiness of the story telling and the rich characterisation. There were times I disliked Robin and thought she was an ingrate. I thought her mum was a bit smothering and her friends were not just that close. I quite liked Cyril and the way in which he tried to get the justice his dead friend had been seeking. He might have been overweight but his heart was in the right place. I also really liked the cameo appearance from characters who are in another novel by this author and I adored Seth. I think this kind of beautiful characterisation really brings a story to life and when the characters are held together by an interesting story that's all you really need as a reader.
The ending is left open for us to reflect on but the author has included some discussion questions at the end of the book. I think this would be a great story for a buddy read because I was left with so many questions and I was left with a deep admiration for Cyril.
I finished up and felt as if I had just finished a really good meal and of course by reading this book I had done.
I adored this story. I took a chance on it when I saw it on Netgalley and before I had finished this I went to buy the other book that the author has written. From now on everything she writes will go to the top of my humongous to read pile because this story gripped me and held my attention from start to finish.
At the end of the story I gave a huge sigh of satisfaction knowing that I will never forget this story and it is going on my list of exquisite reads of 2017.
I do hope we will get glimpses of Cyril in future books, just in the same way we have glimpses of Cooke in this one.
Copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
August 18, 2017
What an amazing book. Not a romance, no HEA. I loved these crazy, effed up characters so much. This book was an experience
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
August 30, 2017i'm a huge fan of hootman's dialogue and characters.
she has a knack for nailing both and draws such interesting,
intriguing, realistic and flawed people on the page. this book
is no expection, which i read in only a few days while on vacation
in the uk. it is a very interesting retelling of Cyrano. i think, personally,
from the writer's perspective, i wonder over the challenge of writing
and depicting Cyril, who is Cyrano in this book. i look forward to reading
hootman's next book, as ever!
she has a knack for nailing both and draws such interesting,
intriguing, realistic and flawed people on the page. this book
is no expection, which i read in only a few days while on vacation
in the uk. it is a very interesting retelling of Cyrano. i think, personally,
from the writer's perspective, i wonder over the challenge of writing
and depicting Cyril, who is Cyrano in this book. i look forward to reading
hootman's next book, as ever!
August 25, 2017
2.5★
Much of this book relies on different assumptions all of the characters make.
I picked up this book on a whim at my library in the "New Book" section and I was enticed by the cover (beautiful) and the description on the back seemed interesting.
📖 📖 📖
Tav Matheson dies in Afghanistan after volunteering for a third deployment. How pissed would you be as his wife and mother of a three-year-old? He already did his duty TWICE and then volunteered a third time and died.
This book centers on Robin (Tav's wife), her four-year-old son Seth, and Cyril (Tav's best friend). What is the importance of Robin and Cyril's relationship? Most importantly, how big (pardon my pun, I didn't mean it) of a player is Cyril in the Matherson Saga?
I think Hootman could have cut some of the Cyril and Seth bonding time and explored other things to tie this book together in a more satisfying way. For example, it would have been interesting for Robin to reflect on Tav and her relationship IRL and not through letters. This is key for me and I don't know why the author left this out.
It would have been interesting for Robin to further explore what it was like to be a military brat with a white mother and black father. It was hinted at a few times so it's not like it was something that didn't matter. It would have been interesting to see how Tav and Cyril's relationship changed after they got married. There was a lot to be explored and it was wasted a bit on an idea that could have been solidified without so many pages.
One or two of the chapters were almost Mic Drop worthy. But overall... kind-of-boring.
Assumptions. Gray areas. What makes a hero a hero? A bad guy a bad guy?
" Everyone always assumed Robin had closer friends elsewhere. She wasn't sure why...How did you tell people that, actually no...they were it?"
Much of this book relies on different assumptions all of the characters make.
I picked up this book on a whim at my library in the "New Book" section and I was enticed by the cover (beautiful) and the description on the back seemed interesting.
📖 📖 📖
Tav Matheson dies in Afghanistan after volunteering for a third deployment. How pissed would you be as his wife and mother of a three-year-old? He already did his duty TWICE and then volunteered a third time and died.
This book centers on Robin (Tav's wife), her four-year-old son Seth, and Cyril (Tav's best friend). What is the importance of Robin and Cyril's relationship? Most importantly, how big (pardon my pun, I didn't mean it) of a player is Cyril in the Matherson Saga?
I think Hootman could have cut some of the Cyril and Seth bonding time and explored other things to tie this book together in a more satisfying way. For example, it would have been interesting for Robin to reflect on Tav and her relationship IRL and not through letters. This is key for me and I don't know why the author left this out.
It would have been interesting for Robin to further explore what it was like to be a military brat with a white mother and black father. It was hinted at a few times so it's not like it was something that didn't matter. It would have been interesting to see how Tav and Cyril's relationship changed after they got married. There was a lot to be explored and it was wasted a bit on an idea that could have been solidified without so many pages.
One or two of the chapters were almost Mic Drop worthy. But overall... kind-of-boring.
May 10, 2018
Overall this was a good book, but I had a VERY hard time connecting with any of the characters. I realize that she was supposed to be that way, as was he- but it made sticking with the book or even caring what happened to anyone very difficult for me. I found them cold, uncaring, and hard to like. I did push on and finish the book, and in the end, I'd probably read a sequel- but only if it were free.
June 8, 2018
Surviving a lot
A deep story of love, death, lies, betrayal and family. There are so many layers to this story. Robin, the hard-working mom and widow. Tav, the absent soldier that died. Seth, the hyperactive little boy that demands so much attention. And Cyril, the large man who holds so many secrets.
This story will make you think. Read it.
A deep story of love, death, lies, betrayal and family. There are so many layers to this story. Robin, the hard-working mom and widow. Tav, the absent soldier that died. Seth, the hyperactive little boy that demands so much attention. And Cyril, the large man who holds so many secrets.
This story will make you think. Read it.
December 8, 2021
AUDIOBOOK
I loved this book. The characters were really relatable and coming from a military background myself I could feel the fear and emotions that she had with her husband always going off to serve. In this story after her husbands death she finds herself stuck accidentally with his best friend who for years she has not liked. As they are thrown together to help with her son she starts to discover things about her husband and questions around his death. This is a great audio well worth a listen and great narration
I loved this book. The characters were really relatable and coming from a military background myself I could feel the fear and emotions that she had with her husband always going off to serve. In this story after her husbands death she finds herself stuck accidentally with his best friend who for years she has not liked. As they are thrown together to help with her son she starts to discover things about her husband and questions around his death. This is a great audio well worth a listen and great narration
June 8, 2018
More Real Than Most
Well well, didn't know I could find two five stars in six months. And this was well deserved. One or two PC but overall a fine pleasure.
Well well, didn't know I could find two five stars in six months. And this was well deserved. One or two PC but overall a fine pleasure.
August 6, 2018
This was moving along soooooo well for about 25% with hardly anything going wrong at all. Then it's like the author or her proofreader got tired and didn't pay so much attention and the mistakes started coming. I was pretty disappointed but that 5* review was blown when she committed (for me) that ultimate transgression of misspelling her own character's name wrong, not just once, not twice but thrice.....sorry, but I find that unforgiveable !!
It's a very touching story, and I have to say I adored Cyril, who's really the mate of her husband's that Robin has now inherited since her son loves him !! He can be a total oaf but you just know his heart's in the right place deep down as little Seth was so close to him and Cyril was so good with him, too. I thought Robin was horribly hostile to him quite needlessly at times so that helped put me on his "side" of their differences.
She mentions about coming across people after she was widowed and how their laughter and smiles would die away and it made me think, that as a species, we still have not a clue when it comes to dealing with other people's grief....you'd think, in a couple of thousand years with evolution that we'd have figured it out by now, but no, not a clue, have we ?? I liked Trinity's vase analogy, too. Yet a passage she writes when Robin's with Cooke had me confused and I never figured out the meaning of it though I read it back, read it aloud.....nope, never understood it at all !! She capitalises Coke then doesn't, and needed to with Saran Wrap. She also wrote it and not I in another sentence that baffled me till I figured it out. We did get to hear too much about drinking water throughout as well !! Everyone was doing it, all the time.
There's an issue with some words either being missed from or added to sentences-"....that a flat refusal would to catapult him into a nuclear-grade meltdown" or "Because clearly the people you associate represent an accurate...." or "Because was none of my business"....and "his voice was low whisper".....or "....put that on the floor by toilet"....just very sloppy. She writes 'out-held hand' which I thought strange, it's more commonly 'held-out' and on accident as opposed to by accident.
Then she writes read instead of red, which was bad enough but then break and not brake followed but when Robin turned into Robyn once and then Robing twice !!! Unbelievable to me that nobody spotted this or has mentioned it !!
I did laugh and cry in this book, I must say. It's well done. I guessed what was going to happen but it didn't spoil it for me in any way. Even the presentation was solid, till.....it wasn't. But that definitely let it down for me.
It's a very touching story, and I have to say I adored Cyril, who's really the mate of her husband's that Robin has now inherited since her son loves him !! He can be a total oaf but you just know his heart's in the right place deep down as little Seth was so close to him and Cyril was so good with him, too. I thought Robin was horribly hostile to him quite needlessly at times so that helped put me on his "side" of their differences.
She mentions about coming across people after she was widowed and how their laughter and smiles would die away and it made me think, that as a species, we still have not a clue when it comes to dealing with other people's grief....you'd think, in a couple of thousand years with evolution that we'd have figured it out by now, but no, not a clue, have we ?? I liked Trinity's vase analogy, too. Yet a passage she writes when Robin's with Cooke had me confused and I never figured out the meaning of it though I read it back, read it aloud.....nope, never understood it at all !! She capitalises Coke then doesn't, and needed to with Saran Wrap. She also wrote it and not I in another sentence that baffled me till I figured it out. We did get to hear too much about drinking water throughout as well !! Everyone was doing it, all the time.
There's an issue with some words either being missed from or added to sentences-"....that a flat refusal would to catapult him into a nuclear-grade meltdown" or "Because clearly the people you associate represent an accurate...." or "Because was none of my business"....and "his voice was low whisper".....or "....put that on the floor by toilet"....just very sloppy. She writes 'out-held hand' which I thought strange, it's more commonly 'held-out' and on accident as opposed to by accident.
Then she writes read instead of red, which was bad enough but then break and not brake followed but when Robin turned into Robyn once and then Robing twice !!! Unbelievable to me that nobody spotted this or has mentioned it !!
I did laugh and cry in this book, I must say. It's well done. I guessed what was going to happen but it didn't spoil it for me in any way. Even the presentation was solid, till.....it wasn't. But that definitely let it down for me.
January 15, 2022
I really don’t know how to rate this book. It was quite well written, apart from the handful of editing errors that seem to be always present in ebooks; however, the character of Robin made me so angry that I suspect my rating has been influenced by her. What a selfish, nasty, self-serving piece of work! Her husband dies in Afghanistan and I will allow her some compensation for her grief but she constantly bites back at everyone — her mother, her friends and her husband’s best friend, Cyril. The only ones safe from her nastiness are her father, who is also dead, her son Seth and the minor character, Cooke, for whom she is doing some work. While she is putting them down, she is using them for everything they are worth. She is not the strong woman the author wants us to believe she is. She is a bitch.
July 17, 2018
I was sucked into this one but almost against my will - the language is pretty foul and I found our hero a little hard to find at all sympathetic - which I think is part of the point but frustrating all the same and the twist?
October 15, 2017
I received a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I really wanted to like this book. I really did. The concept is great. The dynamic between the two main characters is tense and multi-faceted, and I can appreciate that, but something about it REALLY rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not really even entirely sure what it was, but it made it impossible for me to enjoy the book as a whole. I found myself dreading picking it up to read, and when I finished it I felt like I should have gone with my gut and stopped halfway through. The author writes very well, but the whole thing left me with a very bitter taste.
I really wanted to like this book. I really did. The concept is great. The dynamic between the two main characters is tense and multi-faceted, and I can appreciate that, but something about it REALLY rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not really even entirely sure what it was, but it made it impossible for me to enjoy the book as a whole. I found myself dreading picking it up to read, and when I finished it I felt like I should have gone with my gut and stopped halfway through. The author writes very well, but the whole thing left me with a very bitter taste.
March 31, 2018
Not as expected
I thought this book was going in a different direction, so the wrap up surprised me. Well written and interesting in light of recent Facebook news. Loved the lead character Robin-a strong woman facing the tragic loss of her husband. And the odd relationship with his friend Cyril
Spoiler
I always dislike reading scenes that include a pregnant character drinking alcohol.
I thought this book was going in a different direction, so the wrap up surprised me. Well written and interesting in light of recent Facebook news. Loved the lead character Robin-a strong woman facing the tragic loss of her husband. And the odd relationship with his friend Cyril
Spoiler
I always dislike reading scenes that include a pregnant character drinking alcohol.
May 28, 2018
Widow story
Having been widowed at 36 myself, some 40 odd years ago, left with a 10 week old infant girl and a 3 and a half year old son, i think I have always hoped SOMEone would be able to capture all of the emotional loss as well as the hardships of daily life for a new widow. This book comes closer to the reality than any other fictionalized rendering than I have read before. And for that I am grateful.
Having been widowed at 36 myself, some 40 odd years ago, left with a 10 week old infant girl and a 3 and a half year old son, i think I have always hoped SOMEone would be able to capture all of the emotional loss as well as the hardships of daily life for a new widow. This book comes closer to the reality than any other fictionalized rendering than I have read before. And for that I am grateful.
March 24, 2018
What an amazing read! I totally connected with the characters, and was so sad to let them go when I finished the last page. Funny, sad, and insightful. I found myself forgoing Netflix binges to keep reading-that should tell you something! Can’t wait for your next book, Ramsey!
June 23, 2018
Interesting characters
I liked how Robin was a handyman. It was interesting to see a woman doing a traditionally male job well. The writer portrayed Cyril and his obesity in a realistic manner and the ending was a surprise.
I liked how Robin was a handyman. It was interesting to see a woman doing a traditionally male job well. The writer portrayed Cyril and his obesity in a realistic manner and the ending was a surprise.
September 27, 2021
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I struggled with the characters in this book. I found them to be stereotypes and hard to relate to/care about. This was my first book by this author, I might try another one.
February 5, 2018
This book was a real pageturner! The end made me want to know more. Some problematic issues with use of F-word and selfpleasure.
Want to read
May 6, 20185/6/18 Currently FREE via Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Cyri...
Read
May 21, 2018I was enjoying this right up to the end and then it all fell apart for me.
Not rating.
Not rating.
June 9, 2018
No did not finish
June 21, 2018
Love
What a complicated thing love can be, this book seemed complicated too, all over the place and in the end I still don't know.
What a complicated thing love can be, this book seemed complicated too, all over the place and in the end I still don't know.
July 17, 2018
I really liked this book up until the last few pages and the epilogue. I thought it wrapped up in a ridiculous way - though I can see how others would like the ending, I just did not.
October 28, 2021
That was super! Highly recommended. BTW, be sure to read "Courting Greta" if you haven't already.
I have a feeling that if you like JoJo Moyes, you may like RH's books.
I have a feeling that if you like JoJo Moyes, you may like RH's books.
May 1, 2019
Unexpected
I wasn't sure about starting this book. I thought it might be more military based, more about how Tavis died, more about Walker and about Cyril's findings but it wasn't. It was about Robin and Tavis, Cyril and Tavis, Robin and Seth, Cyril and Seth and finally about Robin and Cyril. This book is about parenthood, marriage, your best friend and how those relationships coincide, change in relation to each other, exist despite each other. It's complicated.
I felt connected to Robin and so felt justified in my judgement of Cyril being the same as hers. It's because of Ramsey's writing, the subtle shift, that I changed my opinion of Cyril before Robin did and I really enjoyed watching her realise who Cyril really was. By the end I was enamoured and convinced by both characters, by both of their responses and experiences of the relationships in their lives but I was please to let them both go, separately. I was also comfortable in letting Tavis go. I bought in to this book so much that Ramsey could direct me through the story exactly as intended. Perfect for reader and author.
I wasn't sure about starting this book. I thought it might be more military based, more about how Tavis died, more about Walker and about Cyril's findings but it wasn't. It was about Robin and Tavis, Cyril and Tavis, Robin and Seth, Cyril and Seth and finally about Robin and Cyril. This book is about parenthood, marriage, your best friend and how those relationships coincide, change in relation to each other, exist despite each other. It's complicated.
I felt connected to Robin and so felt justified in my judgement of Cyril being the same as hers. It's because of Ramsey's writing, the subtle shift, that I changed my opinion of Cyril before Robin did and I really enjoyed watching her realise who Cyril really was. By the end I was enamoured and convinced by both characters, by both of their responses and experiences of the relationships in their lives but I was please to let them both go, separately. I was also comfortable in letting Tavis go. I bought in to this book so much that Ramsey could direct me through the story exactly as intended. Perfect for reader and author.
December 27, 2021
This one was a bit of a slow start but it was well worth hanging in!! I laughed, I cried, I disliked and loved was filled with horror and joy. ...
In the beginning, it was the main character that I found a bit distasteful at the beginning of the story. ( she tended to be rather harsh and judgemental) though I truly understood the trauma she was dealing with and that grief may have colored her opinions. As the story advanced I was drawn by her change and growth, and the development of the relationships this growth allows.
I caution readers about jumping to conclusions throughout the story, there are a few unexpected twists and turns here that will keep you from hitting the pause button.
One last note. Leah Casey, the narrator absolutely 100% makes this experience! There were times when I was so immersed in this story that I lost track of the fact that it was an audiobook and not a dramatic performance.
In the beginning, it was the main character that I found a bit distasteful at the beginning of the story. ( she tended to be rather harsh and judgemental) though I truly understood the trauma she was dealing with and that grief may have colored her opinions. As the story advanced I was drawn by her change and growth, and the development of the relationships this growth allows.
I caution readers about jumping to conclusions throughout the story, there are a few unexpected twists and turns here that will keep you from hitting the pause button.
One last note. Leah Casey, the narrator absolutely 100% makes this experience! There were times when I was so immersed in this story that I lost track of the fact that it was an audiobook and not a dramatic performance.
January 23, 2019
A emotional raw story
Cyril and Robin are an emotional roll coaster as they navigate their way through the death of their loved one. How to describe how I love this story? I simply cannot describe in words. This story could have easily been fI’ve stars but the ending left me dissatisfied. Does Cyril lose weight ? Does he write letters from prison to Robin? And what letters did she burn at the end? Her late husband’s letter or Cyril’s letters that he may have written from prison. I do get a sense that since her husband never really wrote them on his own it maybe liberating to burn letters that he never fully wrote on his own. And maybe Robin and Cyril have a new beginning but I won’t ever know if he ends up doing 5 or 10 years. But what landed him in prison is justified and I applaud Cyril. Supporting characters were great as well.
Cyril and Robin are an emotional roll coaster as they navigate their way through the death of their loved one. How to describe how I love this story? I simply cannot describe in words. This story could have easily been fI’ve stars but the ending left me dissatisfied. Does Cyril lose weight ? Does he write letters from prison to Robin? And what letters did she burn at the end? Her late husband’s letter or Cyril’s letters that he may have written from prison. I do get a sense that since her husband never really wrote them on his own it maybe liberating to burn letters that he never fully wrote on his own. And maybe Robin and Cyril have a new beginning but I won’t ever know if he ends up doing 5 or 10 years. But what landed him in prison is justified and I applaud Cyril. Supporting characters were great as well.
November 8, 2021
I never thought I'd enjoy a romance novel, yet here we are.
I usually read science fiction/fantasy, but I was drawn in by the author's voice and had to read it.
The author has a way of delving into a scene--and not letting go-- that's pure enjoyment.
Perhaps what I liked most was realizing this was a retelling of an old story (I won't say which) that's done in such a way it unravels naturally.
The author's also right about one thing in particular-- she's the best writer I'd never heard of.
I usually read science fiction/fantasy, but I was drawn in by the author's voice and had to read it.
The author has a way of delving into a scene--and not letting go-- that's pure enjoyment.
Perhaps what I liked most was realizing this was a retelling of an old story (I won't say which) that's done in such a way it unravels naturally.
The author's also right about one thing in particular-- she's the best writer I'd never heard of.
August 7, 2022
This is way, way out in left field. I'm not sure I can categorize it. Its a love story, but its depressing from start to finish. There's intrigue and military scandal. There's a beloved dead hero... who's not exactly who he seemed. And there's a repulsive best friend who deliberately alienates everyone so they won't reject him. Well, except that kids aren't that easy to put off because being judgmental is something they aren't born with.
In the end, its still a love story but not at all the one you expect to see coming.
In the end, its still a love story but not at all the one you expect to see coming.
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