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He Is Mine and I Have No Other
'My heart broke a little bit for Lani and Leon. He Is Mine and I Have No Other vividly calls up the atmosphere of small-town life. Eerie, tender and wonderful' Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure
Shortlisted for the Kate O'Brien Award
In 1990s small-town Ireland, fifteen-year-old Lani Devine falls in love with Leon Brady, whose mother is buried in the cemetery next to Lani’s house. Quiet and strange, Leon is haunted by a brutal family tragedy that has left scars much more than skin-deep. As Lani falls deeper and deeper in love with him, old wounds begin to reopen and start to change the shape of their lives forever.
Shortlisted for the Kate O'Brien Award
In 1990s small-town Ireland, fifteen-year-old Lani Devine falls in love with Leon Brady, whose mother is buried in the cemetery next to Lani’s house. Quiet and strange, Leon is haunted by a brutal family tragedy that has left scars much more than skin-deep. As Lani falls deeper and deeper in love with him, old wounds begin to reopen and start to change the shape of their lives forever.
183 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 7, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 12, 2018
*Thank you to the author and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
3 stars
This was an odd little book, which I wasn't anticipating. Now, don't get me wrong, I am HERE for weird and cryptic storylines... as long as I can eventually make some sense of it in the end and feel there was a purpose to the story or achieve some form of closure when I'm finished.
I didn't get either with this one.
I was intrigued all through this book - nothing really made sense and I was always left unsure of what was going to come next. I love it when books leave me feeling this way. I wanted more, but then the book ended, and I still didn't understand anything and I was left screaming in my head WHAT WAS THE POINT?!
And I did NOT like the main character, Lani. She was a major bitch and an awful friend.
I'm so torn between hating how the book ended so bluntly and with so much being undisclosed, (but my anger towards this does show how much I was enjoying the story!) and thinking that maybe it was for the best...maybe it was more pertinent to the story of Lani and Leon to end like it did.
I have mixed feeling, but the book was mysterious, it was compelling and I did enjoy reading it. I'm just really conflicted with that ending!
3 stars
This was an odd little book, which I wasn't anticipating. Now, don't get me wrong, I am HERE for weird and cryptic storylines... as long as I can eventually make some sense of it in the end and feel there was a purpose to the story or achieve some form of closure when I'm finished.
I didn't get either with this one.
I was intrigued all through this book - nothing really made sense and I was always left unsure of what was going to come next. I love it when books leave me feeling this way. I wanted more, but then the book ended, and I still didn't understand anything and I was left screaming in my head WHAT WAS THE POINT?!
And I did NOT like the main character, Lani. She was a major bitch and an awful friend.
I'm so torn between hating how the book ended so bluntly and with so much being undisclosed, (but my anger towards this does show how much I was enjoying the story!) and thinking that maybe it was for the best...maybe it was more pertinent to the story of Lani and Leon to end like it did.
I have mixed feeling, but the book was mysterious, it was compelling and I did enjoy reading it. I'm just really conflicted with that ending!
May 21, 2018
There are various strands to this short novel, despite its insubstantial plot. One of these stood out for me - the emotional turmoil of being a teenager falling in love for the first time, the sheer self-absorption of it. Furtive, thrilling encounters followed by heartfelt declarations of love, misunderstandings, bewilderment and wallowing in self-pity. These come across so well here. So too does a teenager’s attraction to things morbid - the dead mother, the tragic fate of the ‘orphan girls’, the illegitimate baby disappeared into adoption. The brief chapters introducing some of the girls in the convent, their backgrounds based on Celia’s research for her book, didn’t really work for me but fed Lani’s fascination so I can understand their inclusion.
By the end I was sufficiently engaged with the main characters to be curious as to how their future lives would unfold and wanting more, but then realised that was missing the point. The novel works as a snapshot of the teenage experience and that’s that. As an aside, I was completely wrong-footed by the relevance of the title of the book, spoken by the more unlikely of the characters and all the more poignant for that.
With thanks to Canongate via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.
By the end I was sufficiently engaged with the main characters to be curious as to how their future lives would unfold and wanting more, but then realised that was missing the point. The novel works as a snapshot of the teenage experience and that’s that. As an aside, I was completely wrong-footed by the relevance of the title of the book, spoken by the more unlikely of the characters and all the more poignant for that.
With thanks to Canongate via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.
September 4, 2020
Judging this book is...odd. It seems like the author was trying to capture a LOT of ideas at once, and failed to probe deep enough with any of them. Part of the book is reflecting on the past of Catholic Ireland, but for no reason other than just merely being a backdrop as far as I can tell. There is a whole story that comes to fore about an orphanage and the Magdalene Laundries that adds up to nothing in the end, despite taking up every third chapter and being an extremely boring part of the book.
The other third is about the main character Lani. She is very much a typical teenager, and being in her head can be irritating which is one of the book's greatest successes. Reading the thoughts of a 15 year old girl *would* be irritating because they're so irrational and dramatic. She captures that perfectly. The final third of the book is about Leon and his relationship to Lani. This is one of the most confusing parts of the book. It's set up that this book is somehow about Leon but...like I said only a third of it is. His storyline is vague enough to be intriguing, but too little is revealed that it just becomes boring and confusing at the same time. Lani's relationship with him for one, is almost non existent. They kiss at a teenage disco, then have a short meet up once, and then two very very brief encounters after that. It just doesn't add up to anything or mean anything. It's infuriating because it feels like this book was meant to be about the two of them, but one third of it is a storyline that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the rest of the book, one third is vaguely about Leon with a very unfinished story, and the other third is about Lani's desperately boring life. The only really interesting part of the book comes in the last 60 pages. This feels like a great book being trapped in an okayish book, maybe slightly below average.
There are three parts to this story that could be very interesting, but are not probed deep enough until the final quarter of the book when they all suddenly just end and add up to nothing. The language in the book is quite pretty but a little annoying at times for just being a series of disconnected short sentences, some phrases are repeated throughout without variation and it can be mind numbing.
In the end it's just a headscratcher that makes you think "what was the point in any of this?". Some books are purely entertaining, but this wasn't. A book that doesn't have you on the edge of your seat should have a deeper meaning and...this only *kind of* does in the last few pages. The wrapping up of the orphanage storyline has some meaning in the last paragraph. Leon's story in the last letter. It's a story painted as being about Leon and Lani, but it's really about Lani and...some random orphans whose story is inconsequential until the final paragraph they are mentioned in. I'm very excited for her next book because I believe she'll find a way of compressing the pointless and boring bits towards the first half of the book, and pulling out the interesting threads we get in the final quarter. If I could give it 2.5 stars I would. I can't tell if I'm glad I read this or not, although I would recommend it solely to feel the emotional weight in those final pages. It's a shame though. Such pointless things take up entire chapters, and such important things happen in a paragraph.
The other third is about the main character Lani. She is very much a typical teenager, and being in her head can be irritating which is one of the book's greatest successes. Reading the thoughts of a 15 year old girl *would* be irritating because they're so irrational and dramatic. She captures that perfectly. The final third of the book is about Leon and his relationship to Lani. This is one of the most confusing parts of the book. It's set up that this book is somehow about Leon but...like I said only a third of it is. His storyline is vague enough to be intriguing, but too little is revealed that it just becomes boring and confusing at the same time. Lani's relationship with him for one, is almost non existent. They kiss at a teenage disco, then have a short meet up once, and then two very very brief encounters after that. It just doesn't add up to anything or mean anything. It's infuriating because it feels like this book was meant to be about the two of them, but one third of it is a storyline that has absolutely NOTHING to do with the rest of the book, one third is vaguely about Leon with a very unfinished story, and the other third is about Lani's desperately boring life. The only really interesting part of the book comes in the last 60 pages. This feels like a great book being trapped in an okayish book, maybe slightly below average.
There are three parts to this story that could be very interesting, but are not probed deep enough until the final quarter of the book when they all suddenly just end and add up to nothing. The language in the book is quite pretty but a little annoying at times for just being a series of disconnected short sentences, some phrases are repeated throughout without variation and it can be mind numbing.
In the end it's just a headscratcher that makes you think "what was the point in any of this?". Some books are purely entertaining, but this wasn't. A book that doesn't have you on the edge of your seat should have a deeper meaning and...this only *kind of* does in the last few pages. The wrapping up of the orphanage storyline has some meaning in the last paragraph. Leon's story in the last letter. It's a story painted as being about Leon and Lani, but it's really about Lani and...some random orphans whose story is inconsequential until the final paragraph they are mentioned in. I'm very excited for her next book because I believe she'll find a way of compressing the pointless and boring bits towards the first half of the book, and pulling out the interesting threads we get in the final quarter. If I could give it 2.5 stars I would. I can't tell if I'm glad I read this or not, although I would recommend it solely to feel the emotional weight in those final pages. It's a shame though. Such pointless things take up entire chapters, and such important things happen in a paragraph.
March 20, 2019
Poet Rebecca O’Connor’s fiction debut would make a lovely YA novel, but the adult reader might want a little more. Lani seems young for fifteen and it’s hard to get excited about a teenage romance, especially when part of the appeal is the love-object’s psychic wounds. While the historic abuse of the vulnerable in Catholic Ireland merits repeated airing, the pen-portraits of the orphaned girls that punctuate the text don’t add much more than we already know although, extended, this strand might have made the better novel.
Full review
Growing pains: The Choke & He Is Mine and I Have No Other https://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post...
Full review
Growing pains: The Choke & He Is Mine and I Have No Other https://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post...
May 25, 2019
A coming of age romance - with a twist. Fifteen year old Lani has a short but passionate romance with a guy she often sees in the cemetary near her house. But why is he there, and does her family's secret have to do with it?
Although the book was enjoyable, and a definite quick read, I feel it was slightly unfinished. A few storylines could've used more refinement to have made the story much better. I had expected the stories of the orphan girls to have ended up having more of a link with the family than they did.
I expected a better ending - I don't need the sappy, happy-go-lucky romantic ending, but this felt like such a loose end.
Although the book was enjoyable, and a definite quick read, I feel it was slightly unfinished. A few storylines could've used more refinement to have made the story much better. I had expected the stories of the orphan girls to have ended up having more of a link with the family than they did.
I expected a better ending - I don't need the sappy, happy-go-lucky romantic ending, but this felt like such a loose end.
July 24, 2018
A quick glimpse into the mind of a teenager falling in love. It’s cute but I feel that this is more suited to a YA audience. Good, but not something I’m going to be raving about – 3 stars!
See more of what I thought by checking out my book review on my blog: https://whatrebeccasread.wordpress.co...
See more of what I thought by checking out my book review on my blog: https://whatrebeccasread.wordpress.co...
October 10, 2018
We meet Lani when she is 15, living in a small town in Ireland in the 1990s. In many ways she is a fairly typical teenager, trying to make sense of an adult world whilst experiencing the turmoil of adolescent emotions. She is fascinated by Leon, a boy from a nearby school who she sees visiting the local cemetery on a regular basis and develops a teenage crush on him. How this pans out is revealed as the book progresses.
On the whole I enjoyed this book. There were a lot of perceptive observations which rang very true - Lani is mortified when her Mother becomes pregnant after a very long gap and she is excruciatingly embarrassed when the conversations surrounding the pregnancy become too intimate, she has a best friend at school with all the usual highs and lows which accompany that relationship and there is also the angst-ridden, all-consuming passion of falling in love for the first time, complete with the resultant loss of any vestiges of common sense and sanity. There were also hints of a mystery surrounding Leon’s past which made me want to keep reading.
There were a couple of aspects of the book with which I wasn’t so enamoured. It is a little on the slow side and drags a bit at times. Also the somewhat arbitrary introduction of the orphans felt to me as though it was purely for padding - although this sub-plot was interesting, I thought it could equally well have been a separate book and did not seem to contribute directly to Lani’s experience of trying to negotiate her teenage years.
If you are looking for a fast-paced book with a well-defined beginning, middle and an end, this may not be the book for you. It is however a gentle snapshot of a teenage girl’s life and, if you are my sort of age, a stark reminder of what we went through many moons ago. Worth a read.
On the whole I enjoyed this book. There were a lot of perceptive observations which rang very true - Lani is mortified when her Mother becomes pregnant after a very long gap and she is excruciatingly embarrassed when the conversations surrounding the pregnancy become too intimate, she has a best friend at school with all the usual highs and lows which accompany that relationship and there is also the angst-ridden, all-consuming passion of falling in love for the first time, complete with the resultant loss of any vestiges of common sense and sanity. There were also hints of a mystery surrounding Leon’s past which made me want to keep reading.
There were a couple of aspects of the book with which I wasn’t so enamoured. It is a little on the slow side and drags a bit at times. Also the somewhat arbitrary introduction of the orphans felt to me as though it was purely for padding - although this sub-plot was interesting, I thought it could equally well have been a separate book and did not seem to contribute directly to Lani’s experience of trying to negotiate her teenage years.
If you are looking for a fast-paced book with a well-defined beginning, middle and an end, this may not be the book for you. It is however a gentle snapshot of a teenage girl’s life and, if you are my sort of age, a stark reminder of what we went through many moons ago. Worth a read.
June 10, 2019
1990's Ireland. As a 90's teen, I could somewhat relate to Lani in her time of life. She's 15 and has fallen in love with Leon. He's a troubled soul himself, with a dark past.
With a shock pregnancy, a grandma's revelation and an abundance of teenage angst, this book is very much a coming of age tale.
With haunting accounts from a tragic fire which took the lives of 35 orphaned girls, the plot is very much reminiscent of 90's life in Ireland.
I do feel the story gets a little lost along the way and whilst shocking stories did start to emerge in real life, they add little to this particular book, in my opinion.
It was good, but perhaps it is for a different audience to me.
With a shock pregnancy, a grandma's revelation and an abundance of teenage angst, this book is very much a coming of age tale.
With haunting accounts from a tragic fire which took the lives of 35 orphaned girls, the plot is very much reminiscent of 90's life in Ireland.
I do feel the story gets a little lost along the way and whilst shocking stories did start to emerge in real life, they add little to this particular book, in my opinion.
It was good, but perhaps it is for a different audience to me.
February 16, 2023
lovely little book and very interesting. it definitely got me hooked. the orphanage storyline did seem like it could have had something more to do with lani's family, but i didn't feel bothered by it. this succeeded in many ways and i definitely grew fond of lani and leon. it's too late right now for me to write a proper review as certain aspects such as how the teenage girl behavior and the romance resonated with me, so maybe i'll come back to it and share all my thoughts later. really nice and absorbing short read overall!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2018
“I tried to write to him, but I just ended up writing his name over and over again until the paper was scratched through.”
Once I read the blurb of this one, I knew I’d have to read it because there were a lot of similar themes to a novel that I’m planning myself. I got straight into it and stormed through it in only a couple of days. I did enjoy it, but my main criticism of this book is that I didn’t feel like the characters were properly developed. I never felt like I truly understood them, and perhaps that is partly down to the brevity of the novel.
I’m glad I read it because of my own novel, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. It kind of felt like I’d watched a couple of episodes of a TV show but never enough to feel like I knew enough about what was going on or what the characters were like.
That said, it did express some truth about teenage love and culture in Ireland, I just wish it had reached a little deeper.
See more book reviews at www.littlegreenteapot.co.uk
Once I read the blurb of this one, I knew I’d have to read it because there were a lot of similar themes to a novel that I’m planning myself. I got straight into it and stormed through it in only a couple of days. I did enjoy it, but my main criticism of this book is that I didn’t feel like the characters were properly developed. I never felt like I truly understood them, and perhaps that is partly down to the brevity of the novel.
I’m glad I read it because of my own novel, but it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. It kind of felt like I’d watched a couple of episodes of a TV show but never enough to feel like I knew enough about what was going on or what the characters were like.
That said, it did express some truth about teenage love and culture in Ireland, I just wish it had reached a little deeper.
See more book reviews at www.littlegreenteapot.co.uk
July 10, 2021
Thought the title would refer to something else, was really surprised when the sentence came in another context then I expected, that was nice.
Nice book to just read through, but the story was a lil vague every now and then, some things didn't seem like they'd belong in the story. Was fun to read tho.
Nice book to just read through, but the story was a lil vague every now and then, some things didn't seem like they'd belong in the story. Was fun to read tho.
October 10, 2018
This was such an odd book and while I loved the atmosphere and setting, it offered very little I felt. It was an insight into a short period of time in the life of a teenage girl, but I didn't really connect to any of the characters or care about what was going on.
March 5, 2020
I had no expectations when I picked this up at the library. I enjoyed the main story but the sub stories of the girls at the home interspersed with the main narrative was the strength of this book and what I will remember.
May 31, 2024
The moment I saw this at the bookshop, I knew I had to read it and it didn’t disappoint. Beautifully written, bringing all those emotions to life.
June 6, 2018
I must confess that I didn't know if this novel was really my cup of tea, but 'He Is Mine and I Have No Other' was surprisingly engaging and enjoyable. I felt as though I could completely empathise with Lani, the main character, a teenage girl in 1990s Ireland (brought back a few memories from my own mid-teen years in 1980s England actually!) - and I appreciated that there was much more going on than the surface angsty teen love story. Rebecca O'Connor writes well about various different family dynamics and relationships and the impact on children of adults actions. Some might say that the insertion of passages from the perspective of those who died decades ago was unnecessary and detracts from the main plot, but I think it shows much about what has and what hasn't changed in the lives, minds and feelings of young girls and their relationships with others. All in all a good read, which intrigued me and kept my thoughts turning over what I'd been reading and wondering where the story was going while I was away from the book doing other things.
I received a free advance copy of this novel from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
I received a free advance copy of this novel from Netgalley in return for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews