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Lazy City
Following the death of her best friend, Erin has to get out of London. Returning home to Belfast, an au pair job provides a partial refuge from her grief and her volatile relationship with her mother. She spends late nights at the bar where her old friend Declan works, and there Erin meets an American academic who is also looking to get lost. Her unlikely, secretive relationship with religion offers a different kind of sanctuary altogether.
Lazy City explores coming of age in a place where everyone is picking up the pieces and belongs to a generation that, at the precipice of climate crisis, isn't going to get the future it was expecting. A startlingly fresh and original voice - jarringly funny, sometimes cranky, often hungover - Rachel Connolly sharply depicts the strange, meandering aftermath that follows disaster.
Lazy City explores coming of age in a place where everyone is picking up the pieces and belongs to a generation that, at the precipice of climate crisis, isn't going to get the future it was expecting. A startlingly fresh and original voice - jarringly funny, sometimes cranky, often hungover - Rachel Connolly sharply depicts the strange, meandering aftermath that follows disaster.
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 24, 2023
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4846 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 157 reviews
October 27, 2023
I really wanted to love this one, but I just didn’t. It was ok, the writing style was good but nothing happened. I didn’t feel like the characters developed as much as they could have. And one small thing, I really hate when an author uses something other than quotation marks for dialogue. The italics bugged me and kept taking me out of the story. When Erin’s best friend dies she leaves college and moves home. Nothing much else really happens but Erin drinks, has sex, and fights with her mom. I liked Matt Matt and Declan and would have liked to see more of them and less of American Matt and Mikey. I really liked her flashbacks and memories of her best friend. Overall I gave this one 2.5 stars, I rounded up since the quality of writing was good.
August 3, 2023
Rachel Connolly proves the “messy girl” trope can still shine with some nuance and empathy.
Lazy City follows Erin, an au pair (a title she reluctantly accepts) taking a break from school due to a major loss in her life. Erin drinks, meanders, thinks about her future, and slowly ponders the effects of her loss. She does this with a sobering and often humorless clarity (despite rarely being sober).
I particularly enjoyed how in control she appears to be from the outside, something the messy girl trope often fails to achieve in its own goofiness. Erin binge drinks and does drugs, but there’s nothing particularly cool or out of control about it. She’s simply lost, and it seems her peers are as well in their own different ways. If they recognize her grief, they don’t know how to openly talk about it. When one acquaintance bluntly reveals important information, she squirms, but recognizes the possibility of a deeper friendship. I loved her internal voice and the quiet way she shifts forward. It’s a slice of life story that feels deeply real. I enjoyed it’s quiet moments, but also the vivid portrayal of Irish friendships and dynamics. I think fans of Fleabag and Sally Rooney will find a lot to love here.
Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the ARC.
Lazy City follows Erin, an au pair (a title she reluctantly accepts) taking a break from school due to a major loss in her life. Erin drinks, meanders, thinks about her future, and slowly ponders the effects of her loss. She does this with a sobering and often humorless clarity (despite rarely being sober).
I particularly enjoyed how in control she appears to be from the outside, something the messy girl trope often fails to achieve in its own goofiness. Erin binge drinks and does drugs, but there’s nothing particularly cool or out of control about it. She’s simply lost, and it seems her peers are as well in their own different ways. If they recognize her grief, they don’t know how to openly talk about it. When one acquaintance bluntly reveals important information, she squirms, but recognizes the possibility of a deeper friendship. I loved her internal voice and the quiet way she shifts forward. It’s a slice of life story that feels deeply real. I enjoyed it’s quiet moments, but also the vivid portrayal of Irish friendships and dynamics. I think fans of Fleabag and Sally Rooney will find a lot to love here.
Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the ARC.
June 4, 2023
I went in really wanting to like this book, but… nothing happened. Genuinely, nothing happened in this book. The main character keeps going through cycles of get drunk/high, have sex, fight with her mother. Get drunk/high, have sex, fight with her mother. There is no character progression, no reckoning, nothing of real substance. She never faces the consequences of her own actions. Every conversation is written out in complete detail, even though most of the conversations are small talk. I’m someone who really enjoys introspective literary fiction, and I was really excited for the exploration of Erin’s character. But she’s numb and cold and closed-off, unwilling to interrogate herself on anything for too long. The writing is good and Erin’s relationships with some of the characters are really interesting, like Matt (not the American one) and Declan, but overall nothing happened and nothing was said. I really like Rachel Connolly as a writer (her journalism is great), but this was disappointing.
June 27, 2023
Continuing my journey of only reading books set in Northern Ireland...
A slice of life character study focusing on a young woman, her grief, and feeling unsure of what direction her life is going in. Rotating days of partying, men, and pushing down of her emotions.
I really enjoyed the meditations on religion and god throughout this novel. I love a good nothing much happens kinda book, but I found Lazy City to be just a little bit too meandering with not enough character development.
The writing was beautiful though.
Thank you so much to the publishers and netgalley for the arc. Expected date of publication is August 2023.
A slice of life character study focusing on a young woman, her grief, and feeling unsure of what direction her life is going in. Rotating days of partying, men, and pushing down of her emotions.
I really enjoyed the meditations on religion and god throughout this novel. I love a good nothing much happens kinda book, but I found Lazy City to be just a little bit too meandering with not enough character development.
The writing was beautiful though.
Thank you so much to the publishers and netgalley for the arc. Expected date of publication is August 2023.
August 17, 2023
It's probably a bit of cliche (and somewhat lazy - to borrow a word from the title of this book) to call Lazy City the female reply to Close to Home by Michael Magee, but with both being debut coming-of-age novels set in Belfast by young Northern Irish writers, the comparison is inevitable. Not to mention that there's a similar somnambulant vibe to both books - young characters growing up a post-conflict Belfast, struggling to find their way, their drug-fuelled nights and hungover days moving sluggishly along. One feels like the counterpoint to the other, though I'll admit I enjoyed this book more. Clear-eyed prose, realistic relationships and dry, sharp observational humour combine to make this a compelling read.
In the wake of the death of her best friend, Erin leaves London for home in Belfast, taking up an au pair job which conveniently gets her away from her mother, with whom Erin has a fractious relationship. She spends her nights at the bar where her childhood friend Declan works, and it's there Erin strikes up a relationship of sorts with a visiting American lecturer. In parallel, she reignites an old flame with her ex Mikey.
The book is light on plot but heavy on relationships and messiness, and it's Erin's relationships (with those around her and with herself) that really make the book sing.
Rachel also has a relationship/fixation with religion that irritated me a bit but it was pretty relatable to anyone who has grown up Catholic. Personally, I find the whole "I'm not religious but I'm Catholic/ believe in God/light a candle" shtick to be naive, and a relic of a Catholic upbringing and education (the brainwashing runs deep). And though I found it a bit annoying, it is credible - I can recall saying something similar in my twenties (fooling nobody other than myself!). For anyone looking for a book that throws a bit of nuance on religion and its place in modern life, you'll likely enjoy the author's spin on it.
I can't finish without mentioning the drugs. THE DRUGS. Wtf. Do all young people do this many drugs or is it just the youth of Belfast? There's a whole chapter of hedonistic drug-taking and casual chat about the best way to pulverise your cocaine to make it more palatable. Just me?
Still, the writing is stellar and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. 4/5 stars
*Many thanks to @gillhessltd, and to the author and publisher @canongatebooks for the advance copy. Lazy City is published today.
In the wake of the death of her best friend, Erin leaves London for home in Belfast, taking up an au pair job which conveniently gets her away from her mother, with whom Erin has a fractious relationship. She spends her nights at the bar where her childhood friend Declan works, and it's there Erin strikes up a relationship of sorts with a visiting American lecturer. In parallel, she reignites an old flame with her ex Mikey.
The book is light on plot but heavy on relationships and messiness, and it's Erin's relationships (with those around her and with herself) that really make the book sing.
Rachel also has a relationship/fixation with religion that irritated me a bit but it was pretty relatable to anyone who has grown up Catholic. Personally, I find the whole "I'm not religious but I'm Catholic/ believe in God/light a candle" shtick to be naive, and a relic of a Catholic upbringing and education (the brainwashing runs deep). And though I found it a bit annoying, it is credible - I can recall saying something similar in my twenties (fooling nobody other than myself!). For anyone looking for a book that throws a bit of nuance on religion and its place in modern life, you'll likely enjoy the author's spin on it.
I can't finish without mentioning the drugs. THE DRUGS. Wtf. Do all young people do this many drugs or is it just the youth of Belfast? There's a whole chapter of hedonistic drug-taking and casual chat about the best way to pulverise your cocaine to make it more palatable. Just me?
Still, the writing is stellar and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. 4/5 stars
*Many thanks to @gillhessltd, and to the author and publisher @canongatebooks for the advance copy. Lazy City is published today.
August 21, 2023
Megan Nolan recently wrote about ‘Ordinary Human Failings’; in Lazy City, Connolly skilfully captures ‘ordinary human sadness’ in a very similar vein to Michael Magee’s ‘Close to Home’ but from a woman’s perspective.
Do I have your attention? Good, Irish fiction is on top form right now, and this slow burning beauty is no exception.
Erin, in something of a knee-jerk reaction, flees London student life after the tragic death of her best friend. She returns home to Belfast, and if she expected a warm welcome, she’d be wrong, instead entering into more animosity with her volatile, emotionally dysregulated mother.
Erin soon moves in with Anne-Marie, acting as a house cleaner and live-in childminder for her smallies. This isn't the life she wants, but it suits her for now. Her mornings spent running by the Lagan, and her nights spent drinking with her hometown friend Declan, an aspiring artist who works in her local pub.
Looking for solace maybe, she quickly develops an obsessive interest in Matt, a lonely yet suspiciously cheerful American, who’s in Belfast to teach at Queen’s University and write his novel. She and Matt begin seeing each other, and, against her better judgement, she also resumes a quasi-relationship with Mikey.
As Erin moves through the quotidian mundanity, she struggles to confront the depths of her grief. The unholy trinity of sex, drugs and alcohol numb and blur the sharp edges of her pain, but unable or unwilling to confide in others, she returns to visiting churches, spaces where she can feel calm and where she begins to find some level of catharsis while sitting alone among the religious imagery of Catholicism.
Lazy City is the story of Erin, how she considers past relationships, her faith, and Northern Ireland’s recent history. However, her often underdeveloped introspection and lack of depth given to past trauma means the novel never quite reaches its emotional potential. Saying that I tore through it in one sitting, you can't help but root for our rather uprooted protagonist. Lazy City is a solid debut. 4⭐
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this advance review copy in return for an, as always, honest review.
Do I have your attention? Good, Irish fiction is on top form right now, and this slow burning beauty is no exception.
Erin, in something of a knee-jerk reaction, flees London student life after the tragic death of her best friend. She returns home to Belfast, and if she expected a warm welcome, she’d be wrong, instead entering into more animosity with her volatile, emotionally dysregulated mother.
Erin soon moves in with Anne-Marie, acting as a house cleaner and live-in childminder for her smallies. This isn't the life she wants, but it suits her for now. Her mornings spent running by the Lagan, and her nights spent drinking with her hometown friend Declan, an aspiring artist who works in her local pub.
Looking for solace maybe, she quickly develops an obsessive interest in Matt, a lonely yet suspiciously cheerful American, who’s in Belfast to teach at Queen’s University and write his novel. She and Matt begin seeing each other, and, against her better judgement, she also resumes a quasi-relationship with Mikey.
As Erin moves through the quotidian mundanity, she struggles to confront the depths of her grief. The unholy trinity of sex, drugs and alcohol numb and blur the sharp edges of her pain, but unable or unwilling to confide in others, she returns to visiting churches, spaces where she can feel calm and where she begins to find some level of catharsis while sitting alone among the religious imagery of Catholicism.
Lazy City is the story of Erin, how she considers past relationships, her faith, and Northern Ireland’s recent history. However, her often underdeveloped introspection and lack of depth given to past trauma means the novel never quite reaches its emotional potential. Saying that I tore through it in one sitting, you can't help but root for our rather uprooted protagonist. Lazy City is a solid debut. 4⭐
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this advance review copy in return for an, as always, honest review.
July 31, 2024
For those who say nothing happens... I hear you but this is not a plot based story. What happens is growth. Incremental, ugly, drunken, illogical, growth. 🪴
This character could not deal with grief and trauma in a healthy way, so she went to substances and sex, which way more people do than we realise. It doesn't mean addiction but it's a coping mechanism.
She was irritating... But the way she explained at the end how she ran home without thinking to relive that feeling of hope, youthful expectation and ambition, was captured so well. She could be damn annoying but I also couldn't look away.
Her relationship to God is also so interesting and portrayed reasonably well, that someone might feel it's easier to find solace in the silence and the stopping, than the ritual and the worship.
The main disappointment is the representation that every drunken hookup will lead to orgasm (highly unrealistic 🥲😂).
This character could not deal with grief and trauma in a healthy way, so she went to substances and sex, which way more people do than we realise. It doesn't mean addiction but it's a coping mechanism.
She was irritating... But the way she explained at the end how she ran home without thinking to relive that feeling of hope, youthful expectation and ambition, was captured so well. She could be damn annoying but I also couldn't look away.
Her relationship to God is also so interesting and portrayed reasonably well, that someone might feel it's easier to find solace in the silence and the stopping, than the ritual and the worship.
The main disappointment is the representation that every drunken hookup will lead to orgasm (highly unrealistic 🥲😂).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2025
Unsatisfying and faux-deep. I found the religious pretensions slightly sickening. It sounded like the author found out about Catholic guilt from TikTok. The church scenes felt like they were shoehorned in to give the book an intellectual veneer - "this novel is actually DEEP because it describes how the youth of modern Ireland feel about Catholicism ☝️🤓". Ugh. Ní Mhaoileoin's Ordinary Saints looks at this theme in a much more nuanced way, if that's what you're into.
The writing was so repetitive. I lost count of the number of times someone was described drinking "clear, fizzy liquid." Vodka soda is not a censored phrase last time I checked.
The comparison to Magee's Close to Home is inevitable - disillusioned youth coming of age in Belfast City, with many similar scenes of casual drug use, one-night stands and unhealthy relationships. I liked this one much less, because it seemed so obvious. All of the narrator's "hot takes" are things that someone would say at an afters trying to be philosophical.
Needless to say, I don't recommend this book.
The writing was so repetitive. I lost count of the number of times someone was described drinking "clear, fizzy liquid." Vodka soda is not a censored phrase last time I checked.
The comparison to Magee's Close to Home is inevitable - disillusioned youth coming of age in Belfast City, with many similar scenes of casual drug use, one-night stands and unhealthy relationships. I liked this one much less, because it seemed so obvious. All of the narrator's "hot takes" are things that someone would say at an afters trying to be philosophical.
Needless to say, I don't recommend this book.
December 1, 2023
I reached 60% and could go no further. The protagonist was in a despairing cycle of rise, drink, drink to drunkenness, have loneliness sex, fall asleep. She had dropped out of school after the death of her roommate. She moved home, raged at her dysfunctional mom, and orbited through shallow relationships. I kept hoping something would change and heal. That's why I kept reading. Then I read other reviews of the book. Here's the spoiler those reviews contain--nothing changes.
I wonder how the story but not enough to invest more time in finding out.
I wonder how the story but not enough to invest more time in finding out.
June 26, 2024
As I go about life, I assume that my affect is neutral and unremarkable. Of course, others are observing something different, a character with distinctive opinions and tendencies. But Lazy City somehow captures that “inside” feeling. There’s a moment when the narrator has been drinking too much too early with her long-time situationship, and they come out of the bar to see a gorgeous sunset that feels like a sign… I just felt like Connolly got in my brain. It felt intimate and safe in this book and its care for everyday joy and melancholy.
November 7, 2023
I really enjoyed this, bar some slightly weird plot tangents at times. If you love a Sally Rooney drawn character with a bit more heavy drinking thrown in this would float ya boat
January 31, 2024
My brand is depressing Irish novels… however… because nothing happened, it somehow was more bleak
January 19, 2025
Fleabagesque
Read
December 8, 2024I would like to read more on weekdays. I tend to do most of my reading in bulk on weekends.
Moments of brilliance in here, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t frustrated with how monotonous it got. Every single chapter more or less is one of 3 characters organising to get a drink with the protagonist, they get drunk, they have lonely sex, rinse and repeat. I got this book because I read an article of Rachel Connolly’s and I thought it was fantastic. This was a bit of a let down, but you can’t win them all.
Moments of brilliance in here, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t frustrated with how monotonous it got. Every single chapter more or less is one of 3 characters organising to get a drink with the protagonist, they get drunk, they have lonely sex, rinse and repeat. I got this book because I read an article of Rachel Connolly’s and I thought it was fantastic. This was a bit of a let down, but you can’t win them all.
October 17, 2023
“Time is the only thing” there’s a depth to this debut novel that shone in small moments. There were aspects of Lazy City that felt rambling and messy. However that also felt authentic to Erin’s story and grief. A difficult read, but my favourite chapters were those where Erin touches upon her feelings and depths. Her descriptions of moments of soulful clarity and the solace that she finds in her form of religion or spirituality.
The author evokes that particular nuance that comes from moving back to your hometown, that sense of defeat, seeking of sanctuary (and in Erin’s case never receives that safe place). Of growing up in a time where things don’t seem to be working out, the odds feel stacked against us.
The grittiness of modern Belfast and how the young generation are touched with so much of what has gone before their time. The impossibility of growing up in the shadow of an Ireland that still is affected by so much of its past. A really complex book.
The author evokes that particular nuance that comes from moving back to your hometown, that sense of defeat, seeking of sanctuary (and in Erin’s case never receives that safe place). Of growing up in a time where things don’t seem to be working out, the odds feel stacked against us.
The grittiness of modern Belfast and how the young generation are touched with so much of what has gone before their time. The impossibility of growing up in the shadow of an Ireland that still is affected by so much of its past. A really complex book.
October 22, 2024
If there’s one thing I will (almost) always read it’s a Belfast novel. Erin has just moved home from London after her best friend died. She has a tumultuous relationship with her mum & is au pairing as a stop gap.
There is so much I enjoyed about this book but I think the relationships were such a high point. Erin’s fraught relationship with her (pretty shitty) mum, the on/off with old flame Mikey, the flickering of something new with an American professor, the mild chaos with her friend Declan, the odd dynamic with her employer Ann Marie and the fragments of a life with her best friend Kate. It all just felt very… real? Like yeah I truly believe each of these relationships are the way that they are.
The only portions I wasn’t super keen on was the religious stuff. Erin finds solace in empty churches to kinda work through her emotions & I found those portions a bit dull. As a terrible heathen I could not relate but I think they’d hit home a bit more if you had a Catholic upbringing.
A very obvious & maybe boring comparison to make is Close to Home by Michael Magee but more in a ‘if you loved that you’ll love this’ kind of way instead of a ‘this is the female version of that novel’ kind of way.
Overall I loved it, I loved Erin & was really rooting for her. She’s just a girlie who deserves a nice life at the end of it all.
Read via NetGalley
There is so much I enjoyed about this book but I think the relationships were such a high point. Erin’s fraught relationship with her (pretty shitty) mum, the on/off with old flame Mikey, the flickering of something new with an American professor, the mild chaos with her friend Declan, the odd dynamic with her employer Ann Marie and the fragments of a life with her best friend Kate. It all just felt very… real? Like yeah I truly believe each of these relationships are the way that they are.
The only portions I wasn’t super keen on was the religious stuff. Erin finds solace in empty churches to kinda work through her emotions & I found those portions a bit dull. As a terrible heathen I could not relate but I think they’d hit home a bit more if you had a Catholic upbringing.
A very obvious & maybe boring comparison to make is Close to Home by Michael Magee but more in a ‘if you loved that you’ll love this’ kind of way instead of a ‘this is the female version of that novel’ kind of way.
Overall I loved it, I loved Erin & was really rooting for her. She’s just a girlie who deserves a nice life at the end of it all.
Read via NetGalley
August 22, 2023
I thought this was a good book. It is a character driven story, and Erin is the main character. Growing up in Belfast and having a difficult relationship with her mother, she seems to be getting her own life together until a tragedy happens. The numb feelings and her just floating along really hit me at true. Also felt the scenes in the churches were very real and important to the book. Good first novel, and I look forward to future books by Rachel Connolly.
I received this ARC from Liveright and W.W. Norton & Company through a Goodreads Giveaway. This is my honest opinion.
I received this ARC from Liveright and W.W. Norton & Company through a Goodreads Giveaway. This is my honest opinion.
December 28, 2023
I’ve followed Rachel Connolly for a while, so the clarity and hilarity of her prose was no surprise here. I’ve seen some people criticise that ‘not much happens’, but I wonder if a novel like this really suffers from not being ‘plot-heavy’ when it paints such an accurate portrayal of being 20-something, lost, and in mourning.
Anyway I very much enjoyed the novel, the characters, and the time I spent with them. Hope she writes more soon.
Anyway I very much enjoyed the novel, the characters, and the time I spent with them. Hope she writes more soon.
May 7, 2024
This book is for sure not for everyone. But my son ended up randomly picking it for me at the library and I really enjoyed it. Nothing much happens and yet everything does.. I liked the main character and the way the author writes both her inner and outer dialogues.
November 11, 2023
Pure millennial drivel
March 2, 2024
WOW!!!!! Incredible…. I’m shaken by this in the best way…. I need to buy a copy and revisit this. Really a treasure.
March 11, 2024
in Lazy City, Rachel Connolly flips the narrative on the messy girl trope, exploring loss, resilience, and the gritty realities of Northern Irish life post-troubles. through the lens of Erin - an au pair navigating the aftermath of the death of her best friend, Connolly paints a pretty sharp portrait of the aimlessness that follows grief. i found her vulnerability, quiet resilience, and outward facade of control to be written so accurately and beautifully
the vivid exploration of past traumas against the backdrop of Northern Ireland post-troubles period came across as incredibly authentic - akin to Sally Rooney's books and Fleabag imo
love love love love love Declan i want to be his friend
my only qualm is that i think the novel was just close enough to reaching an emotional breakthrough. i was waiting for that last layer of depth and vulnerability to be exposed in the last chapter, and it didn't happen in my opinion. the ending felt superfluously open-ended to me. nevertheless, a fantastic and solid debut!!! i will definitely be reading more from Connolly
Lazy City earns a solid 4/5 stars from me for its nuanced storytelling, authentic portrayal of relationships, and its ability to draw readers into Erin's world of self-discovery and healing ✨
the vivid exploration of past traumas against the backdrop of Northern Ireland post-troubles period came across as incredibly authentic - akin to Sally Rooney's books and Fleabag imo
love love love love love Declan i want to be his friend
my only qualm is that i think the novel was just close enough to reaching an emotional breakthrough. i was waiting for that last layer of depth and vulnerability to be exposed in the last chapter, and it didn't happen in my opinion. the ending felt superfluously open-ended to me. nevertheless, a fantastic and solid debut!!! i will definitely be reading more from Connolly
Lazy City earns a solid 4/5 stars from me for its nuanced storytelling, authentic portrayal of relationships, and its ability to draw readers into Erin's world of self-discovery and healing ✨
January 20, 2025
I really admire Rachel Connolly’s journalistic writing and wanted to love this but sadly didn’t. I’ve got an incredibly high tolerance for plotless books but I don’t think there was enough character development in this to justify the fact that nothing else happened. The revelation Erin has at the end was beautifully written but I wish this had come earlier in the book and been used to drive the narrative forward. I found a lot of the dialogue and interactions between people to be overly detailed and a bit boring.
I think the strongest bits were Erin’s reflections on growing up in, leaving and then returning to Belfast. Erin’s conflicted feelings about how she experiences the aftermath of the Troubles, her relationship with her mum. I liked this: ‘I could say he doesn’t understand what it’s like to grow up in a post-conflict place. But do I really? It’s not like I can compare it with growing up anywhere else. I never even heard the word post-conflict until I left.’
I think the strongest bits were Erin’s reflections on growing up in, leaving and then returning to Belfast. Erin’s conflicted feelings about how she experiences the aftermath of the Troubles, her relationship with her mum. I liked this: ‘I could say he doesn’t understand what it’s like to grow up in a post-conflict place. But do I really? It’s not like I can compare it with growing up anywhere else. I never even heard the word post-conflict until I left.’
January 15, 2024
Picked this up in my local library ( thank you!) And was intrigued by the Frankie Boyle endorsement!
Frankie being famous for acerbic, nasty humour; and this was a quiet novel about grief.
And it was good enough, Erin an engaging protagonist, drinking (and drinking and drinking and drinking and) and shagging and putting on her makeup and talking about clothes...
And I was thinking, this is good enough, it's a diversion between reads and maybe I'm tired of The Youth with their texting and drinking ( and drinking! )
And then, she visits her mum..
And in 3 pages Rachel Connolly deftly and succinctly and beautifully; explains what it is like to grow up in the era of ceasefire. The damaged parents, that want you to have a better life, and resent you because you have.
And her description of Church Going was quite moving, and explained the Why to this old atheist.
Beautiful.
With a good satisfying ending too.
And of course as a parent, you read any description of contemporary Youth as a parent.
And yes they drink and take coke and ketamine... but they're alright.
The kids are alright.
Frankie being famous for acerbic, nasty humour; and this was a quiet novel about grief.
And it was good enough, Erin an engaging protagonist, drinking (and drinking and drinking and drinking and) and shagging and putting on her makeup and talking about clothes...
And I was thinking, this is good enough, it's a diversion between reads and maybe I'm tired of The Youth with their texting and drinking ( and drinking! )
And then, she visits her mum..
And in 3 pages Rachel Connolly deftly and succinctly and beautifully; explains what it is like to grow up in the era of ceasefire. The damaged parents, that want you to have a better life, and resent you because you have.
And her description of Church Going was quite moving, and explained the Why to this old atheist.
Beautiful.
With a good satisfying ending too.
And of course as a parent, you read any description of contemporary Youth as a parent.
And yes they drink and take coke and ketamine... but they're alright.
The kids are alright.
January 25, 2024
It‘s about a smart and snarky 20 something year old who doesn’t know what to do with her life and mostly talks about her two mediocre suitors. Like most of us, those suitors are what she talks/thinks about the most and also the more mediocre suitor is really just a distraction from the one she actually likes.
I obviously loved it
Also it’s set in Ireland, and she makes some great political observations amidst all the boy drama so that’s a bonus
I obviously loved it
Also it’s set in Ireland, and she makes some great political observations amidst all the boy drama so that’s a bonus
January 11, 2024
Rly enjoyed the way religion was intertwined in this book. The last few pages were beautiful! Did not like the way Erin’s exact level of drunk/soberness was mentioned like lines akin to “i was drunk enough to want to xyz but sober enough to know not to” came up so frequently it was just annoying phrasing lol
August 13, 2024
2.5
I love a plotless book but if it's not interesting through plot you have to make it interesting somehow 🙃
I love a plotless book but if it's not interesting through plot you have to make it interesting somehow 🙃
June 28, 2025
Was weer even op bezoek in Belfast
August 13, 2025
Zaten mooie stukjes in maar ik raakte niet gehecht aan de karakters en hun gevoelens.
October 20, 2023
I was slightly apprehensive about this book as I thought it would follow the typical and overused messy girl trope (e.g Boy Parts or Coleoptera & Frankenstein) but Connolly’s book is more tender and nuanced than that. Erin is a vibrant and likeable character experiencing grief in her own way - she’s not messy for the sake of it but because of the death of her best friend and her difficult relationship with her mother. Connolly writes her with such tenderness and an open heart you can’t help but feel for her, and like her.
The plot is primarily character driven which I liked as we watch Erin live her life in Belfast through drinking, socialising, having sex and her relationship with religion; it was this relationship which I found one of the most interesting. She knows how people feel about Catholicism and at times seems to struggle to define her relationship with religion but still finds solace in it. It is these moments in the book when Erin is in a church that the book truly shines; it seems to be a place of peacefulness, which she finds therapeutic, and Connolly allows us to sit with her as she tries to process her feelings.
The relationship she has with Mickey and American Matt is slightly unoriginal and cliched; neither of them are that good people nor does Erin really seem that interested in them (perhaps more Mikey than Matt) but she continues to date them both. The ending left you with hope as Erin heads into the new year that perhaps she will be okay even if she doesn’t feel so right now.
The plot is primarily character driven which I liked as we watch Erin live her life in Belfast through drinking, socialising, having sex and her relationship with religion; it was this relationship which I found one of the most interesting. She knows how people feel about Catholicism and at times seems to struggle to define her relationship with religion but still finds solace in it. It is these moments in the book when Erin is in a church that the book truly shines; it seems to be a place of peacefulness, which she finds therapeutic, and Connolly allows us to sit with her as she tries to process her feelings.
The relationship she has with Mickey and American Matt is slightly unoriginal and cliched; neither of them are that good people nor does Erin really seem that interested in them (perhaps more Mikey than Matt) but she continues to date them both. The ending left you with hope as Erin heads into the new year that perhaps she will be okay even if she doesn’t feel so right now.
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