Freshers

by Joanna Davies

Three freshmen, or "freshers," at Aberystwyth University in Wales test the limits of their coming of age in this darkly humorous novel that is full of dangerous spirit. Lois is quiet, Cerys is an extrovert, and Hywel comes from a family with high expectations, but each discovers new sides of themselves in unexpected ways. Lois falls for the wrong kind of man and begins experimenting with drugs, while Cerys takes her curiosity about the world of casual sex to risky lengths in an affair with her married professor. The book tackles the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll of the early 1990s amidst the ivory towers of academia, demonstrating what it's like to leave home and find a whole new world waiting—one that is frequently unkind to the unwary and inexperienced.

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is by no means a literary classic, being translated into English for welsh with sizeable additions. But as stories go I found it brilliant! The use of three independent time lines of three friends at university but which inevitable entangle with themes many good stories have of love, sex, betrayal, loyally and death. I fear however you might have needed to have went to university to fully get this book, but none the less is a tale of three students trying to make sense of their new world with varying degrees of success. As a story you will find it hard to do better!

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book's plot is entertaining, if incredibly predictable.

The author seems to have an odd narrative voice and there is overuse of exclamation marks and ellipsis. I'm not sure if some of this is the result of translation from Welsh, but I found it prevented me from really engaging with the book.

[Kitty · Rating 2 out of 5]

kahtlustan, et lisaks sellele, et see ei olnud eriti hea raamat, oli see ka erakordselt kehv tõlge. kui raamat oleks olnud natukegi parem, siis veedaksin veidi aega originaaliga ja uuriksin seda asja, aga... nah, las ta jääb.

meile räägitakse kolme esimese kursuse tudengi elamustest Abersytwythi ülikoolis 1991/1992 õppeaastal. ja sündmustiku poolest see kõik suurt ei erinegi neist lugudest, mida oleme lugenud, ütleme, Tartu ülikooli kohta 1980ndatel. juba peategelaste trio on enamvähem nagu Mihkel Mutil - paheline Cerys, naiivne Lois ja... meespeategelasel, usklikust perest Hywelil tuleb enda kanda võtta usina, kasina, puhta põllekesega Tuuli Botiku roll, ma kardan :)

järgneb kõik ootuspärane - ühikaelu, erakapeod, tohutus koguses alkoholi, jaopärast lahjemaid ja kangemaid narkootikume, kiusajad vanematelt kursustelt, palju seksi (omavahel, bändipoistega, õppejõududega), mõni armumine, mõni rasedus. leitakse uusi sõpru, kaotatakse vanu, siis minnakse uutega ka tülli ja ollakse lõhkise küna ees... tavaline 18-aastaste elu vist tegelt. vb mida ma päriselt ei osanud oodata, oli see, et sellesama esimese ülikooliaasta jooksul jõutakse ka surmade ja abieludeni. pole vist mõtet lisada, et loengute jaoks ei jää selle möllu taustal eriti kellelgi aega.

noh, ja võinuks ju sellest kõigest mingi mõtte või moraali või inimeste isikliku kasvamise aspektiga loo kirjutada, aga selle jaoks vist ka pole olnud aega. ongi selline üsna kuiv sündmuste loetelu, mis tihtipeale kordab terveid stseene ja dialooge lihtsalt sellepärast, et on peetud vajalikuks sama pidu või tüli kirjeldada kahe või kolme tegelase vaatenurgast järjest.

õudselt harva juhtub, et mingi ingliskeelne tekst mind keelelises ja grammatilises mõttes nii häirib, aga siin on isegi komad valesti mu meelest.

[Bookthesp1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t think I was expecting too much from this book- an easy read; engaging setting - maybe some decent writing - but it’s called Freshers so at the very least one might expect some engagement with freshers as a concept within the writing and plotting. Now granted, when I went to university in the mid 1980s ( and it wasn’t Aberystwyth) freshers was not the big corporate behemoth it’s become with wrist bands and a cornucopia of events... one disco and a societies fare and that was it. This novel is set on the 90s following the fortunes of three young people arriving at uni with hopes and dreams. But they don’t appear to engage with any freshers events - indeed chasing and attempting to shag or be shagged by third years is the objective for the female leads at least. . So they are freshers who don’t do freshers week - the novel follows them through the first year.

Suffice to say the plotting goes awry quite quickly and the writing is workaday and functional . It then becomes both predictable or unbelievable or both.
I guess if you attended Aberystwyth there may be references that mean something- this novel was originally published in Welsh and whether an English language version was ever part of the plan is debatable. Suffice to say it’s very site and geographically specific. This English version is readable and there is some attempt to entertain but overall the characters are neither fully rounded or developed.

So - despite the clever and atmospheric cover and promise of a lighthearted story that turns dark it actually turns cliched and predictable - an easy read certainly but not much of a reflection of the freshers experience. Freshers needed to be refreshed somewhere in the edit stage.

[Sabina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good holiday book but nothing more. Very unbelievable events for a small group of people in a small space of time. No depth to characters or relationships. Was Hywel really needed in the book? It might have been better just focussing on Lois and Cerys

[LAnne]

I would liked to have read this in Welsh but I only found out it was first published in the medium after buying it. The language is seriously easy and as it has been translated there are some gaps. I bought it from a charity shop in a desperate attempt to read something but I loved it!! I didn´t know that Aber university could be made to seem so scandalous. A good read for young adults that want a reckless plot.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up in the library looking for something light. It was quite entertaining, but nothing special. The thing I liked about it is that it's young adult without the typical perfect love story, it was somewhat darker than that(but not more unpredictable) and from the start of every relationship it was clear they weren't perfect.

[Natasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure why I bothered buying this, and equally as unsure why I'm bothering to review it. Kind of entertaining midway, and then ended abruptly. Left me feeling gutted I spent the money on it as it had potential to go somewhere at the beginning.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminded me of the dark 80's US High school films like Heathers. Jocks, Mean Girls and the Nerds against the unexpected backdrop of Aber Uni in the early '90s. Story rattles along with the action seen from three different POVs. Recommended.

[Miffy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit boring really - although it can't have helped that in my copy some pages were duplicated and others were missing. Slightly predictable.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read and surprisingly dark. Entertaining to read about the different tribes in University - particularly enjoyed the Fat Slags. A cross between Mean Girls and Withnail and I. Excellent.