A humorous, heartwarming cautionary tale about vacationing with family.
A backpacking globetrotter seriously rethinks his decision to partake in a family cruise in Swanson’s comic novel.
Garrulous, perpetually single Darren Dallavalle is an insatiable traveler—his wanderlust takes him to far-flung locations, like his latest excursion to Sub-Saharan Africa. Darren’s snarky cousin Ryan informs him that their single, uber-wealthy uncle, Jorge Da Silva, a recent heart attack survivor, has lobbied all of the cousins to take “one final trip with him before he goes to meet his maker.” This epic, bucket-list vacation is an all-expenses-paid, five-star cruise aboard a luxury liner—with the condition that everyone invited attend or forfeit their inheritance to his estate. Despite his reservations—the trip isn’t really the type of spontaneous adventure he typically craves—Darren eventually accepts the offer and instantly dreads the nightmarish consequences. The author flexes his characterization muscle with his creation of an energetic clan of relatives; after several chapters of build-up, the “great Da Silva Nieces & Nephews European River Cruise of 2018” launches. The journey reunites Darren with his somewhat estranged family members, who surprisingly end up gelling as a group, despite Ryan’s mean-spiritedness. As Swanson fills in the quirky details of each family member, uncle Jorge emerges with the most resonant backstory, though the entire cast grows more engaging as the cruise progresses. The story has some minor problems: Darren’s chatty, neurotic, internal monologue-style commentary can become tedious, and the overuse of italics, which appear on virtually every page, is distracting. Thankfully, the author knows how to spin an addictive yarn, which more than makes up for these flaws. Swanson’s satirical, hyperactive prose will keep readers on their toes, and vacationers and readers with challenging relatives will find much to relate to in this funny and surprisingly thoughtful novel.
A humorous, heartwarming cautionary tale about vacationing with family.Pub Date: June 30, 2023
ISBN: 9798888109502
Page Count: 236
Publisher: Writers Republic LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.
The sequel to It Ends With Us (2016) shows the aftermath of domestic violence through the eyes of a single mother.
Lily Bloom is still running a flower shop; her abusive ex-husband, Ryle Kincaid, is still a surgeon. But now they’re co-parenting a daughter, Emerson, who's almost a year old. Lily won’t send Emerson to her father’s house overnight until she’s old enough to talk—“So she can tell me if something happens”—but she doesn’t want to fight for full custody lest it become an expensive legal drama or, worse, a physical fight. When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. (For new readers, their history unfolds in heartfelt diary entries that Lily addresses to Finding Nemo star Ellen DeGeneres as she considers how Atlas was a calming presence during her turbulent childhood.) Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. But even though she’s divorced, Lily isn’t exactly free. Behind Ryle’s veneer of civility are his jealousy and resentment. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Meanwhile, Atlas’ mother returns with shocking news. In between, Lily and Atlas steal away for romantic moments that are even sweeter for their authenticity as Lily struggles with child care, breastfeeding, and running a business while trying to find time for herself.
Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-668-00122-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A fresh, funny, ambitious, and nuanced take on some of our oldest existential questions. Cannot wait for the TV series.
What would you do if you knew when you were going to die?
In the first page and a half of her latest page-turner, bestselling Australian author Moriarty introduces a large cast of fascinating characters, all seated on a flight to Sydney that’s delayed on the tarmac. There’s the “bespectacled hipster” with his arm in a cast; a very pregnant woman; a young mom with a screaming infant and a sweaty toddler; a bride and groom, still in their wedding clothes; a surly 6-year-old forced to miss a laser-tag party; a darling elderly couple; a chatty tourist pair; several others. No one even notices the woman who will later become a household name as the “Death Lady” until she hops up from her seat and begins to deliver predictions to each of them about the age they’ll be when they die and the cause of their deaths. Age 30, assault, for the hipster. Age 7, drowning, for the baby in arms. Age 43, workplace accident, for a 42-year-old civil engineer. Self-harm, age 28, for the lovely flight attendant, who is that day celebrating her 28th birthday. Over the next 126 chapters (some just a paragraph), you will get to know all these people, and their reactions to the news of their demise, very well. Best of all, you will get to know Cherry Lockwood, the Death Lady, and the life that brought her to this day. Is it true, as she repeatedly intones on the plane, that “fate won’t be fought”? Does this novel support the idea that clairvoyance is real? Does it find a means to logically dismiss the whole thing? Or is it some complex amalgam of these possibilities? Sorry, you won’t find that out here, and in fact not until you’ve turned all 500-plus pages. The story is a brilliant, charming, and invigorating illustration of its closing quote from Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (we’re not going to spill that either).
A fresh, funny, ambitious, and nuanced take on some of our oldest existential questions. Cannot wait for the TV series.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593798607
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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