Reviews and Comments

What an incredible novel that takes us back to the heady days of Gerona in 1978, a city of two halves dealing in part with poverty and social decay, and in part the elation and opportunity of post-Franco Spain. 

<em>Outlaws</em> is told through a series of interviews with Cañas, a former juvenile gang member-turned-lawyer; Inspector Cuenca, the policeman who worked to dismantle the gang and capture its leader, Zarco; and the head of the prison where Zarco was held, a man who saw straight through the former gang leader. 

The book starts when Cañas is 16. Seeking an escape from the increasingly violent and humiliating bullying he is experiencing from his supposed friends, Cañas meets a gang of delinquents and falls in love with Tere. In an account spanning over 30 years, Tere's complicated relationship with both Zarco and Cañas will have far-reaching consequences for not just the 3 but …

I don't know why it took me so long to read a Paul Auster book but here we are. Throughout this reading, I've been conscious of how great it feels to read a truly good book and it's awakened a desire to see what else I missed over the years. 

(I read a lot of 20th century literature in the early 90s before moving into serial-killer fiction and then YA. Even now, I'm more inclined to read brand new fiction instead of the classics).

Written in 1987, this book remains timeless in its depiction of a post-apocalyptic city (or at the very least, a collapsed city). The book has been described as dystopian but at no point does the government consider itself to be the answer - rather each successive government is trying to manage the economic, ecologically and physical disaster the city finds itself in. 

With dire descriptions of …

Holy unlikeable protagonist! This book is was quite cathartic because I was in an as toxic a relationship at exactly the same age, although my own reactions were different (equally destructive, but not the same)

What a harrowing read. I clearly didn't read the description properly because I wasn't expecting that. Despite making me anxious throughout, it's an excellent novel and very powerful

This book is very different from <em>Shutter</em> but I loved it just as much. I found it difficult because I'd forgotten so much of the story in the first book. I feel like both books might benefit from a re-read but who has time for that? 

It took me a beat to get into the second POV story but once I did, it became quite riveting. I was very happy with how things panned out in the end. 

Huh, I didn't realise my mum read this and that she rated it 4 stars. I wonder what her experience was like reading it and if, as a baby boomer, it helped her understand her own relationships with her immigrant parents? 

I honestly expected to like this book more but ultimately, I think the experience was a little ruined by the audiobook. I listened to the version narrated by Gwendoline Yeo and it felt like she was rushing through it. I had to check that I hadn't accidentally turned the speed up. Her pronunciation was hackneyed in parts and some of the voices and accents were awful. (Some voices sounded like caricatures or parodies and others, for example the American men, were just weird). I sampled the version written by the author and it didn't sound any better. 

I was really interested in the first part of the book, in …

What an impossibly gripping book about the most vile of protagonists. This book made me simultaneously want to ramp up my own writing (blogs not books) and disappear off the Internet forever. 

Kuang captures, with an unflinching eye, the massive entitlement at the heart of this book. 

I'm so glad I tried it again after previously DNFing it (admittedly after about two pages) 

I liked this novella a lot. Again, I can see why other people didn't but it gave a great insight into what content moderators are seeing and how it is wreaking havoc on their mental health and world outlook. I'm wavering between 4 and 5 stars but going for 4 because there was a reveal towards the end that I found underdeveloped and a little too subtle. 

I can see why some people didn't enjoy this and I probably wouldn't have chosen it if I'd known some of the themes. But I absolutely tore through this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

After decades of reading YA, I realised I’d never encountered such a sharp, honest portrayal of how teenagers genuinely don’t have a fully developed prefrontal cortex, how they fail to see the consequences of their actions, and consistently make terrible decisions. It was brilliantly done.

The heatwave felt like a character in its own right. I was in France this summer when it hit 41.5°C in Paris, and I loved the idea that this story unfolded during that same oppressive, shimmering heat.

Definitely a book to read if you're in a reading slump

There is no doubt this book is slow moving, and I honestly thought about giving up on it many times. But I realise that I loved the bits about Aboriginal culture and history. I related to the bits about trauma and how trauma bonding runs through families, both uniting and separating us. I really enjoyed the bits about the tour, learning about all the places I didn't even know exist in the UK and adding to my already burgeoning to visit list. I didn't even know I had an interest in classic literature until I read this book. I'll definitely read more from this author and I'm so pleased that my library had this on e-book.