readabilitea's Reviews (427)

At first I found this to be really slow and far less engaging than Legends and Lattes, but I thought that might just be down to my reading mood, so I put down and returned to it a bit later. Now though, at 50% through, I've found myself struggling to pick it up again and I'm calling it as a DNF. Whilst I appreciate the cosiness and character-driven nature of the story, the fact I know where Viv ends up (thanks to this being a prequel to Legends and Lattes) makes it hard to feel invested in all the goings-on. I think I would be getting on with this far better if it had been published first, as part of a series about Viv's life and adventures. As it stands, it feels like a book rushed out to capitalised on the success of Legends and Lattes, and given that L&L feels like a nice wrapped up ending, the only place to go was a prequel.

Whilst the premise of this study is very interesting, the writing style makes the authors' points nigh on impenetrable. Every so often there is a kernel of analysis that really struck a chord with me or got me thinking, but I think it would be an error for me to continue reading on the hope of finding these occasional jewels. The bibliography looks like it has a lot of interesting literature that I would prefer to read more than the actual book...

Something about me and this book aren't connecting. I really like the premise and still want to see the adaptation, but perhaps at the moment it's just the wrong time for me to be reading it.

I wanted this book to be something other than it was. It was less a guide and more of a collection of ramblings. Very beautifully written ramblings, but nevertheless not what I was hoping for.

There were glimpses of brilliance in this but unfortunately I just found it too much of a slog to read for such small rewards. I appreciated the portrayal of youth and the backdrop of the UK in the 80s, but there was no connection to the characters for me. I empathised with Jimmy to some extent but I've seen comments from other reviewers that mention how much we are *told* about Tully rather than being shown, and I completely agree.