Welcome to Litsy!

The elusive Florida fiction! Bleak and interesting, but I must say that I had a bit more animal death than I like in my books (which is none). I enjoyed this one, it was short and weird and heartfelt.

Not the easiest of reads, due to both the harsh realities told and the sparse prose.
I can't say I enjoyed it; however, I kept mulling it over, which characters might be honest, whether good would win, if anyone lived a positive life.
I'm undecided:/

This was recommended by Mr B's reading spa a few years ago and I finally got round to buying a copy!

It's feeling a little disjointed and distant in its narration but I'm sticking with it...

„Gun Love is about the magic between mother and daughter in the midst of madness. In radiant images, Jennifer Clement tells a story in which love and hate, fantasy and reality collapse into one another. The literary mood of an entire nation.“

That‘s what the blurb says about this book and I have little to add. @ReadingOver50 makes a good point in concerning Pearl‼️

I admit, at first I was reluctant towards the novel but I ended loving the story.

This book makes no damn sense. Next!

(I did finish it, though. 🤷🏻‍♀️)

3.5/5🌟 I found this a quick read. The prose are poetic and really drew me in. I appreciated the story that Clement crafted. Bringing to light the cause and effect of gun control and gun violence in the US. It was sad and affecting the way she went with Pearl's story. Overall I did enjoy this one, I can't put my finger on it but something was missing, I just wasn't blown away. #bookreview #bookstagram

Just one of the many TBR piles in my house ❤️📚
I really need some uninterrupted reading time.

What a read! It is a small novel but it really packs an emotional punch. The writing is so lyrical, it almost feels like some of the words are being sung. Pearl and her mother live in their car and have since Pearl was a baby. This book examines a childhood marred by homelessness and the role of guns in a Florida community. There was a plot twist in the middle I did not expect - this book almost hurts to read but it was very well done.

Next up on the reading docket.

Just absolutely gorgeously written and heartbreaking and real. I loved this one.

This was an ok book. It tells the story of 14 year Pearl, who has spent her whole life living in a car outside a derelict trailer park. Told in Pearl‘s voice, the problem is she is such a passive observer the reader never feels an emotional connection to the book. For a girl who spent her life homeless, you would think she would have a sense of self preservation. Instead she moves from situation to situation with seemingly no thought on her part.

This NBA longlisted title covers many of the current social issues that the US is struggling with today - poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, the lack of adequate care for our veterans, and, of course, gun culture. I found the prose in this book wonderful with a great balance between the artistic and the practical. True-to-life characters who behave alternatively in selfish and unselfish ways are well-drawn and sympathetic. 4⭐️

Read this on a flight today. Clement has a very distinct writing style. There were sentences that really struck me, others didn't really connect for me. I'm comparing this to Where the Dead Sit Talking, the other NBA longlist book with similar themes, and i'm still processing them both. The last third of this book, i'm not sure what I think. Lol great review I know but this book is really something different and not easy to sum up.

My second Jennifer Clement and as the first one I read (Prayers for the Stolen) all the ⭐️s from me. Her writing is a cross between two of my favorites-Yuri Herrera and Donald Ray Pollock. I hope this makes the shortlist for the National Book Award.

Today is October 1st, the start of my favorite month, which makes this Monday morning a little less painful than usual. So does the new Jennifer Clement and my pretty perfect misto. I hope the rest of the day is a as good! Happy October, Litsy friends!

QUITE excited about this #BookMail 😍 My Mom gifted me Lethal White and I couldn‘t pass up Gun Love or the new Mary Kubica— even though I thoroughly did NOT like the last book of hers I read, the theme intrigued me too much to ignore it.

Book delivery day 😍 #thewildlands #putney #gunlove #harvardbookstore #shopindependent #shoplocal

This book was great on so many different levels but at the same time, it felt rushed and incomplete. I wanted her to explore more of the situations she described, particularly the foster care part because she just sort of rolled over that as a means to an end when it could have been much more. I liked the way she approached gun violence and gun culture and family and homelessness but it felt...lacking.

The writing in this book is rich and lyrical and stylized right from the opening sentence, the descriptions sensory and evocative. Pearl‘s coming-of-age story is a slice of life that‘s so foreign to me: it‘s captivating in its tragic strangeness and unlikely tenderness. The third act wasn‘t quite as strong as the first two, but the story felt complete at the end, as if everything had come full circle.

What an incredible opening.

#libraryhaul

Back to the library my pretties! I loved all of these!

This book had some incredible turns of phrase and downright lyrical prose. Gorgeous book cover to cover. Highly recommend. 4.5⭐️

Above is a favorite quote.

Rainy Saturday morning reading.

Does anyone else ever get so stressed out about characters that you can‘t finish a book? Maybe it‘s because my anxiety has been high today anyway, but I‘m having a lot of trouble finishing this book and reading fiction in general.

Can anyone relate?

This book has turns of phrase that make me say, damn that‘s some good writing. Really enjoying this one so far!

Today‘s #bookmail has a great #firstline.

Yesterday‘s mail was some more FunUsual Suspects bookmarks. I can‘t help myself!

A quiet exploration of homelessness, gun violence, criminality, and the exploitation of children for one‘s own ends (not nearly as bleak as it sounds), this book is the story of Pearl, who grows up in her mother‘s car. I found it lovely. It‘s threaded with melancholy and written in a way that reminds me of Rabbit Cake, though the two books are completely different. A quick and thought-provoking read.

I love this cover! I also love all books set in Florida, Swamplandia! is one of my favorites! Any recommendations guys on other sweet Florida books I should read!

This is this weekends #bookmail. I'll probably keep Gun love because the cover is awesome and take the rest to work for Reaching Forward South.

I loved this short little book. This is Pearl‘s coming of age story, a quirky albino girl living in a car with her mom in Florida. Pearl narrates with clipped language that is full of metaphor. It‘s an indictment of how America‘s gun culture is a danger to ourselves when it‘s meant to protect. It paints a stark portrait of homelessness & foster care while examining spiritual connections between people & the fleeting nature of relationships. 🔫🐊

Full review up on Goodreads. Trigger warnings: gun violence, homelessness

"when a man gives his woman a gun, it's because he really trusts her... It's a lot more useful than a box of candy."
?

I wouldn‘t call this a YA novel but it is a coming of age story. The story revolves around Pearl and her life before and after a tragic event. I did find the book interesting and well written. If it hadn‘t been offered as a #firsttoread , I probably wouldn‘t have tried it. It‘s between a pick and a so-so.
Trigger warning: gun violence

Started on the ARC I received of this. I'm digging it so far. There's a character named April May. At first I thought it was 2 girls named April and May, but no, one little girl named April May. Maybe that's only funny because my sleeping med is kicking in 😂 guess I'll see in the morning if anyone else found it amusing 😂📚🎉

“You know, everyone is jealous of Mexico, Corazón said...Because the asteroid fell there from space. It‘s thanks to Mexico there are no dinosaurs. So, you see, if not for Mexico there‘d be no human beings.”

“Eli gave me a cigarette because he knew I was for sale. He knew how much I cost. It took only one cigarette to make me happy.” This book is heartbreaking!

“There is only one kind of man that carries two shotguns into church. That‘s a man that doesn‘t turn the other cheek.”

“Baby, Pearl, she said, I believe in love at first sight. Be careful what you look at.”

Clement‘s writing is fabulous...and timely...and full of social commentary. “People were always thinking homeless was contagious.” And “Usually Everything my mother did was met with disapproval, as though not having a front door to open made you unworthy of a job or friendship or someone lending you something.” Exactly how so many treat homeless people in this country.

Fabulous first sentences! “My mother was a cup of sugar. You could borrow her anytime.”

Like a bullet being shot out of any of the lethal firearms that are in this short but heartbreaking book, GUN LOVE just blew me away. Taking on America‘s love of guns, in Florida no less, this is a story about a 14 yr-old girl who‘s spent her life living in a car with her mom in a trailer park. Through the tiny prism of Pearl‘s perspective on life, her story broke my heart over and over. Beautiful and poignant. REVIEW:
http://bit.ly/GunLoveReview

Whoop whoop. I just won access to a galley through First Reads! Can‘t wait to dive in!

A sensory, lyrical novel centered around Pearl, an adolescent girl named after her fair hair and complexion. Like a sponge, my heart was twisted around as it soaked up the creative imagery Clement laid out. A novel about strays, dreams and belonging. #netgalley #gunlove

Challenge planning and reading Gun Love. So far, I'm immensely enjoying this novel about Florida, poverty, dreamers, a trailer park community, and this lovely little preteen who interprets it all. Oh, and guns. #netgalley#gunlove