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Evenings and Weekends
Evenings and Weekends | Oisín McKenna
8 posts | 7 read | 10 to read
For fans of Sally Rooney and Torrey Peters, a taut and profoundly moving debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters during a heatwave in London as simmering tensions and secrets come to a head over one life-changing weekend. London, 2019. It's the hottest June on record, and a whale is stuck in the Thames River. In the streets of the city, four old acquaintances want more from life than they've been given. On the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, their paths will intersect at a party that will change their lives forever... Maggie, a once-hopeful artist turned waitress, is pregnant and preparing to move back to her hometown with her boyfriend and father-to-be Ed, leaving the city she loves and the life she imagined for herself. Ed, coasting through life as a barely competent bike courier, is ready for a new start with Maggie and their baby, if only to finally leave behind his secret past of hooking up with strange men in train station bathrooms--and his secret past with Maggie's best friend, Phil. Phil, who sleepwalks through his office job and lives for the weekends, is on the brink of achieving his first real relationship with his roommate Keith. The two live in an illegal warehouse commune with other quirky creatives and idealists--the site of the party to end all parties. As the temperature continues to climb, Maggie, Ed, and Phil will have to confront their shared pasts, current desires, and limits of their future lives together before the weekend is over. Strikingly heartfelt, sexually charged, and disarmingly comic, Oisín McKenna's addictive, page-turning debut is a mesmerizing dive into the soul of a city and a critical look at the political, emotional, and financial hurdles facing young adults trying to build lives there and often living for their evenings and weekends.
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AllDebooks
Evenings and Weekends | Oisín McKenna
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Pickpick

This was such a blistering debut. I can't wait to see more from McKenna.
The characters are well formed, likeable and relatable. The group of friends are close-knit, this made me very nostalgic for my own misspent youth in London in the 90s. Although it's character driven rather than plot driven, so much is shown of these people. McKenna reminds me very much of Virginia Woolf in the way he encapsulates the minutiae of daily life.
⬇ï¸

AllDebooks Reading about Maggie and Ed was fraught with emotion. The whale in the Thames seemed a good metaphor for the heavy weight hanging over most of the group, but particularly so for Ed and Phil. These intricate relationships are bound together through love, friendship, shared experiences and history. Found family living for their Evenings and Weekends.
Highly recommended.
3w
AllDebooks I read this with Jack Edwards Inklings' book club on Fable and Instagram. https://fable.co/club/inklings-book-club-with-jack-edwards-467578424343?referral... 3w
CBee This sounds great! 3w
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TheLudicReader I recently started this one. 3w
AllDebooks @CBee I really enjoyed it. 3w
AllDebooks @TheLudicReader Enjoy. 😀 3w
51 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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AnneCecilie
Evenings and Weekends | Oisín McKenna
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Pickpick

I read this over the weekend of the summer solstice which was the perfect time for reading this since that when it‘s set

The main focus is a family and their friends. A mother is trying to tell her son something. A friend is trying to tell a pregnant friend about her boyfriend.

A very good summer read

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blurb
AnneCecilie
Evenings and Weekends | Oisín McKenna
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A whale gets stuck in the Thames.

#FirstLineFridays

Jari-chan What a start into a story! 2mo
Rissreadswithcats Ok, that‘s a fantastic first line! I can‘t wait to hear if the rest of the story is as good! 🤞🼠2mo
35 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Amor4Libros
Evenings and Weekends | Oisín McKenna
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Pickpick

This was good, but there are so many characters and storylines happening that it took me about 50% of the book to start getting a hang of who everyone was.

I wanted to like this much more than I did. I feel that the miscommunication trope was overplayed on this one.

Soft pick

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Amor4Libros
Evenings and Weekends | Oisín McKenna
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This hold came in a few days ago and I‘m prioritizing it since there are a lot of people waiting…So far, so good.

I‘m in the middle of about 6 books and they‘re all hitting right now! 🙌ðŸ½

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squirrelbrain
Evenings and Weekends | Oisín McKenna
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Pickpick

I had high hopes for all of my holiday reads - that‘s why I chose them to take - but, whilst they were all good, they didn‘t live up to my expectations.

This one, failed to pull me in completely, I think because none of the characters were very likeable, and it was a bit Rooney-esque in that they were all failing to communicate properly. It had a bit more bite than a Rooney though, hence the pick.

BarbaraBB Hi 👋🽠Henry ðŸ¾! I can be so annoyed when the books I bring on vacation don‘t live up to my expectations since I spend so much time selecting them 😀 12mo
julesG Henry looking cute and puppy-is. 12mo
julesG Puppy-ish - DYAC!! 12mo
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squirrelbrain I know @BarbaraBB - it‘s so annoying! I‘m worried about my Gladstone‘s books already. 😳 12mo
squirrelbrain I know what you meant! @julesG 🤪 12mo
BarbaraBB I intend to play safe, with authors I trust 😀😀 12mo
56 likes6 comments
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julesG
Evenings and Weekends | Oisín McKenna
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#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Grabbed 📘Mycroft Holmes from my shelves earlier knowing I had to queue for a few hours.
📘At the Stroke of Midnight - eARC meanwhile published (I'm behind on #MountARC)
🎧 Riley Thorn #2 - for the chores
📘Ocean's Godori - eARC, not published yet, but see above

CogsOfEncouragement I read Mycroft Holmes with a friend a few years ago and we both enjoyed it. I made us bracelets to remember our fun buddy read. 1y
julesG @CogsOfEncouragement That's a wonderful idea. 1y
55 likes2 comments