pick7-12-25: My 47th finished book of 2025! Webster is young EMT when he goes on a call that will change his life forever. This is where he meets Sheila after she‘s driven her car into a tree, drunk. After her recovery he makes it a point to visit her to make sure she is doing ok. As their relationship evolves they are faced with a surprise. 18 years later they will come together to see that surprise survive something horrific. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣4️⃣7️⃣
pickSet in Glasgow in the early eighties we meet Angus and Big Shug who have a volatile relationship fulled with anger, deceit and cheap larger.
Shuggie is the youngest of Angus and Big Shug's children.
I wanted to pull Shuggie from every page and remove him entirely from the situation. This character is a kid that could keep me up at night with worry.
pickThe ending felt very unsatisfying. The whole book I felt like the ending was going to involve divorce, but the ending didn‘t even involve a proper ending or closure. This book is funny in the way of a Troost book, but it had a much darker tone because, ultimately, this is his addiction and recovery memoir. It‘s actually heartbreaking in some ways, and it‘s hard to put my finger on exactly why.
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I‘m not sure if this is funny or tragic. He‘s returned to Kiribati without his wife and children (apparently they have 2 sons now), having seemingly run away from home after going to rehab for alcoholism (at least he‘s not drinking), and he‘s waxing poetic about how things are just how they were when they left. It‘s funny in its way, but it‘s also heartbreaking. I seriously feel like this is a harbinger of divorce ahead.
so-soI was a big fan of Full House growing up although not a big fan of the character Stephanie Tanner, I still wanted to see what led to her downfall after coming from one of the most wholesome shows on TV. It was a fast read, nothing truly eye opening. Just another childhood star falling into a downward spiral. A few interesting tidbits on Full House were revealed but other than that it was kind of a lackluster story.
so-soDeWitt's debut was grim and grotty.
If you like books where people take lots of drugs and alcohol and poop themselves - and you've already read Trainspotting - then this might be for you, but it wasn't really my cup of tea.
Reasonable writing, but no redeemable characters and written in the second person, which should never be attempted.
Read his other stuff instead.
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Rae's number one rule of how not to be pretentious when writing a novel is:
NEVER use the second person!
Someone should probably also tell Rae that referring to oneself in the third person can be just as annoying 🤣🤣
