by Allie Millington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a way to tell a story! I’m not often a fan of contemporary, family stories. However when a typewriter is one of the cast telling the story then it’s unique enough to get my attention. I read this in the same room as a 1940s Remington accounting typewriter and my Grandmother’s Sears Blue travel typewriter. So I suppose one could say my husband and I have a thing for them (lol). However the fact that it’s a typewriter in this story is partially because it works to tell the story of antiquated technology (that parallels getting old) but also that it provides a way to have the typewriter both know things and speak them back. Very, very clever.
I didn’t know where this story was going; but once it got there (about 75% of the way in) I wanted to groan… typically this would have become a ‘written to make you cry’ sort of The Notebook style story. Instead it stays cute and sweet without becoming overly sappy.
Trigger warning: (spoiler below)
I do want to advise that the nasty, unrelenting disease Cancer plays a large role in this story. It’s set-up in such a way that you don’t know until more than halfway through and I wouldn’t want anyone to get into this who might have trouble with the direction of the story.
Overall it’s brilliantly done, the comparisons, and overall analogies here are poignant and well thought out. Kudos to Allie Millington for writing a story that didn’t make me want to gag on its sweetness; but still tells a story of a family fighting to stay together, and alive.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
View all my reviews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a way to tell a story! I’m not often a fan of contemporary, family stories. However when a typewriter is one of the cast telling the story then it’s unique enough to get my attention. I read this in the same room as a 1940s Remington accounting typewriter and my Grandmother’s Sears Blue travel typewriter. So I suppose one could say my husband and I have a thing for them (lol). However the fact that it’s a typewriter in this story is partially because it works to tell the story of antiquated technology (that parallels getting old) but also that it provides a way to have the typewriter both know things and speak them back. Very, very clever.
I didn’t know where this story was going; but once it got there (about 75% of the way in) I wanted to groan… typically this would have become a ‘written to make you cry’ sort of The Notebook style story. Instead it stays cute and sweet without becoming overly sappy.
Trigger warning: (spoiler below)
I do want to advise that the nasty, unrelenting disease Cancer plays a large role in this story. It’s set-up in such a way that you don’t know until more than halfway through and I wouldn’t want anyone to get into this who might have trouble with the direction of the story.
Overall it’s brilliantly done, the comparisons, and overall analogies here are poignant and well thought out. Kudos to Allie Millington for writing a story that didn’t make me want to gag on its sweetness; but still tells a story of a family fighting to stay together, and alive.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
View all my reviews
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