You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
A review by obsidian_blue
The Last Week of May by Roisin Meaney
5.0
Updated June 25, 2024: Great re-read. You can see my original review below. I was in the mood for some comfortish reads because I have a lot going on personally right now.
Updated review January 28, 2021: Just did a nice re-read of this one. Still really enjoyed this one and enjoyed it. Though as I said in another review I have noticed that most of Meaney's characters are kind of dealing with similar circumstances across books. We have May dealing with being cheated on which a lot of her characters deal with in her books. We have Marjorie who is similar to a lot of her older female characters that is dealing with an ungrateful child. It's not a bad thing, I just didn't see it until I did my re-reads.
Original review:
Wow. I can see why many are calling Roisin Meaney the new Maeve Binchy. I really enjoyed this one a lot.
We get to follow a cast of characters through one week taking place in the Kilpatrick, Ireland. Not everyone gets a happy ending, and some people still seem to be obtuse as hell at the end of the book, but I really enjoyed this one.
The main characters are:
May, dealing with heartbreak, moved to Kilpatrick and doing odd jobs to support herself and her father.
Pam, takes care of May's father while she is out at work and is dealing with some things with her husband Jack which are causing her to be worried about their future.
Bernard who is the local florist and scared that someone is out to get him and his live in lover are a couple who are dealing with someone who is focused on hurting them because they are gay.
Paddy who is in love with May though he's never formally met her.
Paul who is ready to throw away his life due to a fling.
Carmel who is obsessed with Paul.
Marjorie who doesn't know how to talk to her daughter anymore.
There are some other characters that we get to see in this one, but I don't want to spoil too much. I really did enjoy everyone (even the characters who were doing terrible things).
The writing was really good and I got a kick out of following these characters for a full week. I loved the ins and outs of everyone and how everything ends up being connected in the end around a single event.
The flow actually is good in this one even though we go back and forth between characters. Meaney does a good job with everyone's voices so no character sounds exactly like the other one. She also helpfully makes sure she calls out who is "speaking" when the passage switches between people. I didn't find that necessary though to include due to how different everyone sounds.
The setting of Kilpatrick felt small at times, but I think it was supposed to due to us following about 10 characters (here and there) throughout the book.
I loved how the ending we get leaves things up in the air, but we can guess what happens next. I would love to read about this group in a sequel someday.
Updated review January 28, 2021: Just did a nice re-read of this one. Still really enjoyed this one and enjoyed it. Though as I said in another review I have noticed that most of Meaney's characters are kind of dealing with similar circumstances across books. We have May dealing with being cheated on which a lot of her characters deal with in her books. We have Marjorie who is similar to a lot of her older female characters that is dealing with an ungrateful child. It's not a bad thing, I just didn't see it until I did my re-reads.
Original review:
Wow. I can see why many are calling Roisin Meaney the new Maeve Binchy. I really enjoyed this one a lot.
We get to follow a cast of characters through one week taking place in the Kilpatrick, Ireland. Not everyone gets a happy ending, and some people still seem to be obtuse as hell at the end of the book, but I really enjoyed this one.
The main characters are:
May, dealing with heartbreak, moved to Kilpatrick and doing odd jobs to support herself and her father.
Pam, takes care of May's father while she is out at work and is dealing with some things with her husband Jack which are causing her to be worried about their future.
Bernard who is the local florist and scared that someone is out to get him and his live in lover are a couple who are dealing with someone who is focused on hurting them because they are gay.
Paddy who is in love with May though he's never formally met her.
Paul who is ready to throw away his life due to a fling.
Carmel who is obsessed with Paul.
Marjorie who doesn't know how to talk to her daughter anymore.
There are some other characters that we get to see in this one, but I don't want to spoil too much. I really did enjoy everyone (even the characters who were doing terrible things).
The writing was really good and I got a kick out of following these characters for a full week. I loved the ins and outs of everyone and how everything ends up being connected in the end around a single event.
The flow actually is good in this one even though we go back and forth between characters. Meaney does a good job with everyone's voices so no character sounds exactly like the other one. She also helpfully makes sure she calls out who is "speaking" when the passage switches between people. I didn't find that necessary though to include due to how different everyone sounds.
The setting of Kilpatrick felt small at times, but I think it was supposed to due to us following about 10 characters (here and there) throughout the book.
I loved how the ending we get leaves things up in the air, but we can guess what happens next. I would love to read about this group in a sequel someday.