very good book, I enjoyed it and will be recommending to my friends. it was fun and interesting, it captivated the attention throughout.

From the outset, this book was mesmerizing. I was surprised to drop into a world that looked so familiar, but also very different from my own life.

My only complaint is that because of the cover design, I kept thinking the title of the book was "Daphne will Boast," not "Daphne" by Will Boast, and I like the first one better.

I found the characters to be really strong and believable, from tenure-shy Miranda to Italy-happy Alden. Even though we don't get to know a lot about them, we are meeting them through Daphne's eyes. She sees more truth than she can feel, and it is heartbreaking.

By the end, especially at Sherman's funeral and when Ollie was kneeling on the sidewalk, I was feeling intense grief-like emotions and relating them to the numbness that Daphne and the rest of the support group have to survive by. I was drawn in to the paradox of Daphne's frustration and strength, and happy for the open ending, a moment of hope for her.

What Boast has done with his words is remarkable - to show us, the readers, what Daphne can't see about herself, from her own experiences. Every moment and feeling is so layered. I am not familiar with the inspiration story of Daphne and Apollo, but I feel that I could easily read this one again and get new things out of it. Especially because I didn't give myself time to reflect on this reading - I couldn't put it down. I look forward to a slow digestion of the book sometime in the future. Well done, Will!

An interesting read that was well paced about a girl with a chronic illness.

Told from her perspective and how she tries to keep her emotions in check to try and overcome her illness or live her life.

An emotional and interesting book

I liked the concept of this book a lot. There were some really profound lines about "having to feel" things that were a thoughtful reminder of the implications of one's action.

However, for me, the plot was weak and very little happened to drive the story forward. While the exploration of relationships was interesting, it was slow and lacked depth. The episodes of Daphne freezing were fascinating at first but became repetitive.

I liked the writing style but felt more action was needed to make this book exceptional.

Wow. Will Boast has perfectly captured how it feels to be chronically ill. Daphne is a fighter. She is determined to live a life outside her apartment. She tries so hard to keep her emotions under control and to try and be able to work and have friendships and relationships. Her strength and her desperation are all captured perfectly here. I think that the writing style fits in with and enhances the subject matter. Daphne's narrative and thoughts are not going to be flowing continuously. The book is written from her perspective. There are times when she can speak and notice the world around her and there are times when she is fighting to stay conscious. This book made me emotional. I can empathise with Daphne on so many levels. I feel that the book has perfectly captured her struggle. And her fight with her illness.

My review is scheduled to appear on my blog on Saturday 6th January - I have included the home page link to my blog below.

An intriguing concept but I was turned off by the writing style ⭐️⭐️

This is a tale of a woman with cataplexy - which I admit I had never heard of before and immediately looked it up to find out it is a real and horrifying condition for its sufferers. I thought this was such an interesting concept to base Daphne's tale on, to think about having to live your life so in control of your emotions that you can't even allow yourself to feel them properly. Having to deaden your responses to the world around you and to those you love.

However, I'm afraid I never engaged with this book or with the characters. I get that the writer intentionally uses poetic writing styles throughout. Check out this little snippet:

"Wake, 5:40. Bleating alarm, woolly head. Foggray light through the windows, fog outside and in. Creak down from bed, espresso almost in my sleep. Shower hot as I can stand. Empty, weary calm before the day yawns open. Oatmeal. Out the door, out on the street. Damp, chilly almost-rain. Whiff of the pacific...."

I imagine that writing in this style is perhaps to demonstrate how matter of fact Daphne needs to be about her life and the world around her. But this tendency towards long lists of non sequiturs made me skim over large sections as I found them so disjointed to read. All the way through I just felt that the author was trying too hard with the style of the writing and not enough with the content. It's what I would call a 'stylish' book, one that might be studied for its specific choice of rhetorical devices, but not one that I got much enjoyment out of reading.

Adversely, I did like the story itself; Daphne's relationship with Ollie, and the impact her condition had on their blossoming relationship was definitely the strongest part of the book. But her other relationships - with her mother, her best friend and her work colleagues were never fleshed out enough for me to care about them. They never seemed to add anything to her story and it left me wondering what the point was of having them in the book.

Perhaps I'm being shortsighted. Many of you might find the lyrical and creative style of writing really engaging, but for me it was a turn off. I'll be interested to see whether I'm with or against the consensus on this one.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Daphne is published on 1st Feb 2018 by Granta Books