Mixed feelings and a bit pretentious! It wasn't a book I couldn't put down or that I missed when I had finished, but I was interested to see how it would unfold. Frances is a bit of a hopeless case, and approaching 40 with a poor paying job, few friends, no partner and a demented mother. She has horrible taste in men and rolls from one poor relationship to another. And her strong friendship with an older teacher, Jackson, is put in jeopardy over one drunken night.

The heart of the book is understanding how past events have moulded the characters and their decisions. The characters themselves are well-described and have faults. But here lies the problem, I didn't really like them. I couldn't relate to them, and found them a bit annoying.I found the random literary quotes even more annoying. Overall, it had potential but ended up being forgettable.

I really liked the look of this book, and I found myself keen to pick it up each time I had an hour or so to read - usually the sign of a good book. Would I rave about it? No, but I did quite enjoy it. There is no doubt it was well written, and the characters are flawed but real. It was brave to provide the details of a older man who enjoys the company of and fantasizes about older teenage girls. It was uncomfortable reading and I was nervous about where it was going, but it had a depth of realism about it and didn't overstep the mark of describing and condoning inappropriate or abusive relationships. (not easy to do.)
I would be interested to see what else Lex Coulton writes, as I think she has a talent, even if this one didn't really work for me. I would give it 3.5 if I could.
Thank you to #NetGalley, Lex Coulton, and the publisher for the opportunity to read #FallingShort.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel - it's a sort of Bridget Jones meets When Harry Met Sally, via Joanna Trollope. The mystery of Frances's father is nicely balanced by the mystery of Jackson's shameful secret, and the interaction between them and all the other characters is great fun. The school setting feels realistic and makes for some delightfully entertaining moments. I couldn't help thinking what a great mini-series this would make. In the meantime, it's a perfect summer holiday read.

I was looking forward to reading this as the blurb attracted me but though I tried to like to this just didn’t do it for me. When I find myself thinking “I didn’t not care what happens to these people” it’s time for me to call it a day

When I first found out about Falling Short, written by Lex Coulton, the blurb promised to be '’fresh, funny and life-affirming'’. I am sorry, but no. That is not correct. This book was none of those things. It wasn’t bad at all, but I would prefer describing it as a slow-paced, and confusingly complex in an unsatisfying way.
About the book:
Frances Pilgrim's father went missing when she was five, and ever since all sorts of things have been going astray: car keys, promotions, a series of underwhelming and unsuitable boyfriends . . . Now here she is, thirty-bloody-nine, teaching Shakespeare to rowdy sixth formers and still losing things.

But she has a much more pressing problem. Her mother, whose odd behaviour Frances has long put down to eccentricity, is slowly yielding to Alzheimer's, leaving Frances with some disturbing questions about her father's disappearance, and the family history she's always believed in. Frances could really do with someone to talk to. Ideally Jackson: fellow teacher, dedicated hedonist, erstwhile best friend. Only they haven't spoken since that night last summer when things got complicated . . .

As the new school year begins, and her mother's behavior becomes more and more erratic, Frances realizes that she might just have a chance to find something for once. But will it be what she's looking for?



My thoughts:
I am usually good at explaining why I don’t like a certain book, or why I feel the way I feel, and believe me, with this one, I have spent two days and 6 sittings in front of this draft (now published post) to try and write about it. So I am doing my best now…

First of all, there has to be something about a certain book to make me want to read it. With this one - there were two things:

I love romance and intrigue, and the blurb promised two people not really talking to each other, but sparks flying around… so yes, that got me
The Alzheimer’s disease - as a person that has worked with people suffering from Dementia and Alzheimer’s, this subject is very close to my heart. I couldn’t miss this book for this reason.
Now - the romance part disappointed me, as there was no romance. No romance at all. Unless, of course, you count as a romance a person in their mid-forties sleeping around with drunk teens, and is then too complicated of a character to even realise who he loves, and why, and the moment he does, he still has no idea what to do with that information.

The other disappointment I had was that I expected to read about the Alzheimer’s, and not only that they weren’t there, but also some of the symptoms mentioned were not correct at all. There were only sex relationships and sex scenes, and that was supposed to define their relationship in the end. Not realistic at all.

Even though it seems that we follow Frances’s story throughout, we actually follow Jackson’s story as well. Their characters were too complicated and confusing for me, and it let me to now feel nor care about them at all. I honestly cared about Frances’s dog the most in this book.

The plot wasn’t perfect - there were times when the information given didn’t match

[SPOILER ALERT]
The scene how Frances searches on Google to find the address of her dad. We are then told that she found out his address through Jean. Which one is it, then?

[SPOILER FINISHED - SAFE TO CONTINUE READING]
I am actually quite sad that I didn’t enjoy this book, but I will still be curious about new works from Lex Coulton, because, somehow, I really liked her writing style, despite all the flaws.

Thank you to Netgalley and John Murray Press for providing an ARC copy of this book to me, in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

A fascinating read. In turn interesting, exasperating, addictive, and very moving. And the climax...so well written, I felt I was Frances, going though all her experiences.
Frances and Jackson are real, flawed people, many faceted and believable, with back stories like we all have, coping with the present day.
A good, and sometimes intense read.

I don’t think this was really my kind of book, i found it to be confusing and not all that interesting

A well- written and engaging book with two characters who kept my interest through great descriptive writing. The school scene was accurately and well-portrayed with some moments of great humour. This book covers several touching issues, dementia, childhood and the loss of a parent, only children, work, mid-life to mention a few. At times I had to pause to recollect the names/ roles of other minor characters in the story. The second half picks up pace as the story reaches a climax. The ending, although poignant and meaningful, left me with a few too many unanswered questions. I enjoyed reading this quirky and realistic story with the plot developing in several directions before converging towards a conclusion.

There is a lightness of touch to this novel that takes us through some very difficult and testing events with gusto. The characters are drawn warts and all and there is no rosy tint to life. Frances is a bit chaotic, a teacher, single with a dog and her mother is causing her increasing anxiety as dementia seems to be setting in. She has always been told that her Father died at sea when she was five but dementia seems to have caused her mother to utter words that she never wanted to say. Frances is far from perfect but she is good-hearted, lovable and she tries to do good. Jackson has done things that he very much now regrets and the friendship between Frances and Jackson is strained. The story unfurls slowly at times but is beautifully told with wit and compassion. Really enjoyed it.

Falling Short is one of those novels in which not an awful lot happens, but in which an awful lot is said. It’s more a story about the human condition and how we often carry our flaws with us as baggage. What I don’t agree with is the book’s blurb that this novel is “fresh, funny and life-affirming.” I didn’t particularly find it any of these things, although I could often sense it trying to be.

We follow Frances, a 38 year old teacher who is single, pretty dissatisfied with her life and dealing with the emotional fall out of a tricky childhood involving the loss of her father. She is also having to cope with her mothers failing health on her own.

We also hear the tale from the point of view of Jackson, Frances’ best friend who doesn’t seem to be her friend any more after an “incident” between them. We basically follow the two of them working out their feelings towards one another whilst tackling the demons from their respective pasts.

This is a weird one as there was a fair bit about it that annoyed me (you kind of want to shake them both and say “sort it out” and the pretentious quoting of poetry and literature at one another - who does that?) but I did want to read on and I engulfed the book in just a couple of sittings, so I must have enjoyed it - right? Some of the prose is really beautiful and relatable, it’s written well, but for some reason it just fell a little short (sorry) of being a big hit for me. It was however, an enjoyable enough read, just not one I want to rave about, If I could I would give this 2.5 stars, but not as low as just 2.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of #FallingShort in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read. Not much was going on but nevertheless, I wanted to complete it and discover how Frances would deal with her various personal issues. I liked the many references to literature. It was interesting to read about characters who were flawed, like people are in life.

Some books are brilliant because they open your eyes to human conditions you know nothing about it, and they take you somewhere where you’ve never been before. Other books are brilliant because they make you look inwardly, within yourself, and face your own fears, or your past or your internal demons. Falling Short falls within the second category.
I was sucked into the world of Frances and Jackson because so much of it I recognised as my own. Partly because their story in the present time is set in a school and I know that working environment intimately having taught now for well over ten years. The teachers, their sentiments and resentments are spot on. Some of the observations made me laugh out loud.
But the book is absorbing on a deeper level too. I was able to identify with what the characters were going through, particularly Jackson and his fragmented, compartmentalised identity which he so aptly smothered with cynicism and apparent lack of ambition. Which one of us had not made life-obliterating mistakes that led to us to being judged harshly, running away and feeling that maybe others were a bit too harsh on us because we hadn’t meant to do it, or to hurt anyone, least of all ourselves? How many of us can articulate our feelings well and without inhibition?
And Frances? How many of us have felt at least once in our lives that we were going nowhere, blundering from one disaster to another? Though we could still put on Madonna’s ‘Pappa Don’t Preach’ and dance to it in those precious few moments of subconscious carpe-diem madness? The writing to describe those, and other, moments is vibrant, breathless and vivid, like here: "she’d kicked off her shoes, and her arms were raised above her head as her long body undulated with the unmoored urgency of a sheet hung out in a high wind."
This book will touch a nerve, and you will love it for it.

I now believe that, from the start, this was not the book for me. . It was supposed to be fresh and funny but I didn’t find it so. If anything I found it very disjointed. However, I soldiered on until the end. Perhaps I have just heard too many real life stories like this for me to want to read it for relaxation and enjoyment. Perhaps others might find it interesting. I’m afraid I did not.

The general theme of this book is one of self-reflection and loss. Francis at thirty-nine is dissatisfied with her life; things never work out. Still, tormented by her father's departure from her life at age five she is faced with another family crisis as her mother succumbs to Alzheimer's. Jackson's hedonist tendencies lead him into conflict. Drawn together by mutual self-destruction, but as Frances'life implodes Jackson withdraws, and she has to face her past and uncertain future alone.
The excellent writing style elevates this story, it's easy to read with characters that resonate, the storyline is sombre, no escapist reading here but the plot's authenticity makes it memorable. I loved Frances' interaction with 'Dog', this speaks volumes about the comfort she's received from animal friends, and they never let her down like the humans in her life. If you like something different, this is worthwhile, but don't expect to get a feel-good hug from reading this.
I received a copy of this book from John Murray Press via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I'm not sure where this one went wrong for me; it promised to be 'fresh, funny and life-affirming' but, sadly, I didn't feel any of those things.

This isn't, as the blurb led me to believe, all about Frances. Rather it is equally about Frances and Jackson and mostly focuses on their sexual history. I felt - and again, this is only my personal opinion - that there were lots of loose strands in this novel which didn't knit together. The story stumbled from one character to another, more off-topic than on and I was left at the end no wiser than I was at the beginning. I'm not particularly fond of books without structure and it was with a sigh of relief that I closed my kindle. Whilst this wasn't one for me, I'm certain there are plenty of other readers who will enjoy it.

My thanks to publishers John Murray Press for approving my request via Netgalley. This is my honest, original, and unbiased review.

This is such an interesting story.
I really enjoyed it and found it an interesting concept. I feel like it could have explored more of the characters and what happened to them, but I liked the protagonist.
I guessed the twist, but feel like the story itself was more important than being surprised!
I’d recommend this to my friends that like stories about people and the intricacies of their lives, rather than big twists and turns and climaxes.

I really enjoyed this book and found it was easy to relate to the characters. Most of all, I loved the writing style. It’s clever, fresh and witty, and drew me in to the world as seen by Frances and Jackson. It’s also a realistic novel and I liked the way in which the author is truthful about love and relationships. It’s a fresh and honest novel. The characters are flawed and all the better for it. I enjoyed the scenes at the school and the humour. And who wouldn’t love Dog?! I didn’t want the novel to end and I look forward to reading more by Lex Coulton.

There's a strange mismatch between the chatty light hearted style of writing and some of the darker themes of this novel which seemed jarring.
The characters are not at all light hearted, suffering from all kinds of introspection and angst. And seemingly unable or unwilling to resolve their problems.
I'm afraid I didn't care too much about what happened to any of them, and so lost interest in the story.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

I was sent a copy of Falling Short by Lex Coulton to read and review by NetGalley.
This is a nicely written novel about love, family, friendship and of ‘falling short’. The characters are nicely fleshed out and you wend your way through the story of protagonists Frances and Jackson, friends and teaching colleagues, who both have secrets and somewhat messy private lives. There are some entertaining episodes within the school scenario and I love the passages that include Frances’s beloved dog, ironically named Dog. I also like the snippets of poetry and references to Shakespeare – very nicely done! All in all a well written easy holiday read.

♥I got an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley and this is my honest uninfluenced review♥

Rating: 4 of 7; 4 of 5; 8 of 10

General view: First of all, what's going on with this synopsis? That's just so... bad, you know? I guess this book is kind of too complex to have a good one, but I don't think it's impossible, so hey let's try to make it better.
Frances is a 39-year-old teacher who was never able to keep a romantic relationship, is extremely disorganized, her mother is getting sicker and it's probably Alzheimer, and her father is dead since she was five (or is he?). Jackson is an Older Guy™ fellow teacher, with a troubled past, an ex-wife and a life of disappointing people. Last summer, things got really complicated and now they're kind of at odds. Lex Coulton lead us through a cute, moving novel where Frances and Jackson try to find their place in the world - and each other's life, whilst they (and we) suffer from all these misunderstandings and mistakes.

Positives: I'm not good in explaining why the writing is so different, but this writing, idk, it's just different - and in a good way. It's just so good. You feel like the characters are real, extremely flawed, and you can't help wishing them all the happiness in the world - even when you're pretty mad at them.

Ending: I'm definitely not spoiling, but it was an open ending. We didn't get a closure - and yes, I missed it. I didn't like it, I wish we had more. I think there are so many things that could happen before the book ends and we didn't get it.

Downsides: Not exactly a downside, but it's something that annoyed me that just one side character seemed to get the point, and not even my whole point. [spoiler about Jackson's pass](view spoiler)

Side note: About teachers having a crush on a student, I have really mixed feelings about it. It's kind of creepy, and unless I'm wrong, we are talking about a later-teen student. On the other hand, we are not talking about a relationship, we are talking about a crush. Something along the lines of seen something cute and liking what you see. And honestly, since the foretold student is almost an adult and we can assume has an adult body, and is also flirting with the foretold teacher, I can't honestly be actually annoyed about it. I'm sorry, I feel like I'm a terrible person for saying that, but on this specific case and specific context, I'm really ok with that.

Tags: adult fiction, adult, not-romance, not-fantasy, troubled parents, old-guy-young-girl-affair,