This story, told by Mammy and her two children Jenny and Jacob, follows life after Mammy becomes ill and is taken into hospital. Jacob has autism and is non-verbal and Jenny often seems to feel that she is the only one who really understands him.

I really enjoyed this book. I cared about the characters and really wanted to read on to find out if the family would be reunited. I particularly liked the letters between Jenny and Mammy and also the ones written to Anne Frank.

As with some other reviewers, I also found the story difficult to follow at times, usually when Jenny was telling the story, as she often goes off on a tangent, creating alternative stories for some of the things she experiences. I sometimes had to go back and check whether something was real or in Jenny's head but that's not to say I didn't enjoy reading these parts as much as the rest of the book.

If you've enjoyed other books with an authentic child narrator, I'd suggest you give this a go!

Heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure, this story unfolds from multiple perspectives, all to do with language. Little Jenny's point of view is shown largely through her conversations with a sympathetic counsellor, letters to her stricken mum or her diary - which she addresses to Anne Frank. Quick to 'translate' for her severely autistic little brother, Jenny learns to express herself in her wild imagination and creativity, just as her mother is forced to learn to communicate all over again, mirroring Jacob's struggle with language. I thought this was beautifully-written and gave powerful insight into what an autistic person might be unable to articulate. I loved the grandmother character and could almost hear her voice; it was also lovely to watch her relationship with her son in law develop in adversity. I felt this would make a wonderful film.

I was confused though by a couple of points - what happened to Mrs French and also the ending wasn't clear. I am looking forward to reading other reviews to see what they made of those aspects.

The story of an Irish family told in three voices: mother Annette, her young daughter and her autistic son.

It felt to me like reading exercises in creative writing. I confess that I lost patience with it and gave up.

Initially I struggled with this book and the style in which it was written. Told from the viewpoint of three people, Annette the mother and her children Jenny and Jacob. Jacob is autistic and so his story is told through his thoughts. Annette has a stroke and her story is told the same way.

Both Annette and Jacobs part of the story were hard to read, I guess it felt repetitive and disjointed but the reader has to remember this is mental story telling and our thoughts can be all over the place with no sense to anyone but ourselves. Once I got that into my mind I found their parts much easier to read.

I was ready to give up at first but set myself a target of 25% of the way through to give the book a chance. I’m glad I did. This developed into a beautiful story of an everyday family facing challenges any of us could find ourselves facing. The issues were handled well and realistically with empathy. I could feel the frustration from Annette and felt the ritualistic behaviour from Jacob portrayed autism very well. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster with laughter along the way. Especially from Granny who was a brilliant character.

I do recommend this book and would tell anyone struggling to persevere because it’s worth doing so.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion. And a further thanks to the author for taking a chance on a book about challenging subjects.

Much like many of the other reviewers, I struggled with the tone of this one. The way its written is a little uncoordinated at times and tends to ramble off onto tangents, rather than providing a singular narrative. I'm sure it's got a big heart deep down, but it's hard to find it amongst the slight overwriting. I think there was a better way to tell this story.

I struggled massively to like and enjoy this book, I found it quite rambling.

I always enjoy narratives from different points of view, however I felt there wasn’t much depth to any character.

Really enjoyed granny though, she made me smile lots. Wonderful to see an autistic child portrayed too, however I felt that Jacob lacked depth. Understood in terms of you can’t really know what an autistic child is going through or thinking, but if you’re going to do it anyway, why not make it more rounded?
On the whole it was ok.

I thought this book sounded good and really wanted to like it, but just wasn’t my thing. I found the pacing to be off and I couldn’t connect with the characters at all, felt a bit stereotypical at times. I am sure others will enjoy this, but just not my book

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I really wanted to read and enjoy this book, it tells the story of a complicated Irish family, complicated in the way all family’s are, the dynamics, the relationships, the interactions, the quirks and the anomaly’s. Such as hiding under the stairs praying. And the youngest child is autistic which is a very current topic.
But the syntax, the grammar drove me daft. I just couldn’t read it. I really wish it had been written in a more readable way and if it is I will definitely read it. But as it stands, no.

I really wanted to love this book and from the description I thought I would, especially as it's about an Irish family, but I just couldn't get into the story.

It started off well enough with some amusing parts, but by the third chapter my mind was wandering elsewhere when I was reading it. It was far too descriptive and seemed to go on and on but without getting anywhere in particular. As the description said the family was 'a bit complicated', well that's definitely how the book felt to me.

Unfortunately it just couldn't keep my interest and I had to call it a day.

Maybe it was just me, and I'm sure other people will have other opinions - a good idea for a book but it just didn't hit the spot for me in the writing style.

I enjoyed this book but just found it a bit slow. Just feel like it needed a bit more to it. Worth a read though!

A debut novel telling the story of an Irish family, told through the eyes of the different characters. It was a bit slow paced at times and I found my concentration wandering. Not my usual genre but i enjoyed it nevertheless. Sad but also funny at times too. Thank you Net Galley for my copy. Reviewed on Goodreads and Facebook.

I wanted to try a different type of book to my usual choices, and this was different,perhaps too different.I couldn't get into it I felt like I'd wandered into an episode of Mrs Brown's boys without the usual characters that I am familiar with and like.Sorry this book was not for me.

I am so sorry - I couldn't warm to this book or the characters...it was beautifully written, and a wonderful subject matter but it just wasn't for me. However, I know that many, many people will adore it. (Sorry!)

What an odd book. I wanted a change from my usual genre and boy did I get it. Although I stuck with it until the end I’m still not sure I enjoyed it. The book is told from three different perspectives, a young boy with autism, his mother who has suffered a stroke and Jenny his sister, her daughter. The language of the boy and mother is hard to keep up with and many times I thought I’d stop reading but something compelled me to carry on. I enjoyed some of the Irishness of it as some of the phrases brought back fond childhood memories.

This tale of Irish family life was very entertaining although the language was a bit colourful at times. It was full of drama, comedy and heart and I enjoyed it.

The Augustt family have a lot to deal with in life. This story is about the ups and downs and the tragedies they face. It is simply written from different perspectives. It is funny, sad and heartbreaking. I found myself going through a rollercoaster of emotions reading this book. It is a good debut novel.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I was excited about the premise of this book, however found it to be confusing. It needed editing and to have some type of resolution, or reasoning behind it. I was interested in a book about living with a child with autism and got a jumbled mess about a mother with a stroke and a daughter that is reading Anne Frank.

Kindle Edition editReviewThis book is voiced by three characters.
Mammy,Jacob and Jenny.
Mammy has had a stroke,her thoughts are jumbled.
Jacob has autism,his thoughts are muddled but in a different way.
Jenny is a bright spark of a character.
I wish Jenny had narrated the whole book,as hers was the only voice I enjoyed... so I found the book a drag from the beginning when switching narration.
Granny was a cracking character too...

This book is not what I expected.

There are three people telling this story, one is a young girl, another her brother who is autistic and the other their mammy.
Then a terrible thing happens and we find out what and it's effects in a family through these different voices.
Some tremendous characters and absolutely beautifully written.

I enjoyed this book but would not rave about it. I loved the Irish family. I found the characters really engaging - they felt true. Granny was a masterpiece! The story is told through Jenny - the young daughter - who is having to come to terms with her mother’s absence - the one who held the family together and with whom she shares a love of stories. Granny - a force of nature - has to come in and hold the family together. Her brother Jacob has autism and is mute - Granny tries to understand him and make him more ‘normal’. Dad tries to cope without a job, a wife and a functioning family. Despite the odds against them there is hope and some light at the end of the book.

As a librarian it was lovely to see a book being read as a means of bringing people together.