This book is a fantastic first novel by Eleanor O’Reilly. Told from the point of view of three of the characters, it can be a bit confusing but, I feel, consciously so. The turbulent thoughts of Annette and Jacob give an unusual but compelling insight into their respective minds and this tells there story much better than anyone else could.
Jenny’s engaging and at times heart-breaking sections of the book were gripping. The portrayal of her Da and Granny was both funny and touching. Mae-Ann was a Mammy to be reckoned with and the development of her and Kevin’s relationship was beautiful. I will definitely recommend this book to my book club.

This story is of an Irish family told by each of them individually. The author has been so clever in the way she has brought out the Irish accents and dialogue I could hear each one in my head. Especially Granny who I perceived had the strongest of accents and used phrases I have not heard since my childhood (not Irish )
Mammy has a stroke which was quite unusually written with just random words on the page, I struggled with that
The father who is trying his best to keep his family together but needs Granny's help like it or not
Jenny who writes everything down and yet Jacob her brother has no words as he has the autism
I struggled at times found it sad at times but as a first novel it was so different from what we see normally as Irish chick lit, this book is definitely not in that category

Thank you for the opportunity to read M for Mammy.

There was much to enjoy in this book. I loved Jenny and thought Granny was brilliant - found myself laughing aloud at some of the things she said.

However, I was frustrated by Annette's and Jacob's 'voices' which were overdone and very repetitive. I was also disappointed at the loose ends - Annette seemed to disappear from the the last part of the book and what happened to Mr Fitzgerald and Mrs Finch? Without spoiling the ending, I'm not sure what Jacob achieved.

I'd love to read more of Granny's insight and sharp wit!

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!)

Set in modern day Ireland, we follow a family called the Augustts. Father Kevin has been laid off and is searching for a job, putting extra pressure on mum Annette. The youngest child, Jacob, has autism and refuses to speak though his sister Jenny believes she can hear his voice in her head. One day Annette has a stroke, an event which devastates the family who are left trying to soldier on with their lives as best they can.
O'Reilly's use of language is really playful. The novel is about communication and how people communicate with each other, especially when language is robbed from them (Jacob is mute and Annette struggles with speech following the stroke). Even those that do talk, Jenny often notes the punctuation in others' speech, trying to infer what they mean through that and it is in the chapters dedicated to the children that O'Reilly's language really shines. The use of repetition and word choice highlights their confusion, their trying to understand the world around them following their mum's hospitalisation. They want to ask questions but they don't or can't so they express themselves in different ways (Jenny likes writing while Jacob prefers to paint). O'Reilly really delves into these characters and I found them very compelling. I think she also captures a child's voice really well, using simplistic sentence structures and imagery. There wasn't a moment in the novel when I thought 'a kid this age wouldn't say that'. It was very believable.
The characters were also believable. The children were my favourite narrators; their chapters were so lively, playful, and engaging that I wanted more of them. The third narrator, Annette, I wasn't so interested in, perhaps because the kids were so well written and developed that she felt a bit bland and boring in comparison. I would find myself reading her chapters quicker so I could get back to the kids. But my favourite character has to be Mae-Anne, the children's gran. She is this amazing presence in the narrative; a fireball of energy that can be infuriating at times but is still lovable. I recognised people in my own family in Mae-Anne and her strength and determination made her such a joyous character to read. She may be the highlight of the entire novel to me.
M for Mammy won't be for everyone; it's slow and not a lot happens in novel, you simply watch the trials and tribulations of this family. Yet I found it a really enjoyable read, playful and cleverly written with compelling, relatable characters. While I did have some difficulty connecting to Annette, Jenny and Jacob more than made up for it. Also The Diary of Anne Frank is mentioned frequently throughout, linking into the theme of communication. Anne Frank can still connect to people even after all these years, people she would never meet and who wouldn't meet each other, highlighting the power of words which I really liked. At times heart-breaking and at others funny, if you enjoy family dramas, then you'll like M for Mammy. A very impressive debut.

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.