Cover Image: Needlemouse

Needlemouse

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Member Reviews

I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to young readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

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What a delightful Book all set around one of our most endearing & endangered Creatures The Hedgehog or translated from their Japanese name the quaint Needlemouse.
I was totally captivated from the very start of this delightful book , even with all the quite complex relationships real & imagined that were going on through out it's pages all held together by the wonderful & gentle character Jonas & the Hedgehogs & Hoglets at his Sanctuary. It is a Book that will be enjoyed across many age groups & I highly recommend friends & family to get between it's pages.

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Sylvia has been in waiting for some time. Waiting for Prof to notice her, waiting for something to happen, waiting for her life to begin. She takes small pleasures at his touch, his attentions, but when his new and attractive PhD student arrives, Sylvia realises she will have to take matters into her own hands if she is going to keep Prof safe. Not to mention that she has a few secrets of her own, that are eating her up inside ...

Needlemouse is the perfect title for this story and the character of Sylvia (not to mention being a super-cute translation of 'hedgehog' from Japanese). The whole 'hedgehog personality' became a bit laboured in places - the title is there, you don't need to refer to her as prickly again! - but it still worked well overall. I thought the regular volunteering at a hedgehog sanctuary might also quickly become tiresome, but O'Connor managed to ensure that this wasn't the focus of the whole novel.

Overall, this was a light and easy read - with some really cringey and uncomfortable moments. Thankfully, these continue to help the main character grow and, also thankfully, Sylvia's voice gradually develops across the story. Her own voice may put some readers off to start with, but it does change and grow. She is initially vindictive, silly and uncomfortably anxious, but learns to find her own self.

Without spoiling it, I'm also satisfied with the ending - I was worried it might go one way (and meet the stereotype for this kind of novel) but I was pleasantly surprised instead.

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This is an enjoyable book that I read very quickly. Sylvia was bizarre and so insecure initially, all prickly and really not so nice a person. It was interesting to see her character almost wake up and develop into the end result.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

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This is a book of two halves, as the blurb suggests.  The dreadful secret of Sylvia's love-obsession with 'Prof', takes most of the first half.  For any introverts around, it can be uncomfortable reading.  Here's someone they might recognise, keeping all her secrets to herself, and agonising over the behaviour of her more extrovert companions.  I recognised several people, both friends and myself.

It is a testament to Jane O'Connor's writing that Sylvia and her friends are so aptly captured on paper.  The writing flows well, and the plot descends into a quagmire of Sylvia's making with an inevitability born of human failings.

But then.... she wakes up, as the blurb says.  Part of the awakening is brought upon herself, and part is imposed upon her.  After that, she reassesses her life and we find out all about Sylvia's past.

This is where I felt betrayed.  The author has chosen to make Sylvia a product of severe trauma, making out that her introversion is caused by her troubled past, her family and her relationships.  If readers believe Ms O'Connor, every introvert will now be poked and prodded by his or her extravert friends to find what horrors lurk in their past to make them turn out this way.

I take violent exception to this. Just let introverts alone, let them be themselves. You might as well write a novel about a person of colour turning out not to be of colour after all. They just fell in a vat of something when they were a baby.  Seriously. This is the best comparison I can make with what Ms O'Connor is alleging.

It may be a cause of Sylvia's behaviour, but don't paint her like thousands of other people, people we know well in our day to day lives, and then say it was the events of their past that made her that way, and that eventually she'll find happiness.

In fact, the hedgehog sanctuary, and many other animal sanctuaries are also sanctuaries for us. Traumatised or natural-born introverts.

It may be quirky and charming, but it's also irritating, uncomfortable and patronises the perfectly reasonable trait of introversion. Extroverts will love it. Hedgehogs should play a much larger part in it, to my mind.

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Poor old Sylvia, dedicating her life to one man, her boss, who she dreams will one day love her. The reader longs for this to happen & is carried along her journey hoping for a happy ending for Sylvia. I thoroughly enjoyed following Sylvia's journey with her

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I love hedgehogs and that is what initially attracted me to this book. I usually struggle to maintain an interest in a story if I can't warm to the main character but Sylvias behaviour was just so bizarre that I had to keep reading to find out what on earth she would do next! Bless her!

Very enjoyable - 4 stars

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Needlemouse is an unusual novel absorbing and carefully structured. Its anti-heroine, Sylvia, must come to terms with both obsession and a life that often feels empty to her. Her journey is surprisingly gripping. Sylvia is fixated about the professor who's PA she is. It is destructive and hopeless because she misreads his flirtations for true love and is forever waiting for him to declare himself. Her obsession leads to disaster. She comes to terms with what is 'all possessive' later in the novel. Along the way we are given snapshots of Sylvia's past and gradually we begin to understand her. She was always overshadowed by her sister, Millie, whom she adores though she does make one terrible mistake that is totally destructive to this relationship. When this mistake is revealed it's a turning point for Sylvia and she begins to put her life into perspective. She loses everything dear to her but gains self realisation. I thoroughly enjoyed the gallery of characters thrown up in this book. I liked Millie better than Kamal for whom I have little sympathy. I enjoyed the office staff and loved Crystal the petulant teenager who has a heart of gold. I was entertained by Martha , the professor's arty wife and by his somewhat outrageous and strident student, and ,for a time, his muse. All these characters are vivid and engaging. Most of all I liked Jonas whose hedgehog sanctuary is a wonderful retreat , an anchor and Sylvia's safe place where she truly finds herself. The hedgehog sanctuary snapshots are a beautiful inclusion. This is a novel about relationships and one to be savoured. It is a very complete story and it's highs and lows are subtly executed. There is writing at its best in this book and I highly reccomend Needlemouse to any reader who enjoys domestic tensions and believable, ultimately loveable characters.

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I started off really disliking the main character in this book, Sylvia. She was a middle aged spinster who was secretly in love with her boss (Prof). She was very spiteful and disillusioned and would do anything to protect him in the hope that her feelings were reciprocated. As the story unfolded, it very cleverly unravelled and other characters in the book were pivotal in helping Syliva change her perspective on life, when she felt she had lost everything. Definitely recommend this book.

My thanks to NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I thought this book was okay but annoying. The major concept is that of a socially awkward character with an uncomfortable adoration of someone utterly oblivious and undeserving of them. It felt like a very human book because what's most interesting about Sylvia's character is that she encompasses quite a lot of character traits which a host of people can probably relate to on some level, and she's a really great example of all of them. Jane O'Connor somehow manages to convincingly capture the avoiding, awkward, dismissive and slightly frosty nature of a reclusive personality and the jealous and bitter nature of someone with an unhealthy outlook on love.

The majority of the story has us following Sylvia through her life, which frankly couldn't be more monotonous if it tried as she works as an assistant to a University professor she adores and does very little else. As you can imagine, he couldn't care less about her although he does manage to buy her lunch or expensive gifts from time to time so as to lead her on and toy with her emotions. I couldn't stand either character, and I'm still unsure if that was actually the point of the whole thing!

Sylvia is without question one of the most irritating women I've read about. She constantly complains about people, particularly other women, has this insane need to validate herself by belittling any relationships anyone has and she is insufferable in her devotion to the professor. It isn't even that she speaks about him often, or that she is blinkered to his poor behaviour towards her which she frequently excuses (although those things are admittedly annoying enough in themselves), but rather it is that she is supposed to be a 52 year old woman and she behaves like an immature little girl conniving against other girls in the playground for being supposedly prettier than her! It's ridiculous.

Whilst I can appreciate that the author has tried to create an honest and quite funny representation of a number of typical and familiar scenarios and behaviours, I just can't bear to read about them if they're incessantly moaning and being petulant. At first I felt quite sorry for Sylvia, finding some connection with her in her blind and unrequited adoration, but even her eventual realisation of the fact she deserved better from her life wasn't enough to forgive her awful personality.

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There seem to be an influx of books lately with slightly off-the-wall lead characters, from lonely Eleanor Oliphant to The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder's lead Jasper, who is on the autistic spectrum. It's a much-needed departure from the run-of-the-mill, everyday characters we're usually served up.

In Needlemouse, this character is the wonderfully spikey middle-aged Sylvia. Serving as the PA to a man she's deeply in love with, Sylvia is fiercely protective of his time. Dreaming of a happy ever with him, she's happy to wait it out while he leaves his wife for her. However, as the book progresses, it becomes clear this is an reciprocated love affair. It would easy to images feeling little sympathy for Sylvia, as she's presented as a tough cookie, often bordering on unpleasant. However, she's a complex creature and as her character unfolds throughout the novel you find yourself relating to her more and more.

It's a beautiful blend of Ruth Hogan's sentimental writing with Gail Honeyman's touch of eccentricity in character development and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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I chose this book as the protagonist helped to look after hedgehogs. I rather disliked her, though. She wasn't a nice character, even if she did like hedgehogs.

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I really liked this, especially the references to hedgehogs throughout.

It was well written and almost comforting in a way - great characters that I really bought in to.

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Thanks to NetGalley for an advance chance to read this pre-publication date. An ideal summer holiday read....I enjoyed it.

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Sylvia Penton is a loner - she lives alone, dedicated to her job, she immerses herself at weekends in her work at a hedgehog sanctuary - much like her hedgehogs she hibernates in her own world. Her secret, however, is her love for Professor Lomax - her employer and a married man - a love that is, perhaps, an infatuation. People, in fact, think Sylvia to be much nicer than she is. This is an enjoyable, rather compulsive read. It's difficult to really like the protagonist. Somehow, however, you may end up hoping for the very best for her nonetheless. There is little doubt that Sylvia is lonely and your eqmpathy may grow. Engaging, refreshing and an altogether different read which is difficult to put down. Recommended.

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I’m glad I continued reading this book. Initially I thought the heroine, Sylvia, was portrayed two dimensionally, but as the author filled in the back story, the character became more believable. Jane O’Connor has some astute observations on the effects of circumstantial stress & the dreams that can disturb the night.

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When I first started this book I thought it was going to be too slow and I would have to give up on it, how wrong I was. Once I got to know the characters I really empathized with them. We have all loved someone who hasn't reciprocated our feelings. We have all done crazy things in the name of love- although travelling to Italy to spy is a bit extreme. As someone who is estranged from my sister I could relate to the main character and her loneliness. All the way through I was wondering why the book was called Needlemouse but this was answered before the end. A lovely book to while away a few evenings with.

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This book is charming! Sylvia is a hilariously flawed character that any reader is likely to come to love quicker than they could anticipate. If you like The Rosie Project or Eleanor Oliphant you'll love this!

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Delightful.
I enjoyed reading this charming story. I found it to be heartwarming and really well written. Looking forward to more from this author.

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I really enjoyed this novel, although I had some initial reservations about the main character Sylvia. She is a middle aged single woman who has been secretly in love with her employer, the ‘Prof’ for years.

Sylvia is a person who has built many prickly barriers up around her and lives a lonely life. She volunteers at a local hedgehog sanctuary and learns that the ‘Prof’ is really not all he seems and is not the one for her.

By the end of the book, I was really rooting for Sylvia as I discovered the reasons why she acted the way she did. The ending was really heartwarming and Sylvia learned to love herself and break down those prickly barriers.

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