A coming of age story involving a long hot summer, family, love, infatuation, deceit, betrayal and everything in between, evocative and beautifully written, I loved it.

I have put off writing this review for so long because contrary to popular opinion, I thought this book was pretty bad. I am a big fan of Meg Rosoff and usually find her work to be thoughtful, well-written and insightful but sadly I found 'The great Goden' to be extremely shallow with 1 dimensional characters that I couldn't care less about. I really genuinely can't understand why it's received so much praise. Just not one for me I suppose.

This was a very quick and easy read - perfect for the beach - but I think the brevity of the story made it hard to really engage with any of the characters or feel very absorbed with the story. I particularly found the character of Kit to be a bit of a caricature and not very believable. 

The highlight of the book for me was the ambiguity around both the name and gender of the narrator. This definitely added another dimension to the story and set it apart from other similar YA reads.

Overall a very undemanding and enjoyable novella.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

Four children and their parents spend every summer in their beach house with their adult cousin, Hope, and her partner, Mal, nearby. But this year everything changes when the Godden brothers arrive. Hugo is mostly silent and very reluctant to join in anything. In stark contrast, Kit is irresistible, charming and a sex god in the eyes of the young females of the family. They succumb at their peril. 
The changing relationships and unfolding events are observed and narrated by the oldest of the four children. At times it felt like not a lot was happening - in fact, as a lazy summer should be - but the beautiful description and lyricism of the prose was completely absorbing, 
A joyous coming-of-age tale.

Several times I've sat down and attempted to write my review of The Great Godden, and each time I've been unable to express the sheer joy reading this book gave me. I read How I Live Now many years ago and it's stayed with me for a long time, I still think about it often. Within the first few pages of The Great Godden I was transported back into the unique world of Meg Rosoff's lyrical prose. Many authors have a distinct style of writing, but with Rosoff, reading her novels is a completely immersive experience.

The Great Godden is a coming of age story that examines growing up as part of a slightly chaotic and messy family. Set during summer vacation, the hazy heat and sun-drenched warmth seeps through the pages. Rosoff captures the lethargic ease of summer, with the days slowly melting into one another. It's such an atmospheric and nostalgic read, you really feel like you're side by side with the characters. It almost feels like a play in novel form: you're watching the drama unfold as if you're watching from afar rather than just reading words on a page. It has a beautiful timeless quality to it: Rosoff illuminates this particular period of life for a small group of characters, completely disconnected from the wider world.

Meg Rosoff's writing is, quite simply, stunning. The novel is short and not a single word is wasted, with each paragraph bursting with beautiful descriptions of the characters and setting. Rosoff has this incredible ability to capture the raw emotions and passions of her characters without employing needlessly embellished or flowery language. She uses language sparsely and precisely, but this by no means takes away from how emotive the text is throughout. Just as impressive are the gaps in the dialogue, the meanings behind the things left unsaid. So much is left open to interpretation, including the name and gender of the narrator (which I loved).

A poignant and alluring novel about relationships (familial, romantic, platonic), our perceptions of ourselves and others, and the tragedy of young love. Beautifully written and utterly captivating, I can't recommend The Great Godden highly enough!

An easy, summery read with lots of sunshine, teen angst, love and fun. Recommended for fans of Bonjour, Tristesse

I am in love with Meg Rosoff's novels since I read "How I Live Now", which is one of my favourite books.
The Great Godden didn't disappoint me. The language was vibrant and real and it reminded me a bit of  "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith.

This was a novella about life and how our feelings develop as we grow up. It presents different themes such as family, jealousy, manipulation and disappointment. 

It a short book but deeply moving.

As ever, Meg Rosoff delights me with her thought provoking yet accessible storytelling style. A lovely, whimsical read. I loved it!

I loved this beautiful book, fizzing with tension and alive with the possibilities that come with being young and carefree. I loved the family dynamics - Meg Rosoff writes great characters!

This is a superb novella, described as being YA but I think it’s suitably brilliant for all readers - particularly those who want a fast-paced, realistic summer read, one that isn’t all cocktails and sunshine.

The first-person narrator is nameless but integral to the plot. Summer with her family means descending on holiday  home which is probably off England’s east coast but isn’t wholly clear - not that this is essential to know. What follows is a sometimes funny, sometimes tragic journey with her family, from flirtatious, narcissistic Mattie, through to bat-obsessed Alex - and, the arrival of Kit and Hugo, brothers from Los Angeles (their mother, Florence Godden, is godmother to one of the children).

This is so brilliantly written it’s amazing that Rosoff does so much with so few words. She juggles, skilfully, in excess of ten characters; we learn of their foibles  and behaviours, their qualities, good and bad. This feels distinctly British - Rosoff, an American, has lived in the UK for a long while and she has a faultless way of representing the life of the UK’s citizens.

I loved this. I will give it five stars. My only qualm is that of Kit and Hugo. Are they British? They live in the US but don’t seem American. It doesn’t matter - but I would have liked a little more contrast between these characters and the others, aside from the obvious - no spoilers, though... you’ll have to read it!

‘The Great Godden’ deserves to be an escapist summer classic with a somewhat dark, destructive heart. I hope others feel similar to me.

A simple summer story, beautifully written, with teenage angst sprinkled on each page. I blasted through this in an afternoon, on a sunny Sunday, and very much enjoyed.

Classic sunsoaked summer reading, this: big house, seaside, family secrets, golden teenagers with maximal hormones behaving badly towards each other. Identify with the awkward, private narrator, simultaneously love and loathe the callous Kit, actor and showoff. Great fun.

What I liked about the book was how easy it was to read, the writing style was easy to digest and the scene setting of the seaside town was relatable. I’m afraid that’s where the things I like end! The story moved so fast with such little description that I’m still not entirely sure what happened all the way through. There was very little description or development of characters and the whole thing felt very rushed. I think as a storyline it had potential but it wasn’t padded out enough and many of the sub storylines were so vague they may as well have not been included.

So, I'm finding it quite hard to explain how I feel about this book. It's not quite Rich People Problems, but it's sort of adjacent to it. It's the story of one family and one summer - and in particular of a teen boy who everyone falls in love with and who knows about the power that he has. It's great - but in a really subtle way. I was reading it waiting for something awful to happen, but that's not what this is about. It's cleverer than that - it's about everyday events and normal summer things. The climax is a tennis match and it's so good. There aren't a lot of really good sport-in-book scenes in novels - but this is one of them, near the top of my list (the top being the cricket scene in Murder Must Advertise). So good.

It's being shelved on Goodreads as YA and it's published by a YA imprint but I think I could give it to someone who "doesn't read YA" and they wouldn't notice.  NetGalley has it as YA and women's fiction and it really is in that in-between land.

Although I enjoyed reading this book there were a few elements that puzzled me. 

The first being that we are never fully introduced to the main character/narrator. Neither their name, age or gender is ever revealed. This confused me for a lot of the book. Had I forgotten their name? I actually had to flick back to the start where each of the other siblings are introduced to make sure I hadn’t missed it. 

For me the character was female and the oldest of her siblings. I have read reviews where others read this character as male or non binary. They will have had a completely different experience reading this book than I did which I guess is very clever of the author, but a little infuriating for the reader. I couldn’t stop wondering who the character was or if/when we would find out, which I found quite distracting. 

I felt the plot went through peaks and troughs of pace which made it a bit stilted at times and rushed at others. The climax of the story was surprising but again felt a little rushed and came completely out of the blue so left me feeling a bit confused again. Family life was depicted fairly well, everyone off doing what they wanted for the summer. 

Overall it was a pleasant enough read full of teenage emotion with a couple of twists and turns. If you can brush away the confusion then it’s an enjoyable beach book. 

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of the book for an open and honest review.

The Great Godden is an easy, comfortable read with great characters and atmosphere. As always Meg Rosoff grabs you and drags you into her wonderful, lyrical world.

My first read by author Meg Rosoff was a wonderful and enlightening experience!

In The Great Godden my attention was immediately captured with an intriguing and ambiguous short opening chapter. In this beautifully written, coming of age novella, the reader meets Kit and Hugo. Kit is the good looking, irresistible brother, whilst Hugo is the more insular, silent one. Their American actress mother has little time for either of her teenage sons. In a heady, lazy summer of fun, intrigue, teenage angst, and deception marked by planning for a wedding, learning lines for Hamlet, and the traditions of male bonding, are these two brothers from LA everything they seem?

I adored this story of love, discovery, longing and lust. The extra element of mystery added by Meg Rosoff in not naming her narrator was a neat touch that worked for me, and I spent some time reflecting on who that person might have been. An insightful, enthralling and memorable read that I found totally riveting.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Bloomsbury Publishing via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This is a tricky one. I liked it very much.It was atmospheric and had a great build up of tension. Having said that I would only recommend it to a particular kind of teen reader - I'm not sure it has wide teen appeal.

A splendid and welcome return to YA from Meg Rosoff whose books  are  always such a treat. Short, full of angst, The Great Godden fits well in the traditon of those summer coming of age tales, à la Bonjour Tristesse. Many  will consider her style  “literary”, rather a rare reflection for YA (sadly and wrongly) and this makes the book equally attractive for adult readers and therefore a great crossover. But more importantly the writing style the turn of phrases, the language used, they all show Rosoff’s great respect for her potential young readership, which for me is summed up perfectly in this sentence: “When people express nostalgia for you, I always suspect they have inadequate recall”
. Rosoff gets her young readers, and never talks down to them wand she does so so well. Perfect summer reading!