Cover Image: 337

337

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I really enjoyed this book. It had some twists and turns. I read this book in one day! I would definitely recommend this book!

Was this review helpful?

This was a very clever read with a mysterious and engaging plot, it was quite unique and unlike anything I have ever read before

Was this review helpful?

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. This was a fun book. It was a mystery and I enjoyed it.

Was this review helpful?

I haven't read Lee before, but it appears he is quite talented. His UK version has some unusual characteristics, which I wish I had, but I was given an ebook to review. The book is about 2 young boys who live with their abusive father after their mother disappears. The older boy, Sam, tries to protect his brother, but it isn't always possible. Then move on to Sam as a lonely man. He goes to work, goes home and wonders why his life is as dismal as it is. He rarely talks to his father or his brother and believes very little of what they say. His brother is always drunk or high when they talk, which leads to Sam not believing him at all. One day Sam's father asks him to visit his dying grandmother, as he lives the closest to her. None of the three men are interested in visiting her due to bad memories. When Sam does, he begins to get much closer to her. They have good talks and enjoy seeing each other. I don't want to reveal any more of the story, but I will say it stayed with me. It made me laugh, cry, and think. I would read it again.
This is an honest review of the book 337.

Was this review helpful?

I’m not sure why I couldn’t put this book down, but I couldn’t, especially towards the end. Nothing monumental happens, yet the book is still somehow gripping. The language was used really well, especially during the scenes at the home. The one thing that I felt let it down was the ending - it felt a bit cliched - but maybe I’m just cynical!

Was this review helpful?

This wasn’t your usual mystery novel – it’s more of a study into family relationships and how the past can define them long after the events that impact them have passed.

The book starts with a scene from a family picnic, with Sam, his younger brother Tom, their parents and, grandparents – Gramps and Gramma. The description of the picnic, which has been a long-time annual family tradition, paints a picture of a perfectly normal family. Little did the family know that this would be the last time they would all be together as the day after their mother disappears.

Years later, Sam is contacted by his father – it's obvious from the dialogue between them that their relationship is strained. His father asks him to visit his Gramma who is near the end of her life in a nearby care home. Sam is reluctant at first but feels he has a duty to visit. He suspects that Gramma may hold the answer to his mother’s disappearance and knows this may be his last chance to discover the truth. There is an obvious tension between Sam and Gramma from an event in the past, but this isn’t explained until further on in the book. Sam finds himself gradually softening to her and wounds from the past are healed.

The mystery that’s woven throughout the story creates an intriguing read in a very unique way. It wasn’t a fast-paced read yet I found myself racing towards the end to see if Sam finally found the answers he was searching for.

Many thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the review copy.

Was this review helpful?

Slow, steady pace that builds and builds, sucking you in page after page. I was not expecting the ending. Well written, good read. I will look for other books by the author. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving this book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

Was this review helpful?

This is my second book by this author, and let me say I was really pleasantly surprised by this book, it was so good.

I found 337 very easy to read and get caught up in the storyline, I was completely sucked in by this book and the need to know what was going on. The author does a really good job of slowly building the suspense and creating this sense of foreboding that just grabs you and compels you to continue reading.

I think in one of my notes for this book I described it as a slow burn that keeps dropping these little breadcrumbs, like Hansel and Gretel, to keep you interested in the story. And this approach definitely worked.

The way 337 is written is what I got the most enjoyment from in this book. It was as if Sam was word vomiting onto the page, we see everything through Sam's eyes and it kind of flits between different events and times, filling in those gaps and adding tonnes of value to the story.

The attention to detail within this book was absolutely INSANE.

The characters weren't really expanded upon, but I feel this actually was a positive of the book, because it really felt like we were Sam, and seeing the world through his eyes only.

Despite the story only really centring on Sam and his Grandma it was packed full of plot and had plenty enough to keep us on the edge of our seat and interested.

I had goosebumps when I finished this book, it felt so poignant and I loved how everything fell into place in the end, it felt very much like fate. I don't want to give too much away but I just closed this book and felt very fulfilled.

On the whole, I really enjoyed 337 by M Jonathan Lee.

Was this review helpful?

I had made up my mind to like 337 ever since the voice of the as-yet-unnamed narrator pulled me out of my world straight into his story in the first chapter.

Reading on, I met 12-year-old Sam, younger brother Tom, his father, mother, and paternal grandparents, Gramma and Gramps at their annual picnic. There is an air of slight unease at the picnic which Sam latches on to and passes on to us.

The next morning, Mum disappears, leaving behind her rings and a note addressed to their father.

Then we’re back to the present 25 years later. His father calls him to let him know that his grandmother is in a nursing home and that she is dying. Tom is in London, living in a haze of substance abuse and music, and can’t be persuaded to go. It’s up to Sam.

And even though Sam has not seen his grandmother in 19 years, not since they had a huge argument, he agrees to go and see her. Against all odds, Gramma begins to show improvement, even sitting up to have conversations. Sam uses the opportunity to question her, hoping to get answers to the question of why his mother abandoned him and his brother. There is so much he does not know. Why would a loving mother desert her children?

What is the truth? Will he know it before Gramma dies? Will he ever find the closure he seeks?





The book is written in the first person PoV of Samuel Darte. Some of the chapters were very short. I loved the chatty style with which Sam lets us into his world. You get the hint of abuse, but the pace is very slow, and we learn facts very slowly, as they might be understood by the child that Sam was or as he feels comfortable revealing them to us.

Samuel is a good man who believes that every creature needs love. You feel for him, still being bullied even as a grown man. You feel for him, his life and that of his brother, arrested by tragedy and broken family dynamics, unable to ever restore the balance of their lives.



The writing is poignant and real. I have waited at the deathbed of a family member for long enough to know how painful it is. The descriptions of Gramma at St Dymphna are not pretty, but as starkly real as they come.





There were a lot of asides relating to Sam’s work-from-home situation, but they help us to see the dead-endedness of his life. The hours spent on the MySnug homepage attest to the emptiness of his life as he fills the ruthless minutes, his whole life an exercise in doing time. His investigation into his mother’s disappearance beats time with the timesheet that his company requires him to maintain.

Sam’s family is not a warm place of comfort to begin with. His grandfather, ravaged by memories of the war, takes out his demons by bullying his wife and family. His father learns the same behaviour and acts just as badly towards his wife. Both women are subjugated by their husbands. The only difference is that Gramma stays, while Mum leaves.

We come to know of how Sam’s family dynamics are forever altered by the disappearance of his mother, the subsequent turmoil that he and his brother are thrown into, the police interrogations, and the emptiness in their lives. We learn about his relationship and brief marriage and how it disintegrated.

We see the abuse that is a constant in their home, and through it, the author paints a picture of the hidden scars that children bear as a result of this toxic atmosphere in their home. We learn about lives gone haywire, when we are pushed into erroneous decisions and misjudgments.



The characters were all real and flawed, all messed and messing with others. The story grew so organically, emerging out of the character’s actions that even though I was really annoyed with the manner in which one of the characters behaved, it didn’t feel like a plot hole, but as the huge blunders that real people unthinkingly commit.

Sam, for the most part, and later, Tom, were well etched, mending fences and making the best of the cards that grownups, who should have known better, had dealt them.



The best part of this book for me, apart from the story and the characters, was the language. I loved the similes. The vibrating phone hanging precariously like a mountaineer over a precipice. The inside of Gramp’s mouth while he is eating is like being in a kayak or on a waterslide.

Sam tells us about the fake stuff masquerading as news while real news is crushed like ice in a blender.

The steam from Sam’s kettle dispersing in all directions like the mushroom from an atom bomb.

A hanging silence fills the space between us like a hammock between trees.

Like a bucket under a neglected tap.

And the best: Sam’s mother’s voice, as recreated in his memory is honey and candyfloss and golden syrup and sweet tea. It is clean as cotton and fresh as toothpaste. It is soft and clear and sounds like purity itself.

In a later chapter, he describes her voice in this way: It is the sound of pure crystal glass. Of precious stones. Of innocence.



The last few chapters have an air of finality about them. The end of a marriage, a life nearing the end, and hopefully a release from the trauma that has been Sam’s to bear for almost all his life. But the end is also about reconciliation with Gramma, re-connection with Tom, forgiveness and a letting go of the past and all that was, and opening oneself to the present and what is here and now, allowing it to grow and flourish.

Sam shows himself to be a bigger and better man than his father and grandfather ever were. There are lessons this book emphasizes, about relationships and family, that aren’t even said. This was a beautiful book.

Was this review helpful?

3,5 Stars

I read the book a while ago but i didn't get to write the review until now. Yet i have no problem recalling the feeling i had while reading.

The story, or the way it was told, had a rather strange effect on me.
It was told by Samuel Darte whose mother disappeared one morning leaving behind her wedding rings and a farewell note. Sam and his brother, young boys at the time, where left in the care of their father.
The story actually starts some 20 years after that event. Sam's estranged grandmother is dying, but in the hope of getting to know what really happened to his mother, Sam starts visiting her.

As already said the story is told by Sam, alternated between recalling past events and his current life; all the while trying to piece together, yet again, what happened to his mother.
There wasn't really a lot of action in the whole story, barely any long elaborate dialogues, it had the strange quality of a monologue. But it is in no way boring or annoying.
It was like actually being inside the head of Sam, and when you thought the end came and you kind of knew the whole story you turn the last page and there you find the last surprise.
I loved it.
But i feel like i missed something along the way, since i couldn't get the meaning of the title in connexion with the story (aside from when read upside down it spells the last name of the author).

Was this review helpful?

337 by M. Jonathan Lee was a book quite different from anything I’ve read previously. While I found myself caught up in the storyline and waiting for a resolution to a seemingly irresolvable ending, I was both surprised and not surprised with the close to this story. I loved the character development and could understand how the boys became the men that they were. This story is a journey to finding and making sense of a major trauma in one’s life, even though when the journey ends, it may not be all you expect. We have a mother, who in the worst possible way, found an escape for herself, but left her children in a situation no mother should ever leave her children in—would I have sympathy for this woman? I think not...

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book. I can only say WOW! This book kept me thinking and on the edge of my seat. You really don’t know what is what until the end. Tense and emotionally jagged is how I would describe this book the characters are deeply flawed.
Again I feel lucky to have been given a chance to read this book.

Was this review helpful?

The story opens with a family having a picnic with grandparents, parents and the two kids. There is mention of how a day later the mother would be gone.

The reader gets the impression that the grandfather is a harsh, unfeeling man, the father is quick with his anger, the grandmother is meek and the mother, is alluded at having a cheery disposition who spends her days caring for her family.

The story, mostly follows Samuel, the oldest of the two children, who still lives in his childhood home he grew up in where he is haunted by the past, filling in the hours to get his workweek over, when he gets a call about his grandmother, who he's been estranged with for several decades.

Sam, makes a decision to go see his grandmother, and in the process, decides that this may be the last chance to gain more information about his mother's disappearance. He discovers a fact, he had no idea about and also, learns more about his grandfather, and comes to the conclusion that he does care about his grandmother.

The story isn't bad, but it wasn't one that kept my interest. I found myself putting the book down to do other things, and then coming back to read. I think, in part, it had to do with it seemed to be really drawn out in parts and details that I felt didn't add to the story. I thought the title was interesting because it was a play on the author's name, and the ending was a surprise, but also, made me question if the timing of the call was done because of prior events.

I requested and received an ARC from NetGalley via BooksGoSocial and I have voluntarily reviewed this book.

Was this review helpful?

Samuel Darte has gone over it and over it and over it. For years, he has combed through his curated paper trail of evidence and memories of his mother's sudden disappearance when he was a child, trying to find that one missing clue that will answer with finality what really happened to her.

There is one person who may hold the answer, Sam's grandmother, who he has neither seen nor spoken to for 20 years. She is in a nearby nursing home, and she is dying. What starts as a visit spurred by obsession for answers turns into a relationship that changes Sam's life.

This story touches on some heavy topics—domestic violence, fallout for children (and adult children) of family upheaval, and deals realistically with the death of an elderly loved one in a nursing home setting. M. Jonathan Lee handles these topics with amazing sensitivity, leaving this reader feeling hopeful of a better life for the main character.

Was this review helpful?

I absolutely love character-driven novels, especially if the characters are a bit flawed, just like real human beings.

337 begins with a bad event - Sam's mother leaves their home without any reason. How this event shapes the rest of their lives forms the story.

The people in this book are real - flawed, sensitive, and a bit grey. There is no right or wrong, no black or white. It shows the resilience of people living life, taking hard decisions one at a time.

This is not a book that you can devour in one sitting. You need to take it slow, savour the relationships and the characters, get beneath their skin. Slowly, you will love them as much as I did.

Thanks to Netgalley, Jonathan Lee, and BooksGoSocial for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

I wasn’t sure what I was getting into as the novel began. It looks at the people in the story as from a great height, then drops us down into the middle of a dysfunctional family at their annual torment of a family picnic. Grandad and his son are unpleasant in their best moments, Gramma and Sandra are browbeaten wives who meet their husbands’ expectations on rare occasions. Sam and Tom only know this way of being a family, but they know it’s a perilous place to live. When Sandra leaves, everything is tossed on its head. Lee takes us step by step through what happens next to a stunning ending.

The story is told from Sam’s point of view, so we discover things as he does or as he reveals them. His volatile relationship with his father, the fractured relationships with his brother and his grandmother. He is desperate to know the answer of what happened to his mother, but does not want to be drawn back into relationships that hold no joy, no closure. The request to be with his grandmother as she lives out her final days, a woman he has not spoken to in years, is an enormous burden. But the path out of darkness of of his life since his mother disappeared may lead through the room of the dying woman.

Lee does a brilliant job carrying you through the steps of Sam’s struggle. Sam is tired, mentally and spiritually exhausted by the ripples from that day. And you will feel every ounce of that exhaustion. As someone who has sat in the rooms of terminally ill family members, I can tell you those scenes are haunting and human. The struggle for both he and his grandmother to move forward after a huge blowout years before, for the brothers to find a sense of family again, will make you ache along with the character. Step by step, revelation by revelation, Lee takes us through the maze until we reach the end.

And what a stunning end it is. Do yourself a favor, don’t cheat. Don’t read the ending first. You will miss out on the delicious tension Lee creates here. Sam doesn’t know, wants to know, doesn’t want to know, wants it all to go away. The journey itself is a wonderful and torturous story, with a beautiful payoff at the end.

What a great way to start off the new year of reading

Rating – **** Recommended

(This review will appear on Feb 3, 2021 at https://phlipside.wordpress.com/?p=2329

Was this review helpful?

Dark and heavy with atmosphere, M. Jonathan Lee’s 377 is the story of a family whose last shred of familial ties was shredded the day a young mother disappeared and left her two small boys to fend for themselves with an emotionally stilted father and a coldly distant grandmother. Decades will pass and the narrator, Sam will finally come face to face with the questions that were never answered when he learns his grandmother is now on her deathbed.

Tense and emotionally jagged, will the truth of what became of their mother finally set Samuel free to live or will he find even darker skeletons lurking in the family’s closets? Can he ever regain a relationship with his younger brother and his father? Is he strong enough to hear what a dying woman has to say?

M. Jonathan Lee’s tale doesn’t move at breakneck speed, but it will grab readers by the throat and hold them captive from start to finish, almost like that nightmare one cannot seem to awake from. This author uses his words to create a powerhouse of turmoil, leaving readers wondering what just hit them.

I received a complimentary copy from Hideaway Fall! This is my honest and voluntary review.

Was this review helpful?

Another great story by M. Jonathan Lee. I personally like his books. They can be slow to read and more of a quiet tale of a person's life.( Most of his books are) I like books like this. Look forward to more by him.

Was this review helpful?

I honestly couldn't get into this book. The storyline didn't flow well and it did not keep my attention pass chapter 1. The synopsis made the book sound really interesting yet the story itself was bland.

Was this review helpful?

This book is quiet and yet so powerful. The whole book is narrated by Sam, and his voice is so clear and strong throughout. I really felt I was inside his head.

As Sam goes about his life for a couple of weeks, we learn the story of his life. A life full of trauma, yet told in such an unemotional way.

Sam is searching for the truth about his mum, who left a note and left many years ago. I had guessed how the book may end before I got there, however the story telling was so powerful that this did not matter.

A quiet tale of relationships, mystery and suspense.

Was this review helpful?