This is one of those books that will stay with you for a long time, that’s if it doesn’t break you! I have read a couple of Carroll’s non fiction books and I found them very engaging, when I found out he was releasing his first novel I jumped at the chance of having a read.
The book has a lot of focus on mental health and it could easily have become overwhelming for the reader but it has been written with so much care and Melody has such a big heart it’s a book you’re guaranteed to fall in love with.

The Lip

Melodie Janie is 19 and living alone in a caravan on the patch of lane that she ‘owns’ in Cornwall. She narrates in the first person as she describes her daily routine. The scavenging for food in the now derelict Cafy that her family once owned, her life in the caravan and how she is almost invisible to the world. It had once been her mother’s dream to own a seaside café and the whole family moved down to. Cornwall to run one that was successful, in a modest fashion, until her father was killed in a car crash. Afterwards, Mum disappeared and now Melodie awaits her return. But her younger sister, Lucy, could wait no longer and Melodie found her broken body on the zarn, or beach, below the lip and protected her from being taken out to sea until the coastguard came to take her. The Lip of the title refers to a projecting cliff and the above a sheer drop to the small inaccessible cave beneath which is where she waited for the coastguard.
Meanwhile, Melodie, patrols her land on the Cornish coast and keeps an eye out for emmetts. These are the summer tourists drawn to Cornwall who come and go or buy second homes and price the locals out. She has an old schoolfriend, Esther, who makes fleeting appearances and Melodie is comfortable with her. However, it’s an Emmett who will change Melodie’s isolated existence. A visitor, Richard Brown, is living in an old house with his rescue dog, Archie. He’s in hiding and she is determined to drive him away. But they strike up an acquaintance while walking along the clifftop and Archie takes a shine to her.
But soon, Melodie’s last possession will vanish and she will need to make a choice about what to do with her life.
This is a book about loss and how memories can trap you in the past until that’s all you have left. It isn’t a book for everyone. It’s a slow burner which builds to a surprising ending. I thought that I knew where the book was going but then it decided to go another, more interesting, way and I’m always intrigued by books that can do that. I sympathized with Melodie in that she had lost everything that was precious in her life and often she appeared emotionally numb and shell-shocked by it all. And yet she was still determined to protect her piece of land, Bones Break, a place that she knew intimately.
It’s very visual writing with a lot of descriptions of nature; the Corish coastline, seabirds, wildflowers, passing seals, the sea and its moods and the beauty of the zawn. I really felt that the author painted a very powerful picture of the landscape and what drove Melodie to want to stay there. There’s also the unpredictability of the land which can literally fall beneath your feet without warning. The land can give so much but it can also take it away. The author’s knowledge of Cornwall painted such a vivid portrait of it that it was almost a character in itself.
The other side of Cornwall was also depicted. This is the side that tourists don’t see; a depressed economy relying on the resented emmetts to survive and then once the summer ends there is silence. Melodie sees a noisy Saturday night in a nearby town and it makes her run back to Bones Break again. This is not her world, she has stepped out of it. She is painfully aware that its residents maliciously gossip about her.
I thought that the author really captured the feelings and thoughts of a damaged teenage girl who is on the cusp of another major change in her life. It was an atmospheric, haunting debut novel and one that will stay in my mind. It wasn’t an easy read but it was a novel that was worth it.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

I was sent a copy of The Lip by Charlie Carroll to read and review by NetGalley. I chose to review this book as I thought it sounded interesting and is set in Cornwall where I live. Unfortunately I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. I managed to get 62% of the way through after feeling that I wanted to give up many times, not because of the subject matter but rather the way it was written. I was irritated by several things, the fact that even though the novel was written in the first person the writing was always very formal, no I’m/can’t/he’d here to make it seem more natural and the use of the full term ‘little sister Lucy’ every time she was mentioned just didn’t ring true and was incredibly annoying. The thing that irked me most though was the minutiae of detail on occasions such as having a shower or making a cup of tea - the last straw for me being the making of a pot noodle! I’m afraid I didn’t feel any of the emotions or connections that other reviewers seem to have experienced and the whole premise of the story just didn’t ring true to me. However intrigued I may have found myself about how things would end I’m afraid I just couldn’t bring myself to waste any more time on something that I found irritated me so much.

Did not expect the book like this but was a pleasant surprise! An account of mental health, loss and Cornwall. Claustrophobic but beautiful

Recently I found myself wading through books with a connection to the sea. Each has been great in different ways, but this one is outstanding. I was completely immersed in this world, could feel the wind and smell the sea. I felt for the characters and stood alongside them as they stared out from The Lip and contemplated their predicaments. It is a novel that deals with adult themes and is not a light and fluffy read. Nevertheless, if I had to single out one book for its ability to transport me to the coast, it would be this one.

The Lip is not the book I was expecting it to be. It is heartbreaking, raw and real.

The book deals with mental health and childhood trauma. It deals with isolation and loneliness.

I knew there would be a twist but it was not what I was expecting.

Melodie-Janie was never a popular child, she has had to manage her mother’s mental health, her father’s death and her mother’s subsequent disappearance, as well as her little sister Lucy’s suicide. She is understandably affected by all these events and so withdraws herself from life, emerging herself in her world of the lip.

Heart breaking to read but worth the ordeal.

It took me a while to get into this book but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the description of Cornwall and the area in which it was set. The character Melody Janie was living a very isolated life and there was so much sadness surrounding her. It tells of a part of Cornwall not much talked about or seen by visitors. It was a very well written book especially since mental health is not something that is easy to write about, This was a great read.

I was interested in reading this book after watching Simon Reeve explore Cornwall, and uncover some of the realities of living in such a beautiful, and popular, place. I think I expected the book to more deeply explore the relationship between those who have lived their all of their lives, and those who have second homes or just visit for holidays. In reality this is a devastating and rather disturbing account of a young woman who has been left to survive the elements all alone in a clifftop caravan.

It’s hard to write too much about what happens in the story as it risks giving away many of the plot devices and twists, but this is a story of grief, mental ill-health, mistaken identity, friendship and family.

I really wanted to like this book. The evocation of the Cornish landscape are so well written, and the relationships between the characters are often quite moving. But there’s a real darkness to the story, a darkness which I didn’t enjoy and often left me feeling quite overwhelmed and disturbed. A reviewer described this book as being one that would divide opinion - they loved it so I think their assessment is spot on!

I was gifted an arc of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to read it as I’m not sure it’s one I would have chosen in a shop, and I know there will be people out there who would thoroughly enjoy it.

Being Cornish I was really interested to read this novel, set in the remote Bones Break in Cornwall. This is a side of Cornwall untouched and unspoilt by 'emmetts' and Melody Janie is fiercely protective of her land. She leads a lonely existence. Only 19, she has lost her whole family. Her life is on hold, waiting for her Mum to return. When she meets a man walking with his dog Archie, she suspects him of being one of the annoying emmetts who invade her beloved land. But there is more to this mysterious man than meets the eye, and these two damaged souls form a bond that heals them when they had both lost hope.

The Lip is atmospheric, and bleak at times, but well written and engaging.

This book unfortunately was not for me
I didn’t finish it which is most unusual as I don’t normally let a book get the better of me
Maybe I was missing something
I will try again with it and post another review

This book didn't really draw me in. I found it slow to grab my interest. Although I knew it was about mental health issues I found it quite depressing at times. The description of her local area in Cornwall were good. Melodie-Janie was the main character, a young lady who lived by herself in a caravan, with limited resources. She was hiding from life. Until she became interested in a man who was out walking his dog, she had had no interaction with other people for a while. She followed him home and became intrigued when he was hostile towards her and asked if she recognised him. This leads to Melodie-janie making a new friendship and responding to an old school friend who gets in touch.
I finished reading the book because I felt I should, but I can't say that I would choose it again. However, others will possibly enjoy it more.

I liked this one quite a lot. Its is a somewhat quirky read that addresses a lot of tough issues through the story of a nineteen year old that loses everything in a really heartbreaking way. It talks a lot about solitude, friendship, fears and family and it touches topics like mental illness, suicide and aggressive behavior. With all of these trigger warnings, I have to say it is really not a light read.⠀
⠀
The weakest parts were all the nature descriptions, they were just so many. I know the author wanted to describe Melody Janie's love for her land and tell us about the beauty of Scotland's coast, but it would be better if there was a bit less of it. The characters were done really well and I especially enjoyed the fact that it is written as a main characters inner monologue, it added a certain intimacy to the whole story. ⠀

This book is quite remarkable. It tells the story of Melody-Janie, a young woman who lives an isolated life in a caravan on a cliff top on the North Cornish coast. I was so taken by it I am afraid this review will fail to do this poignant, haunting novel justice. The writing is nothing short of poetic and the county becomes a character in itself, described with an intimacy and knowledge that speaks to the truth of a Cornwall often unseen by tourists – elemental, uncontrollable and fierce, both beautiful and bleak. The subject matter matches the setting, and is a story of loneliness, mental health and the fragility of human beings whilst at the same time is a testament to love, hope and the importance of friendship. However, I suspect readers will be split and it will be a novel you either love or hate. It is clear where I stand. I received an arc in exchange for an honest review but cannot wait to buy this in paperback so I can keep it on my shelves forever.

"The most beautiful little zawn you'll ever see."
Stunning.
It has been a while between my finishing this haunting story and my attempting a review because I felt incapable of doing it justice. Still do, although I need to put something down to mark it was beauty. And beautiful it is - from the wild and rugged location, a small area of the shoreline of North Cornwall, to the wild nineteen years old girl who lives there, alone, in a hidden old caravan, spying on tourists who park near the now derelict 'Cafy' her parents used to run. She watches and guards and protects her land. And keeps her secret, even from herself. Until she meets an old man with a dog.

The book is simply but elegantly written, though with some oddities. Told in the first person, there is nevertheless a total absence of the Capital letter I: it is always in lower case. And the presentation of the prose varies between a regular paragraph format and chapters laid out in poetic styles sentences. And all of the chapter numbers are the same: S.

The author, Charlie Carroll, lives in Cornwall, as do i, and it shows in his description and feeling for place, the beauty but also the bleakness, personal and landscape. Apparently, this is his first novel, an astonishing accomplishment. His is a name I will look for in the future.
I was very fortunate in being freely gifted with a complimentary copy of The Lip, at my request, from Netgalley. Thank you. I am truly indebted to the rights holder for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing, unusual and heart driven book, filled with sadness and emotion that lies hidden and protected.

Recommended for everyone, young, old, or in between

This is a difficult book to categorise. It’s more than a coming of age drama although the heroine is a young, vulnerable woman who has suffered loss and bereavement and is desperately trying to cling to and protect that which is familiar and comforting. The story deals with the difficult subjects of mental health, loneliness and rural deprivation and gives a darker perspective on local life in tourist hotspots. The land that Melody Janie is so desperate to protect is as vulnerable as she is and as the novel progresses, she is forced to face up to some harsh realities that she has been struggling to acknowledge. The story was a bit slow to get going and didn’t really grip me until Melody Janie connects with the mysterious Richard and his rescue dog Archie. A dark, and sometimes difficult read, but a story that will stay with me for quite a while.

I found The Lip an odd sort of read. It opens with a suicide, which sounds awful but got me hooked to find out more. The description of the land and seascape around Melody Janie in a wild part of Cornwall was haunting and I felt the power of the weather and tides throughout Charlie's writing. He describes a different side of Cornwall which 'outsiders' might not get to see, showing the sometimes thoughtless behaviour of the 'emmets', as he describes them. I wasn't sure if there are quite as many thunderstorms in Cornwall as appear in the novel but due to the dark feel of the story I think it is more a reflection on the author's need to create a menacing atmosphere than a meteorological phenomenon. I took about 200 pages to really get into the plot and way of writing but once caught, I raced through the rest of the book and feel that the story really got going at this point. The way he unravels the plot of Melody Jane and 'Richard' was skilfully done and I felt I really knew both characters by the end of the story. Despite it being quite a dark tale I really enjoyed the book and thoroughly recommend it especially if you have any knowledge of Cornwall.

The Lip covers the extremely important topics of mental health and loneliness but for me it was just too depressing. I finished the book quickly but did not enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC.

Wow. This was a slow burner and I began it not knowing if I would like it. Melody Janie is so prickly, so odd that you struggle to immediately connect with her. But stick with the book and suddenly her difficult life, the sudden loss of love and security that she has suffered and the trauma of her later experiences make you love her. This is not the Cornwall the tourist brochures want you to know, it’s the one that gets mentioned in passing : the lack of secure employment, the unaffordable housing for local people, the seasonal poverty and isolation. It’s an unsparing portrait but a skilful one and should serve to make people think. The author has written three non fiction books but this is his first novel, and it’s a really strong fictional debut.

It might only be February but I know The Lip will be one of my favourite books this year. I loved it and Melody Jane. My heart ached for her. Charlie Carroll's writing is like poetry, sensitive and emotional. A story I won't forget in a hurry.
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

A story that drew me right In .Characters that really came alive a storyline around the issue of mental health.I hated to put this book down .#netgalley #johnmurraypress.