A story about love and all that goes with it of joy, pleasure, heartbreak. It is beautifully written and even though it’s a work of fiction, we can all recall times in our lives when we have experienced these feelings.
I found myself wanting the characters in the story to experience love and happiness in every part of their lives but neither life nor love are always so obliging. The author recognizes this and the story has a reality about it of how we mess up and can spoil the love we have and then spend time berating and regretting our actions.
This really is a very touching story from beginning to end and I thoroughly enjoyed how it led me through a gamut of emotions. It is most definitely, one of those books you will miss once you’ve turned the last page.

A beautifully written, tender, slice of life novel about two people who have been propelled together by their own personal circumstances.

Told from dual perspectives, Keely and Finn are two young people who don't really fit in and who have felt like outcasts in society. This book spans across their younger years and the years spent together.

Fans of Sally Rooney and Donal Ryan will love this story.

This novel is unusual in the twenty-first century novel landscape because it features almost no dialogues but instead plenty of haunting descriptions of challenging lives on the margins of society, as well as internal monologues that grant us some insights into the character as individuals. Particularly compelling is Keeley, a twelve year-old girl who lives in a coastal encampment in Ireland. Having already lost her mother, Keeley soon also has to come to terms with her younger brother’s drowning. She and her father continue to eke out a living as sea coalers, at the mercy of the harsh climate and ostracized by many of the other locals. But then their lives intersect with a similarly marginalised person by the name of Finn, also an orphan, who only really communicates through his love of music. Will Keeley and Finn find the true love that the title alludes to and that these marginalised individuals so desperately need?
An unusual, sometimes difficult but very thought-provoking read. I wish to thank the novel’s publishers Transworld and NetGalley for allowing me to read the advance copy that enabled this honest and independent review.

The language of this book is beautiful and evocative of the pain of rejection and longing to belong. Both the main characters experience loss and a sense of being outside of a normal family scenario. It’s hard to believe what some parents put their children through, sometimes unknowingly, by not being there physically or emotionally. Love is there but not there, people let you down, they expect more than you can give. All these things add up to a troubled life, but will love win out at the end of the day? I was gripped by the telling of the story, I invested in the main characters, and wanted them to survive.

This book was close to a 5 star as I was drawn into Keely’s life. She lives in a camp on the coast with her father and younger brother as they try to cope with the death of her mother. When her brother drowns both father and daughter struggle to come to terms with it. Her story is heartbreaking yet hopeful as Keely, underneath it all, displays a remarkable resilience.
Then we meet Finn, living with his grandparents having been abandoned by both parents. He doesn’t talk much or make friends and is perhaps neurodivergent. He eventually does find his voice through music. As a character I found him somewhat introspective and infuriating at times.
When Finn is abandoned by his bandmates after a gig he meets and moves in with Keely and maybe just maybe the tide will turn for these two characters.
This is certainly an emotional read from an author able to draw you into the lives of these two characters. My frustration with Finn is no doubt due to how well the character was portrayed and developed. It’s not always an easy read but I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

4.5 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley.co.uk and the publishers for this DRC in exchange for this honest review.

4-5 stars

We first meet Keeley, also known as Keg, when she’s twelve, she’s blonde and skinny, her ma is dead, there’s just her and da and her much younger brother, Welty (William) who is small and somewhat feral. They live in a camp by the sea in Ireland, where her da is a sea coaler and they’re joined by many who used to work in the mines. Coal is all they know, the women are the backbone of the group.

We first meet Finn at a similar age to Kelley, he grows up with his maternal grandparents, his ma never spoken of. He’s shy, extremely quiet, has few friends but plenty of issues, he’s lonely but it’s hard for him to articulate it. They grow, with no knowledge of each other, two lost souls in pain, full of heartache and desperately seeking solace. Will they find it in each other?

This character driven novel is sad and profoundly moving in places and is beautifully written. There’s no dialogue as such but there are internal monologues through which you grow in understanding of this complex pair. They do make things hard for themselves, they’re outsiders in so many ways and their experiences have made closeness hard. Keeley has suffered blow after blow which affects her adversely and deeply. Both have encountered loss and therefore the tone is a melancholy one. You pray for the leaden skies to lift and hope for the warmth of sunshine which they both richly deserve. The storyline follows them through their highs and lows and I find myself becoming increasingly deeply immersed in their lives. It builds well, the ending is good and you dare to be optimistic.

Overall, a stunning, emotional and touching read and though it’s not the most joyful of reads, it’s a very rewarding reading experience. It’s obvious that Paddy Crewe is an extremely talented writer who has mastered the art of the understated.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I nearly didn’t take up the offer of this as I didn’t enjoy Crewe’s My Name is Kip. I’m so glad I decided to try it - it’s a beautifully written study of family, loss, love, the ties that bind us and how the decisions - good and bad - we make along the way help shape us and our families.
Written with empathy, Finn and Keely feel genuine and I was emotionally absorbed in their stories.

Booker longlist at least, I would hope.

As the title suggests Paddy Crewe’s novel is a love story but far from what you might call a romance. Keely’s mother died when she was five and her brother was almost one. After another terrible loss, her father sinks into a depression leaving his daughter to cope alone. Reading is her haven and continues to be so when her father deserts her but it’s not enough to save her. Brought up by his grandparents, Finn seems not to know how to be in the world. Bullied at school, he finds a surprising escape, performing with his only friend on stage.

Crewe devotes two long sections to establishing his main protagonists, beginning with Keely then switching to Finn. They fall deeply in love, opening themselves to each other in a way they’ve never done with anyone else, each seeing the other as their salvation until the first euphoric heady months are over and reality sinks in. Some might find the pace a little slow although it worked well for me, Crewe taking the time to develop his characters so that I came to care about what happened to them, and much of the descriptive writing is striking. I enjoyed this tender story of two deeply damaged young people and the healing power of love.

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

True Love follows the lives of Keely and Finn who are both really relatable characters. Despite its heavy themes, it’s a a beautifully crafted, melancholic love story.
An emotional and worthwhile read.

A complex tale of personal and family relationships

Although complex, this story is told in a simple and a most readable manner. It’s a story told with great care for the emotional complexities of the characters. It’s written in reported speech with little dialogue. It’s as if the author is continually present, narrating and commenting on what could be a personal tale from his own history.

In part 1, we meet the first principal character, Keely as a young girl, working with her father, scratching a subsistence living from sea-coaling. Having already lost her mother, the family loses her young brother to drowning. This is a book about loss and tragedy.

Part 2 introduces a second main character, Finn. Like Keely, we meet him at an early age and see him shy, lacking in social confidence, perhaps neurodivergent. Although early on, he has friends, he soon transitions to being an outsider, isolated and seeking solace in his obsessive interests: stones, stuff under his bed. He has a first girlfriend, Amy, a student nurse.

In Part 3 Finn finds fulfilment as a lyricist and singer in a band. After a gig when he has become separated from his bandmates, he finds Keely crashed out under a tree, drunk and isolated. They hook up and the love is intense and passionate. Time passes and over three years, he never goes back to playing with the band but lives with Keely. She becomes pregnant and in time becomes a teacher. Finn visits his grandfather to find him receiving care from the community nurse, Amy. They grow close and become lovers again. Finn’s dilemma: Keely from whom he is now emotionally distant and Amy with whom there is a relaxed closeness.

Three more years pass and we find Keely with a daughter, Anna. She and Finn have split. We don’t see the scenes in which they decide to part. The author is skilful in giving us enough detail to bring the scenes alive but keeping plenty in the shadows so we are asked to wonder at what has taken place.

The closing episode builds to a climax in a snowstorm in which Finn while having weekend access to Anna, goes in search of Keely. The final scene shows Finn and Keely together. Is it a reunion and a rekindling or an attempt to return Anna to her mother? The internal monologues blend and crosscut between their minds almost as if they are blending into a single mind.

This is a novel which shows relationships coming together then being pushed apart, sometimes by inner weaknesses, sometimes by external forces. It’s best read slowly as events move slowly and it would be easy to miss the nuances that are skilfully built in. Sometimes these reflections are a tad too long and the pace dips. The conclusion is not wholly successful. It attempts to shift away from simply recounting these often-sad tragedies into an open-ended situation as if to invite us to wonder what will come next.

Keely grows up alongside her father and younger brother in a tight-knit community of seacoalers, where life is tough but mutual support abounds. However, when tragedy strikes, Keely grapples with the unpredictable dimensions of loss and grief. It's in this tumultuous time that she crosses paths with Finn, who carries his own burdens of trauma.

I found myself completely engrossed in their stories, devouring the novel in a single sitting. Paddy Crewe skillfully draws readers into the lives of his characters, leaving me both hopeful and deeply moved by the book's conclusion. With two distinct novels already to his name, I eagerly anticipate Crewe's next literary journey, for he has proven himself to be a truly remarkable novelist, and this latest work stands as a testament to his talent.

Keely has been brought up with her father and younger brother in a small community of seacoalers. It’s a hard life, but those living in the camp look out for each other. When tragedy strikes she has to learn that loss and grief have no fixed dimensions. Then she meets Finn who has had his own traumas to deal with.
These two souls seek salvation with each other, while muddling their way through to adulthood.
Written in a subtle understated way, reminiscent of Donal Ryan, I found myself being pulled into the story and rooting for these two young people.

I think this book will appeal to a wide range of readers, including young adults.

Many thanks to Penguin Random House & NetGalley for an ARC

Truly emotional, this was a heavy read, but one that was crafted with so much care and attention to detail. The main characters were well written and fleshed out, and their struggles and grief really were palpable. I think books like this are important as they make everyday emotions more accessible, and I’m glad to have read it.

Paddy Crewe's second novel, after the very well received My Name is Yip (which was shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize), is a novel which is tonally and totally different to his debut that I had to check it was the same writer.

Keeley and Finn are two lost souls who come together, their broken and bust-up lives providing the backdrop to a very low-key melancholic love story. This was beautifully written, a tale of small towns and small lives excavated with nuance and heart. It reminded me very much of Donal Ryan at times.

I read this in one sitting, drawn into these lives, and was left hopeful but bereft by its end. With two very different novels under his belt, I am very keen to see where Paddy Crewe goes next, for his is a very fine novelist and this a very fine work.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Keely and Finn are two lost souls who have not had much love in their short lives, when fate throws them together. Are they to0 damaged to sustain what they have found and pull themselves out of their pasts into the future? All of the characters in this book have depth, even the most minor ones. The depth of feeling described is exquisite and demands to be savoured. This s a beautiful story, beautifully told.

What an absolute gem of a read. I couldn't put it down and spent a glorious Saturday immersed in this beautiful writing. Keeley and Finn will reach in and catch your heart and then your soul. Paddy Crewe has created two characters who are flawed and broken yet allow themselves the risk of falling in love. Their journey is written with such empathy and understanding that I felt like I was part of their story. There is a deep understanding of human frailty throughout the novel and even the most peripheral character has a purpose and a personality. It's truly a work of pure beauty.

So excited for this one! I cannot wait to read Keely and Finns love story! It seems absolutely beautiful and touching. I will be sharing full thoughts and a review very soon! Cannot wait to share this beautiful touching love story.