4 Stars
Raise your hand if you’re the kind of weirdo who thinks a book about a man who has to return to his hometown because his father just committed suicide is the perfect selection for Father’s Day reading material?
Nah, keep it up ‘cause I’M that kind of weirdo too!
Full disclosure time. I requested Sorry I Wasn’t What You Needed for one reason and one reason alone . . .
Yep. It sounded like a knock-off version of This Is Where I Leave You and since Tropper hasn’t offered me up any of his tasty little creations in quite some time I am willing to accept all substitutions. And this one wasn’t bad at all . . . it was just different. Which it should be, right? I mean, if it was a carbon copy of Tropper’s style I’d probably be bitching a huge fit. This was a solid 4 Star read for me. Obviously the downward spiral to misery is my recent cup of tea . . .
and James Bailey is definitely an author who can turn a phrase . . .
“I fan the opening with my hand to encourage the death-infused particles to disperse into the surrounding air. Many of them cling still to the faux sheepskin covers like dew, infiltrating my pants and sweatshirt almost immediately upon contact as I sink into the bucket seat.”
I also liked the fact that there was some ambiguity remaining at the end of the novel. I mean, really, on what planet does a death by suicide ever provide the survivors with the answers they need?
My only real complaints about this story were the characters. In This Is Where I Leave You (as in all of Tropper’s books), we are presented a loveable loser who you just can’t help but root for. In Sorry we don’t get this . . .
Instead we get this . . .
and while there was plenty of this . . .
there wasn’t quite enough of this to balance it out . . .
Still – an excellent read that I would recommend.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Nah, keep it up ‘cause I’M that kind of weirdo too!
Full disclosure time. I requested Sorry I Wasn’t What You Needed for one reason and one reason alone . . .
Yep. It sounded like a knock-off version of This Is Where I Leave You and since Tropper hasn’t offered me up any of his tasty little creations in quite some time I am willing to accept all substitutions. And this one wasn’t bad at all . . . it was just different. Which it should be, right? I mean, if it was a carbon copy of Tropper’s style I’d probably be bitching a huge fit. This was a solid 4 Star read for me. Obviously the downward spiral to misery is my recent cup of tea . . .
and James Bailey is definitely an author who can turn a phrase . . .
“I fan the opening with my hand to encourage the death-infused particles to disperse into the surrounding air. Many of them cling still to the faux sheepskin covers like dew, infiltrating my pants and sweatshirt almost immediately upon contact as I sink into the bucket seat.”
I also liked the fact that there was some ambiguity remaining at the end of the novel. I mean, really, on what planet does a death by suicide ever provide the survivors with the answers they need?
My only real complaints about this story were the characters. In This Is Where I Leave You (as in all of Tropper’s books), we are presented a loveable loser who you just can’t help but root for. In Sorry we don’t get this . . .
Instead we get this . . .
and while there was plenty of this . . .
there wasn’t quite enough of this to balance it out . . .
Still – an excellent read that I would recommend.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you, NetGalley!
I just spent an hour going through your reviews. Even if I didn't feel quite the same way about a book I love your review style. We agreed on this one so I linked to your review - http://125pages.com/sorry-i-wasnt-what-you-needed-james-bailey/.
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