Another excellent book by Matt Haig

Slow to start off with, but a good story - not like anything I've read before. Another must read.

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2 people found this helpful

Nothing new here sadly

The narrator is exceptionally good, and whilst this made the novel largely an entertaining listen, it also disguised a great many flaws that had I been reading a printed book, I would not have forgiven.
I loved the gallop through history, the meeting of historical characters, and the musical theme, but I did not love the utterly silly ending on a beach in Tahiti or Australia was it ? Im not sure because I started shouting at the speaker as the story slid ever more sideways into daftness. Its exactly like the author was thinking, how can I be original ? oh I know, a surfing dude from captain cooks ship, thats not been done before, and it did not work.
Neither did the dreadful hour of cod philosophy at the end. I was reaching for the bucket as they droned on about love and meaning, urgh, it was embarrassing.
And what enraged me most of all was the boring, hackneyed ‘and then she got pregnant trope’. after centuries of emotional torture the main character thinks its ok to birth a baby, I don’t think so.
Summary, first third cool, middle section meh, ending forget it.

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2 people found this helpful

Slow in the middle

Starts great, lose interest in the middle but the ending is great! Definitely with the listen.

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fantastic

What a fantastic book, great story and great performance!highly reccomend this book and Matt's other books.

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Brilliant book

Every now and again a book comes along that is original, beautifully written, thought provoking and helps you see life through a different lens. This is one of those. Can’t rate it highly enough. ❤️

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OK

Just a bit too familiar for me. I guess I listen to too many books of this genre, and as such I felt like I'd read it all before.
You may get more from it than I did. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind, but in the end I didn't care what happened to any if the characters.
Workman like narration didn't really add enough to get me excited.

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Fiction but profound

So much of the morality of the story that the lead character evolves works for us Mayflies too. Much to reflect on, especially for those of us with more time behind than ahead.
Painful but inspiring.

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Very enjoyable, light listen

This book has a great story line, and light hearted enough. Fantastically narrated! An easy listen.

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Goodish, then badish, not sure I would bother...

Start was interesting with potential for greatness, but struggled to understand character motivation & decisions and plot weakened from the midpoint into a nonsense end.

*spoiler alert!*


Full of hope I was, interesting concept, but ultimately I have seen / read similar books (albeit usually some time travel / body swapping is usually involved) but was initially intrigued to this story. It’s when the characters began to make completely irrational decisions that began to lose it for me, these guys are hundreds of years old, which you would think would make them wise, yet for most of the book they are struggling with the practicalities of immortality like teenagers/ simpletons, if you were 400 odd years old, then it’s almost inevitable that you would end up with at least some wealth and a decent knowledge of how the world works over many lifetimes (especially as he spent most of his life travelling the world), yet the main character spends 350 years getting over someone he loved in the 1500’s for 20 years.. I mean wtf! Don’t get it, he then spends half his life being manipulated by someone else... and obeying them for hundreds of years, for no apparent reason, then this super powerful boss guy, who has been putting fear into him about how far his reach is across the world should he disobey, turns up personally (and conveniently) at the end to do the dirty job himself... just so he can get killed... where’s his “network”? Just huge plot holes.. I dont get it.. I barely managed to listen to the end, deserves a refund as I never want to go through this again...

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Very enjoyable

Generally excellent. I found the writing a bit pitchy and in places preachy, but at its best it is excellent. And a very fine yarn.

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