Our Life in a Day by Jamie Fewery

Our Life in a Day by Jamie Fewery
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 304

Publisher - Orion

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Our Life in a Day is a breathtaking, ten-year love story told in twenty-four individual hours - for fans of One Day by David Nicholls, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and The Note by Zoe Folbigg.

The rules are simple. Choose the most significant moments from your relationship - one for each hour in the day.
You'd probably pick when you first met, right?
And the instant you knew for sure it was love?
Maybe even the time you watched the sunrise after your first night together?

But what about the car journey on the holiday where everything started to go wrong?
Or your first proper fight?

Or that time you lied about where you'd been?

It's a once in a lifetime chance to learn the truth. But if you had to be completely honest with the one you love, would you still play?

For Esme and Tom, the game is about to begin. And once they start, there's no going back . . .


My Review

This one has sat on the review pile for a wee bit and I am glad I didn't leave it longer than I already had. I think because folk had been saying it was like "One Day" by David Nicholls (I wasn't a fan) I wasn't rushing to read it. Guys it is so far from "One Day" I really disliked that book but I thought this was really well done and doesn't read like a debut at all. Esme and Tom have been together for 10 years and to celebrate Esme has created a game in which Tom has to put together memories of their time. One story from a specific hour of any given day in their time together to make up 24 hours, each marked that hourly time. It can't all be good, it must be real, relevant to the hour time stamp and real to their relationship. The result is honest, brutal, emotive and allows the reader to delve into Esme and Tom's relationship warts and all.

It is pretty unique the way the author has created this. Timeline jumps can be difficult to pull off let alone jumping months/hours on the clock. There isn't a part of the story you get lost, the timeline is marked clearly at the start of the chapters. We meet at their anniversary and with Tom constructing the game we travel back and forth, to their meeting and the start of their relationship. They carve out ground rules very quickly and set the tone for their unique relationship. We know early on that Tom isn't telling everything to Esme and something has happened to him recently. As the book goes on and more hints are dropped by his family we get a bit more insight into who Tom is, what he has survived and his daily battle and how it affects him.

Male mental health is at the heart of this story, meshed in with his relationship with Esme, warts and all. They are chalk and cheese and Tom has pinned a lot of his hope for going forward on Esme, unknown to her as he tries to battle his illness, inner demons, protect her and keep the battle a secret from her. We see his inner turmoil and get a glimpse of what it is like for someone living with this and trying every day to stay on top.

If you have ever had depression or loved someone with it I think this book will pack a very emotive punch. If it is something you have never encountered it gives you an intimate look and bit of insight into what a battle like that is like and a small idea of why they do what they do. The way the book has been written is pretty smart, engaging and snapshots in and out of a ten year period. Like an onion it reveals another layer as you delve in and perhaps bringing a tear as you go. I think this book will evoke different emotions from readers depending on your life experiences but I challenge anyone to read it and not feel anything. 4.5/5 for me, I very much look forward to seeing what will come next from this author and will be keeping an eye out for their next offering!

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Drift Stumble Fall by M. Jonathan Lee

Drift Stumble Fall by M. Jonathan Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - on and off over 2 days

Pages - 310

Publisher - Hideaway Fall

Source - Review copy

Blurb from back cover

Richard Brown has had enough of his life of commitment, resentment, routine and responsibility. Staring out of his window, he enviously observes the tranquil life of Bill, the neighbour living in the bungalow across the road. From his lounge, Bill keenly watches as Richard's young family grows. Yet underneath the apparent domestic bliss both lives are lies, secrets, imperfections, sadness and suffering far greater than either could have imagined. As the two men watch each other from afar, it soon becomes apparent that other people's lives are never what they seem.

My Review

Richard is a married father of two young children, he feels trapped, anxious and needs to get out for self preservation. The mundane life, the screaming children, the coldness of his wife, the irritation of his in laws, Richard cannot take anymore. When he looks out the window and sees his elder neighbour, calm, quiet, perfect he can't help but wish he could swap, even if it meant losing many years of his existence. Richard has to get out, he needs to escape, for himself and for his families happiness, the more he watches his neighbour the more he needs to cement his plan to be free.

Lee is an author who is a campaigner for mental health, from the books of his I have read this is very clear in the stories and his writing. Whilst Richard is the main focus of the story, we see signs of other glimpses of mental health in the other characters. His wife I felt had a huge struggle going on, in the glimpses we get of her and her interactions I think she is also suffering deeply and I think this is very clever writing by the author. We often get so self involved and wrapped up in our own lives, struggles, personal issues, Richard is so wrapped in his own journey and issues his wife is just background noise.

I think mental health is something we need more focus on and doing it in the form of fiction is a fantastic idea. We get to see inside a seemingly happy family life, we see that through Bill's eyes, the neighbour across the way that Richard covet's "happy" home. We see how Richard struggles daily and the lengths he will go to to avoid time with his family. I really wasn't a fan of Richard for a lot of the book, his plan on what he was going to do was despicable. However when you get into the story and understand his suffering, his journey it gives you a different insight.

An important show of how the grass isn't always greener on the other side, something many of us are guilty of yearning for. How mental health can affect us differently and completely control our lives, outlooks, actions. It provokes thought and challenges judgements the reader can't help but make when initially meeting Richard and by the end giving a completely different view point. 3.5 out of 5 for me this time, I have a fair few books by this author on my tbrm I need to bump them up the list.

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