Tuesday 20 October 2015

Book Review: Us by David Nicholls

UsUs by David Nicholls
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

David Nicholls is brilliant at creating living and breathing characters.
The story of Us follows Doug, a scientist with a quirky sense of humour; his wife, Connie, the artiste; and their son Albie, a grumpy and surly teenager.
One day in their twenty year relationship, Connie wakes up and out of the blue asks Doug for a divorce. They decide as a family to continue with their summer trip around Europe.
Nicholls describes Paris and Amsterdam with poetic detail. It's a great advertisement for inter-railing and makes me want to pack my bag and jet off for a city break.
Doug is the perfect protagonist. He's got a 'dad' sense of humour and completely adores Connie.
Connie, unfortunately, was a character I could not warm too. I'm not sure if Nicholls intended for the reader to like her, but she came across as pretentious and 'above' Doug.
Albie, is the character who develops most over the course of the novel. He transforms from the introverted teen to realising he has responsibility.
The events that unfold in the story left me angry, in love and moved. But I was always on Doug's side. Connie's decisions seemed selfish and ungrateful. She always took Albie's side even when his behaviour was unreasonable.
I've never been more emotionally invested in a book, particularly the anger I felt at Connie and the way she treated Doug. But it was a compelling read and I felt like the characters could walk out the book. I'll definitely read more David Nicholls in the future!!

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