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| ★★★★ |
In recent months I had heard a lot of good things about this book. It had appeared in a lot of my favourite BookTuber's hauls and also seemed to be sticking in the top seller list. So when I saw it in Sainsbury's during my weekly grocery shop for £3.99 I could hardly walk past it.
It's always a concern, that with a book like this, that has been doing the BookTube rounds and hanging around in the best seller list, that maybe it's a case of over-hype. However, in this case it definitely wasn't over hype. 'Our Endless Numbered Day's is a beautifully written, enchanting book that is hard to put down and hard to believe it's over - not because there are unanswered questions but because you don't want it to be over.
We first meet our main character, Penny, 1985 when she has returned to London from Die Huitte where she has been living with her father for 9 years. However, the story really starts in 1976 when her father takes her away from her comfortable home in London out to the middle of no where, Europe, to live in Die Huitte, where he tells her that the rest of the world, including her beloved mother Ute, is dead.
The story goes back and forth between Penny's time Die Huitte with her father and returning to London with her Mother. The twist and excitement isn't in the fact that she does indeed return home, of course because this would mean the excitement is over, but in how and why she gets to return home and her learning to deal with the fact that her father is a liar and why he decided to take her away.
Claire Fuller's writing is beautiful. It's so descriptive that everything is so vivid and easy to picture. The forest and the mountains and Die Huitte are all described within an inch of their life, which, if you don't like pages and pages of description, you won't like. It may sound boring but Fuller's writing makes it engaging and easy to read and not once did I feel like I was going to nod off.
Her characters are also beautifully written and described. Each is it's own and they are well rounded and I had very few questions about each character and what their role was within the story and what they added. The twists and the plot go in an unexpected direction towards the end and suddenly everything you've read before you realise has added up to this and suddenly you realise all the way through Fuller has been dropping little hints without shoving it in your face.
The slightly annoying part is the big reveal of the major plot twist, two pages before the end. It's very soap-opera esque and takes away a bit from all the beautiful, well crafted prose that went before it. Obviously the book is still wonderful and one little flaw is not going to make it an awful book but it is something that was a little annoying.
This book wouldn't be for everyone. For me I wanted to carry on reading to confirm suspicions and follow Penny's story to the end, it wasn't easy to put it down especially during the last 1/4 of the book. However, for some people the middle section, that is mainly set in the forest and is very heavy on description with little plot movement, would be dull and boring and hard to get through. All though I love this kind of story telling I can see that others wouldn't.
As well as this, although the plot reveal is a shocker it's also unexplored after that. For me the actual reveal was confirmation of what I already suspected, however the implications of that were never explored. Which for me was fine, but for others may be irritating. As well as this some may find the plot twist, as well as other themes and points of narrative disturbing, which may put some off the book.
Overall, for me the book was brilliantly crafted and a great read to kick of my reading year.
Have you read 'Our Endless Numbered Days' what did you think? If you haven't read it go pick it up and let me know what you think.
Until next time,
