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True Love
‘Empathetic, honest, compelling. I’ll read anything Paddy Crewe writes.’ Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry
‘True Love had me from its gorgeous, lyrical opening to its transcendent final pages. Paddy Crewe is an exceptionally gifted writer.’ Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses
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What does it mean to love and be loved?
It is the 1980s and Finn and Keely are growing up in the North East of England.
Keely is a fighter. Even in the face of loss she strives to seek connection, but finds that she’s not always searching in the right places.
Finn is quiet, sensitive, distant. He spends much of his time alone, yet deep down he wants to discover the thrill of relating to others.
When the two finally meet, everything is changed. Love – with all of its attendant joys and costs – is thrust upon them, and each must decide if they will bend or break under its pressure. True Love is a story of the trials of youth, the bonds of family and friendship, and of how much we are willing to risk to have ourselves be seen.
‘True Love had me from its gorgeous, lyrical opening to its transcendent final pages. Paddy Crewe is an exceptionally gifted writer.’ Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses
--------
What does it mean to love and be loved?
It is the 1980s and Finn and Keely are growing up in the North East of England.
Keely is a fighter. Even in the face of loss she strives to seek connection, but finds that she’s not always searching in the right places.
Finn is quiet, sensitive, distant. He spends much of his time alone, yet deep down he wants to discover the thrill of relating to others.
When the two finally meet, everything is changed. Love – with all of its attendant joys and costs – is thrust upon them, and each must decide if they will bend or break under its pressure. True Love is a story of the trials of youth, the bonds of family and friendship, and of how much we are willing to risk to have ourselves be seen.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published July 4, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 26, 2024
4-5 stars
We first meet Keeley, also known as Keg, when she’s twelve, she’s blonde and skinny, her ma is dead, there’s just her and da and her much younger brother, Welty (William) who is small and somewhat feral. They live in a camp by the sea in Ireland, where her da is a sea coaler and they’re joined by many who used to work in the mines. Coal is all they know, the women are the backbone of the group.
We first meet Finn at a similar age to Kelley, he grows up with his maternal grandparents, his ma never spoken of. He’s shy, extremely quiet, has few friends but plenty of issues, he’s lonely but it’s hard for him to articulate it. They grow, with no knowledge of each other, two lost souls in pain, full of heartache and desperately seeking solace. Will they find it in each other?
This character driven novel is sad and profoundly moving in places and is beautifully written. There’s no dialogue as such but there are internal monologues through which you grow in understanding of this complex pair. They do make things hard for themselves, they’re outsiders in so many ways and their experiences have made closeness hard. Keeley has suffered blow after blow which affects her adversely and deeply. Both have encountered loss and therefore the tone is a melancholy one. You pray for the leaden skies to lift and hope for the warmth of sunshine which they both richly deserve. The storyline follows them through their highs and lows and I find myself becoming increasingly deeply immersed in their lives. It builds well, the ending is good and you dare to be optimistic.
Overall, a stunning, emotional and touching read and though it’s not the most joyful of reads, it’s a very rewarding reading experience. It’s obvious that Paddy Crewe is an extremely talented writer who has mastered the art of the understated.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
We first meet Keeley, also known as Keg, when she’s twelve, she’s blonde and skinny, her ma is dead, there’s just her and da and her much younger brother, Welty (William) who is small and somewhat feral. They live in a camp by the sea in Ireland, where her da is a sea coaler and they’re joined by many who used to work in the mines. Coal is all they know, the women are the backbone of the group.
We first meet Finn at a similar age to Kelley, he grows up with his maternal grandparents, his ma never spoken of. He’s shy, extremely quiet, has few friends but plenty of issues, he’s lonely but it’s hard for him to articulate it. They grow, with no knowledge of each other, two lost souls in pain, full of heartache and desperately seeking solace. Will they find it in each other?
This character driven novel is sad and profoundly moving in places and is beautifully written. There’s no dialogue as such but there are internal monologues through which you grow in understanding of this complex pair. They do make things hard for themselves, they’re outsiders in so many ways and their experiences have made closeness hard. Keeley has suffered blow after blow which affects her adversely and deeply. Both have encountered loss and therefore the tone is a melancholy one. You pray for the leaden skies to lift and hope for the warmth of sunshine which they both richly deserve. The storyline follows them through their highs and lows and I find myself becoming increasingly deeply immersed in their lives. It builds well, the ending is good and you dare to be optimistic.
Overall, a stunning, emotional and touching read and though it’s not the most joyful of reads, it’s a very rewarding reading experience. It’s obvious that Paddy Crewe is an extremely talented writer who has mastered the art of the understated.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
June 26, 2024
I read a book a little while ago that had the same type of storyline as this - boy and girl both let down by parents and generally battered by life meet and fall for each other. This book, however, is everything that one was not.
The writing is beautiful. The descriptions of both Keely and Finn's lives are heartbreaking but uplifting. Two people who have no earthly reason to trust their feelings with another human being fall deeply in love.
This book is not without heartache and when it comes it is visceral. I felt every moment with them. Paddy Crewe has managed to take something so delicate and turn it into something powerful.
I loved this book. I loved reading it. I didn't want to rush a moment of it and advise taking your time reading it. It is worth savouring.
Highly recommended.
Thankyou very much to Netgalley and Random House for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.
The writing is beautiful. The descriptions of both Keely and Finn's lives are heartbreaking but uplifting. Two people who have no earthly reason to trust their feelings with another human being fall deeply in love.
This book is not without heartache and when it comes it is visceral. I felt every moment with them. Paddy Crewe has managed to take something so delicate and turn it into something powerful.
I loved this book. I loved reading it. I didn't want to rush a moment of it and advise taking your time reading it. It is worth savouring.
Highly recommended.
Thankyou very much to Netgalley and Random House for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.
July 6, 2024
beautifully haunting and emotional
August 3, 2024
3.5 ⭐
In the minority with my rating for Paddy Crewe's True Love, a coming of age story about the power of love.
Slow paced.
Character driven novel which centres around Keely and Finn.
Didn't totally dislike this, however I wasn't racing to pick it back up.
Reminiscent of Sally Rooney's work which admittedly I'm not a fan of.
Has great ratings on goodreads so I would urge you to give this a go 💕
In the minority with my rating for Paddy Crewe's True Love, a coming of age story about the power of love.
Slow paced.
Character driven novel which centres around Keely and Finn.
Didn't totally dislike this, however I wasn't racing to pick it back up.
Reminiscent of Sally Rooney's work which admittedly I'm not a fan of.
Has great ratings on goodreads so I would urge you to give this a go 💕
Read
August 8, 2024My chest hurts
August 29, 2024
Tender, heartbreaking, sincere — a really great literary love story for fans of Douglas Stuart’s “Shuggie Bain” and Louise Kennedy’s “Tresspasses”, following two very flawed, very lonely, very sensitive young people in working class northern England, and the intense connection they form as young adults.
I completely fell in love with Keely and Finn. They each have their own section (“Sea Coaler” and “Spurdog”) following their difficult childhoods, each of which could almost be read as separate (excellent) novellas. They finally come together in the third section (“Snow”), which follows their relationship over a number of years, through their meeting and whirlwind romance, to pregnancy and childbirth, infidelity, separation, and perhaps by the end, an opportunity to come back together.
I have to admit that I thought the two first sections were a lot stronger than the final third. Crewe really takes his time building the interior of his characters and their social circumstances, both of which are heatbreaking. In the first chapter, Keely (only a child herself) loses her younger brother, Welty, when he drowns in the sea close to the trailer camp they live in with their father. Following this loss, and the loss of their mother a few years previously, Keely’s da retreats into himself, away from Keely, and she must increasingly fend for herself; until, ultimately, he abandons her completely. To deal with her grief and abandonment, Keely starts drinking, and soon comes to rely on this oblivion. This section was the hardest to read, but also my favourite; Keely is so sympathetically rendered, the descriptions of her native sea coal mining community are both beautiful and nostalgic, and I kept hoping to see her succeed when all her circumstances were pointing towards failure. (This part reminded me a lot of Agnes’ journey through alcoholism in “Shuggie Bain”.)
The second section, “Spurdog”, which follows the young Finn, is named after a childhood nickname he received after a fateful fishing trip with his bullying classmates (a Spurdog is a small shark with wide-set eyes, for those who don’t know — I didn’t!). Finn’s loneliness, isolation, fear of speaking to others, and sense of his own strangeness is absolutely heartbreaking to read, and I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a male character with so much sensitivity and self-reflection, illuminating the way he perceives his reality, and why he is so crippling shy. As he grows older, he manages to break free of his isolation by joining a band with the charismatic and domineering Evan, who insists they name themselves after his childhood nickname; one of the many cases in which Evan bullies him into doing things his way.
The final section, “Snow”, when they come together, initially offers some much-needed relief: their connection is palpable, redemptive, pure, and such a positive force in their lives. But they’re also young, and naive, and struggling under the weight of their circumstances, and eventually their hardships creep back in. A lot happens in this section, as it takes place over a number of years, covering their initial coupling, Keely falling pregnant, Finn being unfaithful to her, the birth of their daughter, their separation, and Finn’s journey back to them. As a result, it doesn’t have the same intense focus and inferiority that I enjoyed so much in the first two sections, and parts of the (really quite meaty) plot were skimmed over.
I did, however, really enjoy the ending, where I felt that Crewe returned to his forensic focus and really breathless pacing. No spoilers here, but if you feel like me that the book is dragging, definitely persevere to the end — it’s worth it.
Overall, a really beautiful book with some flaws, but ones I was more than willing to overlook due to the strength and beauty of the writing.
I completely fell in love with Keely and Finn. They each have their own section (“Sea Coaler” and “Spurdog”) following their difficult childhoods, each of which could almost be read as separate (excellent) novellas. They finally come together in the third section (“Snow”), which follows their relationship over a number of years, through their meeting and whirlwind romance, to pregnancy and childbirth, infidelity, separation, and perhaps by the end, an opportunity to come back together.
I have to admit that I thought the two first sections were a lot stronger than the final third. Crewe really takes his time building the interior of his characters and their social circumstances, both of which are heatbreaking. In the first chapter, Keely (only a child herself) loses her younger brother, Welty, when he drowns in the sea close to the trailer camp they live in with their father. Following this loss, and the loss of their mother a few years previously, Keely’s da retreats into himself, away from Keely, and she must increasingly fend for herself; until, ultimately, he abandons her completely. To deal with her grief and abandonment, Keely starts drinking, and soon comes to rely on this oblivion. This section was the hardest to read, but also my favourite; Keely is so sympathetically rendered, the descriptions of her native sea coal mining community are both beautiful and nostalgic, and I kept hoping to see her succeed when all her circumstances were pointing towards failure. (This part reminded me a lot of Agnes’ journey through alcoholism in “Shuggie Bain”.)
The second section, “Spurdog”, which follows the young Finn, is named after a childhood nickname he received after a fateful fishing trip with his bullying classmates (a Spurdog is a small shark with wide-set eyes, for those who don’t know — I didn’t!). Finn’s loneliness, isolation, fear of speaking to others, and sense of his own strangeness is absolutely heartbreaking to read, and I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a male character with so much sensitivity and self-reflection, illuminating the way he perceives his reality, and why he is so crippling shy. As he grows older, he manages to break free of his isolation by joining a band with the charismatic and domineering Evan, who insists they name themselves after his childhood nickname; one of the many cases in which Evan bullies him into doing things his way.
The final section, “Snow”, when they come together, initially offers some much-needed relief: their connection is palpable, redemptive, pure, and such a positive force in their lives. But they’re also young, and naive, and struggling under the weight of their circumstances, and eventually their hardships creep back in. A lot happens in this section, as it takes place over a number of years, covering their initial coupling, Keely falling pregnant, Finn being unfaithful to her, the birth of their daughter, their separation, and Finn’s journey back to them. As a result, it doesn’t have the same intense focus and inferiority that I enjoyed so much in the first two sections, and parts of the (really quite meaty) plot were skimmed over.
I did, however, really enjoy the ending, where I felt that Crewe returned to his forensic focus and really breathless pacing. No spoilers here, but if you feel like me that the book is dragging, definitely persevere to the end — it’s worth it.
Overall, a really beautiful book with some flaws, but ones I was more than willing to overlook due to the strength and beauty of the writing.
February 24, 2024
Paddy Crewe's second novel, after the very well received My Name is Yip (which was shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize), is a novel which is tonally and totally different to his debut that I had to check it was the same writer.
Keeley and Finn are two lost souls who come together, their broken and bust-up lives providing the backdrop to a very low-key melancholic love story. This was beautifully written, a tale of small towns and small lives excavated with nuance and heart. It reminded me very much of Donal Ryan at times.
I read this in one sitting, drawn into these lives, and was left hopeful but bereft by its end. With two very different novels under his belt, I am very keen to see where Paddy Crewe goes next, for his is a very fine novelist and this a very fine work.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
Keeley and Finn are two lost souls who come together, their broken and bust-up lives providing the backdrop to a very low-key melancholic love story. This was beautifully written, a tale of small towns and small lives excavated with nuance and heart. It reminded me very much of Donal Ryan at times.
I read this in one sitting, drawn into these lives, and was left hopeful but bereft by its end. With two very different novels under his belt, I am very keen to see where Paddy Crewe goes next, for his is a very fine novelist and this a very fine work.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
July 29, 2024
WOW! What an astonishing read with a tremendous ending
July 16, 2024
True Love by Paddy Crewe has catapulted itself right in to my list of favourite books ever. This is a story that I went in to almost blind, having read the blurb, but not really knowing what to expect.
It is astonishing. It feels like the perfect book. A story about true love in all of its many forms; a story of two individual, very different people who do not even meet until towards the end of the book but we, the reader, know that their relationship is inevitable.
Paddy Crewe is an extraordinary writer. His beautiful prose totally captivated me throughout the novel. He writes about ordinary people who lead lives that are filled with pain, he gets to the heart of what true love is. Love can be damaging, toxic, beautiful, exciting. It can be brutal and heartbreaking. The love for family members differs from the love we feel for members of our immediate community, and romantic love is absolutely another experience.
Told from the point of view of two lead characters; Keely and Fin. Their stories are told separately, each one given their own part of the book. Keely is a young girl who lives in a caravan on a site by the sea, her father is a sea coaler, her mother is dead. Keely has a younger brother, Welty, she cares for him. Their father does care, but he too is broken and struggles to express his feelings. When the tragedy that will shape Keely's life forever happens, her life changes. She leaves school, she starts to gather sea coal, she becomes more insular, thinner, her spark goes out.
She does discover books, and Crewe's explanation of just what reading means to Keely really touched me, I felt it so much, it could have been written just for me;
"She can't imagine her life without books and she thanks Miss Collins every day for dropping that first bag off outside the caravan. She doesn't know how else she would fill her time, or what could possibly feel as satisfying. She is filled up by words. Whatever pain she suffers in her own life, the characters she reads about set to replenishing her, all of which has led her to treat books with a reverence that she affords nothing else. They are sacred to her, and though in her care they all wind up dog-eared, with pages folded down and spines cracked, she would mourn one if it was ever lost or damaged beyond use."
Keeley finds herself living alone. She has no contact with her dad and begins to find solace in the local pubs and the bottom of a glass.
Finn has lived with his grandparents for his whole life. His parents are never mentioned, he knows nothing of them, of where they are, why they left him. He is loved, but finds it very difficult to express his own love. Speaking very few words, he suffers the anguish of being bullied by his peers. Until the day that he finds music and suddenly his voice is being heard.
It is a given that these two damaged yet incredibly intelligent people will meet and discover their own form of true love. It is an intense relationship, both of them wary, yet at the same time, exposing everything about themselves and it feels as though this frenzy of a relationship will always continue.
But True Love is painful and they both cause pain and feel pain. Pain that hurts so much that they can not get over it and once more, they become individuals, having to find their own paths, deal with their own lives. They have to survive.
I didn't read Paddy Crewe's first novel; My Name Is Yip, which won so many awards, but I am most certainly going to change that now. This author has created two characters that became part of my existence whilst I was reading about them. I cared about them so much, I felt their pain, I shared in their joys, I almost mourned them when I turned the final page. This is utterly remarkable and highly recommended by me.
It is astonishing. It feels like the perfect book. A story about true love in all of its many forms; a story of two individual, very different people who do not even meet until towards the end of the book but we, the reader, know that their relationship is inevitable.
Paddy Crewe is an extraordinary writer. His beautiful prose totally captivated me throughout the novel. He writes about ordinary people who lead lives that are filled with pain, he gets to the heart of what true love is. Love can be damaging, toxic, beautiful, exciting. It can be brutal and heartbreaking. The love for family members differs from the love we feel for members of our immediate community, and romantic love is absolutely another experience.
Told from the point of view of two lead characters; Keely and Fin. Their stories are told separately, each one given their own part of the book. Keely is a young girl who lives in a caravan on a site by the sea, her father is a sea coaler, her mother is dead. Keely has a younger brother, Welty, she cares for him. Their father does care, but he too is broken and struggles to express his feelings. When the tragedy that will shape Keely's life forever happens, her life changes. She leaves school, she starts to gather sea coal, she becomes more insular, thinner, her spark goes out.
She does discover books, and Crewe's explanation of just what reading means to Keely really touched me, I felt it so much, it could have been written just for me;
"She can't imagine her life without books and she thanks Miss Collins every day for dropping that first bag off outside the caravan. She doesn't know how else she would fill her time, or what could possibly feel as satisfying. She is filled up by words. Whatever pain she suffers in her own life, the characters she reads about set to replenishing her, all of which has led her to treat books with a reverence that she affords nothing else. They are sacred to her, and though in her care they all wind up dog-eared, with pages folded down and spines cracked, she would mourn one if it was ever lost or damaged beyond use."
Keeley finds herself living alone. She has no contact with her dad and begins to find solace in the local pubs and the bottom of a glass.
Finn has lived with his grandparents for his whole life. His parents are never mentioned, he knows nothing of them, of where they are, why they left him. He is loved, but finds it very difficult to express his own love. Speaking very few words, he suffers the anguish of being bullied by his peers. Until the day that he finds music and suddenly his voice is being heard.
It is a given that these two damaged yet incredibly intelligent people will meet and discover their own form of true love. It is an intense relationship, both of them wary, yet at the same time, exposing everything about themselves and it feels as though this frenzy of a relationship will always continue.
But True Love is painful and they both cause pain and feel pain. Pain that hurts so much that they can not get over it and once more, they become individuals, having to find their own paths, deal with their own lives. They have to survive.
I didn't read Paddy Crewe's first novel; My Name Is Yip, which won so many awards, but I am most certainly going to change that now. This author has created two characters that became part of my existence whilst I was reading about them. I cared about them so much, I felt their pain, I shared in their joys, I almost mourned them when I turned the final page. This is utterly remarkable and highly recommended by me.
July 12, 2024
Sometimes the title of a book sets up a particularly strong expectation of the story. I was immediately drawn to the word ‘true’; a qualifier of love amongst all the many types of ‘love’ and I read with a conviction that this would be a story about a relationship. I peeped round pages waiting for the love affair..
In the life of her childhood, Keely was ‘Kegs.’ She was a sister and a daughter; now she holds those titles in name only. Every member of her family is long gone, though only her Father left her voluntarily. The story of her childhood has dominated her life; left its mark in a brittleness, a love of alcohol and a distrust of human relationships. Finn lost the story of his childhood when his parents left him to be brought up with his grandparents. He has no mememtos, no photographs and no links to who he was. Instead he collects bits and pieces from the river, in a box which he hides under his bed. And the day he meets Keely he has collected something else. Like the Cinderella story, he has found a shoe.
This was an unusual and mesmerising read. Given the title I had imagined a relationship earlier in the story. However, the lyrical prose sets up a narrative which explores the mental and physical landscape of both characters separately. It also looks at the presence or absence of other kinds of love in their lives: the relationship between Finn and his Grandparents and that between Keely and her Dad. The novel has reached halfway point before a meeting occurs. By this stage I felt I knew both Keely and Finn intimately. I was aware of their scars; the tragedy Keely had already endured; the bullying that had led to Finn’s retreat socially. It felt like everything had led to this meeting. Was it possible that this could be True Love?
This is very much a character driven novel and the strength of the writing is in its depiction of the thoughts and feelings of the two central characters and the domesticity of their immediate environment. The early chapters of Keely’s childhood were particularly devastating and powerful and the beach scenes so beautifully described.
July 8, 2024
In True Love, by Paddy Crewe, we follow two alienated young people, Keely and Finn, through adolescence and early adulthood.
Keely’s life has been shaped by loss: her mother and younger brother both died before she was a teenager and, after uprooting Keely from the tight-knit camp where she grew up, her father deserted her when she still needed him. She works in a shop and finds solace in drink and books.
Finn never knew his parents, as his mother left him to be raised by his nan and grandad. Although he’s well-treated, the cross-generational relationship is not one of easy intimacy, and Finn elects to fly under the radar at home and school as much as he can. He likes to dig for treasure by himself in the nearby river bed.
Finn eventually finds an emotional outlet as a singer in a fledgling rock band, but he doesn’t enjoy life on the road, and gives it up to work in a butcher’s shop when he meets Keely and the pair enter into an intense romantic relationship.
True Love is one of those books where much of the action is everyday and unspectacular, but it’s written in such a beautiful, profound way that you can’t help but get pulled in and really care about the unshowy characters (think: The Stone Diaries, by Carol Shields).
The level of detail the author goes into about Keely and Finn’s inner lives, and the places and people around them, made it very easy for me to create – and luxuriate in – images in my head. It also conveys the message that these ordinary-seeming characters are nonetheless highly interesting, and absolutely worth examining.
Crewe compounds this by refusing to judge, or write off, either character. While Keely can no longer face going to school after losing her brother, and Finn can’t find the will to make the effort with his exams and doesn’t have any particular ambitions, these are presented as understandable positions, and not the end of the world.
With their rich interiority, competence at the work they do alongside/after leaving school, and intellectual interests they cultivate outside of the classroom (literature for Keely; songwriting and archaeology for Finn), the two of them are demonstrably far from stupid. It’s just that school isn’t the right environment for them at the age they’re expected to go there.
That’s not to say they never do anything stupid – both Keely and Finn had me wanting to howl “noooooo!” at them at different points – but these are treated as very human aberrations that they can, at least to some extent, come back from with time and grace.
While I loved and wanted the best for both characters, I could particularly relate to Finn. Like him, I found invisibility and living predominantly in my own head to be the best strategy for surviving school – and struggled to cope when I inadvertently attracted attention and people made A Thing of it.
Also in common with Finn, I went on to discover writing and performing for an audience (spoken word, in my case) to be a safe way to express my emotions on my own terms. It was really validating to see so many of my experiences reflected on the page.
True Love is a moving, compassionately-written novel that renders the ordinary extraordinary.
Keely’s life has been shaped by loss: her mother and younger brother both died before she was a teenager and, after uprooting Keely from the tight-knit camp where she grew up, her father deserted her when she still needed him. She works in a shop and finds solace in drink and books.
Finn never knew his parents, as his mother left him to be raised by his nan and grandad. Although he’s well-treated, the cross-generational relationship is not one of easy intimacy, and Finn elects to fly under the radar at home and school as much as he can. He likes to dig for treasure by himself in the nearby river bed.
Finn eventually finds an emotional outlet as a singer in a fledgling rock band, but he doesn’t enjoy life on the road, and gives it up to work in a butcher’s shop when he meets Keely and the pair enter into an intense romantic relationship.
True Love is one of those books where much of the action is everyday and unspectacular, but it’s written in such a beautiful, profound way that you can’t help but get pulled in and really care about the unshowy characters (think: The Stone Diaries, by Carol Shields).
The level of detail the author goes into about Keely and Finn’s inner lives, and the places and people around them, made it very easy for me to create – and luxuriate in – images in my head. It also conveys the message that these ordinary-seeming characters are nonetheless highly interesting, and absolutely worth examining.
Crewe compounds this by refusing to judge, or write off, either character. While Keely can no longer face going to school after losing her brother, and Finn can’t find the will to make the effort with his exams and doesn’t have any particular ambitions, these are presented as understandable positions, and not the end of the world.
With their rich interiority, competence at the work they do alongside/after leaving school, and intellectual interests they cultivate outside of the classroom (literature for Keely; songwriting and archaeology for Finn), the two of them are demonstrably far from stupid. It’s just that school isn’t the right environment for them at the age they’re expected to go there.
That’s not to say they never do anything stupid – both Keely and Finn had me wanting to howl “noooooo!” at them at different points – but these are treated as very human aberrations that they can, at least to some extent, come back from with time and grace.
While I loved and wanted the best for both characters, I could particularly relate to Finn. Like him, I found invisibility and living predominantly in my own head to be the best strategy for surviving school – and struggled to cope when I inadvertently attracted attention and people made A Thing of it.
Also in common with Finn, I went on to discover writing and performing for an audience (spoken word, in my case) to be a safe way to express my emotions on my own terms. It was really validating to see so many of my experiences reflected on the page.
True Love is a moving, compassionately-written novel that renders the ordinary extraordinary.
July 9, 2024
I’m on the blog tour for this heart-wrenchingly beautiful book, and my god this has been such a raw yet stunning read - I’ve been drawn to keep picking this back up and savour more of the lives of Keeley and Finn ❤️
The first third of the book gave us Keeleys story: set against a harsh, rugged landscape, Keeley grew up living in grief with her father who was battling with himself and therefore wasn’t ever as present for her as a parent should be, leaving Keeley to navigate resolutely through a tough adolescence into an uncertain young adulthood.
The second third of this book introduces us to Finn: his parents left him with his maternal grandparents when he was young, he never saw them again and his childhood was one he chose to shape quite solitary - he didn’t need a group of friends, he needed his time to adventure alone and absorb himself in his own wonderment, which just wasn’t understood by his grandparents and peers alike - but he found friendship in his late teens and joined a band.
Which led him in the last third to cross paths with Keeley…..
I’ll leave you with this quote that I loved from the book:
“He’s chosen to give himself to her, and she feels it important that she acknowledge that responsibility, not of making him happy, or of catering to his every need, but of trying to understand him as best she can, of learning the way he receives the world and participates in it”
Easily a 5 star read, occasionally bleak but without a doubt one of the most compelling books I’ve read this year, it’s a beautifully written story of two outsiders dealing with personal pain brought on by life’s challenges. As a reader you can’t help but connect deeply to them and in the end all you want is to feel optimistic that the future might treat them better…..
A huge thanks to @doubledayukbooks and @randomthingstours for the gifted copy of this book in order to read and review for the blog tour
The first third of the book gave us Keeleys story: set against a harsh, rugged landscape, Keeley grew up living in grief with her father who was battling with himself and therefore wasn’t ever as present for her as a parent should be, leaving Keeley to navigate resolutely through a tough adolescence into an uncertain young adulthood.
The second third of this book introduces us to Finn: his parents left him with his maternal grandparents when he was young, he never saw them again and his childhood was one he chose to shape quite solitary - he didn’t need a group of friends, he needed his time to adventure alone and absorb himself in his own wonderment, which just wasn’t understood by his grandparents and peers alike - but he found friendship in his late teens and joined a band.
Which led him in the last third to cross paths with Keeley…..
I’ll leave you with this quote that I loved from the book:
“He’s chosen to give himself to her, and she feels it important that she acknowledge that responsibility, not of making him happy, or of catering to his every need, but of trying to understand him as best she can, of learning the way he receives the world and participates in it”
Easily a 5 star read, occasionally bleak but without a doubt one of the most compelling books I’ve read this year, it’s a beautifully written story of two outsiders dealing with personal pain brought on by life’s challenges. As a reader you can’t help but connect deeply to them and in the end all you want is to feel optimistic that the future might treat them better…..
A huge thanks to @doubledayukbooks and @randomthingstours for the gifted copy of this book in order to read and review for the blog tour
July 17, 2024
True Love has to be one of the most emotively raw books I have read since reading Kes by Barry Hines. Keely and Finn’s emotions and characters are explored and discussed in infinite detail in all their raw state for the reader to take and build their personas from.
From the very first instance of seeing the cover photograph I could tell this was going to be a book that would be no holds barred at describing the lives and feelings of these two individuals who were destined to meet and unravel , and make sense, of what life had given them without destroying what could be.
For me True Love is the type of book that I have been waiting a long time to come across and read with its openness ,and in some ways naivety , of how he displays the characters and the tragedies that life has thrown their way and consequently how they deal with them.
Like I said earlier it reminds me of the style of writing of Barry Hines with Kes and those of you have read this book will possibly feel the same. Characters like Keely and Finn and their families are taken from the working class era I grew up in where life was often about surviving and children were often forced before their time to earn a wage through necessity.
Paddy Crewe draws you into the lives of Keely and Finn through his “telling it as it is approach” and consequently creates what I call a black and white novel with no colour to brighten up the lives of the two strong individuals. Children were brought up, or brought themselves up, in these environments and life was harsh as they learnt how to survive.
This is a book that should find itself on recommended reading lists for schools and colleges as there is a lot to be discussed and thought about from these incredibly well written 309 pages. I have put Paddy Crewe on my watch out for list of up and coming new authors and I hope we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the very near future.
June 4, 2024
‘But there was still a choice to be made, a choice between the living and the dead. The dead don’t need saving, but the living do.’
Keely(Keg) lives with her father and her brother William (Welty) in a camp near the beach in Ireland where they eke out a living as sea coalers. Keely is twelve years old when we meet her, still grieving the death of her mother. And then another tragedy blights her life. Keely’s a fighter: she and her father move away from the camp, and they find other work. But Keely’s father never settles, and soon she finds herself alone. Alcohol provides some solace.
Finn lives with his maternal grandparents. He is isolated and lonely and lacks close friends. While he and others find some escape in music, he does not really belong. And one night, when he and the others were out of town playing a gig, the others leave Finn behind. Abandoned again.
‘Over the years, he’s come to be an expert in recognizing moments that might result in his being humiliated.’
Keely and Finn meet. Can they find true love? Or will their individual self-doubts, flaws and history prevent this? Two flawed individuals, shaped by circumstance and life, struggling to find happiness. Keely feels betrayal and rejection, Finn pays an enormous price for a moment of folly. How will it end?
‘He was here and now he’s not. This is a fact. Her life has been made up by facts and here is another one to add to the pile.’
I was drawn into the lives of both Keely and Finn, hoping that they could find the happiness that they both deserved. Mr Crewe takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster as Keely and Finn’s stories unfold. By the end of the novel, my despair had changed to cautious optimism.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Keely(Keg) lives with her father and her brother William (Welty) in a camp near the beach in Ireland where they eke out a living as sea coalers. Keely is twelve years old when we meet her, still grieving the death of her mother. And then another tragedy blights her life. Keely’s a fighter: she and her father move away from the camp, and they find other work. But Keely’s father never settles, and soon she finds herself alone. Alcohol provides some solace.
Finn lives with his maternal grandparents. He is isolated and lonely and lacks close friends. While he and others find some escape in music, he does not really belong. And one night, when he and the others were out of town playing a gig, the others leave Finn behind. Abandoned again.
‘Over the years, he’s come to be an expert in recognizing moments that might result in his being humiliated.’
Keely and Finn meet. Can they find true love? Or will their individual self-doubts, flaws and history prevent this? Two flawed individuals, shaped by circumstance and life, struggling to find happiness. Keely feels betrayal and rejection, Finn pays an enormous price for a moment of folly. How will it end?
‘He was here and now he’s not. This is a fact. Her life has been made up by facts and here is another one to add to the pile.’
I was drawn into the lives of both Keely and Finn, hoping that they could find the happiness that they both deserved. Mr Crewe takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster as Keely and Finn’s stories unfold. By the end of the novel, my despair had changed to cautious optimism.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
July 7, 2024
Keely has grown up with her Dad and brother at a caravan camp by the coast, collecting coal from the sea and delivering it to locals. When tragedy strikes, Keely’s life is upended. Finn has grown up with his grandparents, never having known his parents. Shy, uncomfortable in his skin and awkward with those around him, he can’t seem to find his place in the world. When Keely and Finn’s paths cross, they are two broken, lonely souls, at odds with the world around them and yearning for connection, affection. They find it in each other, consumed by a love at times beyond their understanding; but is love enough to move on from past trauma, to leave old versions of themselves behind, and to keep them living in the present, looking to their shared future?
This one broke my heart; such beautiful, lyrical writing that balances both a quiet stillness and intensity with an absolute depth of feeling and visceral emotion. Set mostly in 1980s Northern England around the colder months, Crewe deftly and atmospherically conjures the bleakness, the seeping chill, the harshness of the landscape and climate. The first warmth we see is at the peak of Keely and Finn’s love, before dipping back into winter’s chill. Keely’s relationship with her father is beautifully explored; a man who has lived a hard existence and who loves his daughter in his own awkward way but is drowning in grief. Finn’s grandparents try their best for him but a wall remains between them.
This is a novel about grief, loss, abandonment, and the ways we handle them; about trauma and the ways we carry forward; about our pasts that haunt us and come calling, no matter how much we try to push on. It’s about knowing ourselves, who we are; the people and places we have come from. It’s about the unclosable distances between people, the things that hang heavy but remain unspoken. It’s about the need to be understood; to be listened to without interjection, to be stood by silently and solidly. It’s about love in all its unfathomable complexity. Keely and Finn, and their story, will get under your skin, and stay with you long after.
This one broke my heart; such beautiful, lyrical writing that balances both a quiet stillness and intensity with an absolute depth of feeling and visceral emotion. Set mostly in 1980s Northern England around the colder months, Crewe deftly and atmospherically conjures the bleakness, the seeping chill, the harshness of the landscape and climate. The first warmth we see is at the peak of Keely and Finn’s love, before dipping back into winter’s chill. Keely’s relationship with her father is beautifully explored; a man who has lived a hard existence and who loves his daughter in his own awkward way but is drowning in grief. Finn’s grandparents try their best for him but a wall remains between them.
This is a novel about grief, loss, abandonment, and the ways we handle them; about trauma and the ways we carry forward; about our pasts that haunt us and come calling, no matter how much we try to push on. It’s about knowing ourselves, who we are; the people and places we have come from. It’s about the unclosable distances between people, the things that hang heavy but remain unspoken. It’s about the need to be understood; to be listened to without interjection, to be stood by silently and solidly. It’s about love in all its unfathomable complexity. Keely and Finn, and their story, will get under your skin, and stay with you long after.
July 8, 2024
The power of love, the good, the bad and the tragic
With such a high concept title, you would be forgiven for thinking that this was a romance. There IS a romance, but that's not really what this book's about. It's about the power of love, what love can make you do, both the good things and the not so good.
The first third of the book is narrated in third person present tense about Keely, a daughter without a mother, who faces tragedy after tragedy until she is left alone with only drink to succour her. Then the next third of the book shifts to a boy-then-man, Finn, a lonely child with only his maternal grandparents who grows into a lonely young man who storms the local rock scene with a Svengali-like best friend. And then they met, and it was... love?
Really, this novel is about love in all its forms: paternal and maternal, fraternal, platonic, personal, adulation, love at first sight, lust, sacrificial, selfish love. Keely and Finn are both fairy tale abandoned children, looking for the one to be their other, and too late they realise what's exactly in front of their eyes in a conclusion that takes up barely a chapter.
A technically interesting novel, but emotionally opaque, with language that belies both the child characters and the adults they become, the floridity in parts breaking the spell of suspended disbelief. I see what Crewe is trying to do here, perching tight on the shoulders of his two main characters, but the structure relies on the reader investing in each protagonist to the end,; meanwhile the book focuses wholly on one, and then the other, so that by the time they come together the reader is just expected to believe that one form of true love can spark up between these two broken characters. And it just doesn't ring true.
With such a high concept title, you would be forgiven for thinking that this was a romance. There IS a romance, but that's not really what this book's about. It's about the power of love, what love can make you do, both the good things and the not so good.
The first third of the book is narrated in third person present tense about Keely, a daughter without a mother, who faces tragedy after tragedy until she is left alone with only drink to succour her. Then the next third of the book shifts to a boy-then-man, Finn, a lonely child with only his maternal grandparents who grows into a lonely young man who storms the local rock scene with a Svengali-like best friend. And then they met, and it was... love?
Really, this novel is about love in all its forms: paternal and maternal, fraternal, platonic, personal, adulation, love at first sight, lust, sacrificial, selfish love. Keely and Finn are both fairy tale abandoned children, looking for the one to be their other, and too late they realise what's exactly in front of their eyes in a conclusion that takes up barely a chapter.
A technically interesting novel, but emotionally opaque, with language that belies both the child characters and the adults they become, the floridity in parts breaking the spell of suspended disbelief. I see what Crewe is trying to do here, perching tight on the shoulders of his two main characters, but the structure relies on the reader investing in each protagonist to the end,; meanwhile the book focuses wholly on one, and then the other, so that by the time they come together the reader is just expected to believe that one form of true love can spark up between these two broken characters. And it just doesn't ring true.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 16, 2024
Keely and her dad struggle with grief after losing her mum and brother. While her dad find it hard to move on, they are still supported by the community at the camp and Keely grows from a little girl into a young woman, continuing to love and support her dad and believing he would be a happy dad again to her. And then, her dad abandons her for a woman he loves.
Finn lives with his grandparents after being abandoned by his parents when he was young. The grandparents take good care of him and love him, and he loves them deeply. But he doesn’t have real friends and feels lonely.
Keely and Finn together. Will they find true love?
This character-driven and beautifully-written love story tells ups and downs in Keely and Finn’s lives and relationships with one another and others around them. The writing is immaculate. The author’s style is subtle and understated, but it captures loneliness and longing they feel growing up so well that it pulled me into the story and I felt strong affection for them. We see what happens to them in adult life. They have flaws and make mistakes. Because characters are portrayed so well, I understood them and hoped they would find happiness. The final chapter, the climax, is especially strong. I could not put it down.
The only problem is that after finishing I am not sure what “true love” means that the book wanted to say. But it might be just me. Maybe the point is made in such an understated way that I missed it. In any case, this is no doubt a love story that is worth reading. And I love the author’s style, so I would love to read more by him!
4.5 ⭐️/5
Finn lives with his grandparents after being abandoned by his parents when he was young. The grandparents take good care of him and love him, and he loves them deeply. But he doesn’t have real friends and feels lonely.
Keely and Finn together. Will they find true love?
This character-driven and beautifully-written love story tells ups and downs in Keely and Finn’s lives and relationships with one another and others around them. The writing is immaculate. The author’s style is subtle and understated, but it captures loneliness and longing they feel growing up so well that it pulled me into the story and I felt strong affection for them. We see what happens to them in adult life. They have flaws and make mistakes. Because characters are portrayed so well, I understood them and hoped they would find happiness. The final chapter, the climax, is especially strong. I could not put it down.
The only problem is that after finishing I am not sure what “true love” means that the book wanted to say. But it might be just me. Maybe the point is made in such an understated way that I missed it. In any case, this is no doubt a love story that is worth reading. And I love the author’s style, so I would love to read more by him!
4.5 ⭐️/5
August 13, 2024
This, she is realising, is one of the things men are best at: turning their backs on the things they're meant to love and walking in the other direction.
Keely grows up lonely but loved. Her mother died when she was young. Her father spends his days doing backbreaking work dredging for coal in the sea off Ireland. But tragedy drives a wedge between her and her da and grief follows them both, reaching a breaking point.
Finn is being brought up by his grandparents. He too is lonely. He barely speaks, unable to find the words to articulate how he feels about the world. As a young man, he finds this ability in music, but this is short-lived.
When Keely and Finn meet, the connection is instant. Love blooms. But is it enough to save them both?
This story about love, grief and loneliness is rendered in heart-wrenchingly beautiful prose to the point where I wiped away tears. These themes are etched into the plot, and explored with deftness and aplomb.
Keely and Finn jump off the page, three-dimensional characters who feel real enough to touch. They're full of depth and I felt so protective of them. Keely, especially, stole my heart.
My only real criticism of the book is that the relationship between the characters develops too quickly. I've never been a fan of insta-love and I feel like the tensions between Keely and Finn would have been more pronounced and their heartache more profound if there had been more of a build-up.
Otherwise, I cannot recommend this stunning, lyrical novel enough.
June 27, 2024
True Love opens with a young girl, 12, called Keeley or as she is known Keg. A skinny, blonde girl who is living in a camp by the sea with her younger brother and father. Keeley takes on the role of her mother, she cooks for her dad and brother, tidies and cleans. Her dad is out at the beach by the camp working as a sea coaler, a dirty and physically exhausting job.
We then switch a narrative to meet Finn who is in his early teen years. Finn doesn't know his parents and lives with his somewhat stuffy grandparents. He is shy and avoids talking in most situations.
The narrative then switches between Finn and Keeley as they meet and ultimately fall in love, grow together and as two lost souls with levels of trauma seek solace in each other.
True Love is a character novel that is deeply moving and extremely sad. The two characters' internal monologues are incredibly complex and detail how the characters repeat toxic behaviours and how generational trauma has deeply affected them. Throughout the book you are hoping for a bit of peace for each of the characters which they both deserve. The story follows the highs and lows of growing up and is ultimately an incredibly moving coming of age story.
With an understated writing style, filled with subtly beautiful prose, Paddy Crewe has created an emotional novel and although it is not the happiest read, the ending leaves you with a sliver of hope which is what the characters deserve.
We then switch a narrative to meet Finn who is in his early teen years. Finn doesn't know his parents and lives with his somewhat stuffy grandparents. He is shy and avoids talking in most situations.
The narrative then switches between Finn and Keeley as they meet and ultimately fall in love, grow together and as two lost souls with levels of trauma seek solace in each other.
True Love is a character novel that is deeply moving and extremely sad. The two characters' internal monologues are incredibly complex and detail how the characters repeat toxic behaviours and how generational trauma has deeply affected them. Throughout the book you are hoping for a bit of peace for each of the characters which they both deserve. The story follows the highs and lows of growing up and is ultimately an incredibly moving coming of age story.
With an understated writing style, filled with subtly beautiful prose, Paddy Crewe has created an emotional novel and although it is not the happiest read, the ending leaves you with a sliver of hope which is what the characters deserve.
March 29, 2024
This book was close to a 5 star as I was drawn into Keely’s life. She lives in a camp on the coast with her father and younger brother as they try to cope with the death of her mother. When her brother drowns both father and daughter struggle to come to terms with it. Her story is heartbreaking yet hopeful as Keely, underneath it all, displays a remarkable resilience.
Then we meet Finn, living with his grandparents having been abandoned by both parents. He doesn’t talk much or make friends and is perhaps neurodivergent. He eventually does find his voice through music. As a character I found him somewhat introspective and infuriating at times.
When Finn is abandoned by his bandmates after a gig he meets and moves in with Keely and maybe just maybe the tide will turn for these two characters.
This is certainly an emotional read from an author able to draw you into the lives of these two characters. My frustration with Finn is no doubt due to how well the character was portrayed and developed. It’s not always an easy read but I would wholeheartedly recommend it.
4.5 ⭐️
Thanks to NetGalley.co.uk and the publishers for this DRC in exchange for this honest review.
Then we meet Finn, living with his grandparents having been abandoned by both parents. He doesn’t talk much or make friends and is perhaps neurodivergent. He eventually does find his voice through music. As a character I found him somewhat introspective and infuriating at times.
When Finn is abandoned by his bandmates after a gig he meets and moves in with Keely and maybe just maybe the tide will turn for these two characters.
This is certainly an emotional read from an author able to draw you into the lives of these two characters. My frustration with Finn is no doubt due to how well the character was portrayed and developed. It’s not always an easy read but I would wholeheartedly recommend it.
4.5 ⭐️
Thanks to NetGalley.co.uk and the publishers for this DRC in exchange for this honest review.
July 16, 2024
Oh my goodness! Sometimes there are books that just take your breath away and True Love by Paddy Crewe is one of those. It is beautiful, it is gut- wrenchingly emotional and it is a true gem of a book.
It is the story of two people, Keely and Finn, who we initially meet separately, but who both carry the scars of difficult childhoods into their adult lives, and into their relationship as they meet and fall in love.
Crewe’s writing is understated but beautiful as he draws the reader into the lives of these two complicated characters who you desperately want to be able to shake off all that has come before and find happiness. It is utterly heartbreaking at times but ends with a glimmer of hope that stops it being a bleak read, rather a beautifully written character study of two people dealing with all that life throws at them and who will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
It is the story of two people, Keely and Finn, who we initially meet separately, but who both carry the scars of difficult childhoods into their adult lives, and into their relationship as they meet and fall in love.
Crewe’s writing is understated but beautiful as he draws the reader into the lives of these two complicated characters who you desperately want to be able to shake off all that has come before and find happiness. It is utterly heartbreaking at times but ends with a glimmer of hope that stops it being a bleak read, rather a beautifully written character study of two people dealing with all that life throws at them and who will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
July 17, 2024
A slow-paced but satisfying read about two damaged young people. There's Keely, brought up in poverty by her father after her motherdies when her brother is only one year old. When tragedy strikes again leaving her to cope with her father's depression, she drops out of school, and it's a teacher dropping a bag of books outside the caravan door that points the way to possible salvation. And there's Finn, also parentless and brought up by grandparents. Friendless at school, he's a lost soul until, with a lad whom he meets after his schooldays, music comes into his life. When Keely and Finn meet, the connection is immediate. Reality and the difficulties of life take many months to present themselves. Crewe writes in a compassionate if slightly detached way, allowing time for his two main characters to develop onto the page. I really enjoyed this gentle, slow-paced story about the redeeming power of love.
February 28, 2024
Keely has been brought up with her father and younger brother in a small community of seacoalers. It’s a hard life, but those living in the camp look out for each other. When tragedy strikes she has to learn that loss and grief have no fixed dimensions. Then she meets Finn who has had his own traumas to deal with.
These two souls seek salvation with each other, while muddling their way through to adulthood.
Written in a subtle understated way, reminiscent of Donal Ryan, I found myself being pulled into the story and rooting for these two young people.
I think this book will appeal to a wide range of readers, including young adults.
Many thanks to Penguin Random House & NetGalley for an ARC
These two souls seek salvation with each other, while muddling their way through to adulthood.
Written in a subtle understated way, reminiscent of Donal Ryan, I found myself being pulled into the story and rooting for these two young people.
I think this book will appeal to a wide range of readers, including young adults.
Many thanks to Penguin Random House & NetGalley for an ARC
July 3, 2024
My first time reading a book from this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I couldn’t put it down.
A beautiful and heartbreaking story about grief, loneliness, family and love.
Set in the 1980’s in the North East England, two young people Keely and Finn who growing up in difficult circumstances connect when they fall in love.
An emotional character driven story that just draws you right in and has you rooting for the characters. Told from the two POV’s of Keely and Finn. It’s beautiful honest descriptive writing. A worthwhile read. Definitely recommend this one. I look forward to reading more from @paddyCrewe
With thanks to #NetGallery #RandomHouseUK @TransworldPublishers for an arc of #TrueLove in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 4 July 2024.
A beautiful and heartbreaking story about grief, loneliness, family and love.
Set in the 1980’s in the North East England, two young people Keely and Finn who growing up in difficult circumstances connect when they fall in love.
An emotional character driven story that just draws you right in and has you rooting for the characters. Told from the two POV’s of Keely and Finn. It’s beautiful honest descriptive writing. A worthwhile read. Definitely recommend this one. I look forward to reading more from @paddyCrewe
With thanks to #NetGallery #RandomHouseUK @TransworldPublishers for an arc of #TrueLove in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 4 July 2024.
June 24, 2024
It is the 1980s and Finn and Keely are growing up in the North East of England.
Keely is a fighter. Even in the face of loss she strives to seek connection, but finds that she’s not always searching in the right places.
Finn is quiet, sensitive, distant. He spends much of his time alone, yet deep down he wants to discover the thrill of relating to others.
This is an excellent read. The descriptions are phenomenal, the characters alive and their dramas are real. The prose, at times, is breathtaking. I really enjoyed the frank and honest way it’s written. At times it’s bleak but other times it is uplifting. Great read.
This is an excellent read. The descriptions are phenomenal, the characters alive and their dramas are real. The prose, at times, is breathtaking. I really enjoyed the frank and honest way it’s written. At times it’s bleak but other times it is uplifting. Great read.
July 23, 2024
Starts out in the North East among the sea coal beaches with Keely an unusual girl and her family living in a caravan and traces her life and that of Finn also an unusual character who does not fit in with the crowd as they find each other and somehow make each other whole. I really loved these two and was totally rooting for them to find happiness with each other. Their vunerability was heartbreaking. Lyical writing. Read very quickly.
July 24, 2024
4.5/5!
Raw, heart-breaking, and healing all at once. This novel provoked such a deep visceral reaction within me that has lingered long after turning the last page. Paddy Crewe writes so beautifully and vividly, that it's hard to believe this world exists outside of my own experience.
Raw, heart-breaking, and healing all at once. This novel provoked such a deep visceral reaction within me that has lingered long after turning the last page. Paddy Crewe writes so beautifully and vividly, that it's hard to believe this world exists outside of my own experience.
August 28, 2024
I did really enjoy reading the book, but I found the ending was particularly weird and that’s why I gave it only a 3 out of 5
July 11, 2024
This book is a character-driven novel that centres around Keely and Finn, two isolated souls with melancholic lives. Keely is consumed with grief and hopes to find solace through love while Finn believes his fate has been sealed with neglect and stifled with loneliness. We follow the internal monologues of the pair as we become immersed in the complexities of their lives with the first part centring around Keely’s sorrow, followed by Finn’s detachment, with the final part highlighting the connection between the two. Paddy’s writing captures loneliness and longing with palpable melancholy through evocative language, as the novel tackles love through personal and family relationships. True Love is a perfect read if you are looking for a character-driven novel with split narratives or a coming-of-age story that is both heartbreaking and uplifting, reminiscent of Sally Rooney’s work.
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