Evelina | AvalinahsBooks's Reviews > The Martins

How I read this: Free ebook copy received through Edelweiss

The Martins was a very quick, very engrossing read. I greatly enjoyed it. It's not your typical novel - the whole idea of it is that it breaks the fourth wall to begin with, and it stays that way. The story is told through an author's point of view - I'm not even sure if the author is fictional or the actual author of the book. But this author decides to get himself out of a creative rut by writing about the first person he will encounter on the street. It sort of works out that way, except with extra strings attached - he not only gets to write about that person, but their whole extended family as well.

The idea here is that the story of anyone at all can be interesting and dramatic, and carry meaning. The author ends up writing about the Martins - a typical French family, as 'Martin' is about the most common and typical surname, almost like Smith in English. But even these 'Smiths' have very real crises in their lives, and do some very wild things, when put on the spot. The author's intrusion into their lives becomes like a breaking point to a lot of them - and they suddenly end up doing 'make it or break it' decisions which change their lives quite a lot.

I ended up loving the Martins as characters. They were very interesting, and I do subscribe to the idea that just about anyone's life could become a movie, if you were to only pick the right time in their lives and remove the boring bits, such as brushing one's teeth or doing office work. Just ask your grandma to tell you about her youth adventures, and you'll know what I mean.

The Martins reads fast, is well written and will definitely deliver an unexpected, but engrossing and interesting plot. A very unique novel, and I know I would love to read more by the same author.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

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