Official Review: The Second Cup by Sarah Marie Graye

[derricksarfo]

I love books that emphasis much on the youth and especially relationship. I enjoyed it

[P0tt3ry]

The characters are well-developed and I found myself caring about them fairly quickly. Despite the frequent shifting of narrator, it wasn't difficult to follow. Unfortunately, I was distracted by the UK spellings of some words and several grammatical errors. For example, on page 6 "he joked his she had." None the less, the story line is engaging and well-executed. It's not going on the permanent shelf but is worth the time spent reading it.

[Izesicle]

Adults have the benefit of hindsight to know that it gets better. However, it may not seem so to teenagers who are undergoing physical and emotional changes. This book delves into serious and universal themes of coming of age and friendship.

[victorycoffee]

Thanks for the review. I'm glad that the book rounds out well and explores some gritty topics - in my opinion mental health is one of those taboo subjects that doesn't see the light of day enough. As you say, it's not bright or happy, but it's important that this is something that comes up in the public sphere.

[Fati-bola]

Mental health, insecurities and self confidence as mentioned in this review are the reasons for reading the book. I want to see how these revolve around the four friends: Faye, Olivia, Beth and Abbie. Thanks for this great review.

[StarsAtNight]

Perhaps I'm just being grumpy, but I disliked the review. Just starting from the beginning;
"Four friends, Faye, Olivia, Beth and Abbie, have all met separately through happenstances of fate."
Don't everyone meet like that? :/

"All very different people, they somehow find a commonality which glues them together."
All friendships include this; you have to have some sort of connection to one another.

"However, when Faye thinks she sees a long lost love on the street, she is shocked by the effect it has on her. She confronts the rest of the girls as to whether they are really living their lives to the full. While this is a simple question, it throws them all off balance, forcing them to question their life choices, their work and their own relationships."
This actually aggravated me quite a bit. I can understand Faye questioning herself, but with one speech, she can make the others also equally incredibly insecure? I understand it's normal to question yourself and your lifestyle every once in a while, but Faye thinking she's seen her long lost love doesn't completely mean she's going to have a life shocking epiphany that will shock her; and when she shares this to the rest of her friends- they're going to have the same thought?

I find myself feeling skeptical and I already predict the book's not going to be extremely realistic. I guess the review simply drove me the wrong way So I'm unlikely to read it.

[Manang Muyang]

Four personalities become good friends, but the friendship undergoes challenges. Will the friends endure? I'm drawn to read this book for the realism it portrays. Life happens. Friendships either endure or fall apart.

Thanks for the reality check, Micoleon13!

[nedimb86]

I like the way the book is written. It is like you are offered bunch of Lego blocks and have to peace everything together. Besides that this book is definitely not for me.

[jemgirl202]

This sounds like an interesting novel. It discusses important topics like friendship and mental health. Congrats on book of the day! Great review!

[Joy2thenations]

It sounds like many could identify with this book. We all at times wonder if we are living life to the fullest. Thanks for the review.

[Chelsy Scherba]

This book sounds like it develops character really well, which is something I like. It's cool that it's set in Manchester also.

[uyky]

I like the idea of switching viewpoints. It's too bad that characters blend together when it happens, because it could be a very powerful tool otherwise. I might read it because of that and because it deals with modern problems people have to face. Thank you for review.

[Surabhi Rani]

'Official Review: The Second Cup', by Sarah Marie Graye, well points out the serious part of life, which is a point to ponder.

[R-g-R]

Based on my reading of the sample, I agree with some of your review comments such as the slight confusion discerning which character this is, and the sometimes clunkiness of switching between first and third person.

Interestingly I found myself being a little put off by the prologue. It felt as if a male was writing and, until I checked, I then had the impression that he was trying to write female characters!

The first few chapters had a few great moments where I was into the character’s perspective and story, but I found the large sections of detail resulted in slow paced story-telling.
I wanted to be engaged and keen to turn each page but unfortunately I felt that my attention was easily distracted by things going on around me.

It is admirable that the author deals with mental health issues in her novel. This advance knowledge may help readers initially choose and then persevere with their reading.

[lavellan]

Thank you for your review! The story sounds very interesting based off what you wrote. I especially like that you said that you could relate to the characters and put yourself in their shoes.