Started reading: November 4th 2017
Finished the book: November 12th 2017
Pages: 212
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Published: October 27th 2016
Source: Got a digital copy from the author
Goodreads score: 3.87
My score:
Gillian Campbell is out of patience.
Her husband is choosing his hobby over her. And the hobby in question? Live Action Role-Play, or ‘larp’. Larp involves dressing up as a character (be it medieval knight, banshee or centaur) and participating in imaginary battles for entire weekends.
Gillian is not impressed. She seeks professional advice and is surprised when her therapist encourages her to try larp. Who knows? It may make you smile. It may make you laugh. It may even improve your sex life. How terrible could it be?
My thoughts
Joy Norstrom, a debut author, will be on my list to keep in mind when looking for a good book. This first book contains well thought through characters, real life problems and a lot of feelings. I think a big audience will like this book and you should give it a try if you like raw, emotional books that contain the hard parts of life.
Pros
- All the feelz: Man, I cried so hard, that final chapter. All the held in, raw emotions come out at the end of this book, when Gillian is able to face her fears, her hurt and the things she used to ignore. I think this final chapter was my favorite as well!
- Pure: Life isn't always fun, happy moments and only good things. People die, people get sick, people grow apart, people fight. Joy is not afraid to write about the hard parts in life. She is able to make you feel the pain, regret, anger and humiliation that you sometimes have to face in life. The book felt very raw, and pure for me.
- Pov from the man: I liked the fact that Joy is not portraying Gillian as the sad, lonely wife who is never seen or heard by her man. I like the fact that you get to read the POV from her husband, Ralph, once in awhile as well. Makes you see things from his POV and makes you wonder if Gillian is indeed making the right choices for herself, her husband and their marriage.
- Larp: So cool! I've never read a book that involves LARP. I think it's a very vague subject that not many people know a lot about, including myself. I loved to read about this hobby, that is totally different from anything I've seen in a book.
Cons
- I need answers: Although I loved the final chapter and it was my favorite, I still need some answers. I don't feel like I have closure and I'd love to read another book about Gillian, Ralph, LARP, their marriage and the hard times and fun times they have together. I'd be very sad if I have to leave them with this book....
Overall
A great debut. What you see is what you get, Joy is not making live better than it is. Raw, pure, full of emotion and very real characters. I hope more is to come from Joy Norstrom!
Other opinions about this book
"Out of Play is nothing as it seems, which makes it pretty perfect."
- Chicklit Central
"I kept reading and reading until the next thing I knew, there were tears in my eyes, a stupid smile on my face, and the clock read far after midnight."
- Layla's Book Blog
Memorable quotes from this book
"Life was over before you knew it. It was time to grab life by the proverbial balls and shake the shit out of it."
"Life isn't fair. That's the truth of it. Not everyone gets a fair shake. Things happen. Miserable things happen. They don't always make sense. So you've got to go for it while you have a chance. Make your life what you want it to be. Cause we just never know how long we have."
"There is always hope... Life can surprise us sometimes."
Thanks for reading!
Please let me know what you think about this book/review.
