Louis & Louise Julie Cohen
My first book by Julie and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Wow! Beautifully written creating vivid scenes and strong characters. This has left me sitting thinking about the characters and trying to hold all the intricacies together as my thoughts wander through reflecting on the endings. The simplest explanation is of a ‘Sliding Doors’ scenario but better. The events that happen to Louis & Louise when they are younger and how these affect the lives of not only them but of their families and community is told compelling well. It took me a while to get my head around what was happening at the start of the book, but then I was hooked, empathising easily with the characters, trying to puzzle through the similar events in their stories with different outcomes and very much caring about them. The power of guilt and love and friendship make the book a brilliant read. I have been engrossed and read over half the book today - a real treat! Book hangover coming!!

Louis & Louise was an engaging read with a very interesting premise. The author plays with gender and makes very interesting observations. We read the story of the same person who is born in two different lives as male and female and then the two stories evolve organically from this very moment. Of course what happens to Louis and Louise is difficult to be connected exclusively with their gender but perhaps this is another point that the author wants to make? Gender can define many things but the possibilities are still endless. At least this is my approach to the story.

One story split in 2, a story of parallel lives.
Louis and Louise are the same person born on the same day to the same parents, the same friends and they live the same lives, the only difference is in one life Louis is Male and in the other Louise is female.
A clever and enchanting read and an incredible concept. I really enjoyed this fascinating story, easy to read and well written.

Well done Julie Cohen for such an interesting read.

An interesting juxtaposition of male and female upbringing and experiences, of gender identity and confusion. Set between the unforgiving seventies and the present day, in small town America, a tale of ‘what would happen if...?’ and ‘if that hadn’t been so, then what...?’
So two parallel universes, with the same people, with the same personality traits, but very different outcomes.
Fascinating...I didn’t want it to end!

Louis & Louise is a book that has been on my radar for such a long time, and I was really excited to get stuck into it. This is an intricately woven, beautifully written story based around the different lives Louis/ Louise lead due to their gender. Their lives take drastically different paths, but core moments are shared with both.

I flew through the pages, eager to learn about their pasts and to watch everything unfold as this catches up to them. There is love, heartbreak,emotion and drama and I devoured it. A beautifully written book, and I will certainly be watching to see what Julie Cohen does next.

Thank you to the Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for an eARC of Julie Cohen’s latest novel. Even though family dramas are not something I usually read, I felt this was an engaging read and gave me plenty to think about. Giving it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Certainly the concept of this novel is intriguing: a single life lived twice. Once as Louis and the other as Louise.

Early on the following passage summed up the novel very succinctly for me: “But when Lou is born, their biological sex is the first thing that anyone sees. The first question anyone asks. The beginning of every single choice made about this person, even before they have the power to make choices for themselves.”

Opening in 1978 the sections set during the late 20th-Century captures the era well. I have to say that the graphic descriptions in the opening chapters of pregnancy and childbirth made me so pleased that I had chosen to be child-free.

Most of the story is set in 2010 an is related partly by an omnipresent voice-over that interweaves the two lives at some points as well as individual chapters for each of them.

I was pleased that Louis/Louise are openly bisexual. I also appreciated that Cohen wrote the novel with sensitivity in respect to gender. Her acknowledgments state that she had the manuscript read for non-binary representation so that her ideas and language was more inclusive. It seemed to be so to me though I am not in a position to determine.

While I have not previously read any of her work, reading this novel and the acknowledgements (thank you Orion for including in the ARC) she writes from the heart, which is a quality that I appreciate in this kind of novel dealing with powerful emotions.

I had been so intrigued by its concept and description but I soon became increasingly frustrated by the convolutions of the plot as it wove back and forth between the two incarnations of Louis/Louise, and even more confused by the references to ‘Lou’. So I have to admit I gave up and put the book aside.
Subsequently I’m glad to say I returned to it and, eventually overcoming my confusion with the characters, I began to enjoy the writing. I still feel it was made cumbersome by the male/female Louis/Louise/Lou conceit. But overall, an enjoyable read.

I loved this delicate, wistful story about one life lived two ways. Louis, born male, and an heir, the world at his feet. Louise, a daughter, destined to be the apple of her father's eye, and a future mother to heirs. Same family, same time period, same neighbours... But their different sexes send them on paths the other will never understand.

The novel moved seamlessly between characters, with the occasional omniscient narrator reminding us how different the expectations, opportunities and dangers were for both of them. For me, the parts dealing with their neighbours, and events of the past, were the most compelling, seeing Louis/e's interactions with Allie and Benny, and how the twins shaped both protagonists lives. It's a story about loss, and growing up, and redemption, truly lovely.

The concept of this book is really interesting and it seamlessly combines the two stories. The chapters which combined events in both Louis and Louise's life are great too, it's really well thought out.

That said, I felt a lot more could have been done with the characters and the story, ideally things would have unfolded at a slower pace and in more depth.

Nonetheless it is an enjoyable and thought provoking read. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley, Julie Cohen and Orion for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this book up out of curiosity but was hooked fairly easily. The author does a good job of exploring how a person's gender impacts their life, and the plot is well thought out and executed

The premise of this book really intrigued me and I was very excited to read it. Unfortunately, the plot left me frustrated at points as I found it to be fairly dated and I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I had anticipated that I would.

A disclaimer to begin with: for some reason, I thought I’d be reading a story about transition, but that wasn’t to be. It is still a story about gender — two parallel narratives, one in which a baby is a girl and the other a boy. Thus, Louise and Louis — different names, different genders, but the same otherwise, from parents, friends, school, home town, future career, sexual orientation, and so on. Certainly an intriguing premise, coupled with some engaging writing.
However, all said and done, while it was a good read, the book didn’t exactly enthral. As it lead up to the twin climaxes, I struggled slightly to keep each story separate. In the end, I can honestly say that perhaps I didn’t really understand what the book had to say. I don’t regret reading it at all since it was well written, well paced, and had just enough differences in the two threads to make it seem as though it was the same story and yet different.

Brilliant and moving read exploring how different life could be depending on the gender you are assigned at birth. Louis/Louise are the same person. All that separates them is an extra ‘e’ on their name. They are born on the same day to the same parents, but in one timeline Lou is a boy, in the other a girl.

This book explores the different directions their lives take simply because of their gender. It’s a fascinating, beautifully written and emotional rollercoaster of a read that I highly recommend.

My full and expanded review will be posted as part of the blog tour soon.

A baby is born to parents living in a small town in Maine. The story splits into two, one in which the baby is a boy, Louis, and the other a girl called Louise. From here, we follow the two stories and see the differences and similarities that Louis and Louise face growing up because of their sex. Some parts of "Lou's" life are the same regardless of whether they are a boy or girl, for example their deep friendship with twins Allie and Benny. Some are different, for example societal expectations and the way their parents treat them. Louis and Louise face their own, different tragedies as they leave school that cause them to leave the town immediately. When they each return to be with their dying mother over a decade later, the truth begins to unravel for them both.

I enjoyed the premise of this story and liked seeing the two different lives unfold. Cohen has skilfully woven two stories without it becoming confusing and I was always able to keep hold of the threads of each story. I enjoyed reading the sections of Louise's story more than Louis' but both were believable. I was a little bit disappointed that the two endings weren't more different, but I did feel that the overall ending was satisfying without being too neat.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Fascinating novel about gender. What would your life be like if you had been born the opposite sex? This tells the story about a baby being born and then gives 2 differing versions of his/her life. There are parallels and differences in their lives, but much of their characters are the same. I also liked the depiction of a small town in America and the class differences within it. This is definitely a book you will want to discuss, so get your friends/book club to read it. Would make a great movie with the right director.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars

This was so nearly 4 stars! Unlike some of the other reviews, I actually liked this book from the start and found it absorbing and atmospheric.

However half way through I think it lost its way a bit but mainly because I personally found myself preferring Louise’s sections to Louis’s and so I lost a little interest in Louis.

I liked that it was a different concept although the ending was a little bit of a let down for me.

However overall enjoyable.

Alternate realities have been used in books and films before, but this one really does get under your skin like no other. What if you had been born the other sex, how different would life be?

I have often wondered this, actually. So to see it played out fictionally from birth was really quite an eye opener! It is a very well written novel, with characters that are relatable. Very good read, highly recommended.

I tried twice to get into this book as I have read others by Julie Cohen and really enjoyed them. However I couldn’t get into this book at all. The style of writing -far too descriptive with no forward movement didn’t work for me and it just felt too arty and no substance for me so unfortunately I stopped about 100 pages in and didn’t finish. I thought about skim reading but felt nothing for either character so didn’t even do that.

I liked the premise of this book - how differently one’s life could turn out, depending on one’s gender. However I didn’t feel the book really explored this, nor thought about how gender stereotypes could affect outcomes, but just had two different stories about the same bi-sexual person. The book was a perfectly good read, but not one I would recommend, I’m afraid.

A great book as to how life does or doesn't different depending on your gender at birth. Really insightful with a great story running through it