I was a little disappointed in this much anticipated book having, of course, loved Room and expecting a similarly moving, emotional reading experience. I found the two main protagonists, Noah the outwardly curmudgeonly but warm-hearted nearly 80 year old, and Michael, his 11 year old potty-mouthed displaced great-nephew, almost caricatures and rather difficult to believe in. However, the descriptive writing is a delight even though the story did not capture my attention in the way I had expected.

Having read many books by Emma Donohue I was looking forward to this one but after reading it was a little disappointed. I never really felt that I got to know the real characters. As the story unfolded you learned more about the older relation Noah but felt underwhelmed with his relationship with his great nephew Michael. Perhaps I was expecting a bit much from previous novels.

Loved this book and want to know what will happen to Noah and Michael. For the full review go to https://joebloggshere.tumblr.com/post/189078320401/akin-by-emma-donoghue-i-really-enjoyed-this-book

I've been a fan of Emma Donoghue's historical fiction for a couple of years, but I'd never read anything else from her before Akin (nope, not even The Room). I actually requested this thinking this was going to be another piece of historical fiction and was a little bit disappointed when I realised my mistake. As you can probably guess from the 5 star rating though, I got over that disappointment quickly.

Akin is all about families, or more specifically, what makes a family. The core of each conflict in this book is how destructive our own perceptions of our family members can be if we never challenge them and try to see them as they really are. Noah is a retired academic whose wife has passed away, and when his nephew dies from a drug overdose he suddenly has to take care of his 11-year-old great-nephew because his other caregivers are either dead or in prison. When Michael comes to him, Noah has also already scheduled a trip to Nice to find more about his childhood there before his family escaped the Nazi occupation for America.

The book focuses on Noah’s internal journey of coming to terms with different truths about his family history and finding a balance between remembering his dead loved ones without letting the memory of them consume his life. During the trip, he also has to learn to relate to his great-nephew in a meaningful way, and gradually the tenuous blood ties between them turn into a real connection.

I found getting to know Noah as a character really interesting, because he starts off as fairly unlikeable (a grumpy, wealthy old man who is stuck in his ways) but as you learn more about him, he becomes more and more human and you start to sympathise with his vulnerabilities and insecurities. At the same time, being around Michael forces Noah to grow and to challenge his assumptions about the world. How their relationship unfolds and the connection they find as a newly formed, unlikely family comes across as very genuine, and the complicated thoughts and feelings the characters have to navigate make this story authentic and poignant.

A beautifully written book. Plot and characters are written with thought and strength.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for gifting me this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

A different style from the reclaimed Room author but still as moving and full of joy. Interesting visits of southern France with some historical fiction linked with every day New York. Really enjoyed this read.

Lovely book! Very well written, a little thought-provoking, bit of a mystery. I enjoyed the character growth and how the extremes of generations were able to help each other.

I have loved Emma Donoghue’s writing so there was no way i was missing out on this latest novel. Saying that it did take me a while to settle into this novel, but once I did I really enjoyed the story of this particular odd couple. Noah is a 79 year old retired professor setting out on the trip of a lifetime. He’s packing to go to France, which is a pretty big trip. He has lost everyone in his life and is grieving the loss of his wife Joan who he talks to in his head. He feels very alone in life and Donoghue builds picture very successfully,

Michael is also alone after losing both of his parents and is in the care of social worker, Rose. These two lonely people are related. Noah was aware of his parents and their chequered history, but has never met Michael, Now this social worker arrives and throws a boy sized bomb into his life, At first Noah isn’t sure he can take Michael on, plus he’s going on this trip, but he knows what it’s like to be alone. Noah’s trip to France involves a family mystery. He wants to research his mothers role in WW2 and has questions about her involvement with German forces. This part of the novel really piqued my interest and I wanted to find out Noah’s family secrets too. When Noah decides to take Michael with him I could see that this would be a developing relationship and a trip to change both characters. It’s hard for Noah to relate to this boy who has already experienced so much more than he should. What seems like a gentle story has much deeper meaning as the two learn different things and come to different conclusions.
I would recommend this book to friends and will feature it on my blog too.

I love Donoghue's ability to take us into the inner life of her characters and really feel their emotions. I love her descriptions too - Noah describes trying to keep Michael safe as trying to deliver an unbraided bag of bananas. These two couldn’t be more different. Noah’s comfortable life comes up against a boy born to struggling parents in a bad neighbourhood, They have so much to teach each other and it’s a privilege to be along for the ride.

First novel of Emma Donoghue I’ve read and believe it’s quite different to the others. She has the ability to write in different genres and this particularly interested me due to this historic nature of the book. Set in the modern day an elderly gentleman suddenly finds himself a guardian to a young relative and takes him on a pilgrimage to the South of France researching details of his mother’s life during WW2. Slightly unbelievable at times, as if you’d be allowed to take a child you’ve never met out of the country within days of meeting as also be issued with a passport, the relationship between the two becomes endearing and I did enjoy the book. I could imagine this as a screenplay.

Thanks to Netgalley the author and publishers for ARC of this book.

Noah is preparing to take the trip of a lifetime - he’s in his 80s now. his wife had died, and it’s probably his last chance to investigate what his mother really did in the war.

Michael is eleven. His dad’s dead and his mother’s in prison. He’s being sent to live with some old guy he’s never met, but is apparently some great-uncle. And now he’s going to have to go to Europe with him.

I enjoyed this book - I found Noah and Michael’s relationships quite endearing, and Michael a much more complex and intelligent character than I expected. The sub-plot was a little thrown together and confusing, but it finally pulled together and made for a good read.

Noah, an educated, well off widower from New York is about to embark on a trip back to his prewar childhood home of Nice when he receives a phone call from a social worker letting him know that he is the only person who can keep his great nephew Michael (the son of his nephew Victor, who died of a drugs overdose and who Noah had nothing to do with after he stole some precious family photos from him) from going in to care.
He finds himself reluctantly agreeing to take Micheal with him on this trip.
Two strangers, from completely different generations / communities clash over culture, food and well, nearly everything. Noah's reason for the trip is to find out more about his mothers life in Nice during the war and with Michael's unconventional help he puts the missing pieces of her life together. He also comes to realise that Michael has had a lot to deal with in his short life and starts to understand him more.
The story is beautifully told and you feel the tentative bond developing between this odd couple.
I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

A nice story exploring the unlikely relationship of 79 year old Noah Selvaggio and his great nephew, Michael. They meet for the first time when Noah, a newly retired science lecturer, is asked by social services to look after Michael. The 11 year old has been living with his grandmother how has just died, as his mum is in prison, and his dad, Noah''s nephew is dead. Both are forced together and Michael joins Noah on a trip to Nice to visit his birthplace for the first time since WW2, Some humorous touches, some emotion as a young boy tries to come to terms with another adult being responsible for him, and perhaps leaving him. A lovely read, and we go through the mill with Noah as he makes discoveries about his family's past. I enjoyed how Noah's old fashioned touches were complemented by Michael's technology and naive common sense observations.

My first book by the author and a very interesting topic to read about actually.
I enjoyed the story overall, the characters are special especially because of their age that brings a lot to the story and it's heartbreaking and beautiful in many ways.
Each one comes with their age and era problems and beliefs and was quite interesting to see how everything mixed up.
There were parts that I felt like dragging the story and others that I just couldn’t connect with but an enjoyable read for sure.

Best-known for Room, Emma Donoghue can make anything sound interesting, which is why Akin - even though not the strongest in her canon - is still worth a read, and illuminates an unconventional week in the life of a reluctant great-uncle and his estranged great-nephew in the beautiful city of Nice, as seventy-nine-year-old Noah starts to uncover secrets about his mother's war while keeping an eye on difficult and endearing Michael, son of his dead nephew. A perfect gift for anyone who enjoys quality literature and a story that will stay with you long after the book is over.

What a beautiful story of an elderly man and his young great nephew and their journey in to the past of WWII. It was evocative and at times painful but very, very readable.

A poignant story of family history.
Akin was such a lovely surprise of a book. It’s a touching story of an elderly widower, Noah, and his estranged 12 year old great-nephew Michael, going on holiday together to Noah’s birthplace in France. Noah hasn’t been back to Nice since he left as a four year old during WWII and wants to go there for his 80th birthday. Noah and his wife were both science professors at a New York university, and had decided not to have children so that they could concentrate on their careers. So when Michael is dropped in to Noah’s life, it’s something of a shock. Noah rises to the challenge, no matter how reluctantly, because Michaels mother is serving a five year prison sentence, his father (Noah’s nephew) is dead of an overdose, and his maternal grandmother has recently died. Noah is a good person, whether he realises it or not.

I loved how both of the characters were written: Noah is not some feeble old man, he’s fit, mentally sharp and has a great sense of humour - something that’s needed with a pre-teen! Michael puts on a front of being worldly wise, wise cracking and untouchable, whilst hiding the scared 12 year old that he is. I loved how the two of them bounced off one another. To be fair, Noah is incredibly patient with him, considering that he hasn’t had much experience with 12 year olds!

The mystery element was fascinating, too. Noah has found some photos in his deceased sisters belongings which came from their mother. They’re quite abstract: the backs of heads, legs, parts of a building, and Noah starts to find out things that he’s not sure that he likes about his mother’s war.

This search was really interesting, as were the details about Noah’s famous photographer grandfather, Père Sonne.
This is such a lovely story that looks at what it is to be family - warts and all. I would highly recommend it. It’s wonderful.

I didn't want this book to end, it slowly drew me in until I was invested in the characters and I was so disappointed when I turned over the final page as I wanted to hear how they learned to live together, I would definitely recommend.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan/Picador, and the author Emma Donoghue.
I enjoy Donoghue's style of writing, and this was a nice story with good characters. However, I felt like the book was always building up to a denouement which never really arrived.
The secondary thread around Noah's mother Margot during the Second World War felt superfluous due to the lack of air time and detail, and as a result you are left feeling like a lot of the book's issues and threads haven't been resolved.
Enjoyable, but nothing to write home about. 3 stars .

I’ve just read the last words of this lovely book. One of those moments where you want to know what happens next, want to follow the characters through the days to come. So, I think this means that I was drawn into another world and into the lives of others in this very interesting story.

Noah is 79 about to be 80 and plans to cross the Atlantic to visit Nice where he was born and where his mother passed a mysterious two years before coming to join him in the US. But his plans have to change when he becomes guardian of his dead nephew’s son whose mother is in prison and who otherwise would be sent to residential care.

This story follows the unlikely pair on their journey through Nice, through the past, discovering their roots and creating a new, unfamilar but intense relationship.
Here they are in Noahs neighborhood in Manhattan before they set off to France

“The boy shook his head. “So quiet. Like everybody’s dead.” Noah assured him they weren’t. Just middle-class, he thought.”

I like the exploration of differences in age, experience, background, cultural norms. Noah has no children so has to adjust to a young, street wise, computer savvy, wild-hearted, traumatised boy. And Michael shines through with his quick wit and intelligence as well as his stubborness and addiction to junk food. They are both warmly drawn characters and the book is optimistic in the end that they will clash but that there is hope for connection.

i thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Room" a previous novel by Emma Donoghue so i was excited to read this new novel. I was not disappointed in the slightest. This was a beautiful book based on Michael aged 79 years old and his 11 year old great nephew who he ends up suddenly looking after and taking him on a trip to Nice.
They didnt know each other before and they argue and disagree but eventually realise they are more alike than they thought as they unravel a mystery of Michaels mother. And it was lovely to see a friendship growing between the two.