I was really looking forward to reading The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff. I've really enjoyed her books in the past and the description of this one sounded really appealing - a big family spends the summer at their holiday house by the sea - and they're joined by these two boys, one of whom is the mysterious and charming Kit Godden and what follows is this summer of love.

I thought The Great Godden was written really beautifully, and I loved the lazy, summer days and the quirks of this family. But certain elements of the book just didn't work for me as well.

1) We are never told the name or gender of the main character. The reader, I guess, is left to make any conclusions on their own (as I did) but I don't think this worked very well.

2) I think maybe my expectations of this book based on the description versus what actually happens within the story were vastly different which hampered my enjoyment of the book.

I didn't feel emotionally connected to the characters, to the story or to the relationships throughout. I think I just wanted more.

I really enjoyed this and kind-of sank into this bildungsroman of a golden summer gone wrong. It was pretty masterfully written, the narrator/oldest daughter's voice was almost omnipresent and strong. Short and powerful, while also being gentle.

This is an absorbing coming of age story, reminiscent of I Capture the Castle but with a very modern twist. Lighthearted and evocative in its description of a middle-class family summer, an idyll is disrupted when two brothers turn up and stir up all kinds of rivalries and relationships that lie below the surface.
The characters are lightly drawn with a sure touch that draws the reader in, and leaves you wanting to hear more about them, and the impact of the summer is felt through the whole family as the feel of endless time is so well described with all its potential and disappointments.
My only slight disappointment was in the ending of the book, which summarised events after the summer ended, which felt a bit rushed to me, but overall didn't impact my enjoyment of the book - a super holiday read.

What a joy to read this was. Clever, sophisticated, and intelligent. There were times when things fell slightly apart? Yes, the contrast between Hugo and Kit was too great and obvious.

I am not sure what the gender neutrality added to the plot or character other than a vague ambivalence that, would, I suppose lead to class room discussions. It's very cleverly done though.

What was excellent was the sense of place, atmosphere and family. The way as a teenager one watches what is happening to see if it provides clues as to who you are and what you are.

Meg Rossof is someone whose work I have always admired, and one of the reasons why is that she does not write the same novel over and over again. Each of them is different. In this novel she moves closer to a cross between Donna Tart in terms of memory and friendship and Dodie Smith in 'I Capture the Castle' with the excellence of family and sibling relationships (but without the humour).

Meg Rosoff is such a skilled writer. You never quite know what you're going to get with one of her novels, and I mean this in the best way possible. Her range and imagination know no bounds and she writes so beautifully it's always a joy. For me, the main character of this book is really the summer, specifically a teenage summer. She evokes perfectly the tension, boredom and pleasure of six weeks with your family perfectly. Year on year a family go to the same holiday cottage by the sea, building tradition and comfortable routines that shape their summer. This year that routine is broken by the introduction of the Godden brothers who come to unsettle and and reshape the summer forever after. Teenage love and desire, distrust and jealousy snake through the heat of the summer days and ripple through everyone's lives. This is a wonderful, coming of age novel which both takes its place in the genre and with a few, subtle twists, redefines it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is the perfect summer read- dreamy, warm and enchanting. I loved the family dynamics, and the distinct characterisation of members of this eccentric and endearing family. The author perfectly captured the delights and tension of a British summer holiday. Tensions increase and sparks fly with the introduction of the Goddens- brothers from America come to stay for the summer. As the summer unravels before them, all members of the family become entwined in the games and the intriguing silence of the Godden brothers.

The only thing that stopped me giving this 5 stars is I would have liked to have been given more of an insight into the sibling dynamics and conflict they feel as they fall in love with the same brother. But that is my personal preference.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3328849300

I have been a huge fan of Meg Rosoff since picking up the extraordinary 'How I Live Now' when I was a teenager. She has such a gift for creating atmosphere; whether joyous, intense or dark. I picked TGG up knowing that I would enjoy it simply because of the author. I sat down on a sunny afternoon in May and devoured this story in one afternoon. It is set over the school summer holiday and laying down on a bench in my garden to read this, I was also transported to August! Intriguing, evocative, nostalgic, with perfect dialogue and a moody darkness.

A family tradition of a summer holiday at the beach is interrupted by the arrival of family friends- two young brothers from LA. One gorgeous and charismatic, the other moody and dark. The arrival tears apart the sweet family fabric that has been so long in the making. The mix of characters represents the jostling in big families where vying for attention is an everyday sport. The narrator tries to remove herself from this and in turn hides herself from us; we have no idea what she looks like.

I loved the portrayal of hazy summery days, the freedom of the sea and also the suffocating claustrophobia of a jam-packed holiday house. You can see the sand covering the floor, the dusty feet and damp salt stained clothes strewn about.

Don't let the idea of it being aimed at YA put you off. This is a read for everyone.

I read this in a day. One day.

I had read Rostoff’s How I Live Now before and thoroughly enjoyed it, so when I discovered she was releasing a new book, I had to get my hands on it. What surprised me at first was how different it felt from the one I had read, but Rostoff had already proven to me she is a talented author and can write emotions well, and The Great Godden just proves that better than ever.

I have never connected with a book so quickly. The atmosphere and the heady setting of summer and nostalgic longing was enticing from the first page. Our narrator tells us of their summer years ago, where they and their family encounter the Godden siblings, especially the enigmatic Kit, whose presence is enough to unsettle the peaceful equilibrium of their lazy summer.

I think your liking of the book will hinge on if you connect with the narrator. They are never named, nor is their gender specified, which adds to the mysterious nature of the tale. Their slightly cynical view of the world, and their contrasting feelings of wanting to be seen and desired by the person you desperately want the attention of almost hit too close to home for me, and I liked that they seemed aware of these feelings; how their attraction to Kit is a bad idea, but they can’t help but be enthralled by him. It was a contrast that felt believable, but not hypocritical. I couldn’t help but be enchanted by the Godden’s as much as everyone else was, and the intrigue into their personalities had me hooked until the last page.

For a story about love, it was refreshing to have a new take on it. It’s a coming of age story, but it’s also one on heartbreak, betrayal, and disappointment. I wasn’t sure where it would go, and the build up to the unpredictability of it felt natural. It gave me Call Me By Your Name vibes, in how the headiness of a setting can be just as intoxicating as the romance, and how the romance itself wasn’t your traditional love story you usually expect. They feel more real and honest in how attraction is portrayed, and the raw emotions experienced hits you with force that you can’t help but be carried away.

The only gripe I have is that the ending feels abrupt and rushed. If it had been more developed then it would be a big improvement, but my heart was swept away with this book. This is a relatable coming of age story, with enough intrigue to keep you yearning for more.

Another beautiful tale from Meg Rosoff. Her characters stay with you after reading and I genuinely couldn’t put it down. I would find this easy to recommend

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Description

One dreamy summer, in a holiday home by the sea, two families fill hot days with food and wine, swimming and games, plans for a wedding and plans for the future.

Enter the Godden brothers – irresistible, languid Kit, and surly, silent Hugo. Suddenly there’s a serpent in paradise – but which brother is it? And is it love he promises, or something very much darker?

The Great Godden chronicles a family’s summer holiday at the beach and how the comfortable family dynamic shifts when two brothers, Kit and Hugo Godden, come to stay with them. The narrator, as with the whole family, is enthralled by Kit – the elder Godden – but, as the narrative unfolds, you find that everything is not as it seems….

Straight off the bat (no pun intended, you’ll know what I mean if you’ve read it!), the narrative felt captivating and familiar. Almost instantly, I was placed into a family dynamic that was awkward and endearing in equal measures. Through the lens of the narrator, we meet a variety of characters: bat obsessed Alex, horse obsessed Tamsin and boy obsessed Mattie, as well as Hope and Malcolm and – of course – the Godden brothers, Kit and Hugo.

This family isn’t your typical family, there’s not many heart to hearts and nobody really talks to each other much but – in a funny way – you can still tell there’s love there. It didn’t bother me as much as I thought that the family weren’t close because – really – my attention was on the two mysterious brothers who emerged and interrupted the family dynamic.

We have two brothers that couldn’t be more different – which has been done multiple times, that’s for sure – but (as I read on) I couldn’t help but become captivated by the two of them. Hugo is intense and moody, whilst Kit is brooding and charming. I was incredibly annoyed by them at times but I was also a little bit in love with them, too. My opinion of them shifted and changed with the narrator and – in the end – what I thought at the start was completely turned on its head.

Rosoff’s narrative is impossible to resist. The places feel familiar, the characters are developed, and I loved how the narrative flowed like summer does: it feels like it’s never ending but – abruptly – everything just calms.

The narrator of The Great Godden was ambiguous, to say the least. They are unnamed, they don’t disclose their gender and we never learn their name. This narrator took me back to my school and university days, groaning at lessons and lectures about “unreliable narrators”. The lack of a face or name for the narrator made it harder for me to connect with them but, thankfully, it didn’t impact my enjoyment of the story as much as I thought.

The Great Godden was an irresistible summer read, full of sibling rivalry, secrets and a serpent in the midst. My only wish for this book was a more satisfying ending, it definitely could’ve ended a lot worse but I didn’t really feel like this book had the ending I imagined or wanted.

Again, I just want to thank NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the ARC.

The Great Godden will be published on 9th July, 2020

Everyone who meets Kit Godden seems to fall under her spell. The world shifts, something changes. In a holiday house by the sea, one family embarks on a dreamlike summer, when two brothers - one silent, one erring more towards deadly - arrive.

Even when you spot the serpent in the grass, you can't look away. Lyrical, breezy to read, hazy with a line of destruction, it's a summer with ramifications for a lifetime. A quick, easy read.

The Great Godden is a story that captivates the reader and whisks them off to a summer by the sea filled with family drama, adolescent shenanigans and coming of age enlightenment.
It’s the perfect read for an afternoon by the sea.

The Great Godden read as if I were watching a film. The lucid writing allowed me to read the story with such ease it was as if I were witnessing the events first hand. I particularly enjoyed the characters. They were well-rounded as individuals and together they were captivating. The family dynamics were realistic and I especially liked the banter between characters. The Goddens were also intriguing characters and I was compelled by how their true colours manifested as the story progressed, but I noted the absence of a backstory to support their questionable behaviour.

What I found particularly interesting was the questionable narrator. I was often wondering who they actually were. Having a questionable narrator is not a bad thing as they create a sense of invisibility that allows the reader to experience the story through the narrator’s eyes while remaining detached from stereo-typical bias and this type of narration adds a certain intrigue that would otherwise be absent.

All-in-all, The Great Godden is a light, entertaining and enjoyable story. It was the perfect afternoon read and I’m grateful to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the preview copy.

Meg Rosoff is an exceptionally talented writer, and like her previous novels ‘The Great Godden’ is a well written and evocative coming of age story, set over the course of a single summer.
Ultimately, I found it very difficult to truly immerse myself in the story, because of the nameless, faceless, gender-less narrator. The eldest child in the family, the story is seen through their eyes, and though it was a very clever device and very well done, I found that it left me unable to truly connect to the story as seen through their eyes. I found the plot interesting but ultimately anticlimactic. Again, I think this was due to the narrator.
This was a very quick read, and I did enjoy it. However, it is certainly not a story I would feel compelled to re-read. If you were able to connect with the narrator, I can see this being a much more enjoyable experience.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review

Compelling, lyrical and a little bit strange, The Great Godden is a coming of age book that demands to be devoured.

I loved that we know nothing at all about the narrator, when we know so much about everyone else, so this was a particularly intriguing part of the story.

The characters were all well written, their flaws evident, and the climax satisfying, though not at all what I thought it would be.

Definitely recommend this one.

‘When I think back on that summer it’s always with a sense of having lost something fragile and fleeting, something I can’t quite name. We still go to the beach and always have good times, but it’s never quite the same.’

The Great Godden was not quite what I expected, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, finishing it easily within a couple of hours. Rosoff has crafted a brilliant coming-of-age tale, full of fleeting romance and the unexpected, over a heady, lazy summer.

The unnamed narrator takes us through a summer spent at a beach house with their family and friends that might as well be family. It begins as I would imagine – they’re a close and chaotic family, all happily doing their own thing with the beach house as a base. This is what they do, how they've spent their summer holidays for generations. But when two unexpected visitors, Kit and Hugo Godden, arrive, everything changes. Everyone is enchanted by Kit, suspicious of Hugo, and an odd atmosphere slowly creeps up on you; you’re sure something is going to happen, you just don’t know what and I spent the majority of the book trying to figure it out.

I was totally swept up in the mystery of it all, in the fleeting feelings of summer romances and raging hormones. I’m not sure if it felt a bit rushed, or if I just rushed through it, but this feels like a perfect summer read that is just the right mix of light and easy, with an undercurrent of something else.

This is an absorbing read about coming of age. Taking place over the course of the summer, it's a book that tells many stories within one plot, with many little subplots that add depth and layers to the characters and gives the main protagonist more interest as a character.

I feel like it's been about 10 years since I read a novel by Meg Rosoff - it's probably been longer. As a teenager, I was a massive lover of How I Live Now and Just in Case, both books that introduced me to the YA genre and opened my eyes to just how good the genre can be. I still love YA fiction (weirdly, Meg Rosoff is included in this post!) but I must admit I don't read half as much from the genre as I used to. I'm trying to rectify this, asking for recommendations and keeping an eye out on authors that I love. I was browsing Netgalley a few days ago and noticed that a Meg Rosoff book was on offer - naturally, I requested a copy and was lucky enough to have my request accepted by the publisher. I got stuck into the book straight away - I just couldn't resist taking myself back in time.

The Great Godden Book Review - a YA novel by Meg Rosoff

This book was gifted to me by Bloomsbury Publishing but as is always the case, all thoughts are my own
We are guided through the tale by an unknown narrator - we know very little about their physical being, their gender and their appearance; we do, however, know that they have two sisters and a brother and that they don't really consider themselves to be all that beautiful. Every year, the narrator and their family drive to the beach and spend the summer holidays there - each with their own hobbies and past times, spending the summer doing their own thing. Our narrator chooses to work - we know that they want to get out of the house and away from the Goddens - both of them, that is. The Goddens have arrived from America - one gorgeous, magically endearing and the other dark and mysterious. Both appeal to the narrator, in seemingly different ways. The narrator's sister quickly strikes up a relationship with Kit; he's the gorgeous one, the one everyone wants. The story unravels and Kit's true character comes to light - how can someone so beautiful be so dangerous?

I loved this story - I fully expected to, considering my love of Meg Rosoff growing up. It's quite a dark book, inadvertently so, and I found myself really sympathising with the characters- bar one, of course. It's a very quick read - I read it in a single sitting, and the language is very reliable, warming and intricate. I'd argue it's the perfect summer holiday read.

I finished Meg Rosoff’s The Great Godden late last night and I don’t know how I feel about it, to be honest.

There are a few things I admire about this book. First of all, there is no denying that Meg Rosoff is a sophisticated, poignant and clever writer. I have never read a book that has quite the same flair and I found how Meg Rosoff chose to tell the story intriguing. The Great Godden reads almost like a memoir or an historical piece, even though it’s set in this decade as far as I know. The story is told through the narrator/main character, in slice of life segments as the summer unfolds. The narrator has no known name or gender, so that kind of leaves the reader guessing and free to decide who the character is. The fact that the main character has no name or gender is quite fascinating, though it was something I didn’t realise until about half-way through the book. Being female, I imagined them as a girl, but towards the end of the novel, there were certain plot points that made me realise I think I would have enjoyed the book more if I’d imagined the character as a boy.

While I could admire the writing style and the way Meg Rosoff chose to present the narrator/main character, overall I didn’t really enjoy this book as a story. Characters are always such an important part of my enjoyment of a book and unfortunately, I just didn’t connect with the characters this book. Sure, there were moments I thought the little brother, Alex, was amusing and moments I wanted to protect the younger Godden, Hugo, but apart from that…I just didn’t like the characters because I couldn’t connect with them. For me, there just wasn’t enough depth to any of them. If I had connected with the narrator, I would have enjoyed this book a lot more, but my personal reading experience just didn’t allow for that. Though, as I’ve said, I admire the narrative style, I personally felt it lacked substance, largely because I didn’t feel like I truly understood the main character. I didn’t understand everyone’s obsession with Kit, though I can’t really say how I feel about his character without giving things away. I didn’t believe in the romance aspect of the story or really get any feeling that the narrator was in love with Kit. It just didn’t come across that way to me. Although I didn’t struggle to finish the book, there wasn’t much in the actual plot that kept me hooked or got me excited or made me feel something. Everything felt emotion-less. Things just seemed to happen story, such as to the narrator, and then were just pushed aside as if they didn’t happen at all. In the end, I finished this book just feeling underwhelmed, confused and a little bit disturbed.

The Great Godden certainly got me thinking and I can see it as a book that would be great to study and write an essay on. Overall, though, it’s just not my type of book. I really hope other readers out there enjoy it more than I did because I do think it has its moments and might really speak to some people. But it’s just not for me.

Firstly, I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing me a copy of The Great Godden to read in exchange for an honest review.

Let’s get into the good stuff. It was very well written and smart (or pretentious? You decide). The author is definitely great at stringing sentences together, poetically and intelligently. It was a very simple slice of life story with some unexpected happenings.

Now, not necessarily the bad, but what I didn’t like. I did not appreciate the tone of the story. It was a bizarre fit for me and felt in writing like a historical fiction novel, but it’s clearly set in modern times. It kept niggling at me whenever something more modern was mentioned because it seemed so out of place.

The characters were all very undeveloped. I felt like they were all barely touched upon and there wasn’t much development. I just couldn’t really care for any of them, even Hugo who was clearly the best character in the book. They were all really irritating, privileged and unlikeable.

The pacing was off for me. It moved incredibly slowly and nothing really happened at all. Even toward the end with the revelation, and I guess like I said before it’s more of a ‘slice of life’ summertime happening but it just lacked a lot. There wasn’t enough building up of a mood, setting or their characters.

I may be in the minority on this one because I can understand why some people could love it, but it really fell short for me and I almost DNF’d it. I don’t think I would have missed anything if I did - but I carried on purely in respect of getting my full opinion on this book for review.

2 stars

Set over the course of a summer Rosoff, through our narrator, chronicles the idiosyncrasies of one family, their holiday traditions and how the arrival of strangers, in this case Kit and Hugo Godden, can delicately upset established relationships.

The author quickly established some distinct characters, and the language and descriptions are beautifully done.

However, it’s a very slim volume and in places, to me, doesn’t dig beneath the surface. Despite setting up these people, it doesn’t really get past one or two feelings and traits given to each of the characters, and the ending hits like a steam train. I would have liked the whole thing to be fleshed out, and doubled in length.

There is a very clever conceit surrounding the protagonist and what you actually know about them that I realised after finishing the book, which is obvious when pointed out that nearly edged me up to a fourth star.