Thank you to Headline for providing me with a digital proof of this book.

One of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read.

Isaac and the Egg is a wonderfully creative story about grief, coping, and a mysterious creature. It’s incredibly heart-breaking and absolutely hilarious. When I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it – and when I finished it I didn’t want it to end. The bizarre opening had me grasping for clues as to what could happen, and the unravelling of each element of the story just made me love this novel more and more by the chapter. The author’s imagination helped create a masterpiece of a book that deals with a difficult and sensitive topic that so many people can relate to through a mystifying adventure with a movie fanatic extra-terrestrial.

This book was so much more than I could ever have imagined, and I will treasure this story and its lessons with me for a long, long time. Definitely a must read for 2022.

At several points throughout my reading of Bobby Palmer’s wonderful debut Isaac and the Egg, I was reminded of similar fictional explorations of loss. Max Porter’s Grief is the Thing with Feathers comes to mind, but, more obviously, David Almond’s seminal Skellig. Like both these books, Isaac and the Egg utilises the motif of an “alternate”: a non-human guide who appears at a critical juncture in the protagonist’s life in order to guide them towards transformation. Just like these novels, too, Isaac and the Egg is a fairy tale in the purest sense of the genre, utilising both occasional darkness and magical realism to interrogate the starkest realities of the real world.

When we first meet Palmer’s protagonist Isaac Addy he has already reached critical mass, staring into the abyss from a bridge after the death of his beloved wife, Mary. When a chance echo of Isaac’s own scream - similarly feral in its desperation - is heard in the nearby forest, Isaac is compelled to investigate. Whether what follows is real or simply a manifestation of his fractured psyche is a moot point. As readers we are already on board, equally compelled to discover whether even in the darkest of circumstances hope can be found.

This is a deceptively complex novel; a skillful sleight of hand which charms us so fully with its accessible and hugely sympathetic two-hander that we become unaware of what it’s doing under the surface. One of the hallmarks of timeless, classic fiction is to make the specific universal, and stripped of its outer eccentricities this is exactly what Palmer’s novel does. For Isaac is both himself and all of us: in our particular capacity to both love and lose what we love and to grieve its absence in absolutely human ways.

Any notion that Palmer’s conversational prose style is straightforwardly “easy” is quickly undercut by the art of his set pieces. This is especially true in the earlier chapters where the unflinching gaze of Issac’s grief is imbued with such vulnerability that our reading becomes almost invasive. Those of us who have experienced the bone-numbing, pyjama-wearing, time-as-syrup chasm of a close loss will only nod in agreement at these scenes, whilst those who haven’t will find themselves shrinking in fear at their possibility. What is equally so impressive about these chapters, and throughout the novel, is the author’s level of command over his material. In lesser hands, it would be perilously easy to slip into the saccharine, the sentimental, but Palmer manages to control his tonal pedal with immense skill, so that the reader feels moved but never manipulated, seen but never objectified.

A great deal of this control is achieved through the novel’s humour which is threaded throughout. Sometimes it’s with the wry, easy smile of a film reference, or the excellently positioned epigraph, but at other times it’s via the perfectly timed punchline, such as that which comes after Isaac and Egg’s shopping trip to town which had me laughing out loud. Make no mistake, this level of calibration - this pitch-perfect tone of the confessional - is HARD to achieve, but when done well it is masterful in its subtlety.

There are so many wonderful moments in this book seamlessly joined by metaphor and subtext. The idea of grief as an incommunicable language, for example, finds voice in Issac’s initial attempts to understand Egg which gradually evolves through the novel as Isaac begins to emotionally emerge.

If the peripheral characters - even that of Isaac’s wife, Mary - seem shadowy at times, I think this is both intentional and appropriate. The story doesn’t need the frills of excessive backstory nor an excessively drawn cast. To do so would be to dilute the laser focus on its protagonist and, in so doing, the singular nature of grief which in its rawest state exists at the exclusion of the world.

And it is this authenticity of feeling that proves most impressive about this novel - that rare willingness to be vulnerable on the page which so many authors shy away from - which will stay with readers. Through Isaac’s journey from loss to resurrection we gain the highest recommendation of fiction: to come away learning something new about the world and ourselves.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Headline PG, for the ARC in return for providing an impartial review.
TWs for suicide and death.

A young man walks into the woods on the worst morning of his life and finds something there that will change everything.

It's a tale that might seem familiar. But how it speaks to you will depend on how you've lived until now.

Sometimes, to get out of the woods, you have to go into them. Isaac and the Egg is one of the most hopeful, honest and wildly imaginative novels you will ever read.

A beautiful book. Insanely addictive and utterly convincing. A bitter-sweet pang in my heart.

This was an impulse review request for me. I've been craving some more involved, thoughtful and real stories; something that leaves me feeling and thinking afterwards. This one popped into my emails, one read of the description and I hit request. It didn't disappoint.

Isaac and the Egg follows Isaac and his recently upturned life as he lives through his worst nightmare. Struggling and spiralling through his journey with grief, he's helped along out of the depths of depression by this mystery creature he meets in the word, named Egg. The pair look after each other whilst both trying to investigate the depths of each other's lives and past.

Obviously the main emotional feature of this story is the grief that is consuming Isaac. He's isolated, shut away going through all the feelings of sadness, anger and guilt with what seems to be no relief. His journey is conveyed in such a way that you feel entwined into his story. His grief is shared with you as a reader, the feeling of helplessness and a lack of control.

This story isn't all misery though. It's full of laughter and light-heartedness mainly springing from the weird relationship formed between Isaac and Egg - Egg's confusion at human tasks, his little language and the ways he helps Isaac.

At times you realise that there's been no big jumps, no plot twists because this story doesn't need them. It's about finding solace and love for the characters and waiting for the breakthrough moments, which you're never sure will actually come.

This book has been described as "mad, sad and funny" and it so perfectly described this story. It is one of those that you just need to have trust and find out for yourself just how perfect it really is as no words can do it justice.

In my eyes this is a must-read of 2022 and I will definitely be rereading this one in the future.

A young man walks into the woods on the worst morning of his life and finds something there that will change everything.

It's a tale that might seem familiar. But how it speaks to you will depend on how you've lived until now.

“Isaac And The Egg” by Bobby Palmer was a beautiful read. The premise of the book is so simple yet inviting, and the story within the pages will capture your soul. It was exactly the kind of book I needed at the time I read it - like a huge fleecy blanket that wrapped me up and made things seem ok again. And as the book’s premise claims, “sometimes you have to go into the woods to come back out again”. I would highly recommend this book to everyone, especially those who have lost their way. After reading this, you may just find it again.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an unbiased review.

Let's start this review in the same way that I've started reviewing every book for a little while now - by saying that it's gonna start off with the full 5 stars and I'm always hopeful that it'll end with them all still in place when I reach the end of the book.

It's also my very first ebook on my new e-reader that arrived around 3 hours ago, so this book will be a test of that too.

Let's get started on the reading and reviewing:

Straight away I'm thrown straight into the action and I'm gripping my new e-reader, already hoping that the character will change his mind!

At only 3% a star is already coming off, just like the majority of other books I've read for potential trademark issues... it's been a fantastic first 3% but this author has already made my sense of fair-play kick into action - I've knocked a star off other fantastic books for using famous names potentially without permission, so the first star is, unfortunately, coming off this book already too.

I'm now at 8% and there hasn't been any sign of a new chapter (although, come to think of it, it didn't start off with a chapter number or title or anything like that either so maybe there aren't properly defined chapters in this book??) and I've stopped reading at an emboldened part that seems as good a place as any to stop.

I'm enjoying this book so far, but what on earth is the egg and why is Isaac feeling so low that he's suicidal and seemingly unable to function at his place (BTDT myself)?

I'm up to chapter THREE now apparently, but the previous two chapters weren't signalled at all.

I'm discovering more about the egg though and dare I say it, but I'm starting to care about Isaac and especially the egg now. I think I also understand now, why the biscuit tin is so important to Isaac... no spoilers though ;-)

Another sign of a good book is me letting a hot drink go almost stone cold lol

Wow.

The third chapter was incredibly intense and another drink has gone tepid, but I can't stop reading now!

The author is really in their stride now and this is an incredible book that is well worth a read... I've even raised a small smile in a few places which is pretty much unheard of!

Wow.

Another powerful chapter and I'm on the verge of welling up with tears now.

Egg and Isaac need each other and I know why now. No spoilers again, but I'm thinking that the rest of the book is gonna be even more powerful than it has been so far. I'm 59% of the way through it now and my drink has gone stone cold yet again. It's a good job I like cold coffee innit? lol

Just finished reading this absolutely incredible debut and if it hadn't been for the usage of those trademarks it would have been a very solid 5 stars. A definite must-read.

What a lovely, unusual book. If you are looking for something different and heart-warming to read then read "Isaac and the Egg" by Bobby Palmer. What a beautiful friendship and it is so touching how they help each other through grief. Still don't fully-understand what happens but I don't care, it was lovely!

This has to be the most ,moving book I've read. It's so beautifully crafted and will ,make you laugh and cry. I couldn't put it down , such was the storyit grips from page one and never let's up. Isaac and Egg are two characters you won't forget in a hurry. This book will stay with me forever.

An astonishingly original and beautiful gem, full of magic and love. I read this almost in one sitting it was so moving and compelling. The writing is so natural and I loved all the movie references. Trauma and loss lead to a suspended reality where life has a way of finding redemption in unusual ways. It’s beautiful and emotional, but never tacky and depressing. The humour carries it along and saves it from being gloomy. I loved this book, and may even read it again.

Undoubtedly sweet, but a bit too Hollywood sugar for my tastes

I’m clearly the party pooper here. This is a novel about real suffering. Isaac Addy, somewhat more fragile than he likes people to realise, had the pretty perfect life. A book illustrator, he met and married his perfect partner, Mary, both personally and professionally as she is a writer of stories for children, and her books need an illustrator.

So far, so good in the Addy world, and their pretty perfect romance.

Various things go terribly wrong, and Isaac is blown apart by pain, rapidly heading below rock bottom.

Slowly, a strange encounter, the meaning of which is open to question, and gets revealed during the course of the novel. offers something redeeming.

Perhaps it is just the plethora of Hollywoodish films which Isaac and Mary endlessly watch, the wise earth mother wisdom of her, the somewhat simplistic rather unremitting cosy loveliness of everyone – including Isaac himself who just needs to be a little less little boy lost, but I found myself in the peculiar position of reading about the whole ‘fallen apart life. finding a curious way back’ without experiencing any empathetic heart response.

This is an EXTREMELY unlikely response from me; a book with this subject matter should have me riven with the protagonist’s pain – and that of all the other clearly pained-FOR-Isaac’s pain, good, nice people around him.

The problem was, I felt manipulated in the way that Hollywood often manipulates.

Clearly, I am in the minority here.

There’s been some great early buzz about Bobby Palmer's Debut novel ‘Isaac and The Egg’ and rightly so.
After finishing this a few days ago, I’ve scrambled down my thoughts on paper.

The blurb doesn't give much to go on. But here, less is more. Go in fresh. And have a box of hankies ready.

It is a beautifully written debut novel that tackles grief, pain, torment and mental health – showing how fragile life can really be. One minute everything can be wonderful but the slightest crack in the shell and it’s broken. And just like life, this book can be an absolute emotional roller coaster at times – it had me literally laughing out loud one minute and close to tears, if not in, the next.

The character Egg – whether it’s real or just a fantasy formed in Isaac’s imagination to help him through a traumatic chapter of his life – is an alien, almost childlike character who is (or isn’t) stranded on Earth and unable to communicate initially with Isaac except through screaming. Some of Isaac’s attempts to understand Egg are hilarious with one trip to town with Egg’s shopping list (for building a communication device) ending with uproarious results.

And if you’re thinking some of this sounds a tad familiar (alien stranded in woods who wants to phone home) then yes, there is certainly an ET influence in there. In fact, the prose is positively packed with pop-culture references from the afore-mentioned ET - but nods to The Wizard of Oz, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and It’s a Wonderful Life all raise their fabulous heads. In fact, you wonder at times if Egg is Isaac’s guardian angel much like Clarence Odbody was for George Bailey.

Suffice to say, I loved everything about this book. It’s sad, it’s funny, it’s quirky, it’s just so good. Even down to some of the inventive typography inside which just gets some points across beautifully. Five. Stars.

My thanks to publisher Headline Books and Net Galley for the chance to read and review this early.

Pre-order it now - along with a big box of tissues.

A brief but utterly beautiful book about grief, and how we deal with things when life is entirely upended.

3.5 stars

This book comes so well reviewed,even months before publication.
It was a bit daunting, when I wasn't loving it. Am I broken?
Thankfully it hit a certain point, and I started to understand why everyone was raving about it.
It is sad, it is funny.
It's also a little heartwarming.
It's going to do incredibly well.

This is such an unbelievably special book, and I'm not quite sure I can do it justice with a review. It's perfectly paced, eloquent and charming, laced with magic and mystery and intrigue and this incredible blend of joy and sadness. I was quite frankly a wreck reading those final chapters.

This is one of those stories so moving and vivid it would be an injustice for it not to be adapted for screen one day. A magical story of loss and friendship, which made me laugh and cry and felt incredibly real, despite the intriguing and otherworldly premise. I'm going to be recommending this to everyone.

I’ve had my eye on this book for quite a while now, the minute I saw it on Twitter I knew I wanted to read it. So when I was approve on Netgalley after months of waiting for it to be there, I was so excited.

I devoured this book over 2 days, if I hadn’t been so tired the first day and kept falling asleep I would have read it in one sitting. But finishing the last 50% while I was on the exercise bike, was not the best idea. By the end I could barely see through the sweat, and the many amounts of tears I cried reading the final chapters.

This is a beautiful story of grief, loss, love, and acceptance. The relationship between Isaac and the Egg is a lovely one, and it grows so much in ever so slight ways, that you don’t realise for a while they’ve gone from acquaintances to friends. I loved getting to know Egg, his funny little language, and the helpful things he tries to do for Isaac. The toaster scene made my smile.

I really think everyone should read this book, and I think if you have been struggling with some grief or loss in your life, you might even find a bit of comfort in it. Thank you Bob Palmer, for bringing Isaac and the Egg into my life.

Thanks again to Headline Books for my arc copy, Netgalley, and of course Mr Palmer for breaking my heart, then mending it again.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. I don't think any review I write could do this book justice, it was beautifully written and unlike anything I have read before, a 5 star book.

This book is SO special. It's just wonderful; funny, sad, profound and beautifully written. I really didn't want it to end. As it was quite late in the evening when I reached the final chapter, I decided to save it until the morning. I was wide awake at 6am desperate to finish it.

I don't want to say much about the plot because it is a treat to discover it for yourself. I'd just say it's about love and loss and finding some kind of resolution. I fell in love with characters and they will stay with me for a long time. Additionally, I will never look at baked beans and toasters (no, that isn't a typo!) in the same way again.

If you love a quirky and pretty unique novel that will make you laugh and cry Isaac and the Egg is for you. Wawooo!

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Headline Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't even know where to begin in reviewing a book about a grief stricken man who finds an egg in the forest when he is at his absolute lowest.

This is one of those books which represents the very best of literary fiction but also represents why some people don't enjoy. Its about a man and an egg and if you are a fan of plots, mystery, twists and character development then this might not be for you.

However, the prose is simply beautiful and the topic of grief is tackled in such a heart-breaking but, at times, joyful and humorous way.

An amazing novel and highly recommended to all.

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline Review for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Oh Goodness me. I don't think any review I write for this will ever do it justice.
Beautiful, sweet, sombre. Expresses grief in a way I don't think has ever been tackled before, not even close.

Prose is gorgeous.

A sensational piece that will stay with me for a very long time.

I was absolutely delighted to be approved for Isaac and the Egg, a book everyone seems to be talking about.

I can absolutely see why!

Isaac suffers a terrible tragedy and at His lowest ebb, He comes across a large egg in the woods.

We follow Isaac and the egg as Isaac tries to process His greif and we find out what happened before Isaac met egg.

So beautifully written and I was in tears by the end. Bobby Palmer somehow manages to tackle the difficult subject of grief whilst also creating something comforting and heartwarming. An absolute must read!