This book took me by surprise. We follow the tale of two people: Aaron and Roisin. There are a number of topical issues covered within this book and I did wonder if the author would be able to do them justice as the book is only 250 pages long - but he did, and very well! The covering of difficult subjects (Israel for example) is very current and well done.

James Roseman’s debut follows Aaron and Róisín, both lost in different ways, who fall into a relationship which may turn to love.
Aaron’s life was interrupted five years ago when his brother was killed in Israel, a volunteer for the IDF. Since then, he’s cut himself off from his parents who he blames for supporting Moe's decision, working in a dead-end job while partying hard with his roommate, Jake. On one of those nights, he meets Róisín who’s overstayed her visa, escaping a controlling relationship back home in Ireland. A tentative relationship begins until Aaron turns up after a bender with Jake and Róisín calls a temporary halt which threatens to become permanent until she finds she’s pregnant. When Jake proposes a radical solution, Róisín is hesitant. There’s a possibility of love and a good life together but can two people from such very different backgrounds bridge the chasm between them?
Roseman’s novel delicately explores themes of religious and cultural identity, grief, homesickness and loneliness with empathy and compassion. It’s hardly an original story but it’s the quality of his writing that lifts this novel. The main characters are particularly well drawn: Aaron’s poleaxing by his brother’s death evokes sympathy even while his arrested development irritates; the pain of Róisín’s overwhelming homesickness is sharply conveyed while Jake and his sidekick Percy’s inability to register Aaron’s despair is all too believable. A quietly enjoyable novel which left me with much to think about and keen to read what Roseman comes up with next.

Thank you to NetGalley and VERVE books for the early copy of Placeholders by James Roseman in return for an honest review.

Roisin and Aaron are characters attracted to one another on a night out in a club and after a rocky start become an item. Their upbringings are poles apart with Aaron being raised within Judaism in the US and Roisin as an atheist in Ireland, they both have troubled histories and this is the third wheel in their relationship, they are then further challenged when they find that Roisin is pregnant.

The book dealt with some interesting issues, including Israel, depression, homesickness, and feeling trapped, both physically and psychologically. This was a brave undertaking, not least the Israel parts given the current situation, and I couldn't decide if it was too many subjects to contend and to emphasise with or if it was that there wasn't enough depth in each subject due to there being so many.

I will be interested to see what the author publishes next, he isn't afraid to cover difficult subjects and this always makes for interesting reading.

Set in contemporary Boston, Roisin and Aaron are in their mid twenties. They are instantly attracted to one another when they meet in a club. However, they are both in a bit of an emotional mess. Roisin, escaped an emotionally abusive relationship whilst on a city break from her native Dublin with her boyfriend and has overstayed her visa, she is desperately homesick but avoids contact with her family. She is also financially struggling stuck in a dodgy cash in hand job as a barista trying to avoid the lecherous cafe owner. If she leaves the US she will not be able to return. Aaron was a star computer studies student at Tuft's but after his brother was killed in Israel he has been a mess, getting sent down from university and is now stuck in a low wage, low status data management job and nihilistically gets drunk and high most nights. Like Roisin he avoids contact with his family.

I was pulled into the story of this modern romance which explores cultural identity, homesickness, loneliness, love and loss. Aaron really is a lost soul. Roisin seems more together and a bigger driver in the relationship. They find comfort and some solace with one another but can their relationship work in the face of geographical, religious and cultural issues and the fact that Aaron is secretive and flaky and just not ready for a serious commitment. I empathised and really liked both Roisin and Aaron and the time spent following the trajectory of their relationship.

I always feel slightly strange being the first person to rate a new book and being the first person to set an 'average' rating for it. This is particularly true when it's a book that I don't enjoy.

Thankfully, this a positive review so no worries here. Placeholders is a relatively short novel, only around 250 pages which seemed strange to me at first given that the book explores the relationship between two characters, Aaron and Roisin. My concern was whether the writer could make us care enough about the characters, in such a relatively short book, given books like this live or die by how invested we are in the two main characters.

There was nothing to fear here though. Both Aaron and Roisin were brilliant characters and both leapt off the page with a real understated beauty. Both having suffered pain in their lives, they meet and appear to fill a hole in each other's lives. However, their relationship does not run smoothly and when it comes to the crunch will it be true love or will they simply just be placeholders?

Read on to find out........

Thanks to Netgalley and VERVE books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review