I really hoped to love The Book of George, thanks to its excellent publication by Atlantic Books.

The novel follows the protagonist from his teenage years, through adulthood. The more you read about George — his lack of passion and drive, his inability to be there for the people he loves, his general passivity towards life —, the less likeable he becomes; yet, there’s something empathetic about this character. This is a sign of an excellent writer, who makes a mediocre character into a loveably unlikeable hero, and Greathead has pulled it off.

That said, I found the narrative quite slow and wished there had been more plot to balance the astute observations of this bland character. Early on in the novel, when George suffers an unexpected tragedy, his character flaws become pronounced; I believe a more eventful plot (and life) would underline his weaknesses even better than the meandering narrative does.

George is a flawed character, portrayed tenderly but without indulgence by the writer. That is the point of the novel: he is a familiarly disappointing guy. But overall, I found the narrative quite hard to get through and didn’t feel able to relate to the protagonist on any level (unlike in the frequently-comped Good Material or Intermezzo).

3.5 stars. Although this book is about George (clue’s in the title!) what struck me most was how his general inertia and fecklessness affected the women his life. They despair of him, accept him, and cover for him and I think most women can relate to that…maybe most male readers will recognise their friends (but never themselves, obviously) in George’s actions. This is something I’d be interested to know.
The book is essentially a set of vignettes from different years of George’s life and the wry observations are right on the nose. The writing is brilliantly minimal, with never an unnecessary word used. It was the quality of writing that kept me reading actually - I felt the some of the situations were a little too similar to each other and may have paused reading and returned to it later if the writing wasn’t so good.
The end was unexpected although the fact that George is always going to make out ok in our patriarchal world was not surprising.

We all know a George...

This was an easy and surprisingly emotional at times, novel about a man named George. The reader follows his life at various points from when he is young up until he is 40. He has traits that make you want to shout at him and traits that make you want to hug him. He is one man and every man.
An entertaining character study watching this man stumble and find his path in life. Funny, frustrating and an all round enjoyable read.

3.5- 4 stars

The Book of George documents the life and times of George from a young age all the way up to being forty, trying to reach the cusp of change but always seemingly seems to miss.

Through the snippets of George's life, we see him move through school, college and an internship before bouncing between jobs and writing and book as well as moving into a flat with his girlfriend, Jenny (who deserves a book of her own). Socially awkward, inept, and at times irredeemable in his behaviour, the characters around George push him through his own life. He is always on the brink but never quite taking the leap into the unknown. Honest, and refreshing from other books as we have a character who does not have a major breakthrough or quest... here is normal life.

The big question is, will George change?

A brilliantly written book, and I really liked the way Kate Greathead draws the reader into George's life even though he is unlikeable at times, and passive towards the major events that happen to him.

My plan is to go back and ready Kate Greathead's previous book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance ebook copy.

A fairly accurate portrayal of a hapless man, from birth to middle-age. We all know (and love) them.

George is a flawed guy from the get go. He is an average guy who has his problems and life isn’t plain sailing for him. From the age of 12 to roughly 40, we learn more about George and his regular life.

I really enjoyed this!! I found it great that he was just an average guy that wasn’t anything unbelievable. I really liked how his character developed and how much we learn. I also really liked the chapters being a different age so we can have little snippets of his life to get the bigger picture.

I found this an easy to follow read and loved the writing style. I feel like I know a guy very similar to George which is so funny to think about 😂

I’d recommend this book!

The Book of George by Kate Greathead

The story of George from young adult to middle-aged man, I found this book compulsive and finished it very quickly. A difficult one to describe because in many ways George is unlikeable and infuriating, yet i still wanted to know what happened to him! Highly recommended and I can't wait to read what the author writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

The Book of George is simply the story of George at various points throughout his life. Each chapter tells you how old he is at that point, and offers a snapshot of his life story. The book initially seems quite disjointed, but the reader can follow the progression of his life and relationships via these short chapters.

The book was well written and easy to read, but I did find George to be rather unlikeable. The only other character who appears frequently enough for the reader to form any kind of opinion on is Jenny, who I found to be interesting and I think I'd have preferred a book about her, not George - her life seemed to have more depth to it than George's. I'm not really sure how I actually feel about the book, as it isn't a story as such, but I did read it quickly and it held my attention. An interesting idea.

The decade spanning story of George and his inability to make something of himself, through his infuriating decision making.
I really enjoyed the book, loathed his treatment of Jenny, but did find myself rooting for him at times. I liked the character of Cressida and found the sibling relationship refreshingly positive.
I would read this author again

I read this in a single sitting - sat down to with the intention of just reading the opening chapter but never quite managed to put it down. I loved and hated George - he's a brilliant character - and this has been a great recommendation for readers who liked Good Material and want to read in the same vein.

I’m struggling a bit with my review of this book. Maybe because it wasn’t quite what I expected but that’s not to say that’s necessarily a bad thing. The book follows George from age 14 to his late 30’s. George was expected to do well in his life; George expected to do well in his life but life doesn’t always give you what you expect. This is a slow paced character driven novel so don’t expect fast paced action!

Briefly, at college when writing his dissertation he got a job in a restaurant and there he met Jenny. Although she clearly fancied him he didn’t feel the same but as they came closer they started a relationship, one that would last, on and off, for many years. Throughout the timescale George starts jobs but never seems to last for long and job hopping often means home hopping too.

George was probably one of the most annoying character I’ve read for a long time. His treatment of Jenny made my blood boil but I did feel that she facilitated his behaviour at times. I did like Jenny as a character, she was full of good intentions and tried to put George on the right path on a number of occasions. However, he was unambitious and lazy, although there were times when I wondered if he was supposed to be on the spectrum? He had relied on various women through his life, his mother, his sister and Jenny and there were no indications this would change. Despite all this I was rooting for George, I wanted him to pull his socks up and get a good job and stick to it, to marry Jenny and live happy ever after. Did he? You’ll have to read the book. A compelling and interesting novel. 3.5⭐️

Oh, George!

This man took me on a rollercoaster.
The book reads almost like a biography, following a series of moments that paint a picture of who he is.
Inept, funny, socially awkward, likable, pitiful, irresponsible, relatable, cringeworthy, egotistical, irredeemable, redeemable.

It’s easy to feel like I’ve known someone like George before. He’s not a bad person, but he’s not a particularly good one either.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book was George’s relationship with Jenny. In many ways, she’s like him—but his opposite.
At times, she’s the lifeline he needs to keep from drowning; at others, she’s the source of his anger and depressive tendencies, simply for being her true self.

It’s hard to tell whether they bring out the best or worst in one another. Are they exactly what the other needs, or would they be better off as friends? I still don’t know, but I found this tender yet toxic dynamic surprisingly realistic.

A funny, sad, and honest portrait of a man like many.

This smart funny novel is reminiscent of Dolly Alderton. As you navigate through George will feel familiar and you’ll find the heartstrings pull at this tender novel

Unfortunately this was not what I was expecting at all, which is totally my fault for going in with expectations, but this was pitched to me as a funny, relatable story and I just found it quite dull to be completely honest. I ended up DNF'ing at around 50% as I just was not invested at all, really sorry! It's not for me, but i'm sure lots of people will love this!

I really enjoyed this book. The chapters were a good length to read in a 30-45 minute sitting. I also liked how the book spans across George's lifestyle from a young age up to mid-40s. Whilst there are no major plot twists or events, this book is somewhat 'amusing' and comedic on a basic level with George's encounters and thoughts, which kept me reading.

THE BOOK OF GEORGE by KATE GREATHEAD

“We all know a George. He's the kind of guy who's brimming with potential but incapable of following through; he doesn't know if he's in love with his girlfriend, but he certainly likes having her around; he's distant from - but still reliant on - his mother; he swears he'll finish his novel one day.
Sure, you might find him disappointing. But no one is more disappointed in George than George himself”

I went back and forth throughout this book thinking George was insufferable to thinking actually he lazy but he’s alright. Maybe that’s what made him feel like a real person, aren’t we all multiple things as once? And the blurb is right, we all definitely all know a “George” in life, I’ve probably even been a “George” and one point or another growing up. Aside from George and my inability to make up my mind on him, this books had multiple other characters who were equally as complicated. I think George’s girlfriend was potentially the only person I liked throughout the entire story. I thought this was brilliant as it kept the characters from feeling one dimensional which is needed in character driven story.

This is a slow paced, character driven story with no plot twists or gotcha moments but the characters are entertaining enough to keep this from feeling like a chore to read.

As funny as it is astute and as singular as it is universal, The Book of George is a deft, unexpectedly moving never-coming-of-age that is both the story of a single life and of a thousand men.

I think I must have misunderstood what this book is about which is totally my fault, I didn’t think it would be such a focused character study. As a result I didn’t enjoy it as much as I initially thought I would as I do struggle to connect with character studies. Despite that though I do believe people who enjoy this type of book would enjoy this, my low rating is just a reflection of my personal preference and inability to speak on whether it’s an amazing character study as they are not my usual reads.

Thank you to netgalley and atlantic books for allowing me to read this before publication.

I loved the sound of this but unfortunately the content didnt quite meet what I was expecting and I didn't really care about what happened to George or was going on in his life.
Im sure its a me problem though so give it a go!

Considering this is a slow character study of a book. I’m surprised how much I liked reading about George’s life. I wish it was longer.