I think this little book may actually be perfect. The language, tone, the raw and revealing moments in relationships under strain, just perfect. ( )

The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough was a book that seemed to be fantastic and that a lot of my friends on Goodreads ( and other readers there) love. However, now and then am I the odd one out because this book didn't do a thing for me. I kept on expecting for the moment to show up when I would get enthralled and get sucked into the story, but it never happened.

Instead, it just dragged on, and this is not a thick book, only 144 pages long, but it felt like it took forever to get to the end. I just couldn't connect with the character nor the story. The fantasy aspect of the story was also a big failure. Instead of being mysterious and intriguing it was just odd and felt out of place. I wonder if the book and worked better if one had gotten to know the characters better if the story had been more developed. Now instead it feels like you get a quick introduction to each of the siblings, but you never really get to know them or care for them or their father.

Now, this is just my humble opinion, it's a well-loved book and perhaps it will work better for you.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

Rich, gripping, moving and most of all filled with a wonderful honesty about life and death. I loved this. ( )

Beautifully written book, as the narrator- spending her last weeks with her dying father- is joined by her four siblings. All are damaged, each in their own way. The nameless narrator juxtaposes childhood recollections with the morphine, the drifting consciousness, the change of her much-loved parent...who was - and is- so much more than the crumbling shell he now inhabits.
There is, too, a magical side to the story, as the narrator recalls seeing some mythical, horse-like horned beast out in the meadow.....a scary yet benevolent creature, offering the possibility of escape.
Very believable portrait of dying. ( )

5 siblings are coming home to spend the final moments with their father when he is dying. The unnamed narrator is the middle child who stayed home to care for his father after his diagnosis with cancer. When she informs her siblings that their father has mere days left, they finally come back home when they can no longer postpone it. They all have their own ways coping and it causes drifts between them.

The story bounces between past and present while we follow narrator’s relationship with her father and her siblings. We learn how the family slowly drifted apart after their mother left them.

I didn’t get the magical aspects of the story. When she was a child she saw something. And she sees it again as an adult. Was it real or was she just imagining it? Was it supposed to have some bigger meaning? I don’t get it.

Despite that, I really liked this. It’s short book, more like a novella, and while sad I had to know what happens next. ( )