Gavin Extence

This book had me hooked from the opening pages. A seemingly wired teenager is stopped at the Dover border with a bag full of marijuana, some cash and an urn containing the remains of one Mr. Peterson. The search for the boy and Mr. Peterson has been all over the news, and for the second time in his extraordinary life, Alex Woods is surrounded by media hype.

The first time was when he was 10 years old and woke from a coma after being hit in the head by a meteorite.

Alex lives near Glastonbury show more with his esoteric mother and helps out in her Wiccan shop. He seems to me to be slightly autistic, although this is never referred to in the text. He is very much an outsider and lives on the peripheral of his peer group. He is bullied at school and his closest friends consist of scientists and doctors.

The crux of the novel is Alex’s friendship with Mr. Peterson – an unlikely relationship to say the least. After being ‘forced’ to spend time together, they quickly develop a bond and share a mutual respect. This relationship is beautifully explored and illustrates how friendship can breach any age gap.

Alex’s narration is precise and logical (as he is himself) but is an absolute joy to read. It is funny and touching in its honesty, although sometimes I had to remind myself that this was the story told by a seventeen year old, not the twelve year old he seems to be. Alex is very naïve – more so then I think a seventeen year old should be. But that’s ok. I loved him anyway.

Some people may find Alex’s preoccupation with science and astronomy a little distracting and tedious. However, I found his explanations simple and interesting (maybe I am a science geek at heart too).

The ultimate message in the book is of love and friendship, yet at the end poses an interesting moral dilemma. From the plot and the writing, I think it is safe to say on which side Extence stands, and I tend to agree with him. But what do you think?

Be prepared to fall in love with a rather strange geek! show less

A page turner following two young Syrian brothers, fleeing a dangerous homeland for the West.
An adventure, a terrifying experience, as they swim from Turkey to Greece and make their way through Macerdonia, Hungary, Germany...through border guards, detention camps...and on to Calais and the almost impossible journey to the UK...
There's a further, kind of unresolved mystical aspect in the elderly Iraqi guy they meet and travel with....does he have some power that helps them?
Puts a very human show more slant on the "immigrant crisis" and causes you to think "it's not that easy.." show less

This was actually a bit of a wake up call for me as I saw so much of myself in Gabriel - not his power and success but definitely putting work before health. Getting the work life balance is something that many people have off to a tee but for the small number of workaholics out there it's something that is very difficult to do, even when you have a health scare.

Gabriel simply doesn't have time for a brain tumour, it will involve taking too much time off work. Gabriel will allow absolutely show more nothing to interfere with his work, not even any treatment that might extend his life or make him more comfortable - treatment can be done on a Saturday, can't it? (Anyone who knows me will be seeing the similarity to me right about now). The brain tumour, however, does not love work as much as Gabriel. As the tumour grows, Gabriel begins to experience emotions he didn't know he possessed and it causes him to make some very surprising decisions.

All of this is going on at the time of the anti-capitalism Occupy protests in London in 2011 to 2012 as thousands of people took to the streets to protest about inequality and corporate greed following the banking crisis. Gabriel's luxury office overlooks the Occupy camp and he is in effect one of the bankers that they are protesting about. As Gabriel's emotions start to change, he takes a walk through the square and hears the most beautiful music. He is inexplicably drawn to Caitlin, a talented busker, who he then scarily stalks. You could really feel him losing control of the rational part of his brain at this point. His stalking actually proves useful when Caitlin is mugged and Gabriel, lurking behind in the shadows, challenges her attacker. Caitlin and Gabriel strike up a friendship that is both hilarious and despondent as Gabriel tangles himself into a web of lies.

I'm not a big fan of politics and there's a large part of the storyline that's dedicated to the anti-capitalism protests, however, it wasn't overbearing. There's enough going on with Gabriel's rainbow of emotions to hold the reader's interest. It's so intriguing to see the experiencing of emotions that you or I may see as ordinary being shown as completely alien to Gabriel. It's powerful and fascinating to see that, as human beings, we're all capable of feeling the same emotions but for some more than others they're buried so much deeper.

Having previously read The Mirror World of Melody Black, I find Gavin Extence to be a completely unique author. His writing is so thought-provoking, engaging and witty that his books are impossible to put down. I read The Empathy Problem in less than 24 hours but the story within will stay with me for a lot longer than that.

I received this book from the publisher, Hodder & Stoughton, in exchange for an honest review. show less

I absolutely loved this book; the author completely laid himself bare and gave us a warts and all glimpse into the life of a manic depressive. Sometimes scary and constantly emotional, I feel like Gavin Extence has bared his soul to each and every person who picks up this book. Abby's illness must have been so difficult to put into words but Gavin Extence does this flawlessly.

Abby calls round to her neighbour's flat one day and finds his dead body. This would be a shock for most people but show more Abby isn't most people, so she deals with Simon's death in almost a clinical and factual way. It was then that I realised things weren't quite right with Abby and, as she heads into a manic episode, I braced myself for the impending train crash. The description of her manic episode is so honest and raw that I couldn't help but be moved to tears.

Despite being in the title of the book, Melody Black only plays a small, but very significant part, in the book. I loved the way she talked about a mirror world; you can be going along minding your own business then, suddenly without realising, step through the mirror into a completely different world. As you swap places with your reflection, which 'you' is the real you? I found this really sad; it made me think of people who say that they feel like a shadow of themselves. Perhaps they have unknowingly stepped through a portal and swapped places with their real self, leaving their reflection to cope with the trials of daily life.

It was a really nice surprise to find Abby taking a trip to Lindisfarne. This is in my neck of the woods and Lindisfarne is an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful island, with more than its fair share of history and legend. Gavin Extence perfectly described how the island is cut off by the tides. Abby decides to leave the island on foot via the Pilgrims' Way but stops for a rest, which she purposely extends until the tide comes in, leaving her stranded in the middle of the sea; I had goosebumps reading about her sleeping alone in the stilted refuge hut, completely cut off and surrounded by the chilly and tempestuous North Sea, underneath a magical twinkling blanket of stars.

Compelling and emotional, The Mirror World of Melody Black is impossible to put down. It's an honest and thoughtful account of a little-understood depressive illness with just the right amount of wit to lighten the mood. Gavin Extence is the author of The Universe Versus Alex Woods, which I haven't read but certainly want to now.

I received this book from the publisher, Hodder, via Bookbridgr in exchange for an honest review. show less