Last Chance Saloon

A couple of years ago I read a World Book Night edition of Rachel's Holiday. It's a proper novel with themes and an unreliable narrator. When I went to get more of her books I was appalled to find she was being marketed as Women's Fiction and it put me off. I've read a couple of Women's Fictions that I'd caught through Bookcrossing and I think, more than anything, I was angry that women should be so disrespected by writers and publishers. Why should the standard of fiction marketed at women be so much worse than that marketed at me?

Anyway, I took a risk on this and I can see why they take this marketing route. We're definitely in women's fiction territory. There are a number of scenes which are devoted to the trying on of new lipsticks. show more However, the standard of writing is better than usual. Keyes is fully conversant with the English language and writes with a cheeky comicality in a cartoony style. She appears to have warmth for her fellow humans. There's nothing here which required me to think but I don't think this is because she has contempt for her audience: it seems inclusive more than anything. Even a stupid person could read this novel without getting too confused.

This leads me to problems though. 600 pages without having to engage my brain was a real struggle for me. Sometimes her cheekiness descended into flippancy. There was a lack of artistic focus to the whole thing, leading to extraneous, half formed scenes which bloated this flaccid belly of a book to a completely unnecessary (did I mention?) 600 pages. show less

The three main characters, Tara, Fintan, and Katherine were as different as chalk and cheese, but they had a great friendship and were comfortable and relaxed in each other’s company. Tara had a bit of a problem with food and I found myself finding similarities between my own relationship with food and hunger as hers. Her relationship with her boyfriend Thomas annoyed me, as I wanted her to snap out of it and tell him where to go.
Katherine was too stand offish to be real, she was portrayed as a strong, confident woman on the outside but had obviously been hurt at some point in her life and this made her push people away. Joe (a gentleman) a work colleague tried to make an impression on her – her responses were cruel and cutting, show more this annoyed me, her office name Ice Queen was appropriate, but there was nothing regal about her in my mind.
Fintan was flamboyant and fabulous, a true drama queen albeit a male. His lover, Milo “Italian Pony" was your typical down trodden character, more so once Fintan was diagnosed with cancer – it was a real turning point, not just for his character but for everyone. They all seemed to re-evaluate their own situations especially after Fintan makes a couple of difficult requests of Tara and Katherine. Absolutely loved the characters - Fintan's mother and brother who come from Ireland to London to visit. Their country ways and outlook on life had me laughing as they were like fish out of water in London.
Lorcan (super stud) is an ar... hole, he is a horrible character who enters the story early on and you read about his predatory behaviour and wonder where he fits with the main characters. This becomes known at the end and makes sense of Katherine's defensive wall that she has built around herself.
Overall, this enjoyable read revolves around three friends and their reaction and coping mechanism in response to Fintan becoming seriously ill. A mixture of heart-wrenching moments, balanced out by some very funny moments, provides you as a reader a ride on an emotional roller coaster. show less

This book is not as deeply hilarious as the cover states, in fact I didn't find it hilarious at all. What I did find was that it is unexpectantly good. When I first started reading it one of the characters I found annoying and I really could have cared less about the other ones. As I continued to read it, I couldn't put it down. It is heart felt and realistic. It is about a group of really close friends who live mundane lives until one day when tragedy strikes they are forced to try and improve themselves. It's a little bit of sex in the city mixed with a little bit of bridgette jones. A great read for someone who just wants to get lost in someone else's life for a couple of days.

Last Chance Saloon continues to speak to me and it has been almost six years since I have read it for the first time. I don't know why I re-read this constantly. Maybe it's because I keep thinking that the ending of the book will unexpectedly change. I fell in love with the main characters in this book and really just wanted them to have nothing but good things.

Even though this book is supposed to be about three best friends since child/teenage years Tara, Fintan, and Katherine. Most of the book devotes itself to Tara and Katherine's lives and how Fintan's health problems end up impacting both of them to do things that they never thought they would.

Last Chance Saloon comes from a saying that Tara always says when it is brought up that show more she should leave her horrible boyfriend Thomas. Thinking of herself as old and decrepit, she thinks that if she does eventually leave Thomas or she him, that she will have no further chance at love.

Katherine on the other hand is alone in between periods of when she dates a man and finds herself turning into a stage five clinger.

The only one of the trio that is in a happy and healthy relationship is Fintan with his boyfriend.

And life continues on it's way until Fintan is diagnosed with cancer. With everything becoming topsy/turvy we have all of them being affected by his illness. Fintain eventually calls his friends together to give them each a request that he wants them to do or he plans on dying just to spite them.

I think the character I found myself feeling more affinity with was definitely Katherine. You eventually find out why Katherine acts like she does, but at the time you don't get it. Being the most self assured of the trio (and most grownup) you don't think that things affect Katherine like it does everyone else. It was great to see Katherine starting to let other people in and have her learn from her mistakes.

Tara was maddening. I think that everyone has been in a relationship like Tara. You are dating someone awful. And you find yourself staying in it since the thought of being alone feels like a fate worse than death. Heck I am friends with some people who did this fairly recently and it gets tiring to listen to. I can't imagine dating someone like Thomas in real life. Bigoted, mean, cheap, and just a general asshole, Tara dating him made me dislike her since I was tired of her making excuses for the guy.

Though this book is set up as a trio with Fintan. You don't really get inside his head too much except for the parts where you find out how he met and fell in love with his now boyfriend. That is one reason why I could not give this a full five stars. I think it would have worked better if we had more insight into Fintan and his pain and fear due to his cancer diagnosis.

We instead flip/flop around with another character named Lorcan. At first you don't understand why Ms. Keyes included the guy and what he has to do with anything. If anything you start to realize that Ms. Keyes was leaving clues to why Lorcan was important throughout the book. You don't get to the payoff until almost the very end though. Lorcan was so horrible to not even feel real at times. Unfortunately I have met this guy's doppleganger in real life so I know that sometimes people like this do exist (womanizer, cheater, liar, etc.).

I do still wish that we had gotten less information involving Lorcan and more with Fintan.

I really don't have any complaints about Ms. Keyes writing or pacing. She writes very well and you don't have to worry about getting lost with which character is speaking. The entire book is told in the third person which allows you to keep track of who is speaking quite easily. show less

I normally like a bit of chicklit now and again, but this was VERY fluffy indeed! I finished it, but was annoyed with myself for it: I kept being irritated by the blatant way the writer plays on the feelings of the readers and by the utter simplicity of everything: values, relationships, illness even. So why did I finish it? Chicklit must be powerful stuff - even this kind of it. A bit like a big bag of crisps when really you should be having a proper meal: you just can't stop and you hate yourself for it. Ah well, at least it's cured me of the chicklit urge for a while!”

Marian Keyes är i klass för sig när det gäller roliga och underhållande kärlek och vänskap romaner. Det finns många andra författare som står i kö för att ta hennes plats och alla de blir gemförda med Keyes. Men varenda gång jag har läst klart en Keys bok säger jag samma sak, Marian Keyes är drottning som aldrig gör en besviken. Sista chansen är lika bra som allt annat som hon har skrivit från sida ett till sida 493. :

the three main characters, Tara, Fintan, and Katherine were as different as chalk and cheese, but they had a great friendship and were comfortable and relaxed in each others company. Tara had a bit of a problem with food and I found myself finding similarities between my own relationship with food and hunger as hers. Her relationship with her boyfriend Thomas annoyed me as I wanted her to snap out of it and tell him where to go.
Katherine was too stand offish to be real, she was portrayed as a strong, confident woman on the outside but had obviously been hurt at some point in her life and this made her push people away. Joe (a gentleman) a work colleague tried to make an impression on her – her responses were cruel and cutting, this show more annoyed me, her office name Ice Queen was appropriate, but there was nothing regal about her in my mind.
Fintan was flamboyant and fabulous, a true drama queen albeit a male. His lover, Milo " Italian Pony" was your typical down trodden character, more so once Fintan was diagnosed with cancer – it was a real turning point, not just for his character but for everyone. They all seemed to re-evaluate their own situations especially after Fintan makes a couple of difficult requests of Tara and Katherine. Absolutely loved the characters - Fintan's mother and brother who come from Ireland to London to visit. Their country ways and outlook on life had me laughing as they were like fish out of water in London .
Lorcan (super stud) is an ar... hole, he is a horrible character who enters the story early on and you read about his predatory behaviour and wonder where he fits with the main characters. This comes to light at the end and makes sense of Katherine's defensive wall that she has built around her self.
overall this is an enjoyable read that revolves around 3 friends and their reaction and coping mechanism in response to Fintan becoming seriously ill. A mixture of heart-wrenching moments, balanced out by some very funny moments, provides you as a reader a ride on an emotional roller coaster. show less