April & Oliver

This book was NOTHING like I expected it to be. I think because I wanted a simple, sweet as sugar kind of book, this novel threw me for a loop. It is not simple, nor is it sweet as sugar. The character I referred to earlier that I thought I was feeling very similar to is April. April and Oliver were best friends growing up. They had a complicated relationship and a strange connection to each other because of family. April has it hard from pretty much the beginning. Her mother dies early on, her father doesn't know how to raise her, she starts bartending at a bar at 14. The only things sacred to her are Oliver and her brother Buddy and her grandmother Nana. As the book progresses we see the deterioration of not only April and Oliver's show more relationship but of April herself. She is consumed by the death of her brother and all the wrongs she has done in her life. She is stuck on the wrong kind of men, the wrong kind of addictions and the kind of self-loathing that does nothing good for one's mental state. Oliver has this need to save her, even though he is engaged to a beautiful, smart women, there is a part of him that can't erase the history between him and April.

I loved this book for several reasons. It isn't pretty. It isn't flowery or romantic or sweet. Its dirty, messy and hits you over the head with lots of depressing things. But at the same time, you realize that you're "real" life could never be as bad as some of the characters in the book. April reminds me a lot of myself in good and bad ways. She is a strong, sufficient, loving woman but she is very troubled, lost and confused. She wants so badly to believe she deserves to be treated with respect and care but there is a part of her that thinks because of her past, she only deserves the type of treatment shes gotten in the past. During some of the book, I was literally screaming out loud at some of the stupid things she would do. I wanted to pull her in close to me, hug her, wipe away her tears and tell her that it was going to be okay. I wanted to yell at Oliver and ask him why he couldnt see the obvious, why he couldnt just admit his true feelings and act accordingly. But alas, these are fictional characters. Only real in the reader's mind. How I wish they were real sometimes.

I recommend this book but on conditions. If you want to feel slightly depressed, this is a good book, lol. If you want to get emotionally involved in the characters, this is your book. If you want a simple, cookie-cutter YA romance novel- this is NOT your book. Just sayin. show less

My experience with this book was pretty rocky at first. I did not like April in the first 50 pages, but with a little help from my friend Mary from Bookfan-Mary (she loved it, btw), I decided it would be best to give April a break. My feelings of dislike did turn into something resembling compassion, and I was able to continue on. Even though I did not agree with all of Oliver's actions, I was able to connect with him more, and for the most part, I liked him.

The plot itself or maybe more like - where the two would encounter one another, seemed a bit contrived, but once in the moment, the emotions felt like anything but contrived. The tension and confusion were palpable, and the suspense of what the ending may entail was always show more there.

Overall, it's a read filled with gloomy anxiety that went hand-in-hand with the characters. It turned out to be a good one, though, and I'm glad I stuck with it.

Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy show less

This debut novel is about a lot of things… grief, family, the ebb and flow of friendship (especially those you once thought will last a lifetime), and love (some of it unrequited). I could appreciate the delicateness of a friendship with someone of the opposite sex, and how easy it is to let friendship fade away once life starts to take you in different directions. April and Oliver are unceremoniously thrown back into each others lives following the death of her brother, and everyone seems to expect them to be able to pick up right where they left off. Unfortunately, they’re not the same people they used to be. There is a tug of war between the two of them as April tries to keep her distance, ashamed of who she has turned out to be show more but clueless as to how to change and as Oliver looks to her for answers to his own questions. I thought it was incredibly sad that the family decided to keep Buddy’s death from Nana – doesn’t she deserve to grieve too? – but it did add another layer to the story. The ending here falls short of happy (which I think would have felt contrived), but it is nicely hopeful. show less

April & Oliver is a dark and dysfunctional read. April is a character that is surrounded by turmoil. After a childhood that seemed to be full of more heartbreak than joy, she loses her little brother to a car accident. Devastated and teetering on the edge of sanity, April finds herself back in the life of childhood friend Oliver. Oliver has always been the epitome of perfection, and the polar opposite of reckless April. Oliver is now engaged, but that can’t even make him ignore the connection he and April have always shared. Told with a combination of present day moments as well as flashbacks. This is not a light read, and will definitely pull on your heartstrings.

I’ve had April & Oliver on my to be read list since its release. When show more given the opportunity to review a copy I jumped at the chance. I’m so glad I did. This little book was packed full of serious emotional baggage. April can’t seem to make a rational decision. She migrates from one abusive relationship to the next. Oliver spends most of his time trying to save April until he moves away for college. I had to spread this out over a longer period of time than what it usually takes met to read a book this size. It was just one of those stories that cause serious emotional overload.

I do recommend this book, but not if you’re looking for something light and fluffy. This book delves into serious issues and contains its fair share of angst. It is beautifully tragic tale of two adults still trying to find themselves. show less

Tess Callahan's debut novel is dark and churning - much like the book cover. April & Oliver pulled me in little by little until I couldn't put the book down. I found my jaw clenched in the tense mood until I noticed it relaxing near the end of the book. I realize it doesn't sound like I enjoyed the reading experience. Not true. Callahan's prose carried me along. Her writing is smooth and the pace kept me turning the pages, not wanting to stop. I could cite a few instances where I found myself smiling. One was when April and Oliver are discussing some people they know and what style or individual work of music they would be. I loved that.

Yes, this book has some troubling scenes but they are not gratuitous. Rather, they add layers to the show more characters. They are who they are because of decisions they made or decisions concerning them made by others long ago. I know this book will stay with me for a while. And that's my sign of a good book. show less

My wife read it first and her comment was, "I enjoyed it but I'm not certain it's your normal type of book." Insofar as I have a normal type of book, this made me a bit uncertain and I wondered if I was in for what she calls "a woman's summer read" (not to be confused with chick lit).

Within twenty pages or so I had completely forgotten those thoughts and was simply enjoying the story. It's not my normal type of read but it was enjoyable. Take a basic story about a pair of friends who might have been lovers if only circumstances and timing worked. Then put some darkness and depth into their lives and don't resolve it with a clichéd fairy tale ending. The result worked for me.

Most of the characters came alive for me—I didn't show more particularly like them, but they felt real, which is what matters as far as I'm concerned. My only real problem with the book was that Oliver was an exception to this. He never came into focus, particularly as an object of desire for April. As the book progressed, April grew ever more real and rounded but Oliver just stayed fuzzy for me.

The language is very distinctive. It seemed very spare at first, yet the images she created were vivid and compelling. It reads easily and I finished the book in a single sitting. show less

I knew I was in trouble when the book is entitled April & Oliver, and my favorite character is named Bernadette. The book is well-written; Tess has a beautiful way with words. My problem is that I didn't like April. At all. Not even a little bit. I pitied her for her horrible childhood, but I didn't like her. I didn't understand Oliver's fascination with her, and I certainly didn't like his treatment of Bernadette. For all his rage over the men who used April, he wasn't above using ( to a much lesser extent, but still using) women himself. I don't understand the idea that "soulmates" can treat each other badly. I don't understand the idea that it's okay to hurt others if the cause is "true love." I was frustrated with every relationship show more in this book. This clearly was not the book for me, which is too bad because she is a talented writer. show less