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The Great Godden
Everyone talks about falling in love like it’s the most miraculous, life-changing thing in the world. Something happens, they say, and you know …
That’s what happened when I met Kit Godden.
I looked into his eyes and I knew.
Only everyone else knew too. Everyone else felt exactly the same way.
This is the story of one family, one dreamy summer – the summer when everything changes. In a holiday house by the sea, our watchful narrator sees everything, including many things they shouldn’t, as their brother and sisters, parents and older cousins fill hot days with wine and games and planning a wedding. Enter two brothers – irresistible, charming, languidly sexy Kit and surly, silent Hugo. Suddenly there’s a serpent in this paradise – and the consequences will be devastating.
From Meg Rosoff, bestselling author of the iconic novel How I Live Now, comes a lyrical and quintessential coming-of-age tale – a summer book that’s as heady, timeless and irresistible as Bonjour Tristesse and The Greengage Summer.
That’s what happened when I met Kit Godden.
I looked into his eyes and I knew.
Only everyone else knew too. Everyone else felt exactly the same way.
This is the story of one family, one dreamy summer – the summer when everything changes. In a holiday house by the sea, our watchful narrator sees everything, including many things they shouldn’t, as their brother and sisters, parents and older cousins fill hot days with wine and games and planning a wedding. Enter two brothers – irresistible, charming, languidly sexy Kit and surly, silent Hugo. Suddenly there’s a serpent in this paradise – and the consequences will be devastating.
From Meg Rosoff, bestselling author of the iconic novel How I Live Now, comes a lyrical and quintessential coming-of-age tale – a summer book that’s as heady, timeless and irresistible as Bonjour Tristesse and The Greengage Summer.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published July 9, 2020
151 people are currently reading
10280 people want to read
About the author
Meg Rosoff
46 books1,166 followersMeg Rosoff was born in Boston and had three or four careers in publishing and advertising before she moved to London in 1989, where she lives now with her husband and daughter. Formerly a Young Adult author, Meg has earned numerous prizes including the highest American and British honors for YA fiction: the Michael L. Printz Award and the Carnegie Medal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,111 reviews
June 16, 2020
Meg Rosoff's beautifully written, irresistible, coming of age and lyrical novella has echoes of particular pieces of classic literature, a family's every year joyful ritual of spending the summer holidays in their home on the beach, a paradise into which a serpent is set loose. Enter two American teen brothers from LA, Kit and Hugo, sons of a minor actress whose life has no room for her offspring. The brothers are opposites, Kit is the beautiful, golden, good looking brother, around whom others swarm, like bees to honey, whilst Hugo is glowering, silent, resisting all overtures with his talent for selective invisibility. Ostensibly the light and dark, the brothers are to have a unforgettable impact on the family as something fragile breaks in a summer of fun, teenage angst, intrigue, treachery, deception and sex, marked by planning for the wedding of Hope and actor Malcolm, preparing for Hamlet, and the traditions of the male bonding sail and the tennis tournament.
The narrator is never identified in terms of name or gender, a dynamic that adds mystery and ambiguity, although I chose to see him as male, who despite his better instincts, cannot stop himself helplessly desiring and longing for Kit. Sibling brother, Alex, is the most uncomplicated character, attuned to the natural world, driven by his obsession for bats. Sister Tamsin is self obsessed, a life revolving around horses, and other sister, the beautiful, attention seeking Mattie, a flirt into shoes, boys and sex, and like a heat seeking missile, entwining herself tightly around Kit. Amidst the blue skies and summer heat laden with undercurrents of anxiety and creeping claustrophobia, Hugo begins to slowly reveal himself, whilst almost everyone finds themselves drawn into the web that Kit weaves.
This scintillating and captivating read from Rosoff lures in the reader with ease in its character studies of the Godden brothers, the narrator and the family. The examination of emotional damage is riveting, how it results in toxic male behaviour, the gaslighting, machinations that take no account of the feelings of others, and a driven need to be loved by everyone, bar no-one, the creation of a world of smoke and mirrors, a spider commanding and jerking the strings of others. A brilliantly entertaining, insightful and memorable read that I totally adored. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Bloomsbury for an ARC.
The narrator is never identified in terms of name or gender, a dynamic that adds mystery and ambiguity, although I chose to see him as male, who despite his better instincts, cannot stop himself helplessly desiring and longing for Kit. Sibling brother, Alex, is the most uncomplicated character, attuned to the natural world, driven by his obsession for bats. Sister Tamsin is self obsessed, a life revolving around horses, and other sister, the beautiful, attention seeking Mattie, a flirt into shoes, boys and sex, and like a heat seeking missile, entwining herself tightly around Kit. Amidst the blue skies and summer heat laden with undercurrents of anxiety and creeping claustrophobia, Hugo begins to slowly reveal himself, whilst almost everyone finds themselves drawn into the web that Kit weaves.
This scintillating and captivating read from Rosoff lures in the reader with ease in its character studies of the Godden brothers, the narrator and the family. The examination of emotional damage is riveting, how it results in toxic male behaviour, the gaslighting, machinations that take no account of the feelings of others, and a driven need to be loved by everyone, bar no-one, the creation of a world of smoke and mirrors, a spider commanding and jerking the strings of others. A brilliantly entertaining, insightful and memorable read that I totally adored. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Bloomsbury for an ARC.
July 28, 2020
In this book the normal course of a calm English summer gets disrupted by a charismatic and manipulative character.
Sooo, I expected a little more from this book. It wasn't a bad read in any way, but to me it felt quite average. I had high expectations because of the plot I read and in the end I was a bit let down. I expected something more lyrical and surprising, the big reveal was definitely intriguing, but a bit anticlimactic. Maybe the reason why this book didn't play its magic on me is because I wasn't really charmed by Kit Godden like everyone in the novel seems to be. I wasn't really interested in him. I would have liked to see more focus on some other characters who in my opinion were not explored well enough, like for example Hugo, my boy, he was just the best and I wish we got more of him. The fact that we got so little made him interesting and made me want to know more.
Anyway, I'm curious to see what Meg Rosoff comes up with in the future!
Sooo, I expected a little more from this book. It wasn't a bad read in any way, but to me it felt quite average. I had high expectations because of the plot I read and in the end I was a bit let down. I expected something more lyrical and surprising, the big reveal was definitely intriguing, but a bit anticlimactic. Maybe the reason why this book didn't play its magic on me is because I wasn't really charmed by Kit Godden like everyone in the novel seems to be. I wasn't really interested in him. I would have liked to see more focus on some other characters who in my opinion were not explored well enough, like for example Hugo, my boy, he was just the best and I wish we got more of him. The fact that we got so little made him interesting and made me want to know more.
Anyway, I'm curious to see what Meg Rosoff comes up with in the future!
September 2, 2021
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I loved every single page of The Great Godden. This is one of those rare novels that is simultaneously simple and mesmerising: an unmanned narrator recounts the summer in which they fell in love.
Within this slim volume, Meg Rosoff conjures up that holiday feeling, with mornings of idleness giving way to nights charged with possibilities.
During the summer holidays, a family is staying in their house by the sea. Here they reconnect with the young couple—soon to be wed—who live close by. Their dynamics change with the arrival of the Godden siblings, the sons of an American actress. The narrator, alongside their gorgeous sister, falls for Kit Godden, who is as beautiful as he is charismatic. Kit's sullen younger brother, Hugo, is largely ignored by the narrator's family.
As the young couple's wedding approaches, allegiances shift, and more than one person will be left heartbroken.
Although this does include a love story, one should not approach this novel expecting a romance. If anything, this is an anti-romance, showing us how devastating, all-consuming, and deceptive love can be. The love Rosoff depicts is deeply ambivalent. The narrator, alongside others, is blinded by their feelings. Kit, the seemingly golden boy, is no angel, and yet, like the narrator, we wind up falling for his act.
Rosoff's writes of a summer that is heady with change, love, and yearning. This is a deeply atmospheric read, one that captivated me from the opening page. The narrator's voice lured me in, and I found myself absorbed by their observations about the people around them. I liked the author’s sly sense of humor, their ability to convey the chaotic energy of holidaying with your family. Rosoff also succeeds in capturing how powerful first love is as well as the confusing thoughts & emotions that overtake us when we are in that particular period of transition between adolescence and adulthood.
“When I think back on that it’s always with a sense of having lost something fragile and fleeting, something I can’t quite name.”
I loved every single page of The Great Godden. This is one of those rare novels that is simultaneously simple and mesmerising: an unmanned narrator recounts the summer in which they fell in love.
Within this slim volume, Meg Rosoff conjures up that holiday feeling, with mornings of idleness giving way to nights charged with possibilities.
“This year is going to be the best ever—the best weather, the best food, the best fun. The actors assembled, the summer begins.”
During the summer holidays, a family is staying in their house by the sea. Here they reconnect with the young couple—soon to be wed—who live close by. Their dynamics change with the arrival of the Godden siblings, the sons of an American actress. The narrator, alongside their gorgeous sister, falls for Kit Godden, who is as beautiful as he is charismatic. Kit's sullen younger brother, Hugo, is largely ignored by the narrator's family.
As the young couple's wedding approaches, allegiances shift, and more than one person will be left heartbroken.
Although this does include a love story, one should not approach this novel expecting a romance. If anything, this is an anti-romance, showing us how devastating, all-consuming, and deceptive love can be. The love Rosoff depicts is deeply ambivalent. The narrator, alongside others, is blinded by their feelings. Kit, the seemingly golden boy, is no angel, and yet, like the narrator, we wind up falling for his act.
“In my memory he seems to glow. I can shut my eyes and see how he looked to us then, skin lit from within as if he'd spent hours absorbing sunlight only to slow-release it back into the world.”
Rosoff's writes of a summer that is heady with change, love, and yearning. This is a deeply atmospheric read, one that captivated me from the opening page. The narrator's voice lured me in, and I found myself absorbed by their observations about the people around them. I liked the author’s sly sense of humor, their ability to convey the chaotic energy of holidaying with your family. Rosoff also succeeds in capturing how powerful first love is as well as the confusing thoughts & emotions that overtake us when we are in that particular period of transition between adolescence and adulthood.
“Tempted? Me? That was like asking if I was tempted to get wet in a rainstorm. By the time you finished the question I was already soaked.”
July 7, 2022
A couple of years ago I went to a beautiful and hidden waterfall with some friends, we were all marveling at how peaceful it felt. It was late in the evening too and there wasn't a human soul for miles around us. Yet, there was no lack of sounds. There was the incessant chirping of unseen birds and the stridulation of insects and even the occasional croaking of toads. My partner at the time was really tired, grumpy and scarily quiet. While my attempts to cheer him up were failing, he remarked on how we seem to be deluding ourselves into thinking that the nature we were in midst of was beautiful and serene, when truthfully there was something sinister lurking underneath, something that we, who were all born and raised in cities, never had to confront and yet, there was something so viscerally familiar about it that if we did encounter it, we would just slip into flight-or-fright mode. And then all the chirping around me sounded like screeching, all the trees seemed to be warning me to run away while the water was beckoning me to it, I wanted to dive in and disappear underneath.
This book was so reminiscent of what I felt that day. Something about this book, like the waterfall I spoke about, compels you to tap into the sinister within yourself. The book is humorous and serene, and yet, right from the start, you know there's disaster brewing. There's the waves, the happy family, the periwinkle blue house, the witty narrator, summertime flings, dinners under starlit skies, Shakespeare references. And then there's the siren call of danger, always. You can't ignore or escape it. Like the figures in the cover, you plunge into it. Doesn't matter how. You just do. I went in headfirst. As always.
This book was so reminiscent of what I felt that day. Something about this book, like the waterfall I spoke about, compels you to tap into the sinister within yourself. The book is humorous and serene, and yet, right from the start, you know there's disaster brewing. There's the waves, the happy family, the periwinkle blue house, the witty narrator, summertime flings, dinners under starlit skies, Shakespeare references. And then there's the siren call of danger, always. You can't ignore or escape it. Like the figures in the cover, you plunge into it. Doesn't matter how. You just do. I went in headfirst. As always.
August 5, 2020
Man, I did not like this book. Half of the characters were utterly bland, pretentious, and stereotypical - the only vaguely interesting ones were Alex, Mattie, Mal, and Maybe the mum. Kit was cartoonishly evil, Hugo was an utterly generic ‘broody silent type’, and the main character was Utterly unlikeable. I mean - they‘re completely superior to everyone (especially poor Mattie, whose grand crime is... being boy-mad at 16?), severely selfish, willing to cheat with her sister’s bf, and despite all that still feels like rather a blank slate?
The writing was so simplistic. ‘I did this, then this, I felt angry, then I did this, etc’. I don’t think a single line stood out to me.
and the horrible portrayal of bisexuality? She really made the villain be a bisexual homewrecker borerline pedo (an 18 year old who seduces a 12 year old!).
And having Mal also be bi and cheating, or a completely closeted gay man who’s willing to deceive an innocent woman into marriage? The homophobia & biphobia is shocking and infuriating.
It all felt so predictable and pointless. We know from the start that something bad happens over the summer. It’s very clear from the mention of the boys that there’s going to be a love-triangle situation between the siblings and that Kit is a bad person.
Slowly watching the narrator (with almost no hesitation) jump into a relationship with the boy who they know is a sociopath was utterly unenjoyable and frustrating. The plot felt predictable and pointless, full of annoying aspects - why didn’t Hugo just tell the whole family about what kit did? At the end it’s all ‘Hugo tried to warn us’ - but hey didn’t? He just sighs moodily and hints heavily to the narrator that his brother is a bad dude. I think telling the family ‘oh btw my brother just seduced a 12 year old child - he really enjoys manipulating people and ruining relationships so keep away from him’ would have solved every problem immediately.
The only reason at all I kept going and finished the book was that I hoped something actually interesting was going to happen. I hoped the dark thing being hinted at would be something exciting, like a murder maybe. Instead, predictably, the bad guy does bad things and an engagement is called off.
Maybe a 1.5 / 5 if I’m feeling very generous. The rare occasion where I spend money on a book and am furious at how bad it was. Would not recommend at all.
The writing was so simplistic. ‘I did this, then this, I felt angry, then I did this, etc’. I don’t think a single line stood out to me.
and the horrible portrayal of bisexuality? She really made the villain be a bisexual homewrecker borerline pedo (an 18 year old who seduces a 12 year old!).
And having Mal also be bi and cheating, or a completely closeted gay man who’s willing to deceive an innocent woman into marriage? The homophobia & biphobia is shocking and infuriating.
It all felt so predictable and pointless. We know from the start that something bad happens over the summer. It’s very clear from the mention of the boys that there’s going to be a love-triangle situation between the siblings and that Kit is a bad person.
Slowly watching the narrator (with almost no hesitation) jump into a relationship with the boy who they know is a sociopath was utterly unenjoyable and frustrating. The plot felt predictable and pointless, full of annoying aspects - why didn’t Hugo just tell the whole family about what kit did? At the end it’s all ‘Hugo tried to warn us’ - but hey didn’t? He just sighs moodily and hints heavily to the narrator that his brother is a bad dude. I think telling the family ‘oh btw my brother just seduced a 12 year old child - he really enjoys manipulating people and ruining relationships so keep away from him’ would have solved every problem immediately.
The only reason at all I kept going and finished the book was that I hoped something actually interesting was going to happen. I hoped the dark thing being hinted at would be something exciting, like a murder maybe. Instead, predictably, the bad guy does bad things and an engagement is called off.
Maybe a 1.5 / 5 if I’m feeling very generous. The rare occasion where I spend money on a book and am furious at how bad it was. Would not recommend at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2020
What was the point of the story?
August 19, 2025
First Read: July 2021, Rating: 4/5 stars
Second Read: September 2024, Rating: 5/5 stars
Third Read: August 2025, Rating: 5/5 stars
Our unnamed protagonist has been summering at their family's second home for as long as they can remember. Their time there is spent being busy doing a whole lot of nothing - which is exactly how summer days should be spent! But as these siblings grow and their characters become more pronounced, this summer promises to deliver something different. No-one could anticipate just how different however, nor how the beginning of these differences would arrive in the form of two brothers.
Kit Godden is film-star pretty and knows it. He is the focal point of every gathering, the brightest light in every room, and transforms this sleepy, seaside town during the weeks he spends there. His younger brother, Hugo, is his polar opposite. He has a penchant for brooding in shadowed corners, intent on watching but never interacting with his host family. He will prove to alter the lives he touches in just as much of a pronounced way as the brother he can't even stand to stand besides, however.
Summer reads don't get any more perfect than this one! I loved the depictions of rolling waves at sunset, sun-blanched porch gatherings, and sand-stung, wind-swept skin. Reading this book during a time when travel is so restricted definitely fulfilled my wanderlust for a time, so truly did Rosoff evoke the story's setting.
The eyes we see it all through belong to an individual who isn't provided with a name, a concrete age, a gender, or a description of their appearance. I soon came to realise how little these facts all mattered in the story. The protagonist's observations allowed the reader to fully visualise and understand all others around her, and through their interactions they too became better understood as the novel progressed.
There was much drama and angst present throughout these pages, and it largely seemed to remain a more quiet and introspective read than what I had originally anticipated. I appreciated it a whole lot more for that and it aided in this becoming a novel with much longevity and much to provide its readers with, regardless of their age or if they could relate to the central coming-of-age themes.
Second Read: September 2024, Rating: 5/5 stars
Third Read: August 2025, Rating: 5/5 stars
Our unnamed protagonist has been summering at their family's second home for as long as they can remember. Their time there is spent being busy doing a whole lot of nothing - which is exactly how summer days should be spent! But as these siblings grow and their characters become more pronounced, this summer promises to deliver something different. No-one could anticipate just how different however, nor how the beginning of these differences would arrive in the form of two brothers.
Kit Godden is film-star pretty and knows it. He is the focal point of every gathering, the brightest light in every room, and transforms this sleepy, seaside town during the weeks he spends there. His younger brother, Hugo, is his polar opposite. He has a penchant for brooding in shadowed corners, intent on watching but never interacting with his host family. He will prove to alter the lives he touches in just as much of a pronounced way as the brother he can't even stand to stand besides, however.
Summer reads don't get any more perfect than this one! I loved the depictions of rolling waves at sunset, sun-blanched porch gatherings, and sand-stung, wind-swept skin. Reading this book during a time when travel is so restricted definitely fulfilled my wanderlust for a time, so truly did Rosoff evoke the story's setting.
The eyes we see it all through belong to an individual who isn't provided with a name, a concrete age, a gender, or a description of their appearance. I soon came to realise how little these facts all mattered in the story. The protagonist's observations allowed the reader to fully visualise and understand all others around her, and through their interactions they too became better understood as the novel progressed.
There was much drama and angst present throughout these pages, and it largely seemed to remain a more quiet and introspective read than what I had originally anticipated. I appreciated it a whole lot more for that and it aided in this becoming a novel with much longevity and much to provide its readers with, regardless of their age or if they could relate to the central coming-of-age themes.
July 31, 2020
okay so i read through a bunch of other reviews to try and see what on earth other people saw in this that i didn't. the consensus seems to be that its a 'perfect coming of age story' and that the writing is very clever and the mood very sultry.
i can give the mood a point, though i'm not sure if i found the atmosphere aided by the fact i was reading this on an absolutely boiling day. it had a smokey, cannes film festival quality to it - a book that wanted to take you on an experience for a while and capture a moment, but unfortunately i think the hazy quality was primarily there to disguise the fact this book seemed to have nothing to say.
i don't think a book necessarily needs to have a PURPOSE to exist, but i'd like to think every author at least sets out with some idea of what they would like to try and say. rosoff seems to want to discuss the tragedy of toxic relationships, but kit is such a comical villain (apparently he jets around the world deliberately seeking out happy families to destroy? a bit much for someone who is meant to be 19) that there is no real twist to the tale. he is a suspicious bastard from page 1, and remains a bastard on page 265. whilst other characters suffer, and the narrator tells us about the 'scars' everyone else bears, everyone is so stoic and to be honest largely unaffacted (including the narrator) and the ending is so quickly tidied up (with the other brother even getting annie'd into the family proper) it seems to say that the events of this novel were largely pointless, which is not the ideal way to end a book.
i also think some bisexual people may take issue with kit the globe trotter homewrecker.
finally, i gave this novel 3 stars originally because i kept thinking about how parts of it were good, and maybe i was just missing something, but its disingenuous to give a book stars because of what it could have been.
i read this in about two hours, so if you have a train journey or short flight to catch you might want to give it a go, but i can safely say there are other short books out there that use their page count better and say more with it.
i can give the mood a point, though i'm not sure if i found the atmosphere aided by the fact i was reading this on an absolutely boiling day. it had a smokey, cannes film festival quality to it - a book that wanted to take you on an experience for a while and capture a moment, but unfortunately i think the hazy quality was primarily there to disguise the fact this book seemed to have nothing to say.
i don't think a book necessarily needs to have a PURPOSE to exist, but i'd like to think every author at least sets out with some idea of what they would like to try and say. rosoff seems to want to discuss the tragedy of toxic relationships, but kit is such a comical villain (apparently he jets around the world deliberately seeking out happy families to destroy? a bit much for someone who is meant to be 19) that there is no real twist to the tale. he is a suspicious bastard from page 1, and remains a bastard on page 265. whilst other characters suffer, and the narrator tells us about the 'scars' everyone else bears, everyone is so stoic and to be honest largely unaffacted (including the narrator) and the ending is so quickly tidied up (with the other brother even getting annie'd into the family proper) it seems to say that the events of this novel were largely pointless, which is not the ideal way to end a book.
i also think some bisexual people may take issue with kit the globe trotter homewrecker.
finally, i gave this novel 3 stars originally because i kept thinking about how parts of it were good, and maybe i was just missing something, but its disingenuous to give a book stars because of what it could have been.
i read this in about two hours, so if you have a train journey or short flight to catch you might want to give it a go, but i can safely say there are other short books out there that use their page count better and say more with it.
April 18, 2021
A coming of age story involving a long hot summer, family, love, infatuation, deceit, betrayal and everything in between, evocative and beautifully written, I loved it.
July 9, 2020
I'm also a Book Blogger
This book had all the feeling of a 1920s picnic at the beach, making me think of a book I have never read, The Great Gatsby and a book I have seen the movie of, Atonement, even though this book is set roughly in the present day. Across the course of a hormone fueled summer, Kat Godden tears a family apart forever.
This is such a hipster book, honestly, and if you're not into those you're going to hate this. It has a strange gimmick of never telling us the main character's name so I guess I'll just call her Jack. Jack is our quiet observer of the summer events, watching her family drift to other activities. I never got a sense of a family unit with these siblings, it seemed they spent their summer on their own hobbies.
I will admit, at times the story could be confusing and I did have to flip back a page or two to go over what was happening. Luckily, this is quite a short book, even at 256 pages it had thick borders and spaced out text. I do think if this had been a full 300+ page book I would have come to detest it.
I honestly cannot tell you if I fully liked this book or not. There was something about it that made me want to like it, and I loved that we got a 2 years later at the end, I hate when books just end. But I can't tell you much about the family themselves, they were more name + assigned hobby. I don't even know if they were middle or upper class. Overall, a strange, interesting book.
This book had all the feeling of a 1920s picnic at the beach, making me think of a book I have never read, The Great Gatsby and a book I have seen the movie of, Atonement, even though this book is set roughly in the present day. Across the course of a hormone fueled summer, Kat Godden tears a family apart forever.
This is such a hipster book, honestly, and if you're not into those you're going to hate this. It has a strange gimmick of never telling us the main character's name so I guess I'll just call her Jack. Jack is our quiet observer of the summer events, watching her family drift to other activities. I never got a sense of a family unit with these siblings, it seemed they spent their summer on their own hobbies.
I will admit, at times the story could be confusing and I did have to flip back a page or two to go over what was happening. Luckily, this is quite a short book, even at 256 pages it had thick borders and spaced out text. I do think if this had been a full 300+ page book I would have come to detest it.
I honestly cannot tell you if I fully liked this book or not. There was something about it that made me want to like it, and I loved that we got a 2 years later at the end, I hate when books just end. But I can't tell you much about the family themselves, they were more name + assigned hobby. I don't even know if they were middle or upper class. Overall, a strange, interesting book.
January 21, 2022
Well we have our first 1 star book of 2022... (probably spoilers ahead)
This book was terrible. It was already unenjoyable and I was thinking a it would just be a 2 star and then I read that twist.... I mean... wtf.
This read really young but at the same time would overly sexualise these children in the book, and then a 19 year old boy (Kit) had a relationship with a 16 year old girl. Which I thought was weird but who knows...I mean maybe I'm the weird one.
Then I read this:
'"He was "hanging around" with the daughter?"
"yes."
"well why not. Good-looking American boy, beautiful Italian girl, it's a pretty obvious recipe for intrigue.
"she was twelve. What I'm trying to tell you is that he's a wrecker"
No Hugo I think the word you are looking for is predator. He is a predator.
When I tell you I threw the book...
If this didn't have like 30 pages left I would have thrown the book out the window and that would be the end of it. But no I continued. And it GeTS WoRSe...
Kit is then found to be having an affair with a 30 year old man who is supposed to be getting married in the next week, who happens to be in the same family who he is already "hanging around" with the 16 year old and also the narrator of the book who we don't even know their name or age.
This book was terrible. It was already unenjoyable and I was thinking a it would just be a 2 star and then I read that twist.... I mean... wtf.
This read really young but at the same time would overly sexualise these children in the book, and then a 19 year old boy (Kit) had a relationship with a 16 year old girl. Which I thought was weird but who knows...I mean maybe I'm the weird one.
Then I read this:
'"He was "hanging around" with the daughter?"
"yes."
"well why not. Good-looking American boy, beautiful Italian girl, it's a pretty obvious recipe for intrigue.
"she was twelve. What I'm trying to tell you is that he's a wrecker"
No Hugo I think the word you are looking for is predator. He is a predator.
When I tell you I threw the book...
If this didn't have like 30 pages left I would have thrown the book out the window and that would be the end of it. But no I continued. And it GeTS WoRSe...
Kit is then found to be having an affair with a 30 year old man who is supposed to be getting married in the next week, who happens to be in the same family who he is already "hanging around" with the 16 year old and also the narrator of the book who we don't even know their name or age.
November 8, 2022
The Great Godden is relatively short but extremely efficient; the atmosphere was unlike anything I have ever experienced before. I do not really want to go into details about the story: this book is better when you dive into it blindly.
The summer holiday setting contrasts almost violently with the dark and heavy atmosphere. It was brilliant and beautifully executed.
It was great and I'm glad I discovered this gem. I'll cherish this book for a long time.
The summer holiday setting contrasts almost violently with the dark and heavy atmosphere. It was brilliant and beautifully executed.
It was great and I'm glad I discovered this gem. I'll cherish this book for a long time.
December 15, 2020
I devoured Rosoff’s brisk and compelling young adult novel in just a little more than one sitting. Narrated in crisp, snappy prose by an unnamed seventeen-year-old girl, it concerns a family’s annual six-week holiday at their English seaside summer house. Along with the narrator’s parents are her well-drawn siblings, the beautiful sixteen-year-old Mattie, fully aware of her sexual allure; the horse-crazy Tamsin, and their younger brother, Alex, a nature detective, who’s particularly keen on bats. Just down the beach a little is another summer house, occupied by their dad’s much younger cousin, Hope, and her witty and attractive actor boyfriend of twelve years, Mal. These two met in drama school, and the big announcement to start the holiday is that they will marry at the end of the summer.
However, this season by the sea will be quite different from past ones for more reasons than the upcoming nuptials. Hope announces that her godmother’s teenage sons, Kit and Hugo, will also be joining them. Within three days of the news, Florence Godden, the boys’ movie-star mother, pulls up in a chauffeured black Mercedes to drop them off. She’s off to shoot a Hungarian art-house film, and she’s requested that Hope take charge of the young men. The contrast between the brothers couldn’t be more remarkable: the godlike Kit, the elder of the two, appears to emit light; the dark, sullen Hugo, on the other hand, seems to absorb it.
Kit can (and does) charm the pants off anyone—literally. His first and easiest conquest is, of course, the stunning Mattie, whose every romantic fantasy seems to be fulfilled by him. The narrator is more leery. An aspiring artist and observer, she rightly assesses him as a player and initially resists his attentions, but even gut feelings and warnings from Hugo, with whom she forms a friendship, aren’t enough to arm her against Kit’s sociopathic charisma. One reads compulsively to discover just how wide his path of destruction will be. Very wide, it turns out.
I’ve known Meg Rosoff’s name for years, but this is the first of her novels I’ve read. While it is not sexually graphic, the novel’s content and themes make it more suitable for mature young adults. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a novel, certainly not a young adult one, that explores sociopathy so well.
Thank you to Candlewick for providing me with an advance review copy of this book.
However, this season by the sea will be quite different from past ones for more reasons than the upcoming nuptials. Hope announces that her godmother’s teenage sons, Kit and Hugo, will also be joining them. Within three days of the news, Florence Godden, the boys’ movie-star mother, pulls up in a chauffeured black Mercedes to drop them off. She’s off to shoot a Hungarian art-house film, and she’s requested that Hope take charge of the young men. The contrast between the brothers couldn’t be more remarkable: the godlike Kit, the elder of the two, appears to emit light; the dark, sullen Hugo, on the other hand, seems to absorb it.
Kit can (and does) charm the pants off anyone—literally. His first and easiest conquest is, of course, the stunning Mattie, whose every romantic fantasy seems to be fulfilled by him. The narrator is more leery. An aspiring artist and observer, she rightly assesses him as a player and initially resists his attentions, but even gut feelings and warnings from Hugo, with whom she forms a friendship, aren’t enough to arm her against Kit’s sociopathic charisma. One reads compulsively to discover just how wide his path of destruction will be. Very wide, it turns out.
I’ve known Meg Rosoff’s name for years, but this is the first of her novels I’ve read. While it is not sexually graphic, the novel’s content and themes make it more suitable for mature young adults. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a novel, certainly not a young adult one, that explores sociopathy so well.
Thank you to Candlewick for providing me with an advance review copy of this book.
July 22, 2022
A slim, potent summer story that goes over you like a hard breeze and gives I Capture the Castle vibes.
June 17, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
So before I start I think it is worth mentioning that Meg Rosoff has an amazing way with words. Her writing style is so light and so easy to get through and a perfect story to get you out of a reading slump! I thoroughly enjoyed reading her poetic and melodic writing.
However, I felt incredibly distant from this book. I feel like the book lacked plot and was fairly confusing at times. I didn't really find any of the characters that likeable and really struggled to understand everyone's awe of Kit as well as Hugo's 'I'm not like other boys' demeanour.
I can see why many people really enjoyed this book and I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a light hearted, summery romance with complicated family dynamics.
So before I start I think it is worth mentioning that Meg Rosoff has an amazing way with words. Her writing style is so light and so easy to get through and a perfect story to get you out of a reading slump! I thoroughly enjoyed reading her poetic and melodic writing.
However, I felt incredibly distant from this book. I feel like the book lacked plot and was fairly confusing at times. I didn't really find any of the characters that likeable and really struggled to understand everyone's awe of Kit as well as Hugo's 'I'm not like other boys' demeanour.
I can see why many people really enjoyed this book and I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a light hearted, summery romance with complicated family dynamics.
August 31, 2021
Jeden Sommer macht sich eine Londoner Familie auf den Weg in ihr Sommerhaus am Meer. Eigentlich ist für 6 Personen die Fahrt zu weit, das Haus zu klein und zu kalt. Auf wirklich engem Raum hat es bisher nur deshalb keine Konflikte gegeben, weil die 16-Jährige Mattie im Gartenhäuschen schlafen kann. Offenbar lohnt die Anstrengung, um den Sommer über nichts zu tun als Schwimmen, Segeln, Reiten und Herumalbern. Das älteste der vier Kinder erzählt aus der Ichperspektive über einen besonderen Sommer, die Jüngeren könnten zwischen 12 und 16 Jahre alt sein.
Die Eltern stammen aus dem Theatermilieu. Diesen Sommer wird die Mutter damit verbringen, für Vaters Cousine Hope das Hochzeitskleid zu nähen und die Feier vorzubereiten. Das junge Paar verbringt seine Ferien in unmittelbarer Nähe. Als die Brüder Godden aus Los Angeles von ihrer Schauspielerin-Mutter für die Ferien beim Familien-Clan abgestellt werden, ahnt die Erzählerstimme, dass Kit Godden offenbar rücksichtslos genug ist, um alles zu zerstören, das der Familie bisher wertvoll war.
Vom Alter der Protagonisten und dem überschaubaren Umfang des Romans könnte man „Sommernachtserwachen“ als sommerliche Liebesgeschichte für Jugendliche einordnen. Der besondere Reiz der Geschichte entfaltet sich jedoch daraus, dass die Erzählerstimme trotz ihrer damaligen Jugend heute sehr sachlich, eloquent und genderneutral wirkt. Die Figur gibt anfangs nur von sich preis, dass sie die Schule noch nicht abgeschlossen hatte, aber mental bereit war, sich aus der sommerlichen Familienidylle zu lösen. Der dreiste Kit könnte also Katalysator sein für eine Entwicklung, die sich längst abzeichnete. In Familiengeschichten interessiere ich mich stets für den Platz der Figuren innerhalb einer Geschwisterreihe. Dass die Erzählerstimme sich so stark zurücknimmt, fand ich absolut spannend und entlarvend für meine Neugier, Gender/Geschlechtsidentität einer Figur zu erfahren. Das Rätseln, warum mir das wichtig ist, war eine faszinierende Erfahrung.
Wer sich dafür interessiert, warum Gender in unserer Kultur eine so wichtige Rolle spielt, wird evtl. ähnlich fasziniert sein. „Sommernachtserwachen" empfehle ich zum Lesen fernab ausgetretener Pfade, als Roman mit jugendlichen Protagonisten, aber nicht vorrangig als Jugendroman.
Die Eltern stammen aus dem Theatermilieu. Diesen Sommer wird die Mutter damit verbringen, für Vaters Cousine Hope das Hochzeitskleid zu nähen und die Feier vorzubereiten. Das junge Paar verbringt seine Ferien in unmittelbarer Nähe. Als die Brüder Godden aus Los Angeles von ihrer Schauspielerin-Mutter für die Ferien beim Familien-Clan abgestellt werden, ahnt die Erzählerstimme, dass Kit Godden offenbar rücksichtslos genug ist, um alles zu zerstören, das der Familie bisher wertvoll war.
Vom Alter der Protagonisten und dem überschaubaren Umfang des Romans könnte man „Sommernachtserwachen“ als sommerliche Liebesgeschichte für Jugendliche einordnen. Der besondere Reiz der Geschichte entfaltet sich jedoch daraus, dass die Erzählerstimme trotz ihrer damaligen Jugend heute sehr sachlich, eloquent und genderneutral wirkt. Die Figur gibt anfangs nur von sich preis, dass sie die Schule noch nicht abgeschlossen hatte, aber mental bereit war, sich aus der sommerlichen Familienidylle zu lösen. Der dreiste Kit könnte also Katalysator sein für eine Entwicklung, die sich längst abzeichnete. In Familiengeschichten interessiere ich mich stets für den Platz der Figuren innerhalb einer Geschwisterreihe. Dass die Erzählerstimme sich so stark zurücknimmt, fand ich absolut spannend und entlarvend für meine Neugier, Gender/Geschlechtsidentität einer Figur zu erfahren. Das Rätseln, warum mir das wichtig ist, war eine faszinierende Erfahrung.
Wer sich dafür interessiert, warum Gender in unserer Kultur eine so wichtige Rolle spielt, wird evtl. ähnlich fasziniert sein. „Sommernachtserwachen" empfehle ich zum Lesen fernab ausgetretener Pfade, als Roman mit jugendlichen Protagonisten, aber nicht vorrangig als Jugendroman.
September 5, 2021
Ik houd van goede jeugdliteratuur.
Al mag dat tegenwoordig (blijkbaar?) niet meer zo heten.
Het is YA nu. Yie-Aaa, maakt niet uit.
Goed geschreven jeugdliteratuur overstijgt vaak zelfs de A-literatuur. Om jongeren te bereiken moet een auteur namelijk extra hun best doen.
Meg Rosoff heeft daar ogenschijnlijk geen moeite mee, ook al is ze zelf intussen een NSYA meer.
In ‘The Great Godden’ laat ze een naam- en genderloos (?) personage aan het woord, tijdens een jaarlijkse vakantie in een al even naamloos Engels kustplaatsje. Het kroostrijke gezin waarvan ze deel uitmaakt brengt er al zolang ze zich herinnert de zomer door. Alles is vertrouwd, een beetje saai zelfs, tot de Godden-broers hun opwachting maken.
Al snel is niets meer wat het lijkt en ontspint zich een geheimzinnige en broeierige paringsdans die ongetwijfeld slachtoffers zal maken. En maakt. Changez!
Wat Rosoff met bijvoorbeeld Jenny Valentine gemeen heeft (en onderscheidt van mindere God(d)en) zijn haar inlevingsvermogen en nauwgezette observaties, in prachtige zinnen verpakt. Ze maakt het vertalers daardoor geweldig moeilijk, want ‘Ik hoop dat Malcolm Hope nooit opgeeft’ is nu eenmaal net niet hetzelfde als ‘I hope Malcolm never gives up Hope’.
Ik lees Meg Rosoff graag.
Mijn zeventienjarige zelve had Meg Rosoff graag gelezen.
Mijn zeventienjarige zelve was Meg Rosoff graag gewéést!
Yie-Aaa!
Al mag dat tegenwoordig (blijkbaar?) niet meer zo heten.
Het is YA nu. Yie-Aaa, maakt niet uit.
Goed geschreven jeugdliteratuur overstijgt vaak zelfs de A-literatuur. Om jongeren te bereiken moet een auteur namelijk extra hun best doen.
Meg Rosoff heeft daar ogenschijnlijk geen moeite mee, ook al is ze zelf intussen een NSYA meer.
In ‘The Great Godden’ laat ze een naam- en genderloos (?) personage aan het woord, tijdens een jaarlijkse vakantie in een al even naamloos Engels kustplaatsje. Het kroostrijke gezin waarvan ze deel uitmaakt brengt er al zolang ze zich herinnert de zomer door. Alles is vertrouwd, een beetje saai zelfs, tot de Godden-broers hun opwachting maken.
Al snel is niets meer wat het lijkt en ontspint zich een geheimzinnige en broeierige paringsdans die ongetwijfeld slachtoffers zal maken. En maakt. Changez!
Wat Rosoff met bijvoorbeeld Jenny Valentine gemeen heeft (en onderscheidt van mindere God(d)en) zijn haar inlevingsvermogen en nauwgezette observaties, in prachtige zinnen verpakt. Ze maakt het vertalers daardoor geweldig moeilijk, want ‘Ik hoop dat Malcolm Hope nooit opgeeft’ is nu eenmaal net niet hetzelfde als ‘I hope Malcolm never gives up Hope’.
Ik lees Meg Rosoff graag.
Mijn zeventienjarige zelve had Meg Rosoff graag gelezen.
Mijn zeventienjarige zelve was Meg Rosoff graag gewéést!
Yie-Aaa!
May 17, 2020
It was beautifully written but I felt detached from it all.
I was really looking forward to reading The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff. I've really enjoyed her books in the past and the description of this one sounded really appealing - a big family spends the summer at their holiday house by the sea - and they're joined by these two boys, one of whom is the mysterious and charming Kit Godden and what follows is this summer of love.
I thought The Great Godden was written really beautifully, and I loved the lazy, summer days and the quirks of this family. But certain elements of the book just didn't work for me as well.
1) We are never told the name or gender of the main character. The reader, I guess, is left to make any conclusions on their own (as I did) but I don't think this worked very well.
2) I think maybe my expectations of this book based on the description versus what actually happens within the story were vastly different which hampered my enjoyment of the book.
I didn't feel emotionally connected to the characters, to the story or to the relationships throughout. I think I just wanted more.
I was really looking forward to reading The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff. I've really enjoyed her books in the past and the description of this one sounded really appealing - a big family spends the summer at their holiday house by the sea - and they're joined by these two boys, one of whom is the mysterious and charming Kit Godden and what follows is this summer of love.
I thought The Great Godden was written really beautifully, and I loved the lazy, summer days and the quirks of this family. But certain elements of the book just didn't work for me as well.
1) We are never told the name or gender of the main character. The reader, I guess, is left to make any conclusions on their own (as I did) but I don't think this worked very well.
2) I think maybe my expectations of this book based on the description versus what actually happens within the story were vastly different which hampered my enjoyment of the book.
I didn't feel emotionally connected to the characters, to the story or to the relationships throughout. I think I just wanted more.
August 20, 2021
Meh, kinda bland ngl
And the characters were just really boring & stereotypical.
I also despise the fact that the only queer characters in this book were cheating, pedo, homewreckers.
And the characters were just really boring & stereotypical.
I also despise the fact that the only queer characters in this book were cheating, pedo, homewreckers.
November 29, 2021
I wish we saw more of Hugo, he was such a complex character!!
August 26, 2020
3 1/2 stars
I've been sitting on this one for a while now and don't have a huge desire to really go into it, but essentially this started off like the book I would want to right. Everything was perfect. The beach house setting, the big family dynamic, the arrival of the two mysterious Godden boys. I was in love. But pretty much around halfway, the book lost me. It went in a direction so different from where I would have taken it, and I felt too connected, too close to the story to just say "Huh, whatever, I'll go with it and be surprised." I guess I'll just have to write the novel I want myself one day.
Also, while in theory very cool, the concept of never revealing the gender/name of the protagonist and letting the reader decide doesn't really work when you make it pretty obvious that to you as the writer they are a girl lol.
* * *
Me? Reading a book I know close to nothing about? It's more likely than you think.
I've been sitting on this one for a while now and don't have a huge desire to really go into it, but essentially this started off like the book I would want to right. Everything was perfect. The beach house setting, the big family dynamic, the arrival of the two mysterious Godden boys. I was in love. But pretty much around halfway, the book lost me. It went in a direction so different from where I would have taken it, and I felt too connected, too close to the story to just say "Huh, whatever, I'll go with it and be surprised." I guess I'll just have to write the novel I want myself one day.
Also, while in theory very cool, the concept of never revealing the gender/name of the protagonist and letting the reader decide doesn't really work when you make it pretty obvious that to you as the writer they are a girl lol.
* * *
Me? Reading a book I know close to nothing about? It's more likely than you think.
May 30, 2020
Strangely alluring and quietly unsettling.
November 4, 2021
Lectura corta y entretenida,muy intensa por momentos y algo confusa también.
June 7, 2022
Just about as aimless a plot as the family’s Summer it depicted.
The Great Godden is a quick read with clean writing, but I found the whole thing pretty pointless.
The Great Godden is a quick read with clean writing, but I found the whole thing pretty pointless.
November 19, 2021
*Big thanks to Books Are My Bag who sent me a copy of this book!*
This book gave me massive we were liars vibes (minus the tragedy) and I am so here for it. Also, the perfect summer read but reading it in autumn works too - tried and tested.
This book took me completely by surprise. I thought I knew what I was going to get when I first started based on the synopsis - but I got so much more from it than that. If you think you’re getting some cute little teenage romance…. Hmm…
For such a short story it really did pack a punch and I’m still thinking about it days laters. I would’ve loved a longer book that I could’ve spent more time with but I still really loved this. I sat and read it all in about two hours then spent a while staring at my ceiling. Success.
Usually short books lack character development but in here, I really liked how our protagonist changes her thinking throughout and how noticeable it was. I was so frustrated at the beginning of the book by her internalised misogyny and her constant digs at her younger sister, and you don’t understand how relieved I was by the way her internal monologue shifted in tone as the book carried on. The other characters have their own little arcs going on too, but it was most noticeable with the narrator.
There were a lot of characters introduced very quickly and it did feel a bit overwhelming. I got used to them for the most part, but some still blur together. A lot of them were a bit underdeveloped and didn’t have a personality at all. There was also a lot of opportunity to dive deeper into relationships or have better conversations between characters but it didn’t happen. I think being vague here was the point to get you creating your own narrative of the dynamics between them, but it still irked me a tiny bit.
It was well written and the pacing is so quick you’ll literally fly through it. It’s also formatted in a way with big line spacing and margins, so it’s shorter than it appears to be. It’s such a quick little story but it’s latched onto my brain so well I’m amazed. A very messy yet realistic version of events, coupled with several characters coming of age in the height of summer. Sign me up.
I didn’t predict the ending of the book and it did make my jaw drop a bit. I think if I read it back I could’ve picked up the clues, but I was focusing on completely the wrong thing. I liked it, it took me by surprise. I know a lot of people have criticised this in their reviews saying nothing happened but listen… yes and no. Maybe. Shhh.
Kit Godden where are you? I wanna talk.
This book gave me massive we were liars vibes (minus the tragedy) and I am so here for it. Also, the perfect summer read but reading it in autumn works too - tried and tested.
This book took me completely by surprise. I thought I knew what I was going to get when I first started based on the synopsis - but I got so much more from it than that. If you think you’re getting some cute little teenage romance…. Hmm…
For such a short story it really did pack a punch and I’m still thinking about it days laters. I would’ve loved a longer book that I could’ve spent more time with but I still really loved this. I sat and read it all in about two hours then spent a while staring at my ceiling. Success.
Usually short books lack character development but in here, I really liked how our protagonist changes her thinking throughout and how noticeable it was. I was so frustrated at the beginning of the book by her internalised misogyny and her constant digs at her younger sister, and you don’t understand how relieved I was by the way her internal monologue shifted in tone as the book carried on. The other characters have their own little arcs going on too, but it was most noticeable with the narrator.
There were a lot of characters introduced very quickly and it did feel a bit overwhelming. I got used to them for the most part, but some still blur together. A lot of them were a bit underdeveloped and didn’t have a personality at all. There was also a lot of opportunity to dive deeper into relationships or have better conversations between characters but it didn’t happen. I think being vague here was the point to get you creating your own narrative of the dynamics between them, but it still irked me a tiny bit.
It was well written and the pacing is so quick you’ll literally fly through it. It’s also formatted in a way with big line spacing and margins, so it’s shorter than it appears to be. It’s such a quick little story but it’s latched onto my brain so well I’m amazed. A very messy yet realistic version of events, coupled with several characters coming of age in the height of summer. Sign me up.
I didn’t predict the ending of the book and it did make my jaw drop a bit. I think if I read it back I could’ve picked up the clues, but I was focusing on completely the wrong thing. I liked it, it took me by surprise. I know a lot of people have criticised this in their reviews saying nothing happened but listen… yes and no. Maybe. Shhh.
Kit Godden where are you? I wanna talk.
August 16, 2020
"Lots of people seem a little two-dimensional at sixteen. She'll grow out of it."
This book is beautiful. In a way that not that the storyline was, but the writing of the book and how the story was being told.
You can't help but be mesmerized and in trance of it.
What you see on the cover, a beach summer vibes is what you get.
20 pages into the book then I realise the main character doesn't really have a name nor definite gender.
I feel like the author gave us a space for us to imagine who we want it to be.
I think that changes each reader personally and how it could affect the character feelings differently when we can decide who we think the main character should be.
The writing of the book was very classical literature but at the same time very modern.
The story and characters felt very real, raw and relatable.
I feel like each of us could relate to a character either we are them or they are like someone we know in life.
We all been through those teenage years. A very pretentious teenager who thought we know everything about the world
It gives me a very Call Me By Your Name vibes which I love.
"When people express nostalgia for youth, I always suspect they have inadequate recall."
This book is beautiful. In a way that not that the storyline was, but the writing of the book and how the story was being told.
You can't help but be mesmerized and in trance of it.
What you see on the cover, a beach summer vibes is what you get.
20 pages into the book then I realise the main character doesn't really have a name nor definite gender.
I feel like the author gave us a space for us to imagine who we want it to be.
I think that changes each reader personally and how it could affect the character feelings differently when we can decide who we think the main character should be.
The writing of the book was very classical literature but at the same time very modern.
The story and characters felt very real, raw and relatable.
I feel like each of us could relate to a character either we are them or they are like someone we know in life.
We all been through those teenage years. A very pretentious teenager who thought we know everything about the world
It gives me a very Call Me By Your Name vibes which I love.
"When people express nostalgia for youth, I always suspect they have inadequate recall."
July 31, 2022
A lovely coming of age drama. One family. One summer. Things will never be the same after the Goddens arrive at the beach house; the irresistible Kit quickly charms everyone whilst the quiet and aloof Hugo keeps himself to himself. By the end of the summer the idyll is shattered.
A short novella, beautifully written with gorgeous prose. I raced through it. It made me remember what it was like to be young!
A short novella, beautifully written with gorgeous prose. I raced through it. It made me remember what it was like to be young!
September 17, 2021
The Great Godden follows an unnamed narrator and follows the story of their family over one summer when the Goddens come to stay for the summer. The two brothers, the irresistible and charming Kit and the surly and silent Hugo set into action a chain of events that ignite that summer as one that everyone will always remember.
I found myself unable to put this book down and literally read it within a sitting. It was the perfect read with that summer feel: the sun, lounging on beaches, the spark of attraction, the back and forth flirting, the beach, the furtive glances, the family dynamic, the secrets, the betrayal. The plot of this book felt so addictive. So the story starts with the unnamed narrator enjoying their summer with their family and then the Goddens come to visit. As soon as Kit is introduced to the story, it is apparent that there is something magnetic about him that just pulls everyone into his orbit, even more than one person in the family. But that magnetism leaves devastation in its wake and so this is the summer that will stay in everyone's memories.
The narrator in this book is never named and their gender is never specified and I found the choice to do that so interesting. Personally, I read the narrator as male but that might just be because I’m projecting a gay fantasy onto the books and so desperately wanted it to be queer. But the fact that these personal details regarding the narrator are never revealed, we still get a look into their inner world and their thoughts and actions were really interesting. I just can’t express how much I enjoyed this book and that’s in part because of the characters who were all very interesting, especially Kit and Hugo, who annoyed and awed me each in their own way.
We have to talk about the romance. From the moment Kit is introduced to the novel, something simmers between him and the protagonist and it was just so delicious to read about. There was a tension running through all of their interactions, perhaps because Kit was also showing equal interest in the narrator’s sister. I loved the dynamics of the romance in this book. It was tense but really well done but it all exploded in the best possible way for this book. And I like personal journey that the narrator went on, that this taught them something about themselves and that they came away from the situation and the summer as a better person. But there was also something simmering between Hugo and the narrator which culminates in a random kiss at the end that was never discussed again so I thought that was strange and would have liked to see some more resolution for that aspect. But I guess it was just in the heat of the moment because they end up being really good friends afterwards.
Overall, The Great Godden was such an addictive, pleasure-filled summer read that I’m absolutely going to reread someday. Although I found the ending a little confusing in that I didn’t actually understand what happened until it was spelled out by one of the characters at the end, I still thoroughly enjoyed the read.
“What annoys me most is that it takes no effort to be born beautiful, no hard work, no mental agility, no strength of character. Just dumb luck. And yet it’s a universal currency, often mistaken for moral superiority.”
I found myself unable to put this book down and literally read it within a sitting. It was the perfect read with that summer feel: the sun, lounging on beaches, the spark of attraction, the back and forth flirting, the beach, the furtive glances, the family dynamic, the secrets, the betrayal. The plot of this book felt so addictive. So the story starts with the unnamed narrator enjoying their summer with their family and then the Goddens come to visit. As soon as Kit is introduced to the story, it is apparent that there is something magnetic about him that just pulls everyone into his orbit, even more than one person in the family. But that magnetism leaves devastation in its wake and so this is the summer that will stay in everyone's memories.
“Everyone talks about falling in love like it’s the most miraculous, life-changing thing in the world. Something happens, they say, and you know. You look into the eyes of your beloved and see not only the person you’ve always dreamed you’d meet, but the you you’ve always secretly believed in, the you that inspires longing and delight, the you no one else really noticed before.
That’s what happened when I met Kit Godden.
I looked into his eyes and I knew.
Only, everyone else knew too. Everyone else felt exactly the same way.”
The narrator in this book is never named and their gender is never specified and I found the choice to do that so interesting. Personally, I read the narrator as male but that might just be because I’m projecting a gay fantasy onto the books and so desperately wanted it to be queer. But the fact that these personal details regarding the narrator are never revealed, we still get a look into their inner world and their thoughts and actions were really interesting. I just can’t express how much I enjoyed this book and that’s in part because of the characters who were all very interesting, especially Kit and Hugo, who annoyed and awed me each in their own way.
‘You,’ he said, wrapping me in his arms and whispering close to my ear. ‘You change everything.’
I’d waited so long to hear those words that I didn’t even care that they weren’t true."
We have to talk about the romance. From the moment Kit is introduced to the novel, something simmers between him and the protagonist and it was just so delicious to read about. There was a tension running through all of their interactions, perhaps because Kit was also showing equal interest in the narrator’s sister. I loved the dynamics of the romance in this book. It was tense but really well done but it all exploded in the best possible way for this book. And I like personal journey that the narrator went on, that this taught them something about themselves and that they came away from the situation and the summer as a better person. But there was also something simmering between Hugo and the narrator which culminates in a random kiss at the end that was never discussed again so I thought that was strange and would have liked to see some more resolution for that aspect. But I guess it was just in the heat of the moment because they end up being really good friends afterwards.
“When I think back on that summer it’s always with a sense of having lost something fragile and fleeting, something I can’t quite name. But I do still think of that face and those hands and a voice telling me that I’m something else. And more and more I think that maybe he was right.”
Overall, The Great Godden was such an addictive, pleasure-filled summer read that I’m absolutely going to reread someday. Although I found the ending a little confusing in that I didn’t actually understand what happened until it was spelled out by one of the characters at the end, I still thoroughly enjoyed the read.
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July 23, 2021Terrific new young-adult novel. Summer adventures, secrets revealed (and not revealed), visitors disrupting the usual family dynamic.
August 10, 2022
Ik vond dit boek zo random. Er gebeurde van alles maar eigenlijk ook niet heel veel. Ik vond letterlijk alle personages raar en ik snapte gewoon niet waar ze allemaal mee bezig waren. Het einde was ook echt dat ik dacht: oke? En voor zo een dun boek deed ik er echt idioot lang over omdat het gewoon niet lekker las. Misschien dat een ander dit boek fantastisch vond maar ik helaas niet sorry! Ik snap ook gewoon niet wat het punt van het verhaal was.
Oh en sidenote: de indirecte biphobia was unnecessary
Oh en sidenote: de indirecte biphobia was unnecessary
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