From the Bookshelf of Aussie Readers…

Pulling Down the Stars

James Laidler

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Jan 20, 2013 Sheree rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviews, young-adult, aussie-author, read-in-2013

I read James Laidler's free verse novel The Taste Of Apple in 2011 and loved it so when James asked if I'd be interested in reading his latest novel I jumped at the chance. Set in the Australian seaside town of Warrnambool, Pulling Down The Stars has a standard narrative with smatterings of song lyrics and poems but there's nothing standard about the poignant and powerful lyrical style I first fell in love with in The Taste Of Apple.

I liked the fact that Charlie and Max (Maxine) were outside th ...more

Like · see review

Jan 09, 2013 Brenda rated it it was ok

Shelves: own-read, 2013-release, arc, aussie-authors, reviewing-by-request, read-on-kindle

Charlie Lansdowne lived at home with his father, Roger and grandpa Frank…three generations of males living at the same address. Charlie had a job in nursing, and his days were spent looking after the psychiatric patients, in particular the volatile Benny. When he wasn’t at work, he was helping his father look after his grandpa, who had suffered a stroke, was wheelchair bound and needed full-time care. The days were long, tiring and stressful. But most of the time the three men got along reasonab Charlie Lansdowne lived at home with his father, Roger and grandpa Frank…three generations of males living at the same address. Charlie had a job in nursing, and his days were spent looking after the psychiatric patients, in particular the volatile Benny. When he wasn’t at work, he was helping his father look after his grandpa, who had suffered a stroke, was wheelchair bound and needed full-time care. The days were long, tiring and stressful. But most of the time the three men got along reasonably well.

Maxine (or Pepsi Max as she was known) worked at the local abattoir, loved to surf and lived alone in a small apartment rented and paid for by her parents. She resented them immensely, mainly because of what she had seen her father get up to when she was only seven years old, but also because they wouldn’t let her live her own life, telling her what to do all the time. Consequently she was a ‘wild child’, doing as much as she could to annoy her parents. When the day of a huge party for her parents’ 20th wedding anniversary arrived…something she couldn’t get out of… she fortified herself with alcohol. The ensuing outburst when it was her turn to give a speech created havoc and the fractured family looked like falling apart…

Charlie and his band were playing at a local pub when Maxine staggered in after the party, looking for more alcohol. When Charlie’s best friend Kane, singer in the band, and resident bad boy, took a shine to Maxine, Charlie was not impressed…then with Maxine subsequently getting to know Charlie and his family, changes started to take place, both in Charlie’s life and Maxine’s.

Interspersed throughout the book Laidler has some minor players, but the main focus is on Maxine and Charlie. I would have liked more detail about the killer and his activities, and any ensuing police work regarding same, but there wasn’t very much, which disappointed me a little. I enjoyed the aspects of the novel, the different perspectives of each character, but in the end, it just didn’t seem complete.

Many thanks to the author for my copy to read and review. ...more

Like · see review

Dec 23, 2012 Melissa rated it really liked it

This was a great Aussie novel!

Like · see review

Jan 07, 2013 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out added it

Dnf

Like · see review

May 16, 2013 Amanda-Lee (StoryWings) marked it as to-read

Shelves: tbr-pile-physical

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions

Photos Videos

Send invite Members Polls