Today is a very productive day as I am posting 2 reviews today!

Synopsis

19 year old Sean hasn’t seen his father since he was twelve. His mother has never really explained why. An argument with her leads to his moving to the other side of the country.

Martin, his father, has his life thrown into turmoil when the son he hasn’t seen in nearly eight years strolls back into his life immediately killing his dog and hospitalising his step-daughter.

The one thing they have in common is the friendship of a girl called Rhiannon.

Over the course of one summer Sean experiences sexual awakenings from all angles, discovers the fleeting nature of friendship and learns to cope with rejection.

Martin, meanwhile, struggles to reconnect with Sean while trying to delicately turn down the increasingly inappropriate advances of a girl he sees as a surrogate daughter and keep a struggling marriage alive.

Gap Years is an exploration of what it means to be a man in the 21st Century seen from two very different perspectives – neatly hidden inside a funny story about bicycles, guitars and unrequited love.

My Review

Never judge a book by its first page…

I started reading this book and after reading the literally first page, my thoughts were: ‘Wtf am I reading?’

Don’t know if my mind was in the wrong place, but that first page made no sense at all to me…

So wisely, I dropped the book for a few days and gave it another chance later that week.

And I am very happy that I didn’t just give up.

This story could be the story of every family.

A estranged son coming back home, trying to bond again with his father, after years of radio silence.

The same son struggling with his own identity, not knowing what really to do with his life.

And the father not being able to properly communicate with his own family and even hating his job.

I think everybody knows somehow to relate to this story.

Despite my first failed attempt, it all starts with a crash. And sadly, there is 1 victim… the poor dog.

From here on the story starts, and you immediately feel that there are several things not going so well in the family.

Martin, the dad, blames Sean, the son, for the accident, but feels bad about his own thoughts.

And Sean has his own struggles… after leaving the home he had with his mother, he tries to bond with the family of his father. Even if his stepmother and younger stepsister adore him, the relationship with his father is more difficult. And what about his sexual orientation? Is he more into men or more into girls? He just doesn’t know…

So when he meets Rhiannon, he finally thinks he knows. But of course nothing is easy when it comes to love. Because does Rhiannon loves him back or is he being ‘friend-zoned’?

In the second attempt of reading this story, I started to really like it. As already said, somehow I could relate the it.

You feel how everyone tries to reinforce their relationship, but just fail at it.

Being raised by being told it’s wrong to show real emotions, Martin just doesn’t know how to communicate and every attempt he makes, just makes things worse than before.

And Sean, being as shy as he is, finds it hard to make friends and tell what’s on his mind.

The story is so real, you can find examples of such persons in your environment. And the reality of the story is what made me continue reading it. I wanted to know more and as soon as possible. Sometimes I just wanted to enter the book and slap some of the characters because of the stupidity of their actions.

This isn’t a book full of action, or romance or scary parts. It’s a book about a family with real problems, and they try to overcome them.

So it’s somehow a simple story, but that’s the charm of it. And it’s that charm that made me continue reading it.

And it’s that same charm that made me sad when I got to the end, but also happy. Because in the end, there is a conclusion that makes you smile and gives hope for a better future for the whole family!