I struggled to get into this book, and found the storyline to be very confusing in places, but rather dull and boring in others. For this reason I found myself skim reading the book and eventually gave up on it.

I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read it.

Advanced Reader copy - Enjoyed this book, really opened my eyes and made me seek out other similar books to read.

This for me was not a book I could binge and enjoy sadly. It just didn’t flow for me and I don’t think my review would do it justice. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for a review

The Lauras by Sara Taylor was a reflective novel about family dysfunction, sexuality, home base, transient urges, and mother-son relationship. Was dark, melancholy, yet interesting and engaging. Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the copy for review. All opinions are my own.

I thought this was a fantastic read with great characters and I was glad I was given the opportunity to read this book. I’m looking forward to reading more books from Sara Taylor in the future.

I am the wrong reader for this book. It was slightly interesting, I read it to the end, but I found the end let it down - something a little more interesting would have been good. I kept waiting for something to happen, but once I read the end, I just thought 'meh'.

Thank you to both Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this title.

I found this unengaging. I just couldn't understand why Alex was even on the roadtrip and didn't find either Ma or Alex likeable characters. I struggled through it and immediately forgot it. I'm sure there is an audience for this book, but it wasn't for me.

Family secrets and lies spool out as Alex and Ma transverse the US. It's a well done tale that has occasional surprises. A good read.

THE LAURAS is a fascinating read about who our parents are, and were, shape who we become. Alex and Ma set out on a continental journey to review Ma's youth, and in the process Alex finds out who they want to be. There are some hard stories in this book, but it is ultimately redeeming.

With thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.

The Lauras by Sara Taylor is a good book that is basically a road trip and coming of age story.

Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

I started off reading this book however it really wasn't for me. I didn't feel the book was engaging enough and I didn't feel that it kept my attention.

It's another night of fights in Alex's house. But this time ends differently. As Alex's mother storms out the door, she stops and pulls Alex out to the car also. Off they drive into the night, and Alex doesn't know where they are going. That's not different. Alex's mother isn't big on talking or sharing plans.

As they drive over the next few days, it appears there is a plan. Alex's mother is revisiting her younger days and the people that affected her then, either for good or evil. Some are friends she made many years ago and she revisits them, renewing friendships. Some are those who treated her badly and she confronts them. Rarely does Alex know much about what draws her to these people although she usually shares a bit afterwards.

Alex doesn't know how long this will be and misses home. At fourteen, Alex isn't sure of a lot of things. Like how life will turn out, or even what gender will work. As the weeks and months go by, Alex begins to grow up and make decisions. There are friends to make and places to visit. There is a father to reunite with. Will his mother ever share her whole story?

Sara Taylor explores the parent-child bond in this dysfunctional family story. The mother seems rootless and self-centered, willing to tear her child apart from the father and to drag her child along as she chases her past. The whole theme of the gender confusion of the child seems a bit clumsy also and makes the book more difficult to bond with. This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

I enjoyed this more than I expected to. I'd requested it back when I was working at a famously LGBT+ positive shop due to the NB protagonist but the story was more than compelling in it's own right. This is a story where someone happens to be NB, not a story about NB. The Laura's of the title are actually quite a small part of the book, much to my surprise. I found the road trip structure worked whereas normally I hate it. As a device to isolate the central characters it was better than a plot signal of a characters "journey". The Housekeeping-esque ending was moving.

Loved this mother/teenager road trip across America where the mother slowly reveals more about her life before children and the teenager gradually becomes an adult.

A very different story with complex characters trying to come to terms with the past and all the usual difficulties that come with growing up. Evocative writing and good descriptions of the places visited.

Sara Taylor’s brilliant novel The Shore is a hard act to follow, and I didn’t love The Lauras quite so much. However, the writing is lovely; Alex the non binary teen at the centre of the story is a wonderful character and the journey we take into the mother’s past is worth the trip.

What a journey we are taken on with Alex, the child of a mother who drags her out of bed in the night to leave her home and father to chase memories. A road trip driven by one last argument in an unhappy relationship.
It takes a long to gather answers to the narrative that Alex is unfurling 30 years after it was lived. A story of two childhoods, that of Alex's road trip and the one of the Laura's known by Ma.
I'm not sure if many of the central characters are typically likeable, they are each constrained and spoiled by their individual difficulties and histories. However, I did enjoy this book and I was thoroughly taken on the journey told. Taylor makes the characters and edit strifes real, and thus you can empathise and wish that all works out well.

A beautiful written story involving a mother and daughter and how episodes in the Mother’s life are now being revisited as they start a journey across the States. The Mothet invents the Laura’s as a way to explain her life story and as they journey onward it is to visit the past and sort things out that their aims are established. Carefully crafted tale of how each survives in, at times, adventures. Thought provoking!