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I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading The Lauras. I had heard really good things about Sara Taylor's first novel, The Shore, so I hoped I was in for a good read.

Alex is a teenager struggling with puberty, self-discovery and self image. This is all heightened by the fact that we never find out Alex's gender. For a while this bothered me, only slight remarks were made about people wondering whether Alex was a boy or a girl and I found myself wanting to know as well. However, when this becomes a major focus of the novel I quickly realise that I, nor any other reader, is supposed to know, and I was OK with that. It really highlighted the emphasis that is placed on gender and, well.. it really doesn't matter, just be who you want to be.

Alex's mother is as complex as Alex, her chequered past leads them to different situations that Alex should probably not be confronted with, but each of them focus on a different aspect of life that, at one point or another, we all must deal with. The relationship between the two is electric, the perfect representation of a mother/teenager bond.

I absolutely loved this novel. It really moved me. Taylor's way with words is perfect and I genuinely connected with the characters in the story.

This book!!!! Just read it! Fantastic!!! I fell in love with the characters early on. Each moment I had to read this book, I escaped into it!

The Lauras is the story of a mother and child who embark on a multi-year road trip across America, following a mysterious route with stops along the way to tie up loose ends from Alex's mother's past.

I wanted to love this book. I really did. I was a fan of Taylor's debut novel, The Shores, and found it quite ia page turner. In the shadow of The Shores, I didn't think The Lauras lived up to my self-admitted high expectations. I truly did enjoy it in the end, but I had an unusually hard time getting through it. The first 50 or so pages really grabbed me with the language and quick pace. While I thought the rest of the book had good movement and development, I never could find myself emotionally attached or invested in either Alex or his mother. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad book, but I find myself enjoying books much more when one or more of the characters is relatable.

I did think that Alex's character development was excellent and watching him/her come of age on the road was fascinating and moving. I realize that the mystery of Alex's gender was intentional and that it doesn't really make much of a difference whether Alex was male or female, but this was a question that I really hoped to find the answer to by the end. Parts of the book were a bit slow, but once I reached the ending, I felt that it wrapped up nicely, despite the fact that I had several questions left unanswered.

I did find this book difficult to read, I think because I am over 60, and although not a prude, some of the descriptions in this novel made me quite nauseous. The protagonist is a young girl, who is not sure whether she is male or female, wanting to remain completely asexual. However, when her mother decides to leave her father, and go travelling, to settle old scores, she is taken, very unwillingly, with her mother.
The constant anxiety about school, relationships, a growing sexuality that she is not really mature enough to deal with,and where the next meal or bed for the night is.
It is well-written, but sometimes a little too graphic for me!
Thank you for Net Galley and the publishers for allowing to read this book.

This book was different.
The idea for it was a good one, but I really didn't enjoy it. The narrator is a surly teen and the whole feel of it is deliberatley seedy.It could have been an outsider'sview of the difference in states in the US,but insteqad of
capitalising on an ability to describe things well, we get really OTT similies. Itcan't just rain or the sun set it has to bleed or weep etc.
The mother's story is quite an interesting one but I think it could have been presented in a much better way

For me a book should have a strong story, leaving me guessing and wanting to know what happens next. in The Lauras there's no whodunnit, no great love story, it's just ----- a story. And one I wanted to read. I was frustrated by the mystery of Alex' gender identity, but on reflection, there was no need to know, which opened up a different thought process. At first I thought we were entering a murder chase, as Alex and "Ma" left so abruptly in the middle of the night during a fight with dad. At various points I continued to wonder about this. But this is a road trip story, it takes us through many parts of America, leaving me wanting to explore these parts myself. It's a journey of self discovery for Alex as the journey through adolescence gets underway. And a strange and difficult one it is too. I did feel the mother was selfish dragging her child across the country, but Alex has never fitted in, and by the end seems to have found a place. The story of "the Lauras" is fascinating giving an insight into a very disturbed childhood, A strange book, haunting and one that will stay with you. I'm not sure I fully worked out fully why the journey began as it did, and I certainly had no idea how contacts had been made along the way that led to the final destination, but I felt I was making the journey with them.

This is a very well written account of a road trip across the States made by Alex and her mother after a sudden decision to leave the family home. I read the book with the expectation that great revelations would be made, but by the end I have to say I felt let down. It gives an insight into transgender issues, as Alex does not identify with either male or female. We see Alex growing up and experiencing puberty during their nomadic existence, and the difficulties this causes are sensitively handled. But although the final scenes, where Ma finally reaches her destination, which is the home of the love of her life, are touching, but I couldn't understand why it had to take two years for them to get there. The premise, that they were visiting places of importance to Ma during her earlier life, is intriguing but it felt rather contrived, as though they were only there to extend the trip and pad out what would have worked better, for me, as a shorter, more intense, work.

The story is a coming of age tale – in this case for both mother and child, whereby the roadtrip prompted by the Alex’s mother becomes a journey of discovery and rediscovery. This book has various themes woven throughout – gender, prejudice, mother/child relationships, broken relationships, courage and authenticity.
The story is told from Alex’s perspective, and so it begins when Alex is 13 years old, when he/she assumes their mother is finished at growing. The journey takes them through old secrets and promises, care homes, lost friends, bolt-holes. Sara Taylor has created a dramatic tale with descriptive imagery that evokes emotions and compassion.

Enjoyed this hugely. Much more than a roadtrip novel, it's about relationships and identity. And beautifully written. Thanks, NetGalley!

This was a completely absorbing book, and I found it almost impossible to put down. I was completely immersed in the story, and the fact that you never find out whether the narrator is male or female definitely adds to the slightly eerie and strange atmosphere that the author creates. The writing is truly exquisite and transporting. This is a real gem of a book.

great read and easy to follow story line. look forward to reading more from this author.

A very intriguing book as both of the main characters were slowly revealed as the plot unfolded. An interesting perspective as the voice of a teenager of unknown sex and how they really only git to know their mother's story when they ran away from the family home and embarked on a road trip to uncover the troubled young life of the mother.

I really liked this booked and read it in one sitting. The story is all at once something and nothing; there is no big crime or action sequence and on face value you do wonder what is pulling you. This is the story of mother and child bonding and sharing experiences as the mother relives earlier episodes of her life as they road trip across America. The Lauras denote encounters in these life stories. Both mother and child are wonderfully complex characters and Taylor brings them alive beautifully and make you resonate with their feelings and flaws. Taylor's writing is wonderful and this book was hugely nourishing.

Alex is 13 when Ma pulls them out of bed, into the car, and they embark on a road trip across America, sometimes settling in one place for months at a time, at others staying briefly before moving on. The Lauras is so named for the girls and women from Ma's chequered past, about whom Alex is regaled with tales through which, during their years on the road, Alex learns to view Ma as more than just a mother, but a person too.

The novel has an episodic feel and despite the potential narrative repetition of moving from gritty motel to dusty road to gritty motel, each stop along their way is beautifully drawn in immersive and lyrical prose. Neither Alex nor Ma have uncomplicated lives, and it's not a book that ties everything up in a neat bow at the end, but there was a sense of hope nonetheless. By far the best coming of age novel I've read in years.

The Lauras is a novel about a mother and her teenage child who leave the woman's husband and embark on a road trip across the USA. Along the way, the mother tells the child the story of her younger life and the amazing women she met, who she calls the Lauras. The narrator, Alex, never tells the reader what sex the character belongs to but this does not matter. Alex, like the mother, is an intelligent, adventurous free spirit. It is a novel that lingers long after the last page is turned.

I enjoyed this book so much to start with. Strong writing style and the premise of a mysterious road trip made a really good beginning..
Unfortunately I found myself losing interest in and sympathy with the central character. The references to we sexual awakening and encounters (or lack thereof) felt clumsy and for the most part irrelevant, and in the end the trip and the book itself seemed to be going on and on ad nauseum with not much happening.
I am disappointed to say I was glad to finish and would not recommend.

13 year old Alex is taken on a nostalgic trip around America by Mum whilst she re-visits old friends and tries to come to terms with her own life. Meanwhile Alex struggles with relationships and questions of sexuality and gender arise.
This well written engrossing book draws the reader into the world of runaways, foster homes and ultimately friendship and love. Although I found this novel slow to engage me I could not just leave it and although I rushed it in parts the characters remain vivid and unforgettable.
Give it a read, it is worth it.

THE LAURAS is a strangely lyrical book, following genderless Alex and their mother on a roadtrip across America, intermingled with stories Alex’s mother tells about her childhood and college days.

I don’t have a huge amount of feelings about this book. The writing is really lovely, and I feel like the two protagonists are well written and defined, but in honesty not a lot actually happens and the story is slightly dull. Alex’s mother’s stories are fascinating and it is interesting to see how she grew up – and the idea of the two of them driving cross-country was something I could have really enjoyed. But there’s no urgency. Nothing happens that makes me particularly invested in either character.

I did enjoy reading about all the Lauras – even the ones who weren’t really called Laura – and I do think it was an interesting premise, but unfortunately perhaps not for me.

"He had lived with my mother for fifteen years before she left him, and he knew the signs...: the way I could not settle, the way I couldn't stand the confine of walls, of roads, of anything smaller than earth and sky."

Describing The Lauras as a book about a cross-country roadtrip would really do it a disservice. This story is made of so much more. This story is about gender and identity, and exploring these notions. It is also about the intense and unique bond between mother and child.

I haven't read Sara Taylor's debut offering, The Shore, but having just finished this book, her sophomore novel, I will be seeking it out. The Lauras is a stunning novel that follows 13-year-old Alex and Alex's mother ("Ma") as they steal away in the night and embark on a roadtrip across America, following numerous rows with Alex's father. They venture from state to state, from Virginia to Georgia, to Mississippi and on to Reno and California, and eventually Canada. Their roadmap is Ma's memory, guiding them from place to place as she revisits places and people from her early life. Together with Alex and Ma, we visit the homes and places in which Ma was fostered, the buildings she squatted in, the people that cared for her and did her harm, and those she wants to reconnect with. Ma’s journey is also marked by five females, all with the name "Laura", each of whom imprinted themselves on Ma’s life in some form or another. At one point in the novel, Alex asks why they were all called Laura, speculating (as we do) that perhaps Ma has labelled them all with a generic name. But the answer is that they really were. The first Laura was a childhood best friend, and, as Ma says to Alex, “you try to get the new Laura to fit into the hole that the old Laura left”.

We soon learn that Ma has a trait about her: a need to be on the move; a reluctance to stay in any one place for too long. Like Alex will also come to learn, freedom is much more desirable than consistency. As the novel moves along, we begin to learn if Alex is like Ma or not. Is Alex a wanderer? Or does she long for the comfort of home? This story explores the notion of home and of belonging, but also that of identity. Alex is a transgender youth, and it is never actually revealed to us whether she associates more with being male or female. For some reason, I found her to be more female, perhaps because I, personally, thought she was quite like her mother in certain aspects. I should say here that I will refer to Alex as female for the purpose of this review. Because pronouns tend to define, I feel this is wrong in a way, as if I am labelling Alex. However, I don't feel the English language has evolved enough to speak accurately or comfortably outside binary gender. For this very reason, The Lauras is more about naming and identity as it is about anything else. It explores these areas, as well as the theme of gender, as we see Alex grapple with puberty and a new sexuality, as well as who she is at her core.

"It's bothered me for as long as I can remember, the way the human compulsion to classify stands at odds with my feeling of falling outside the available categories...Everyone seemed determined to put me into a box that I had no interest being in."

What is wonderful about this particular story is that Ma never forces Alex to choose a gender. When a woman challenges Alex, and declares that everyone has a gender, Ma’s response is definitive. “Well, Alex doesn’t … And there is nothing wrong with that. And that is the end of this conversation.”

And that leads me onto one of my favourite things about The Lauras. Alex and Ma's relationship is so unique and wonderful. They test each other, they clash. But they love each other fiercely, have a great understanding of each other and, above all, accept each other for who they are: for their gender and identity, or lack thereof, for their choices in life (mostly Ma's, which are revealed throughout the course of this story), and their need to be free. The restlessness of both characters is reflected very well in this book, as is the pain and suffering they sometimes endure; a pain that, sometimes, even a parent cannot prevent.

The Lauras is an engrossing, eloquent and original novel that I found to be so satisfying, both for its depiction of a unique mother and child relationship and its exploration of some very interesting themes. I would certainly recommend it and would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to enjoy it.