Thanks NetGalley, Bookouture and Drew Davies for a copy to review.
Esther and Bruno form a unique relationship, Bruno helps Esther cope with the technology and Internet usage. An octogenarian who lives alone in a grand house up a hill with her life time belongings and shameful secrets, a teenager who is fighting his own identity and trying to find himself..
A heartwarming tale with lovable characters and beautiful settings.

3.5 - 3.5 - This definitely had some Great Expectations vibes with the elderly lady that secluded herself away for years because of a failed romance, a young boy who comes and helps her live again, she attempts to help him with his love life, and even a character named Pip (although he wasn't the same role in the book). There are certainly some major changes, the most noticeable being the inclusion of an LGBTQ storyline.

Told in alternating points of view by Bruno and Esther, this is a beautifully written story about unlikely friendships, finding one's sense of identity, and setting right past wrongs. It deals with some sensitive issues with enormous compassion and understanding.
Bruno is confused about his identity and desperate to escape the small village where he lives, due to the stigma of his Romani heritage and the fear of being trapped working in the industrial complex where all the young village men end up working and never leaving. He takes a job teaching elderly recluse, Esther, how to use the internet - "the online" as she calls it. Esther's backstory, along with her refusal to let her decreasing mobility take away her independance, was also very strong. Esther is a wonderful character who refuses to engage in fake niceness and only respects honesty.
I loved how all the characters had their own distinct personalities which really shone in the conversations with each other. None of it felt manipulated or forced.
This is a heartwarming book that will make you fall in love with the characters but also really tug at your heartstrings. I was hooked from the prologue and remained hooked until the very end, which I absolutely loved.

Very good story about Bruno and Esther how they form a friendship together she was looking for someone to fix her internet and bruno saw a ad and went to the house the house everyone use to say was the house of the witch. Esther is 80 years old and you can see them becoming friends really quickly knowing that she also has issues with her real daughter and how her daughter doesn't listen to her. She forms a bond with bruno he teaches her how to use the internet. Esther teaches Bruno how to be himself how to let go of his anger and how to come out to his family. it was good but it was sad. Thank you Net Galley.

Esther and Bruno tell the story of their unlikely friendship in this heartwarming tale of two people struggling to come to terms with themselves and their lives. Esther, now in her 80s, hires Bruno to teach her how to use the internet so that she can finally learn the ins and outs of the scandal that made her shut herself away from the world. Bruno, for his part, is afraid to come out to his family but his time with Esther teaches him to love himself. It moves back and forth in time a bit to give you the backstories of both characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This book really surprised me. As it started it wasn’t quite what I was expecting I worried that I’d not want to read it. The opening was quite harrowing and unexpected and then the shift to Esther, an old woman, I just couldn’t get a handle on what was meant to be happening, but then the wonderful character of Bruno really blossomed and I had to know his story. He was so you, innocent and naive, yet classed as an adult at 18 and to start building his life. He was very identifiable and, I admit I was naive myself and didn’t link the dots with the camp he wanted to go to with anything bad initially, I thought it was to hone a secret skill or passion he had and was to shy to tell people. I guess like Bruno I was confused.
The scene with Dominic climbing through Bruno’s window and touching his chin and asking for a kiss was a major turning point, for both me and Bruno. That was so beautiful and touching. I loved watching their relationship grow, I was really rooting for them.
Esther story was interesting, it slowly unfolded and she needed to relive it to get past it. Bruno helped her see how much she wanted to live life, he literally gave her the world in the form of the internet and I really enjoyed reading about her peering at the phone screen in the small hours of the morning navigating down streets following Google maps! I mean who hadn’t done that? 😂
That lovely little twist at the end was a nice touch, I really hope Bruno finds his happy ever after . A great underlying message, that no matter your age you can hide away from life, and also, no later your age you can live life to your fullest.

4 words:

THIS BOOK WAS GREAT.

At the beginning I really was close to DNFing because I was unsure on where it was going to go, however, DON’T BE FOOLED it was great.

My emotions were all over the place and I really did feel for both Esther and Bruno. They both had their own problems but they still worked together which I really loved their bond.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. I loved the idea behind it when I read the synopsis and did find certain parts to be interesting. However, the pace was so slow and I didn’t feel like anything was actually happening until I was around 50% into the book.

Dominic’s character was my favorite part of this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Stars: 3.5/5

The locked away life by Author Drew Davies is a heartwarming story about a budding friendship between an lonely octogenarian and an teenager trying to figure out life, while struggling with other issues in life.

The story mainly focuses on Bruno, who is trying to led a normal teenage life amidst his struggle to discover his sexuality. On the other hand, Esther is an 80 year old who is living a reclusive life ever since she found herself caught in a scandal. The two meet when Bruno applies to teach Esther how to use the internet and thereafter help each other discover life and deal with past events of life.

The characters in the book are mostly loving and felt like a huge hug at times. The book starts off on an enjoyable note, but later lacked consistency in the chapter i.e some were too long and some were just a page making the book a slow burner. While the characters were wise and matured, the story of Esther past felt half cooked.

Though, the author has managed to do a good job by touching important subjects like friendship, menlth health, guilt, abandonment, sexuality, family, relationships etc. The book also tells us that how people get attached to each other even in a short span of time and how a bond of friendship can be formed irrespective of one’s age and circumstances.

Overall, the book was heartwarming along with being heartbreaking at the same time.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher Booksuture, and author Drew Davies for this ARC.

REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Locked-Away Life by Drew Davies explores the lives of two people at very different stages of life who both exist in the shadows of the labels put upon them by others, but more destructively by themselves. Bruno is eighteen and finds an advertisement in the local library from someone seeking internet lessons. In need of money to help his family, this could be just what he needs. He soon finds himself tutor to a reclusive octogenarian who can be quite exasperating. Their only commonality is that both are prisoners of the secrets that they are attempting to keep. Esther must come to terms with her past while Bruno learns to accept his future. Can one manage to help the other in learning what it is like to live and not merely exist?⠀
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This book is both heartwarming and heart wrenching, and will enrage you one moment and have you in tears the next. It is inspirational to observe the development of the bond between these two brilliantly drawn characters. The author is a gifted storyteller who knows how to keep a reader engaged from first page to last. This is, by far, Drew Davies best book to date. Definitely a must read!⠀

“𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔.”

Drew Davies’ writing has been described as “gripping, emotional and heartwarming,” so when offered the chance to read his newest release early, I jumped at the opportunity!

The opening of this book, offering two prologues, felt like a thriller - you knew you were getting into the middle of the action but weren’t sure what got the character to these mysterious places; cue chapter 1, which headed back in time. I found this to be incredibly effective, as it gripped me right away and I needed to learn about these characters of Bruno and Ester. The basic premise is that Ester is in her eighties and wants to learn how to use the internet; enter Bruno, an eighteen year old boy struggling with himself and his life, to teach her. There was a lot of humour with Ester trying to learn how to use the internet, I especially loved when she asked about emojis, telling Bruno: “𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆’𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝑰 𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔.” Davies channels the questions of someone who has been reclusive and is brand new to the internet, an understanding that we often take for granted. Bruno is kind, patient and a hard worker; he makes for a very sympathetic character, as he tries to discover who he is. The section when he is in conversion camp is incredibly heartbreaking - it is shocking that these camps are still legal in some places! There is a part with monotone replies of the boys at camps make them sound like robots and highlights how much of yourself can be stripped away. The book touches on many different themes: sadness, regrets, keeping secrets and the pain that causes, and defining yourself, and does so very well, with the title having many different meanings such as being locked away into yourself, Ester’s isolation and Bruno being locked away at camp. The pacing is a bit off in the beginning - chapter one takes up almost 20% of the whole novel, whereas I felt there were lots of places it could’ve naturally been broken up into smaller chunks.

The Locked-Away Life is story about connections, giving up resisting, curiosity, and celebrating life. It is a reminder of the need for connection with people of all ages, especially appropriate during the last number of years. A big thanks to Drew Davies, BookOuture and NetGalley for the ARC!

Sadly this was a DNF as I found it a bit too slow and got bored several chapters in so I gave up on it

3.5⭐

Esther, a reclusive octogenarian, lives alone in her home on the hill, having shut herself away from the world after a sordid scandal wrecked her reputation and her life decades ago. Enter Bruno, an eighteen-year-old boy who Esther hires to help her figure out how to navigate “The On-Line!”. Bruno, a closeted gay, is dealing with some issues of his own. Unable to come to terms with his sexual orientation, fearing rejection and ostracism, he feels that coming out would disappoint his loving family. He is happy with the extra income, as he is secretly saving to enroll in conversion therapy.

What follows is a heartwarming friendship between two unlikely people, both of whom are trying to make sense of the changes in and around their own lives. While Bruno helps Esther to reconcile with her past, Esther encourages Bruno to embrace his present, each of them helping the other to overcome what is holding them back from living their best lives.

The story is shared through alternating perspectives of the two main characters. The pacing of the story is on the slower side. The author beautifully portrays the friendship between a lonely octogenarian and a teenage boy struggling with self-acceptance. The depiction of delicate issues such as sexual identity, aging, mental health and parent-child relationships is sensitive and thoughtful. Bruno’s confusion, his inner struggle and his inability to accept himself as he is were heartbreaking as were the stories of his fellow participants of the conversion camp he decides to attend.

I enjoyed Esther’s present-day storyline, her feistiness, fierce independence and her dynamic with Bruno, Bruno’s father Filip and Dominic, a local boy who went to school with Bruno. Her efforts to familiarize herself with new technology had some really funny moments. However, Esther’s backstory was not very well developed and is revealed to us disjointly in bits and pieces. Even though her past is of consequence to the present storyline, we never really get to know the full story, though much detail is repeated, which left me with a lot of questions. I also felt the author rushed through events in the aftermath of Bruno's experience at the camp. Though I loved the premise and the characters, the execution of the story, as a whole, left me a tad unsatisfied.

Overall, The Locked Away Life by Drew Davies is a sweet story with an interesting premise and an endearing cast of characters (minus those running the conversion camp). While the prologues (one for each of the two main characters) introduce the characters in tension-filled moments swiftly moving to an easy flowing (a bit long-drawn) narrative, the epilogues (once again, we get one for each character) wrap up both of their stories perfectly. Who doesn’t like happy endings for lovable characters?

Many thanks to Drew Davies, Bookouture and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this beautiful story. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
One of the first chapters was a bit terrifying and made me think I'd judged the book wrong based on the blurb, but not to worry, just keep going.
This ended up being a lovely friendship between a teen boy and an octogenerian. I think it shows that we can learn something (or be reminded of something) from almost everyone we meet in life. Just because someone is older or a teen doesn't mean that they don't have something worthwhile to contribute to our understanding of the world.

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC of The Locked Away Life by Drew Davies. Loved this story. Each character was quirky and full of personality. Real life serious issues, such as cancer, old age, being a recluse and homosexuality, were encountered and addressed with finesse. There a wonderful takeaway from this book as well. I highly recommend it. You’ll fall in love with Esther, Bruno and Dominic.

Octogenarian Esther and young, possibly gay Bruno share a unique friendship. Although they are from

completely different worlds, each is able to help the other in times of need and bring hope to enrich their

lives. Everyone, it seems harbours a secret.

This book crosses the generation gap with humour while not losing sight of reality.

I enjoyed reading this story very much.

3.7 Stars

One Liner: Great premise but needed a better execution

The Locked-Away Life is the story of two people, Esther and Bruno. Esther is an old woman, a recluse who shut herself away from the public eye after a mega scandal in the 70s. She needs to come to terms with and accept the latest technology to continue being independent and uncover the mystery from her past.
Bruno is an eighteen-year-old boy with too much burden on his shoulders and a secret hidden deep inside his heart. He needs money to get away from the small town and build a life.
When Bruno sees Esther’s ad about a paid position, he knows he needs to grab it. What starts as a tutoring session grows into something more as two unlikely people try to sort out the past, present, and future.
Can Esther find peace from her past? Can Bruno figure out his future?
The story comes in limited third-person POVs from Esther and Bruno.

What I Like:
The book deals with concepts like mental health, guilt, sexuality, regret, remorse, self-doubt, family & relationships, friendships, etc. It is heavier than my expectations but has enough light-hearted moments.
Bruno’s desire to be ‘normal’ and his determination to attend Camp Change to change his sexuality is a heartbreaking premise. The camp scenes are well done without over-dramatization.
Bruno’s vulnerability and compassion come out really well. He is a typical teen in some ways, but he is a sweet boy.
The interactions between Esther and others are interesting. Her conversations with Bruno, Dominic, Filip, Jane, etc., show different sides of her (all coming together to present the picture of an old lady with strong opinions and an iron will).
It’s lovely to see characters like Esther become at ease with technology. As someone who taught my grandpa to understand the new features on his smartphone, I relate to the scenes.
There are two epilogues, one for Esther and one for Bruno. I like them both, though everything is tied up a little too neatly. Still, I get a happy/hopeful ending, so no complaints.

What didn’t Work for Me:
The pacing is slow. It doesn’t help that the first chapter is almost 20% long (when the story ends at 91% in my eARC). Imagine that! A couple of chapters are just a page and a half long, but to read a super big first chapter feels tedious.
The scandal from Esther’s past drags too much. I stopped caring by the time it is revealed. Even then, the details are hazy and underwhelming. Her character arc and the reason to isolate herself from the world don’t mesh.
Too many words are wasted on Esther’s past while Bruno’s school life is ‘told’. Given the importance of his character arc in the story, we need to know more about what made him so vulnerable and doubtful. Seems like a lost opportunity to talk about things that matter.
The idea behind the characters is more appealing than the characters. Not to say that they aren’t good. They just aren’t as effective as they should have been. I can’t pinpoint my issue, but it feels like the emotional connection between the characters and the readers is not complete (at least for me).

To sum up, The Locked-Away Life is a heartwarming story with a wonderful premise but somehow doesn’t reach its full potential. This could have been so much better!
Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

*****
P.S: I debated a lot between 3 and 4 stars. A part of me wants to rate it three for the missed opportunities. But this is a good book despite the few misses. Three stars seem too less, so I'm rounding it off to four.

I loved this book. It has an interesting storyline and very loveable characters with a lot of different relationships depicted between them.
Being of a certain age myself I like reading about senior characters like Esther. She had a heartwarming connection with Bruno, a troubled teenager. You can say, they mutually rescued each other.
The author swaps points of view between the two main protagonists. You can see the events in turns through the eyes of Bruno and Esther.
I am not sure about the Prologues, but I definitely liked the two Epilogues.
Finally a word of warning: There is a gay character in the novel. There are no graphic descriptions, but I think it is still an important information for anyone who is not comfortable with the topic.

A wonderful book set in the UK that rotates perspectives between teen Bruno and octogenarian Ester. Ester hires young Bruno to help her understand the internet and even though she has a reputation in town as a recluse Bruno takes on teaching responsibilities. The pair become close as Ester also advises Bruno. We find out along the way about Ester’s past while Bruno wrestles with who he is and who he wants to become. I found both characters and their relationship very charming. I think this book will be for lovers of Lenni and Margot or Eudora Honeysett. Overall a heartwarming and charming read.

“When you’re already wounded, it doesn’t take much more to add scars”

Reading The Locked Away Life was like getting that hug I didn’t know I needed. There was heartbreak and sad moments that tugged my heart and made me angry we still have to put up with certain things these days, but first and foremost, there was a wonderful relationship between two unlikely friends that will make your heart warm and show you that living in hiding (both literally and figuratively) is not really living.

Esther is an octogenarian who has been living secluded from the world for years after a scandal. Bruno, an 18 years old, is a closeted gay afraid to accept his sexuality and willing to change to conform with the life he thinks others expect of him. Internet lessons will bring them together and, despite their differences, they will strike a friendship that will bring them out of the dark so they can finally start living their lives in color.

I don’t know what is it about these intergenerational friendship stories, but I love them! I adored how Esther and Bruno, though total opposites, could bring out the best in each other. Esther’s word of wisdom were so fresh and pure, they made me realize how important it is for young people starting to discover themselves to have someone like Esther that will offer these insights that sometimes can be the only light in the dark surrounding them.

Every queer people out there will be able to relate to Bruno. His doubts, his fears and that tug-of-war between his real self and what he thinks society expects of him. It was so hard reading how he put himself through the conversion therapy camp, and I think it is so important that the author pointed the finger to this disgraceful topic that, still today, many people have to go through.

Both Esther and Bruno were superb, but the rest of the cast wasn’t far behind. I adored Bruno’s family and the support system they represented for him even though he didn’t realize it at first.

Despite the heavy topics involved, there was also time for laughs, and this humor was the perfect balance in this coming of age story about learning to confront your fears and self acceptance.

Drew Davies has created two memorable characters that will stay with me for a long time to come after finishing this book.

Thanks to the author, NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.