Member Reviews
I had high hopes for this book. I am a breast cancer survivor and have had several terrible relationships. I thought I'd be able to relate to the female main. Instead, the one I related to the most was the immigrant low-wage woman!
The book is considered dark satire. And while I can see the satirical elements, they mostly made me sad about society as a whole. Which may be the point? Cat discovers she has a lump in her breast, confirmed her husband is terrible, meets a new-age hippy, has awful children, and decides to flee it all for alternative treatments. Sometimes the novel isn't very clear about what actually happens. Like it's being told by vague news articles about the lives of this family. A bunch of unreliable narrators for sure.
In sum, to me, this book is about lies we tell ourselves. I can magic away my medical issues. I am a good person who made one tiny mistake. I am a great mom and raised my kids properly. And about class where it's darkly contrasted with the white upper-middle class family with tons of family resources and the poor immigrant with little support or rights. The book was not what I expected. But I can see fans of Chuck Palahniuk enjoying this. Do not go into it thinking it's about a healthy journey through breast cancer though.
I would like to thank NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my review. I feel like the beginning of the book was the best part. Somewhere along the way I lost sight of the characters and their part of the story. It seemed a little disjointed and then a rush to wrap it all up.
I think I got about a quarter of the way through and I'm completely disinterested in the story. I felt I gave it a good go but I found myself daydreaming. The story could not hold my attention
Cat's career has stalled, her marriage has gone flat, and being a stay-at-home mom for two young kids has become a grind. When she finds out, all within a few days, that she is pregnant, that a lump in her breast is the worst thing it could be, and that her husband has done something unforgivably repulsive, she responds by running away from her marriage and her life — a life that, on the outside, looks like middle-class success. Her actions send waves of chaos through the lives of multiple characters, including a struggling house cleaner, a rich and charismatic yoga guru, and even an ailing dog. What follows is a dark comedy about marriage, motherhood, privilege, and power.
A really good read. One of my big issues with Lump was the pacing. It was quite good at the beginning, it hit a slump about three quarters of the way through, and then the ending felt rushed. Another chapter or two from Cat's POV would have been great. Her story ended a bit unfinished in my opinion. The writing style was quite nice, though. A little less comical than I was expecting.
I really enjoyed it although I am not completely sure what to make of it. There were moments when it made me feel quite sad because of the topic of the book and at the end of it I feel like there were a few lose ends but I guess that is because it is just a book about life and things that happen, not everything needs to be finish tied up in a perfect bow but still, sadness and all I would recommend this book.
(May even be 2.5 stars)
I'm not sure quite what to make of Lump. When I read the synopsis I thought it should be interesting. What happens when your life effectively explodes during the course of one day?
Turns out I'm still not sure. I suppose the oddly loose ends with this story could be seen as just being life. We never know what will happen next. However I did sort of expect a bit more detail in the telling rather than the jumping about from one subject to another quite so haphazardly.
We have Cat who finds out she is pregnant and has breast cancer and thar her husband has been up to some quite unsavoury things. We follow her up to the point where it gets interesting then suddenly she's gone for almost the rest of the book. We have Donovan, her husband, who is a totally revolting character - a liar, a cheat, useless with kids, house and money - who makes messes which are also then abandoned mid-stream without a conclusion. Finally we have Lena who sees only some of this but is otherwise a bit part player whose role I can't quite grasp. She makes very little material difference to anything.
I suppose I'm a little bewildered by the book as it seems to leave everything hanging until it gives sentence long conclusions at the end. I would have liked more expansion on the storylines. It all felt a little unfinished.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
This wasn't for me unfortunately - I couldn't get on board with the brand of writing or humour and I could not relate to any of the characters.
Took a while to get into this book, but once I was in, I read it to the end and was well worth it., a page turner and takes on lots of life events.
Hmm, you get to find a lot of personal information about the characters in this book . It is told from different viewpoints and the story does come together in many ways. Saying that in msny ways a lot of stuff is unresolved.
I personally found that frustrating..
It is an interesting read but has a lot of trigger issues which do niot make for easy reading.
I did finish the book though put off starting it a couple of times . Curiosity kept me going. Some parts were may be a little too cryptic for me and my overall feeling at the end is why ?
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review
I LOVED this book! The ending felt abrupt but I got why it had to be that way. Hopefully it does really well in Toronto given all the location-dropping and the fact that it captured the essence of Toronto so well!
Unfortunately, I was unable to finish reading this book.
The synopsis was intriguing and the characters sounded interesting; however, once I began the book, I could tell the writing style was not for me.
my review is short as I only read 41% of the book. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for allowing me access to this advanced readers copy of Lump.
Incredibly well written, beautiful but sad story - it did not go the way I expected.
Poor Cat was not living her best life, in paper she had it all, wealthy husband, a working mum of two children, she didn’t appear to be particularly happy, and then things took a turn for the worse - pregnant, found out she has cancer and discovered her husband is a creep.
Cat took refuge with a new friend who offered her a safe space, there is no joy, no happiness, and certainly no happy ending.
Having been unfamiliar with Nathan Whitlock’s work before reading this, I went into LUMP with very few expectations. What I was met with was a dark tale that was casual in its dealings with the characters’ tragedies. The frequent changes in perspective served the narrative well enough; each of the characters were flawed, and uniquely unlikeable, with the sole exception of Louis the dog, and showcased the selfishness with which people approach the tribulations of others. However, I couldn’t root for anyone (although this isn’t necessary to a good story), and found myself wishing for them all to face more significant consequences for their repulsive actions.
Ultimately, I’m disappointed at the drop-off in Cat’s point of view. I thought, having read the blurb, that she would be the focal point, but somehow Donovan’s storyline co-opted it, and that felt like a further injustice. The humour that was suggested by the blurb fizzled fast, and was replaced with more, and more unlikeable, people. I’m leaving my reading of LUMP feeling misled and dissatisfied. To avoid this occurring to future readers, I think a serious overhaul of the book’s description is required.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this ARC.
3 stars
It wasn’t my favourite book but it was okay as a quick read or a filler book (a shirt book in between bigger ones)
I honestly don’t really know what to say about it
I think my main problem with this book is the simple fact that this kind of story just isn't for me. The story is told well, the characters are interesting, and the pacing is solid. The narrative just wasn't my cup of tea. I still enjoyed my read, but I couldn't relate the the main character is the same way someone with kids or a husband might. I'm giving it a good and neutral 3 stars with hopes I'll come back to it later on in life and enjoy it properly!
The book started promisingly, but ultimately I didn't really engage with any of the characters. They were unsympathetic and I didn't really get the appeal.
The first half of the book was fine, and looked at Cat's life starting to unravel when she discovers she's pregnant and has cancer. She faces the facts that her life is really not what she fought so hard to pretend it was, and that her husband was even more of a letdown than she thought.
Initially, Cat's flight to escape the stress of her current circumstances and try to figure out what she wants for her future is inderstandable. However, there's not really enough insight into her ongoing thought process that really explains how it's helping her cope other than just plain avoidance which in the meantime would bring much more negativity to other people's lives. The ending was somewhat of a letdown, and I didn't find much humor, even "dark" humor in the book - just some brief flashes.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
I didn’t love it to be honest. It just wasn’t for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy.
Cat finds out her life is about to take a massive turn as she finds a lump and is diagnosed with the possible outcome, with her husband making rash decisions as well as juggling two children it all becomes to much for Cat and she decides to do the only reasonable and run in doing so she upheaves multiple characters along the way! This is such a good and thrilling book, definitely don’t want to put it down!