So disappointing. This could have been a good book. I heard an author interview on NPR radio, which sounded good.

It was both boring and disgusting. Some of the characters side stories were quite interesting, but it would go back to the same old sex scenes. I plowed through half way, but gave up before the end the end.

he pre-publishing blurb did not accurately describe this novel, and I'm not sure I could do better having read it. I was surprised by the format of a "day in the life" and was expecting it to focus more on our hapless MC. I think the addition and exploration of other local residents saved the story as I don't think I could stay engaged with 300+ pages of Natwest bumbling through his day

Just was weird story that reads more like a dry humored sit com. Will have a hard time finding the right patron to recommend this to.

I can’t decide whether this enjoyably smart English novel is solipsistic or anti-solipsistic or both, but whichever way you fall, the nested stories of people living in a dull Midlands town, are a mix of hilarious, tragic, lewd, melodramatic, and weird, often all at the same time.

Natwest (a nickname derived from a high street bank) is on the brink of leaving for college at the age of 23. On the day before his departure, he is expecting a parcel, but the post office fails to deliver it and he sets off into town on a quest to retrieve it. Before we get to the end of the day and two divergent endings, Natwest encounters many different people and the perspective fully switches into the other person’s story.

Natwest thinks he's a big intellectual fish in a small town and he rather shows this off, bringing up art and philosophy analogies in the pretentiously self-conscious way only teens and young adults have. He believes that he is the main character in the story, though at one point he ponders “this idiotic town with its strange, ordinary inhabitants who may or may not have interior lives as interesting as his.”

And it turns out they are all as interesting as Natwest, from the dentist who only paints giant open mouths to Natwest’s ex-boyfriend who is obsessed with early 2000’s hip hop. There are secrets and connections between all these apparently random people that link and callback to their stories.

I’m guessing this debut novel is at least partly autobiographical and it does add an extravagantly English voice to a Catcher in the Rye-type of coming of age novel. If it wasn’t quite so bawdy, it would be a great book for my high school library.

Thanks to Viking and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Though the concept behind this was unique and interesting and the writing perfectly good, this one was really a miss for me.

While I enjoy the work of male novelists and books with male protagonists, navel-gazing novels by men rarely work well for modern readers, and this is a tough example of that. It’s not that Natwest isn’t worthy of our attention; it’s that he’s not worthy of so much of his own myopic, singular attention, and it makes him a difficult protagonist to spend so much time with. The secondary characters are, in many cases, far more interesting and appealing.

It’s that myopia that just makes this book entirely too one-note, though I appreciated the interesting and well-rendered unique structure. It’s not a “bad0 book by any means, just one that I think has a limited audience, and one that wasn’t a success for me as a reader.

How to Leave the House is one of those "all in one day slice of life" books that usually catch my attention and lead to an excellent reading experience. This one was okay, but never really grabbed me. I enjoyed the narration shifts to learning about all the people who are a part of the main character's day, but I didn't find myself all that interested in what happened and was compelled to stick with it. In all, I don't believe this a book I'll be recommending to those who come into my store, as it's not something that would probably connect with the majority of our customer base.

NatWest (a nickname the 25 year old protagonist uses exclusively) did not launch to university on the usual timeline. It is finally happening now. This book is about his final day in his small town. An anxiously awaited package has gone astray and he has to get it before he leaves, and before anyone else can see it. So in a sort of Ulysses like 24 hours we follow NatWest from character to character as he tracks the package.

This book is was a lot of fun to read. One that I was worried that might not live up to its ambitious synopsis but does. Natwest is a flawed but wonderfully rich character that had be excited to discover what would happen next. It was enjoyable to also meet an array of other vivid characters and follow their unique, interlocking stories. Definitely will be recommending this one to my friends.