The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

Talking at Night

October 20, 2023

talking

Talking at Night by Claire Daverley
Published by Pamela Dorman Books
Publication date: June 20, 2023
Genres: Debut, Fiction, Coming-of-age, Contemporary, Literary
three-stars
Bookshop, Amazon

Talking at Night is a love story about Rosie and Will, two young people impacted by a guilt-inducing tragedy when they’re in their teens, but whose feelings for each other continue to push them together and pull them apart throughout their lives.

The two couldn’t be more different. Will is the rebellious sort—no interest in school, mysterious. The type of guy high school girls are always drawn to and Rosie is no exception despite his being the antithesis to her regimented life of studying and planning for her future.  Her anxieties manifest in an insomnia that matches his and allows the two to connect over long late-night phone calls. Calls that lead to more than friendship and serve to keep them emotionally connected even when their lives are miles apart.

Debut author Claire Daverley follows Will and Rosie’s lives into adulthood, but the plot of Talking at Night is secondary. This is a character study that beautifully captures the intricacies of the emotional rites of passage found in each life. There is loss, guilt, identity, grief, anxiety, and love. But for as much as Daverley’s writing evoked I couldn’t connect to their story. Not altogether surprising, in a tumultuous love story sides are inevitably chosen for one lover or the other. In this case, I was team Will, who, despite his brooding exterior is the underdog, the one who comes when called. Rosie treats him like an emotional chew toy, mauling him when she needs comfort or escape, but discarding him, worse for wear, when she’s ready to move on.

I’m usually up for angsty reading that gets into all the feelings, but Talking at Night was a bridge too far. There is real tragedy for both Will and Rosie at various points in their lives, but they still have a choice. Either succumb to it or move through it and these two do neither. Instead, Will wallows in a deep-seated self-loathing while Rosie waffles in a level of yearning that becomes self-indulgent. It works for a time thanks to Daverley’s descriptive prose, but by the novel’s end the rinse/repeat cycle left me cold.

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase of any kind, I get a small commission (at no cost to you).

 

three-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 3 Star Books
maybe you
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
all this
All This Could Be Yours
unsettled ground
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
want not
Want Not
Finding Camlann
Maid's Version
The Maid’s Version
george
In Love with George Eliot: A Novel
english
The English Experience
wonderland
Wonderland
One Woman Show
march reading
March Reading Recap
thrilling
Thrilling Reading: Mini-Reviews
lost
Lost Women: Mini-Reviews
snow queen
The Snow Queen
fourth wing
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: coming-of-age, debut, literary, relationships

Comments

  1. Lisa's Yarns says

    October 20, 2023 at 8:31 am

    I’m reading this right now! I’m only 1/3 of the way through so I don’t know which person I side with, but I have a soft spot for Will. I think Sarah liked this one and Annie Jones loved it so that is what compelled me to read it!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      October 29, 2023 at 6:05 pm

      It was a favorite of Sarah’s. I loved the writing, but the ‘love story’ just didn’t gel for me.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Bookshop

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Bookshop and Amazon. If you click on a link that takes you to any of these sites and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2023

Copyright © 2023 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in