The Drowning of Arthur Braxton

After watching a YouTube video, I was dying to get a copy in my hands I had really high hopes after hearing great things but after finishing the book, felt somewhat unsatisfied In other words, my thirst for this book wasn t quite quenched I enjoyed the first part of the book where we follow Laurel s journey, warming slightly to her character The reader then goes on to Arthur s story This was when my avidity began to lessen I found Arthur to be very much a stereotypical teenage boy Although I fel [...]

Okay so before this review gets complicated, its one of those books where you love itbut it is a little bit fucked up You sort of think to yourself am I allowed to like this book because its so messed up , and my answer is yes, yes you can because this truly was a spectacular read There s been so much buzz around this novel that I gave in and downloaded it from the Kindle store mainly because I couldn t wait a few days to order the physical copy because I m demanding and lazy oops This book carr [...]

I m between three and four stars This was one weird book But I kind of liked it Actually I m at a total loss, I m going to have to think about it and mambo dogface for the banana patch

So weird So good.

Review by BethThis is a novel which will take your breath away and stay with you for a very long time I finished it last week and I still keep bringing sections of it back and thinking about what could have been.Despite the title the novel is than just Arthur s story it s put together in layers and flips forwards and backwards in time giving the reader glimpses of the whole picture which is finally drawn both beautifully and tragically together at the end.All is not what it seems as the urban g [...]

The Oracle is an old bathhouse in a northern seaside town, believed by the locals to have magical properties Three water healers work there, and the book opens with the narrative of a teenage girl named Laurel, who has been employed there as an assistant cum receptionist Some years later, a boy called Arthur Braxton breaks into the building now dilapidated while attempting to escape from a group of classmates who are bullying him, and meets a beautiful girl who is swimming in one of the pools Ar [...]

Truly a brilliant story that I would not hesitate giving 6 5 stars.If you are afraid of uncensored and brutal honesty, this book is not for you.It s a very different story from many I have read, where every page the events surprised me There was not a single dull moment.Beginning with the point of view of Laurel, Smailes kicks off with an ordinary tale that quickly escalates, raising a lot of questions Following with Arthur s perspective, I had a lot of fun, rejoicing in his excessive, but humor [...]

I thought this book was amazing There such a mix of themes here coming of age, fairytales, magical realism Smailes puts them all together in a way which means they aren t mismatched, and I instead it becomes a compelling, very Northern novel that I had to give five stars.It is about a boy called Arthur Braxton who one day finds a girl swimming in an abandoned pool, and that s all I m going to say It s one of those stories best gone into blind, because the confused you are at the beginning, the [...]

I just did not get this book I loved the first part Laurels story, but once we get to Arthur s story, I felt lost It was like had been left behind whilst the story rambled on I also hated Arthur He is portrayed as a drippy, moany teenage boy who can only has one thing on his mind As realistic as this may be, it does not make for a good protagonist in my opinion I spent most the book wishing he d just shut up By the end of the book, I still felt like I had only been told half of the story Charact [...]

Modern day tales of the complexities within dysfunctional families the realities of love, life, death and sex are entwined with the myths of ancient Greece in a story of love, loss, betrayal and redemption.

This could have been such an eerie, climatic modern fairy tale about love and abuse It could have been quoted as genius among those extraordinary that change the archetypes of literature When I close my eyes I see the water oracle, hear the trills of magic Maddies voice, the splash of Delphina s performing her beautiful pirouettes But sadly such a wasted potential.Let me use the fully allowed language of the author Its utter fucked up twatting bollocks Shocking, dark, hopeless, nerve wracking Wo [...]

Nope Did not enjoy.

The Drowning of Arthur Braxton by Caroline Smailes is published by The Friday Project on 11 April 2013 This is Caroline Smailes sixth book I ve previously read a couple of her novels In Search of Adam and Like Bees To Honey and although I enjoyed reading both of those, I think that The Drowning of Arthur Braxton is far and away her greatest story yet Caroline Smailes writing is unique, quirky and sometimes a little bit strange, her style can take some getting used to but she really is a monster [...]

Okay so I originally picked up this book based purely on the fact that I d seen Carrie Fletcher mentioning it on youtube and I thought the cover was gorgeous and it looked really dark and mysterious don t think I even watched the review at the time, just ordered the book based on the cover cause I m vain lol , so I had not read the blurb, I didn t know what genre this was, I had basically no expectations from this book at all So this pleasantly surprised me in all ways possible and I can say it [...]

Strong 3 1 2 stars Heading towards four Again I m not really sure how to rate it This book When I picked up this book i was expecting a nitty gritty, concrete based novel grounded completely in a bleak and harsh reality I expected a dark story and whilst all of these expectations were met I was also given so much This story is described on the back of the book as a dark and brooding modern fairy tale and that is pretty much the perfect description of it I m not going to talk too much about the [...]

The only predictable thing about Caroline Smailes writing is that it s unpredictable She has such a wonderful wealth of imagination and this is evidenced by the diversity of her novels I have already read and enjoyed Black Boxes and Like Bees to Honey reviewed here but I think Arthur Braxton might be the one which brings her to a much wider audience.Why Well, the story of Arthur B can be read on so many different levels On the surface it s an urban fairytale young teenager, alienated by his peer [...]

I selected ths book after being introdced as a seond favorite on a youtube video I saw all the reviews on and GoodReads and hardly any went below three stars i thought i coulnt go wong with this book.I was ready to be open minded to the whole greek mythlogy thing but i felt as though i should have read up on it all before hand as i realy struggled to keep up.After getting a few chapters in, i was so confused with how awful the writing was and how lost i was that i had to check up online that i w [...]

This was a bit of a Marmite book for me, there were parts I absolutely loved and other parts I didn t really enjoy at all I really liked the narrative style of Laurel and Arthur It was refreshing to hear young voices speaking so freely, although some readers might be offended by their use of strong language I wasn t so keen on the story suddenly changing to script format That didn t really work for me I felt removed from the story, like I was watching a play rehearsal rather than reading a novel [...]

There s clearly going to be a little bias when I talk about The Drowning of Arthur Braxton It s written by Caroline Smailes, whom I co wrote Freaks with, and it s published by the magnificent Friday Project But let s not talk about bias or let than get in the way of what is truly a remarkable and brilliant novel I love Caroline s work as you probably already know and I think this is her best yet.It s a story of love and its power and it s the story of loss too It s a fairy tale It s heartbreakin [...]

I so wanted to like this book Word of mouth on Twitter and other social network platforms was so good, I couldn t wait to get my hands on it However, I just didn t get on with it In fairness, I don t think I m the target audience I would say this is a book for young adults I found it too long and a bit repetitive also, with the exception of Laurel, the characters are not particularly engaging indeed, some are downright annoying, like Kester and Pollock Caroline Smailes does have an ear for teena [...]

I was really looking forward to reading this and the premise sounded so interesting But, after reading this, I won t recommend this You would think that I might connect even a little bit to the main character and not think everything he says is offencive, stupid and obviously written by a writer who thinks teenagers are all stereotypes And I didn t like the writing, for example you do not use that s when I three times in one paragraph, or two times in one sentance.Maybe it s just me, the plot an [...]

I feel like maybe I did something wrong when reading this book, because everyone else seems to have loved it However, I felt that the author didn t explain everything at the end of the book I still have a lot of questions that went unanswered and unless this is to be the first book in a series I think that shows poor writing I guess I m mostly just disapointed because up until the last 80 pages or so, I was really enjoying The Drowning of Arthur Braxton All in all, I think it could have been a r [...]

Something different A modern myth or fairytale, very dark, very moving The main character, Arthur, is a very real boy whose life has than enough gritty realism to grind anyone down and yet still he has hope and is drawn towards love and beauty and transformation Bah, I can t describe it, any than I could put it down You ll just have to read it and see for yourself You should.

This book has helped me gain a new perspective on life and for that, I thank you Arthur Braxton.No doubt, it features some mature themes rape, suicide, coerced sex but at the heart of the story is about a boy dealing with adolescence, first love and heartache A dark and gritty modern fairytale that takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster.No amount of words will do this beautiful story justice so I will just say one thing READ IT

I barely enjoyed this book A very repetitive piece of work that has largely only one setting, and the ramblings of teenagers Don t get me wrong, there s obviously some beauty in the way teenagers see the world, but The Drowning of Arthur Braxton bypassed that Also rather far fetched with no real need to be.

I absolutely LOVED this book This is a wonderful, sweary modern day urban fairytale there is the cruelty of dysfunctional families, neglected children and abusive relationships, but there is also the all consuming joy of first love, kindness, humour, all seamlessly mixed in with myths and magic Full review to follow.

I found it an interesting reading, but I didn t quite enjoy being in his mind He was very superficial and explicit, a bit rude and I disliked his way of thinking which made me dislike the story a bit I like how it explored interesting and controversial themes, though At the same time, I didn t quite get the ending too much, but that s part of the game.

Such an amazing book The mystery really drew me in The characters feel so real the storyline is really well though out Always leaving you with a puzzle piece missing, so you want to read on I also love that wvery character has it s own writing and language style I can only recommend it, really Although you need to be a bit open minded as it has parts of fantasy in it.

I m so confused I guess if you like one dimensional characters, prose switching to script format for no apparent reason and twatting, cock, I sound so gay being repeated a million times you d give it five stars

In order to talkDoes it have to shock This is bad.This is sad Cause there is no hopeIn this fucking worldFor All Arthur Braxtons,SoShall I take the twatting ropeAnd piss offTo the otherworld Because I am like him.RegardsReader