Today I’m joining the blog tour for About Charlie. My review is written with thanks to Zoe O’Farrell for inviting me on the tour and to the author for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

Emma is a lost soul, seeking solace with anything that will help her forget, drowning her pain to blur the edges of reality in the backdrop of 1990s London.

Jason witnesses Emma’s darkest moments but can he forgive everything?

This is a contemporary tale of love, loss, grief, and addiction as Emma and Jason navigate a treacherous path which tests the limits of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit.

Review:

I wasn’t sure what to expect from About Charlie but I have to say I absolutely loved it. It’s a debut novel, but nevertheless really accomplished. JM Langan is brilliant at creating believable characters with multiple layers and I really enjoyed getting to know them all and delving into their lives as I read their stories. The protagonist is Em, and she is the first person narrator. I found that reading the novel from her viewpoint allowed me to gain a greater insight into her character.

The novel begins in a fast paced way, and we are quickly taken into Emma’s chaotic world. I don’t have any first hand experience of addiction, but I found that JM Langan describes both its physical and mental effects really clearly in a way that really helped me to understand what Emma and the people who were caring for her were going through.

Throughout About Charlie JM Langan writes about several emotional themes including grief, self harm and addiction. It’s not always easy to read but its hugely emotional and the characters will stay with me for some time to come.

I did guess the ending, but I still found it really uplifting.

About Charlie is available from Amazon.

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