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remysharp.com · @remysharp.com@bridge.neodb.net

Rated When the Cranes Fly South 8/10

Took me a minute to get into, but then…I cried. The good kind.<br/><br/>It took me until around 20% of the book to get on with it properly. I was struggling to even want to pick up the book. It's well written, but the subject, _end of life_, was so unappealing that I found myself wanting to avoid reading the book.<br/><br/>At some point around 1/5 of the way in, this feeling settled and I was swept along by the narrative that the main character, Bo, gives us.<br/><br/>I think reading this there's going to be different aspects that hit different people hardest. I'm not a dog person, so the thread about Sixten, his dog, though sad (the dog doesn't die!) it didn't gut punch me.<br/><br/>I did however relate hard to the inner monologue not linking up to what's actually said. Something I suspect most people can relate to - which I suspect is the reason this book is well recommended.<br/><br/>The book is told almost exclusively from the thoughts of Bo, the elderly 89 year old man (which took me quite a few pages to actually work out). From his thoughts we travel back and forth in his memory which worked really well. I didn't feel lost at all, maybe because Bo's memories felt like they flowed naturally back and forth.<br/><br/>The story really does feel like it's being faithful to the human flaws many of us share.<br/><br/>It also, for me, did an excellent job of building up my relationship with Bo and gently brought me to tears right at the end in a way that made me message my kids to tell them I love them.

#book

Published 2026-08-01 11:09 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere