Talking At Night Review
He will never again be able to eat potato salad, after today.
We’re turning the page on our April book, Talking At Night.
One Sentence Summary:
A will-they-won’t-they love story complicated by grief, time, and growing up.
My Thoughts
Talking At Night is the closest I have ever gotten to time travel.
I was so immediately enchanted by the language that one moment I was highlighting a line on the first page, and the next I was closing the whole book.
In total, I wrote one annotation.
One.
That makes it pretty hard to write a solid review, but I will do my best.
Before I gush too much, it’s worth noting that this book is not for everyone.
For one, Claire Daverley doesn’t abide by grammar rules. She is lawless. She does not use quotation marks. She writes sentence fragments and run-ons and pours in extra commas like butter on popcorn.
The results are a lyrical masterpiece.
But, according to some hateful reviews on Goodreads, not everyone can get past it.
If you do, you’ll be punished with an infuriatingly indecisive main character. Rosie is challenging for many (I’m assuming well-adjusted) readers to empathize with. She strings Will along, never asks for what she wants, and generally does everything she can to disappear into herself.
To me - a chronic people pleaser with anxiety - she is endlessly relatable.
For example:
“Seventeen is just the start. She will work hard, she will do all that she is supposed to do, and her life will be good and right and whole, filled with music and poetry and wine and sex, and life-altering moments that last longer than three minutes, and don’t leave her with bruises down her back. That is her plan.”
If that ain’t the exact same high-achiever high-school logic I had… My God.
I do see, though, how she could be annoying to read.
It’s also important to note that this is Claire Daverley’s DEBUT NOVEL.
Are you freakin’ kidding Claire? How on earth did you do this? Did you sell your soul? Are you a witch? I MUST KNOW.
Here are all the other reasons I loved it anyway:
The melancholy. This book feels the way Hozier sounds. It is dark. It is haunting. It is, simultaneously, a declaration that soulmates exist.
The relationships. Claire Daverley (like Sally Rooney), has mastered messy, complicated characters. This book is full of them, and their dynamics are all described in these tiny vignettes that say everything (and nothing). For example:
Will & Simon: Everything about this dynamic is so juicy, and there isn’t a moment they’re on the page together that I didn’t love. That dinner!?! The hospital!?! When you’re taking your one true love’s husband to chemotherapy, things are bound to get uncomfortable.
“Will looks over his unfilled wineglass at the man whose wife he’s had. Or who has the wife he was meant to.” (pg 353). Woof.
Rosie & Will: Obviously the entire book is about these two, but here are some moments that stuck with me:
The first time she ends it with him:
“She wants him to yell. Wants him to challenge her. Instead he just nods, swallows it whole, and they stand there, losing the daylight.” (Pg 119)
When they talk about missing Josh:
“I guess I feel bad, he says.
I do, too, she says.
Both of them thinking, all of the time, and folding in on one another” (Pg 293)
The way their relationship progresses:
“She starts to wear his clothes without asking, takes a T-shirt from his drawer, pulls socks up to her shins. He asks her how she can sleep with socks on. She asks him how he can’t.” (Pg 296)
Rosie & Josh: The whole storyline between these twins is so beautiful and heartbreaking and tragic that I can’t choose one moment to highlight. Just read it, why don’t you?
Rosie & Her Mother: This one was tough, but immediately this moment slapped me across the face:
“She has dished up squares of shop-bought lasagna, passes the plates to Rosie’s father and brother, says careful, they’re hot. Rosie takes her plate with two hands, notices that her own square is smaller than everyone else’s” (Pg 11) Yikes.
The weather. I’m a sucker for anything that romanticizes snowstorms, nighttime, and the sea. This does all three.
The fall. I mentioned this in our mid-point check-in, but I cannot overstate how impressive this moment was. I genuinely gasped. Do you know how hard it is to blatantly tell me something at the beginning of a story and have me completely forget about it seven chapters in? To make me react like that in an otherwise quiet novel? CLAIRE! YOU WITCH!!! STOP THIS!!!!!
The piano. I simply cannot with this plot point. Too beautiful. Too sweet.
All. The. Little. Details. I got so lost in this book because of the details. Here’s my favourite one:
“Will knows he will never again be able to eat potato salad, after today.” (Pg 137)
WHAT A WAY TO DESCRIBE A FUNERAL HOLY MOLY It’s almost as good as the opening line: “Their lives cleave apart on a Tuesday night” (Pg1) Just wow.
The ending. Goodreads is divided on this ending, but I think it’s perfect. After years of coming and going and not being sure about each other and finding other people and navigating their own emotions and grief, how else was this supposed to end?
“What do you think, he asks back, though he knows her answer, now, as the sea stretches ahead of them and the geese call from over the trees. Coming home, maybe, or taking off from nearby fields, two things that are one and the same, really, if he takes a second to think about it.”
👏👏👏
Rating
I’m giving Talking At Night 5 stars.
I know. I never do that.
Am I a harsh critic? Maybe. But that makes books like this so much more special.
Please read it. Please get your friends to read it. Then maybe read it again, because why the hell not?
Our Next Chapter:
Help me choose what My Side Plot should read next:
Funny Story, Emily Henry
I am not typically a romance fan, but this title is getting all the buzz right now. Considering I’m about to go on vacation, a book from the author of Beach Read (which I also haven’t read) sounds like a good choice.
A Certain Hunger, Chelsea G. Summers
A completely opposite pick… A Certain Hunger is a satirical horror story about a cannibalistic food critic. The first review on Goodreads says “cannibalism may not be morally sound. but if you're willing to believe in yourself...it can be girlboss.” Sign me up!
Stay tuned for the winner's announcement on Fable and Instagram
Also On My Shelf:
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
I respect that this is a classic, but damn was it boring.
A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf
Clearly, I’m still enjoying the free titles on Audible! Would I have ever picked up a physical copy of this feminist masterpiece? No. Am I glad I listened to it? Yes!
Fan Girl Down, Tessa Bailey
This was cute! Will I remember it, no. That’s not Tessa Bailey’s fault, though. I just don’t know how much golf porn I need on my bookshelf.
Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo
I’m halfway through and can’t wait to finish. This book has everything I love: spooky stuff, scholarly stuff, sad stuff (my ultimate checklist).
Last Thought:
Epilogue
What did you think!?!?
Are you following along on Fable??
How are you tracking for your 2024 goal?
I loved this book too. The lack of quotation marks will always be a challenge for me but I love a good love story! Great review:)