How Not To Disappear by Clare Furniss
Pages: 400
Publish date: 26 January 2016
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471120309
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU
Hattie’s summer isn’t going as planned. Her two best friends have abandoned her: Reuben has run off to Europe to “find himself” and Kat’s in Edinburgh with her new girlfriend. Meanwhile Hattie is stuck babysitting her twin siblings and dealing with endless drama around her mum’s wedding.
Oh, and she’s also just discovered that she’s pregnant with Reuben’s baby…
Then Gloria, Hattie’s great-aunt who no one previously knew even existed comes crashing into her life. Gloria’s fiercely independent, rather too fond of a gin sling and is in the early stages of dementia.
Together the two of them set out on a road trip of self-discovery – Gloria to finally confront the secrets of her past before they are wiped from her memory forever and Hattie to face the hard choices that will determine her future.
How not to Disappear:
I received a review copy of How Not To Disappear by Clare Furniss from Simon and Schuster, this has in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings about the book.
How Not To Disappear had a slow start. When I heard about How Not To Disappear I was excited to read. It sounded intriguing and I knew that I had to read it, so when I began to I was disappointed, however after I got about 50 pages in, it started to get interesting.
How Not To Disappear is told from two different point of views; Hattie and her great-aunt Gloria as they both discover who they are.
Hattie’s summer isn’t going the way that she planned it; her two best friends have left. She is babysitting her younger siblings and there is drama with her mums wedding. So when she gets a call about a relative that she never knew existed, she is taken back by the news. However, she is quite intrigued, and when her great-aunt wants to go on a road trip – she jumps on it.
I wasn’t a big fan of Hattie at the start, I felt that she sounded too childlike and it was annoying. As the novel went on, it did get better and I felt for her so much. Hattie has to deal with so much and I just wanted to take a burden on her shoulders. We find out pretty early that Hattie is pregnant with her best friends Reuben. Hattie rather dismisses her pregnancy and that did get on my nerves quite a bit, because I wanted the baby to be safe.
Gloria is a character, she is independent, love to drinks lots of gin and is sadly in the early stages of dementia. I adored when we were in Gloria’s p.o.v. Her story is heartbreaking and as How Not To Disappear went on we find out what truly happened to her and why she has been distant from her family. Gloria’s story is told through flashbacks and through the present day.
I loved the banter between Hattie and Gloria, it was fun and sweet at the same time. It was beautiful seeing their relationship grow, and it was nice to see a good family relationship that isn’t between protagonist and parent or siblings.
I wasn’t a massive fan of the writing style.It was like a fairy tale, I was being told things that happened rather than shown and after a while, I just wanted more. I also felt at times information was dumped on us and it just took me out of the story.
I also didn’t like Reuben at all. His attitude towards everything, was such a put off that I wanted him out of the picture. Nevertheless, I did like Kat Hattie’s other best friend. She is someone that I would love to be my friend.
I really enjoyed the ending it was quite beautiful. We get to see both Gloria’s ending to her story that we wanted to know. And we get to see Hattie find herself and we see her find a new understanding of the world
Nevertheless, I did have some things that I didn’t like, I truly did enjoyed reading How Not To Disappear.
How Not To Disappear is an emotional, gripping read that both, warms your heart and rips it out. It’s about family and motherhood through generations and what it is like to love.
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