title: there is always more to say: a never-ending story about an everlasting friendship
author: lynda young spiro
genre: fiction
type: eCopy
pages: 168
start: 25.08.2017
finish: 26.08.2017
rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5
thank you so much to lynda young spiro for providing me with this eCopy in exchange for my honest opinion.
what it’s about:
it’s 1984. two people meet at work and their lives are changed forever. they develop a deep relationship and connection, that influences their lives all through 2015. this is a story about their friendship, about the feelings having a soulmate and living a life where they are far apart from each other but still present in their every day lives.
what i think:
i didn’t know what to expect from “there is always more to say”, when i started reading it. lynda was so kind to contact me and send her book in exchange for an honest review. this novel is pretty short and right from the start i knew, that this is a long letter to a person, the narrator has deep feelings for. it’s written like a diary, jumping back and forth between the present and past events.
i didn’t know, what gender the narrator was and i immediately got the feeling, that this was written on purpose like that. i never saw a “he” or “she” in the book, so it was open for my own interpretation, which gender the main character has. other characters in the book have gender neutral names, so i quickly realized, that this book is just for every person out there and i could decide myself, who the narrator is. it really felt as if i could be on the other side of that letter and this could have been written from any person i had a deep connection with. it’s about feelings, that develop and stay with you throughout your life, even if that person isn’t there all the time. even if you are living a complete different life. i really liked the idea of this, because it was easy to connect with the novel and the main character. i was always thinking about the people in my life and the friendships and relationships i had and have.
i really enjoyed, that every person can interpret this novel as he or she wants. but what stuck most with me is the feeling of regret. yes, there is this other person in your life, who has nothing to do with the main life, you are living. but you always question yourself, what if? what could have been different? why is this deep connection there? why can’t i let go of that person? this book really makes you think and i love books, that lead to this.
i am also a very big fan of quotes and every chapter started and ended with a famous quote that really fit the chapter. i really liked this and it gave me the feeling, that the chapters were rounded up pretty good. each one of them had a different story to tell and the quotes fit very well to each little story.
since this is a book you should see as a long letter, there were parts, that didn’t fit very well. there is a lot of repetition, for example the mentioning of the meeting of the main characters. at some point i thought, that i would be annoyed getting this letter, because it repeated certain passages over and over again. as a reader i got impatient, because i wanted to know how the story unfolds, but the repeating kind of hold that back.
there are also a lot of moments, where i wanted to know more. the narrator always lists the things the characters talk about, the secrets they have, but i never got to hear about these things. some things are revealed but most of them are left open, so i never got the idea, what really happened between the main characters. i was sad, because i wanted to know more, especially what happened during the personal meetings between those two. but the letter never got that deep and so i got the feeling, that i was always above the surface but never really got the details.
that also brings me to the end. this story seems to stop at a point, where i wanted to know, what will happen in the future. how is this going to end? i wanted more, but there is no more. so it is left very open and at the end i was confused, because it felt like a big part was missing.
what you should know:
“there is always more to say” is a short novel, that can easily be read in one sitting. you fly through the 168 pages and the story really never lets you go. you want to know more, you want to see, what will happen. it’s a beautiful story about a connection between two people, that is so strong, it will influence their lives forever. even if they are apart and live their lives married and with different friends, they are never able to let each other go. it’s a connection that goes deep and makes both people think. you will just get one side of the story, but the feelings of the main character are honest and true and there is no other way, that you will start thinking about your own life, about the people in your life and what connection you have with them.
“there is always more to say” on goodreads
lynda young spiro on goodreads
