In Us Douglas Petersen discovers that his wife Connie will also be leaving him when their son Albie leaves for University.
Douglas decides to make their last family holiday together a trip of a lifetime by organising what he dubs ‘The Grand Tour’. The journey will take them across Europe and Douglas hopes that along the way he and Connie are drawn closer together and that he finally wins the respect of his son. Everything about Us was predictable including the perspective, pacing and plot. Douglas’ perspective was used with him flicking between the present ‘Grand Tour’ and the past to tell the story of his life. His past contains a pretty boring single life, a love romance with the wonderful but flawed Connie who seemed to settle for him and his awkward and difficult relationship with his arty son Albie. The pacing was reasonable using the travelling to new destinations on ‘The Grand Tour’ to keep it moving along. |
The plot was totally predictable, not once was there a plot twist that was unexpected. The reader is likely to become frustrated at just how predictable it is. The ending felt like it hadn’t been thought through by David Nicholls and that he had been lazy.
I pre-ordered Us because it is by David Nicholls, the same Author that wrote the exceptional One Day. I really wanted to like Us, but up to the same standards as One Day it was not.
Overall Us by David Nicholls was OK, it’s the sort of book you’ll only read once and wont change your life. It is available to buy on Amazon.
Review soon,
Antony