Book Review: Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

Lobsters 
by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

Rating: 4/5 stars

(Finished reading 27/6/17)

Hilarious, honest, adorable.

Lobsters is a contemporary YA novel told from the points of view of Hannah and Sam, set in the summer between A Levels and university. We see the two characters and their friends navigate teenage life from house parties, holidays and music festivals as they figure out relationships and the struggles of growing up.

I particularly enjoyed this novel as I read it the day I finished my last A Level exam so I could really relate to the characters sense of limbo between finishing school but before results day. The story really captured the mixture of intense emotions that eighteen year olds are faced at this difficult time. It was really comforting for me to read this to know I was not alone. I would highly recommend this to any 18 year old Brits who want something to read once they’ve finished A levels because I feel I really benefitted from reading this at this particular time in my life. Having said, this, I feel many teens and young adults could take something from this. *

I also really loved that the novel was set in the UK as I haven’t read many books set in the UK and I feel like because of this I could relate to the story much more than when I’m reading YA set in the USA. The humour was very dry and British too which I LOVED. I found myself smiling and chuckling throughout the book at the banter between the characters but also the actual events in the novel. I highly recommend if you are looking for some humour over the summer!

The characters in this novel were probably my favourite part of the story. They are all so quirky but also felt very real and I feel as though I knew them in real life. The dialogue was so organic and typical of teenagers which I absolutely loved because it felt genuine. There are a lot of YA novels I read where the characters do not feel like real teenagers and seem too forced but Lobsters presented us with funny, flawed and seemingly real teenagers who are battling through the challenges of being a teen. I felt like I could relate to Hannah and the pressures she faced in the story such as her insecurities and her friendship troubles. Sam was so sweet and cute and I loved reading from his witty point of view and his and Hannah’s encounters. I loved Robin, he was probably my favourite character in the book. I loved his hilarious comments and his not-so-secret obsession with Harry Potter.  His dialogue never failed to make me smile and was such a delight to read.

The friendships in the novel were so special and I loved the characters’ relationships with one another. The girls’ friendships were messy and complicated which I liked reading about because this isn’t often touched upon in the novels I have read. In YA it seems to be assumed you make great friends in your teens and they are perfect. In reality, friendships are not perfect. I admired how this book’s honesty with dealing with the troubles between friends—particularly when you know you are all moving away to university and have to deal with the possibility of not seeing each other after seeing one another everyday from as long as you can remember. But the friendships were also wonderfully warm and inviting. I liked the difference between Hannah and Sam’s friendship groups and the weirdness and wackiness that occurs. I also liked the friendship between Hannah and Caspar as male/female friendships without any element of romance seem to be rare in YA and yet are very normal in real life so I appreciated the fresh differentiation between friendship and romantic encounters in literature.

I did have a few problems with the book though. I get that the whole premise of the book was fate and coincidence, but to me this took away from the realness of the characters and the story. I’ve always cringed at insta-love in books. It’s not realistic and doesn’t feel natural in a book. Ok, I’m not saying it doesn’t happen in real life, I’m just saying it’s not completely believable in books. I found all the ‘chance’ encounters a little far-fetched; not so much between Hannah and Sam, but more so between the girls coincidentally coming across the boys they met in Greece at a music festival in the UK. This was explained slightly in the book, but for me, it made the book less convincing. I also found the plot infuriating at times as some characters seemed to overreact to particular events. The constant on/off relationship between the central characters felt a little overdone at times and I began to get a little fed up of it.

Having said this, I also loved how the plot kept me on edge. I wanted to scream at the page occasionally out of desperation for things just to work out between the characters. It was unpredictable at times and had some good twists. I liked the changes between settings in the story when we travelled with the characters between locations. Because of this, I think it’s the perfect summer holiday read. It’s definitely a quick and easy read. I read it in a few hours and it really helped me get back into reading after having a long break from reading because of exams.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt it was a very real and honest outlook on life as a teenager which I really liked. It made me laugh, cringe and squeal so all in all a great summery rom-com read!

*(Please note, I wouldn’t recommend this to younger readers due to its sexual references so I would suggest readers are aged 15+)