Welcome to today's stop on the Phil Stern review tour, hosted by VBTCafe.
The Bull Years by Phil SternA Novel Of America's Most Disillusioned Generation
For Steve, Sophia, Dave, and Brooke, life hasn't turned out as planned. Rather than easy fame and fortune, these happy-go-lucky teenagers of the 1980's found young adulthood a mystifying series of dead-end jobs, failed relationships, family scandal, and surging frustration.
Now approaching middle age, all they want is to reverse their gradual alienation from life and one another, reconnecting with their earlier, innocent selves.
But there's a catch. Before any of them can move forward, they must collectively confront that one outrageous night back in college that first drove them apart, revealing secrets potentially shattering everything they ever were.
My Review:
I had this whole preconceived notion about what this book would be about. The blurb implied it to be just a story about 4 college friends who had some falling out and now, some 20 years later, are reunited and begin to reconcile their pasts with each other.. or that's what it said to me. In a way, it was all of that, but so much more. In actuality, it was basically a collage of journal entries from each character, discussing the past and their own views of how things transpired between them. They weren't actually together discussing these things, but merely writing them all down, for a "life project" Steve had all asked them to be a part of; with the exception of Brooke, who couldn't be contacted by Steve, so instead he asked a much younger woman in his building to write in her stead.
Looking back at the way I've explained the book, I realize that it doesn't really sound very good. That is definitely not my intention! I honestly really enjoyed the book!
Being basically the same age as the 3 main characters as they were writing, I could relate to each of them on many different levels. With exception of the sexual topics (of which there were quite a few) and the explosive night that separated them for good, I felt that I could see a lot of myself in each of them. There were quite a few passages that, for some reason, seemed to really touch me and are definitely words I care to remember.
I don't believe that the POV and journal entry type of writing this book has would work very well for many stories, but for this one, it was great! A very engrossing book that I didn't want to put down!
I give the book 4 stars!
Please check out the other stops on this tour..
April 27 - Witches Reviewed at Books, Books, and More Books
May 4 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at Books, Books, and More Books
May 6 - Witches Reviewed at The Writing World
May 11 - The Reclaimed Reviewed at Books, Books, and More Books
May 18 - A Time for Ryda Reviewed at Books, Books, and More Books
May 19 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at My World
May 25 - The Bull Years Reviewed at Books, Books, and More Books
May 26 - Witches Reviewed at My World
May 31 - The Reclaimed Reviewed at Book Reviews, Fiction Reflection, & More
June 8 - Witches Reviewed at Immortality & Beyond
June 8 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at Book'em Eric
June 12 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at Words I Write Crazy
June 12 - Witches Reviewed at Book'em Eric
June 16 - The Bull Years Reviewed at My World
July 16 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at A Book Lover's Library
I had this whole preconceived notion about what this book would be about. The blurb implied it to be just a story about 4 college friends who had some falling out and now, some 20 years later, are reunited and begin to reconcile their pasts with each other.. or that's what it said to me. In a way, it was all of that, but so much more. In actuality, it was basically a collage of journal entries from each character, discussing the past and their own views of how things transpired between them. They weren't actually together discussing these things, but merely writing them all down, for a "life project" Steve had all asked them to be a part of; with the exception of Brooke, who couldn't be contacted by Steve, so instead he asked a much younger woman in his building to write in her stead.
Looking back at the way I've explained the book, I realize that it doesn't really sound very good. That is definitely not my intention! I honestly really enjoyed the book!
Being basically the same age as the 3 main characters as they were writing, I could relate to each of them on many different levels. With exception of the sexual topics (of which there were quite a few) and the explosive night that separated them for good, I felt that I could see a lot of myself in each of them. There were quite a few passages that, for some reason, seemed to really touch me and are definitely words I care to remember.
I don't believe that the POV and journal entry type of writing this book has would work very well for many stories, but for this one, it was great! A very engrossing book that I didn't want to put down!
I give the book 4 stars!
Please check out the other stops on this tour..
April 27 - Witches Reviewed at Books, Books, and More Books
May 4 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at Books, Books, and More Books
May 6 - Witches Reviewed at The Writing World
May 11 - The Reclaimed Reviewed at Books, Books, and More Books
May 18 - A Time for Ryda Reviewed at Books, Books, and More Books
May 19 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at My World
May 25 - The Bull Years Reviewed at Books, Books, and More Books
May 26 - Witches Reviewed at My World
May 31 - The Reclaimed Reviewed at Book Reviews, Fiction Reflection, & More
June 8 - Witches Reviewed at Immortality & Beyond
June 8 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at Book'em Eric
June 12 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at Words I Write Crazy
June 12 - Witches Reviewed at Book'em Eric
June 16 - The Bull Years Reviewed at My World
July 16 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at A Book Lover's Library
July 19 - Witches Reviewed at A Book Lover's Library
June 19 - A Time for Ryda Reviewed at Words I Write Crazy
June 22 - Witches Reviewed at Book Spark
June 23 - A Time for Ryda Reviewed at Book Spark
June 26 - The Reclaimed Reviewed at Words I Write Crazy
July 1 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 2 - A Time For Ryda Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 3 - The Reclaimed Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 3 - Witches Reviewed at Words I Write Crazy
July 4 - Witches Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 5 - The Bull Years Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 6 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at B00K R3Vi3Ws
July 10 - Witches Reviewed at B00k R3Vi3wS
July 11 - Witches Reviewed at MK McClintock's Blog
July 13 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at Bren's Book Reviews
July 29 - The Reclaimed Reviewed at Self Taught Cook
June 19 - A Time for Ryda Reviewed at Words I Write Crazy
June 22 - Witches Reviewed at Book Spark
June 23 - A Time for Ryda Reviewed at Book Spark
June 26 - The Reclaimed Reviewed at Words I Write Crazy
July 1 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 2 - A Time For Ryda Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 3 - The Reclaimed Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 3 - Witches Reviewed at Words I Write Crazy
July 4 - Witches Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 5 - The Bull Years Reviewed at Soliloquy
July 6 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at B00K R3Vi3Ws
July 10 - Witches Reviewed at B00k R3Vi3wS
July 11 - Witches Reviewed at MK McClintock's Blog
July 13 - Rogue Powers Reviewed at Bren's Book Reviews
July 29 - The Reclaimed Reviewed at Self Taught Cook
This isn't normally the kind of book I would pick up, but your review has me intrigued! Thanks for posting about it :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting Phil. Great review :)
ReplyDelete