Published By: Headline
Pages: 288
Released On: 18/08/2022
A young man walks into the woods on the worst morning of his life and finds something there that will change everything.
It’s a tale that might seem familiar. But how it speaks to you will depend on how you’ve loved until now.
Sometimes, to get out of the woods, you have to go into them.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
Is there any book blogger who hasn’t been desperate to get their hands on this book?
At first, I couldn’t decide if it was a work of genius, or a 300-page weird, bizarre egg story. It’s a difficult book to review as I’m not sure any words that I write will give a true reflection of what I thought of this book. I just want to know how on Earth this storyline came into his head. Was it from life experience? A dream? Just randomly popped into his mind? I need to know!
Palmer’s description of grief and bereavement is very well executed; he’s managed to put into writing how I have felt on more than one occasion (even if the grief isn’t directed at the same relation as is in this book).
It is mad and sad and funny and bizarre and heartbreaking and heartwarming, enriching and joyful.
For me, this was a book of two halves, and I kind of wish I could review it as such. Whilst I did enjoy the first half, I found it quite difficult to grasp, but the second half was an emotional sucker punch, and I found myself tearing up several times over a fictional egg. The emotions are dragged out and for me, it becomes more interesting and had something I could get my teeth into.
It is expertly written in regard to how he has treated depression and grief and anxiety and mental health, it is raw and physical, uncensored and harsh. The pure heartbreak that Bobby Palmer has put into every word is magnificent.
Books By Your Bedside 