I went on a little Dymocks adventure this afternoon - couldn't help myself!! Bought this and a few others.

Started reading as soon as I got home!!

I became deeply engrossed in this book sometime last night - and didnt stop until I had read it through. Many emotions washed over me as I read this book - pity, sorrow, hope, pain, grief etc. I found it very distressing in parts and just hoped that Tully and Robin could move through it. Throughout the story I continually attempted to psychoanalyse Tully in an attempt to understand her. I cried when the choices she had to make where heartwrenching - I winced as Robin continually put up with these choices due to the love he had for her. As a character- Tully was extremley frustrating. The decisions she made appeared to hurt those around her deeply, yet I could understand why she had made those decisons. Her inability to speak the truth about her past, to share it with others and to let go overwhelmed me, and like everyone else, I longed to save her. But, in the end, only Tully could save Tully.

Tully seems, from the outside, like an unyielding force. The other characters continually refer to Tully as being incredibly strong, and to some readers she may be. To me, however, I found Tully to be one of the weaker characters of the story. She could never truly move on from the past, she procrastinated over every decision she had to make - and in the end they were made for her; and she was in self denial, bleeding her wrists to let go of the pain. She was, after all, only human!

In the words of an Amazon reviewer: "so I finish my review of Tully the novel, with the following quote that defines Tully as a character and serves as an underlying theme for the whole 683 pages of the novel "Tully":

"Straightening up, she tightened her arms harder around herself, squared her shoulders as upright as she could, and went home."

You will treasure the novel for an eternity"

A new ring for all Aus/NZ BookXers to join

1. sarahbear
2. lavenderblue61
3. lakelady2282
4. bookworm-BNE
5. Tantan

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent out to Sarahbear today - hope it arrives safely!

Arrived today! Can't wait to get into this but I do have 2 other rings to read first but I promise to get to it as soon as I can. Thanks funkybamboozle for the bookring :)

A good story. Sorry it took me so long to complete it. Thanks for sharing the book :)

Posting on to lavenderblue61 as soon as I have his/her address.

Recieved this book over a week or more ago....sorry for late notice.....I am up to chapter 7 and am still waiting for it to grab me......but Im sticking with it.....Will keep you informed....Thanks so much for this bookring.....


CAUGHT IN MELBOURNE VICTORIA

Arrived in the mail yesterday - seems the journal entries are scarce, but the book is safely in Brisbane and is likely to have 2 readers in this household. Thanks for sharing:)

What a rollercoaster! Heart wrenching indeed, had me sobbing regularly. It took a while for me to get into it, the first bit was obviously laying the foundation but didnt grab my attention until things started to seriously unravel. Then it was hard to put down, I have not had enough sleep this week thanks to this book! Well worth it. I advertised 2 readers but my friend is not in the mood for something this heavy at the moment so I'm sanding it straight on to tantan. Thanks for sharing this wonderful book.

I had PM-ed tantan about sending the book on, and she just replied that she has already purchased a copy so the book is now at the end of the list. Will PM funkybamboozle for address.

Forgot to journal at the time, but this book was sent to funkybamboozle a couple of weeks ago.