Book Reviews

ACCEPTANCE - The second novel by Scot Williams

“It’s fu*king good. I found it very easy to read, Scot has put his heart on the page. It’s joyous to read. It’s just so human, and tragic, and funny and lovely. Acceptance is the route to happiness, and this story to me screams of what we all do - imagine our lives will be happy WHEN - when we are successful, when we have kids, when we get ten million for our script. It’s such a relatable condition, It’s very layered. It’s fuckin brilliant. I loved the structure, setting it across a period of time, past to present, and the whatssap conversations in between. Very good and I was totally on board with that. I really felt satisfied by that. I loved it.” - Caitlin Innes Edwards (Writer / Actor / Director)

 

“The writing is brutally and beautifully written, every chapter made me stop and consider my own life and relationships. Thoughts flooded me, all those loves, all those decisions, everything I put my life on hold for, everything I waited for, that never waited for me. All the triumphs and catastrophic failures they've endured, make them so human and so relatable. There is such honesty in the dialogue and a total absence of pride in a lot of the conversations, I love that! No fear, just people connecting, truth. There's so much vulnerability and it's okay that the cavalry isn't coming. I love that resilience wins... I love everything about 'searching' and I suppose 'youth being wasted on the young'. Never realising the power they had when they were younger, giving it over to narcissists so easily.. putting their dreams in the hands of people they never belonged in. These characters are broken in so many ways but you can't help but want to get them over the finish line. There's such empathy in the writing, he really sees people, they come to life instantly. I can picture them so easily, they are thick with detail, you can't forget them. It is such a fluid read...so easy to pick up and put back down. There's a lovely intimacy in his work, it was my bedtime book, it deserved quiet and quality time. The whattsapp format felt incredibly voyeuristic, in a great way... diary like..and oh the deciphering of a text message! haven't we all been there! The end scene...I held my breath, it was very difficult but necessary to read. I find the characters completely imperfect and am really drawn to them navigating their way through life as complex people searching for what they think will make them happy. It also really resonates that people are willing to break everything they have to see what pieces are left to rebuild from. There’s a lot of wreckless behaviour and it’s fascinating to see the reasoning behind it. For me I love the dialogue, it’s very human and rolls off the tongue. As an actor the messages read like a stage play and I loved it. The pace was great and you could really feel the vulnerability in putting things out there. There’s a real sense of danger and ‘nowness’ in a lot of the relationships and feels very truthful. He is a brilliant writer.” - Erin Shanager (Actress)

 

“This was fantastic. I liked the layout with the texts and them talking about memories, then seeing the actual event unfold. It’s the reuniting of first loves but with a twist. The characters were believable. You feel as if you known people like them. It’s like their old friends that you’ve seen together and apart and you keep rooting for them to get back together because they just should be together. The way Scot writes creates a lot of emotion. All through the book I could feel what they were feeling. With Tabby I could feel her nerves, anticipation, and even a touch of fear. I could feel their disappointment and frustration. I could also feel the relief and sense of safety they felt when they were texting each other. The warmth and comfort each of them brought to the other. I could also feel them changing and growing as each event hit them in a different way. - I also was not expecting the Epilogue but go Tabby!” - Jennifer Brown (Baltimore USA)

“Engaging and Original” - Jonny Geller (Curtis Brown Books)

 

 THE NOVELIST - The debut novel by Scot Williams

 

“His writing is utterly vivid and his voice is highly distinctive.”  - Clare Conville, (agent & founder of C+W agency.)

“Genius. Amazing. A beautiful human love story that anyone can relate to. I loved it. I wept. I felt connected to the piece throughout and found it very easy to pick the book back up. Nothing dragged for me and I really enjoyed the detail. I felt immediately transported by the vivid description and clear narrative. The juxtaposed stylistic writing works beautifully against the traumatic narrative.” - Erin Shanagher (actor).

“Extremely rich, very visual. Gripping storytelling with a maddening quality. The description and atmosphere he’s managed to create is really fantastic. The dreamlike quality allows us to suspend our disbelief and trust the order of events. I think he writes really bloody well. It’s evident from the first page and never drops throughout the entire book.” - Caitlin Innes-Edwards (actor, writer, director)

“A gorgeous writer. Smart and compelling. Unique. A delight. It held my interest, enriched my knowledge about subject matter and was well researched. The characters and writing were unique and not already familiar to me. I enjoyed the writing style very much. The stylized writing suited the Oz-like nether world.” - Erin Hawker (Owner of Agentry PR, New York). 

 

“I thought this was very engaging. Very easy to read and hard to put down. The characters were believable and I think they all had endearing qualities. His writing is so descriptive. I could definitely imagine this translating well to film. It keeps you guessing and gets you to really think about the situation and what is really happening. There are times that you think you know, but then there’s a twist and you wonder if you really do know. It reminded me of Dante’s Inferno and the story of Paolo and Francesca. I also got the subtle hint of Oedipus. I felt there was a theme of duality throughout, Norm’s life I think could have gone in two ways, successful writer or the way it went. Neither would have seemed out of the ordinary. I felt like he was always toeing some subtle line between two choices or two different worlds. It’s that thing of we all have two sides, shadow and light. Neither can survive without the other. I really enjoyed it and there were so many layers and subtle things in there. I loved it.” - Jennifer Brown (Baltimore USA)

 

“ I think it is extremely cleverly written. The book is heartfelt, honest, most importantly raw. It is structured and written in a unique manner, it is empowering and inspirational and truly makes you think about the life and society we live today. It held my interest from the start and was easy to read. From the beginning you are invested. The exploration into narcissism, parental neglect, isolation, hope and love. As the reader, you really feel each pain and excitement that the author portrayed through his characters. There was constantly something interesting happening. I would definitely recommend it to a friend.“ - Ola Kopera (Student)

*****

“A Bard Day’s Night is such a great read. A brilliant original plot that mixes historical references with The Fab Four. Scot’s writing is engaging and witty. Truly FAB.” - Clare Howarth (School Teacher)