The Reader's Room

2025 Booker Longlist: Flesh by David Szalay

Flesh by David Szalay is the 8th books our panel reviewed. All five judges read this nominee and here are our reviews…

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2025 Booker Longlist: Love Forms by Claire Adam

Book 4 for our panelists was Love Forms by Claire Adam.

Book Synopsis from Booker website: Trinidad, 1980: Dawn Bishop, aged 16, leaves her home and journeys across the sea to Venezuela. There, she gives birth to a baby girl, and leaves her with nuns to be given up for adoption.  

Dawn tries to carry on with her life – a move to England, a marriage, a career, two sons, a divorce – but through it all, she still thinks of the child she had in Venezuela, and of what might have been.  

Then, 40 years later, a woman from an internet forum gets in touch. She says that she might be Dawn’s long-lost daughter, stirring up a complicated mix of feelings: could this be the person to give form to all the love and care Dawn has left to offer? 

Jen’s Thoughts: I have to admit that I went into this book with some pre-judgments. I don’t particularly like that Claire Adam’s prior book was published by SJP’s imprint but I tried to set that aside when reading. Keep that prejudgment in mind when reading my review.

This book was just okay. It did not stand out for me in any way and while I liked the descriptions and history on Trinidad, at times those sections made me feel like I was sitting in a lecture hall and not reading a novel.

The premise was interesting but I found the main character to be bland and I struggled to emotionally connect to her experience. This was a privileged woman from a very affluent background facing a loss that I experienced as one muted by her privilege. I didn’t hate it, it didn’t love it. I found quite a bit of it boring. I certainly don’t understand how it made the Booker longlist.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Character development: 3/4
Plot development: 2/4
Overall enjoyment: 1/2
Total: 12/20

Nicole’s Thoughts:  Sorry but this makes no sense to me. I get really annoyed with Booker when there are celebrities on the judging panel. I shouldn’t, but I do. I would love to be proven wrong – and maybe last year was an exception, but this book is not Booker worthy. It’s a nothing new story …. it didn’t bring anything new to the topic, the writing wasn’t special, the characters didn’t blow my mind … it was totally average. Forgettable.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 2/5
Character development: 3/4
Plot development: 2/4
Overall enjoyment: 1/2
Total: 11/20

Lisa’s Thoughts:  Based on what everyone else said about it, I decided to reserve my reading time for other opportunities.

Anita’s Thoughts: Tedious. The first chapter is the highlight, and even that chapter wasn’t all that great. I have no idea how this book made it onto the longlist for the Booker. I’ve hated books in the past, but was always able to see what made them unique and worthy of listing. This one completely escapes me.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 1/5
Character development: 3/4
Plot development: 1/4
Overall enjoyment: 0/2
Total: 8/20

Tracy’s Thoughts: Um. Yeah. It was okay. I think it would have been a great short story. At least I didn’t feel icky after reading it like the Szalay.

Writing quality: 3/5
Originality: 2/5
Character development: 3/4
Plot development: 2/4
Overall enjoyment: 1/2
Total: 11/20

Rankings

1. Audition: 17.88
2. Flashlight: 14.2
3. One Boat: 13

4. Love forms: 10:5

Have you read it?  What do you think? Want to try it for yourself? You can purchase your copy here: Love Forms.