Today, it’s my turn to host my stop on the blog tour for Maybe It’s About Time by Neil Boss. Thanks to The Write Reads for inviting me to take part and Neil Boss for the gifted book to write my honest review.
Title: Maybe It’s About Time
Author: Neil Boss
Length: 742 pages
Genre: Satire Fiction
Publication Date: 5th September 2022
Two people trapped in their different worlds. One by wealth and one by poverty. Twenty years working for The Firm has given Marcus Barlow everything he wants but has taken his soul in return. Finding a way to leave has become an obsession.
Claire Halford’s life hits rock bottom when she is caught stealing food from Tesco Express. Left alone by her husband with two small children and an STI, her suicide music is starting to play louder in her head.
A chance meeting brings them together. As a mystery virus from China starts to run riot across the country, their world’s collide and they find they have more in common than they knew.
Set in the early months of 2020, Maybe It’s About Time is a story about the difficulty of changing lives for the better. Starting as a funny and satirical view of the egocentric world of professional services, it gives way to a heart-warming story of an unlikely friendship that rejuvenates Marcus and Claire, giving them both hope for a better future.
Neil Boss is a brand new author for me. The cover and the blurb just made me want to read this book. Set at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, it sounded an intriguing read. With an open mind and a nice warm brew, I settled down for the day.
We meet Marcus, Claire, and Gavin. Three characters that are all relatable and so real. I was invested in them all the way through. The fact that they come from truly different backgrounds and their present circumstances place them spectrums apart makes their connecting even more interesting.
Maybe It’s About Time took me back to the early days of the pandemic, and it gave me so much food for thought. The differences in equality of the people, the escaping from the rat race for all. Neil Boss brings it all and does it so well. For me, the pandemic brought quite a hard road emotionally and mentally for my family. This book had me going back there to a place I try not to take out of the box too often.
It is honestly quite an emotional read in one way or another. I laughed, I cried, and I felt the warmth of everyone in this story. By the time I was reaching the end, I felt like the characters were my friends and was sorry to see the end looming. Saying that, I still could stop turning the pages! I must say it’s a big book. In fact, it’s over 500 pages but really doesn’t feel like it.
It is a great debut novel that has humour, emotion, and characters that feel authentic. If you are up for an absorbing read that isn’t all about sunshine and roses… this could be it!
Book Links
Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/bbfaJbp
Author Bio
I retired from a career in the corporate world in November 2019 with three objectives. To travel around the world and fly fish in the most exotic locations, to play my electric guitar better than I do and to write a novel that I could be genuinely proud of. The pandemic and lockdown in March 2020 put my first two objectives on hold leaving me no option but to start writing. Two and half years later, ‘Maybe It’s About Time’, my first novel, was published.
As a piece of work, I am incredibly proud of it. It makes me laugh and cry in equal measure. I am even more proud that readers seem to be enjoying it just as much and it is getting great reviews.
Travel and fly fishing has now started again, my guitar playing is improving and a sequel to ‘Maybe It’s About Time’ is planned to start in 2023!
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 