Weekend Pass – 3.5 Star Book Review

Welcome to the January 15th stop on the blog tour for Weekend Pass by Paul Cavanagh, organized by iRead Book Tours. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour (schedule linked) for spotlights, guest posts and interviews with the author, reviews, and a giveaway! (More on that at the end of this post.)

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About the Book

Weekend Pass
by Paul Cavanagh

Publishing 19 January 2021
by Not That London Writer

Genre: Literary Fiction
Page Coubt: 210
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Who can forgive a mother who poisons her eight-year-old son? Even if it was an accident.

Tasha thought she had everything under control – her family life, her career as a nurse – until her son got into her stash of painkillers. Now, during her first weekend home from drug treatment, she must come to grips with the damage she’s done and somehow pick up the pieces. Told from the points of view of four different family members, Weekend Pass is a story about the lies we tell ourselves and the people we love. And it’s about struggling to rise above the mistakes that threaten to define us.

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

My Review

My Ratig: 3.5 Stars
Consinder “liking” my review on Goodreads.

Thank you to iRead Book Tours and author Paul Cavanagh for access to an eARC of Weekend Pass in exchange for an honest review as part of my participation in the blog tour for this title. This has not swayed my opinion; my thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Weekend Pass is the story of a family recovering from the fallout of one person’s addiction problem that exploded into a tragic case of collateral damage. Tasha got high, left something out where her young son could get it, and nothing has been the same since. The book’s title alludes to her weekend passes to leave the rehab facility she’s recovering at, specifically her first one. Her chances to go to a help group, try to get her life back, and try to rebuild the family she damaged.

This book is easy to read. It flies by in a flash and feels so real. So true. I may not have ever been an addict, but I’ve been in some pretty crap life situations, and I’ve known addicts. Everything about Tasha’s experience and how those around her respond rings true. Weekend Pass is a raw, honest look at this version of the human experience.

With that said, I wasn’t excited to continue reading when I had to put it down. It’s a good book while I’m reading it, but I didn’t miss it when I had to do something else. It didn’t call me back. If I had’t been reading this for a tour deadline, I might have taken a lot longer to getting around to finishing it. Please do keep in mind that I don’t think this will be everyone’s experience, as this isn’t my favourite genre. I do like to read a wide variety, and literary is always a comfortable place to look when I’m ready to mix things up, but my reading home is SFF where worldbuilding is required and there’s a lot of fantasy lore or hypothetical technologies to keep track of. This book is real-world, modern day, and doesn’t spend a lot of time setting the scene because it doesn’t need to. That means I need it to dive deep into just a couple heads or do interesting things with the narrative, and this book doesn’t. It’s very straight forward, chronological flow, dip into whichever mind has the plot point and dip out again. If that’s the sort of thing you like to read then this will be great.

Thanks again to everyone involved in allowing me to read this book. I’m calling this a 3.5 on my own blog because I can’t quite decide between “good or great,” but for sites with strict whole-star systems, I will gladly call it a 4. I would happily recommend this book to all fans of literary fiction and anyone looking for a raw and honest look at the road to recovery from addiction.

About the Author

Paul Cavanagh is a Canadian author whose debut novel, After Helen, won the Lit Idol competition at the London Book Fair in the UK and was published to rave reviews in the United States, Canada, and the British Isles. He’s been compared to Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Tyler for his ability to be at turns funny and moving while exploring the paradoxes of modern family relationships. He lives in London, Ontario (not be be confused with that other London). Weekend Pass is his third novel.

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Giveaway Alert

Autographed copy of WEEKEND PASS (USA and Canada only) (1 winner) (ends Feb 8)

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