A late winter/Christmas-themed review. The nice thing about the Alfie books is that they can be read out of order. I do plan on getting to all of them eventually, but for now reading them out of order will do a well. Spoilers ahead.
Alfie the cat and his son George are busy once again as winter comes to Edgar Road. With it come two new inhabitants: Sylvie, a recently-divorced woman from Japan, and her daughter Connie. Neither seem happy in Edgar Road, and a big misunderstanding might just end up ruining Christmas for all of the families. On the feline side of things, Alfie is starting to worry a lot when his mate Tiger starts to act suspicious. Will he and George be able to fix things before Christmas comes around?
Overall this was a wholesome and heartwarming book, with a few sad or frustrating moments. In the end everything does turn out okay (well, for the most part), but you do just feel so much for these poor characters and what they're going through, especially Alfie and George as they're trying to help the situations in any way they can, but they also have to accept that sometimes there's just nothing that can be done.
Such is the case in Tiger's situation. After acting suspicious for a while, she comes clean to Alfie and George that she is sick and will die soon. It's a heart-wrenching situation, especially for young George who doesn't quite understand the concept of death yet. Yet it was written masterfully and also very realistically. The author really handled George's emotions after Tiger's death well and in a way that felt real. Him not wanting to be close to anyone again out of fear of losing them just feels so tangible.
The other situation regarding Sylvie and Connie was also heartbreaking at times, but as a reader I also sometimes found it frustrating to read and I had a hard time rooting for Sylvie, despite the book clearly wanting the reader to do so to an extent. Basically, Sylvie and Connie have recently moved into a house on Edgar Road from Japan after Sylvie went through a particularly bad breakup with Connie's father. Sylvie feels depressed and Connie has a hard time adjusting to her new life in England after growing up in Japan. Connie however soon starts to find her footing at her new school, where she makes friends and even ends up starting a relationship with Francesca's son Aleksy. Thing is, Sylvie absolutely does not approve of this relationship and does everything she can to keep the two apart.
And that's just where my sympathy for Sylvie stops, despite the book clearly still trying to pull on your heartstrings because "she went through such a bad breakup" and "she feels depressed". Those are not excuses for acting like a genuine conservative asshole for most of the book. It's one thing for her to be unhappy, but the fact that she's actively jeopardizing her own daughter's happiness.
Connie was initially just as depressed as her mother due to the divorce and immigration situation, however unlike her mother she was genuinely starting to feel happy again. She went to a new, less conservative school. She made new friends. And she got a very close bond with Aleksy. So I was just so happy for this character. But nope, in swoops her mother trying to stop her from feeling happy again.
First she takes her away from her father, friends, school and home in Japan and then she starts messing with Connie's happiness again just because she can't stomach her having a boyfriend. Again, no matter how sympathetic you try to paint Sylvie as a character, I simply don't care if she actively goes out of her way to make Connie miserable. She just went too far. I know she eventually realizes the error of her ways, but it's too little too late. Connie and Aleksy felt so damn miserable and unloved because of Sylvie that they felt the need to run away in the middle of winter. Sorry, but I just don't think the author manages to portray Sylvie in a sympathetic light enough for the reader to find her a remotely sympathetic character.
That said, the rest of the book was good. Heart-breaking, heart-warming, sometimes fun or exciting or thrilling. Just be prepared to be immensely frustrated with Sylvie throughout the book.
Rating: 3.5/5
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