Cat's career has stalled, her marriage has gone flat, and being a stay-at-home mom for two young kids has become a grind. When she finds out, all within a few days, that she is pregnant, that a lump in her breast is the worst thing it could be, and that her husband has done something unforgivably repulsive, she responds by running away from her marriage and her life — a life that, on the outside, looks like middle-class success. Her actions send waves of chaos through the lives of multiple characters, including a struggling house cleaner, a rich and charismatic yoga guru, and even an ailing dog. What follows is a dark comedy about marriage, motherhood, privilege, and power.

A really good read. One of my big issues with Lump was the pacing. It was quite good at the beginning, it hit a slump about three quarters of the way through, and then the ending felt rushed. Another chapter or two from Cat's POV would have been great. Her story ended a bit unfinished in my opinion. The writing style was quite nice, though. A little less comical than I was expecting.

I really enjoyed it although I am not completely sure what to make of it. There were moments when it made me feel quite sad because of the topic of the book and at the end of it I feel like there were a few lose ends but I guess that is because it is just a book about life and things that happen, not everything needs to be finish tied up in a perfect bow but still, sadness and all I would recommend this book.

(May even be 2.5 stars)

I'm not sure quite what to make of Lump. When I read the synopsis I thought it should be interesting. What happens when your life effectively explodes during the course of one day?

Turns out I'm still not sure. I suppose the oddly loose ends with this story could be seen as just being life. We never know what will happen next. However I did sort of expect a bit more detail in the telling rather than the jumping about from one subject to another quite so haphazardly.

We have Cat who finds out she is pregnant and has breast cancer and thar her husband has been up to some quite unsavoury things. We follow her up to the point where it gets interesting then suddenly she's gone for almost the rest of the book. We have Donovan, her husband, who is a totally revolting character - a liar, a cheat, useless with kids, house and money - who makes messes which are also then abandoned mid-stream without a conclusion. Finally we have Lena who sees only some of this but is otherwise a bit part player whose role I can't quite grasp. She makes very little material difference to anything.

I suppose I'm a little bewildered by the book as it seems to leave everything hanging until it gives sentence long conclusions at the end. I would have liked more expansion on the storylines. It all felt a little unfinished.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This wasn't for me unfortunately - I couldn't get on board with the brand of writing or humour and I could not relate to any of the characters.

Took a while to get into this book, but once I was in, I read it to the end and was well worth it., a page turner and takes on lots of life events.

Hmm, you get to find a lot of personal information about the characters in this book . It is told from different viewpoints and the story does come together in many ways. Saying that in msny ways a lot of stuff is unresolved.
I personally found that frustrating..
It is an interesting read but has a lot of trigger issues which do niot make for easy reading.
I did finish the book though put off starting it a couple of times . Curiosity kept me going. Some parts were may be a little too cryptic for me and my overall feeling at the end is why ?
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I LOVED this book! The ending felt abrupt but I got why it had to be that way. Hopefully it does really well in Toronto given all the location-dropping and the fact that it captured the essence of Toronto so well!

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish reading this book.

The synopsis was intriguing and the characters sounded interesting; however, once I began the book, I could tell the writing style was not for me.

my review is short as I only read 41% of the book. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for allowing me access to this advanced readers copy of Lump.

Incredibly well written, beautiful but sad story - it did not go the way I expected.
Poor Cat was not living her best life, in paper she had it all, wealthy husband, a working mum of two children, she didn’t appear to be particularly happy, and then things took a turn for the worse - pregnant, found out she has cancer and discovered her husband is a creep.
Cat took refuge with a new friend who offered her a safe space, there is no joy, no happiness, and certainly no happy ending.

Having been unfamiliar with Nathan Whitlock’s work before reading this, I went into LUMP with very few expectations. What I was met with was a dark tale that was casual in its dealings with the characters’ tragedies. The frequent changes in perspective served the narrative well enough; each of the characters were flawed, and uniquely unlikeable, with the sole exception of Louis the dog, and showcased the selfishness with which people approach the tribulations of others. However, I couldn’t root for anyone (although this isn’t necessary to a good story), and found myself wishing for them all to face more significant consequences for their repulsive actions.
Ultimately, I’m disappointed at the drop-off in Cat’s point of view. I thought, having read the blurb, that she would be the focal point, but somehow Donovan’s storyline co-opted it, and that felt like a further injustice. The humour that was suggested by the blurb fizzled fast, and was replaced with more, and more unlikeable, people. I’m leaving my reading of LUMP feeling misled and dissatisfied. To avoid this occurring to future readers, I think a serious overhaul of the book’s description is required.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this ARC.

3 stars

It wasn’t my favourite book but it was okay as a quick read or a filler book (a shirt book in between bigger ones)
I honestly don’t really know what to say about it

I think my main problem with this book is the simple fact that this kind of story just isn't for me. The story is told well, the characters are interesting, and the pacing is solid. The narrative just wasn't my cup of tea. I still enjoyed my read, but I couldn't relate the the main character is the same way someone with kids or a husband might. I'm giving it a good and neutral 3 stars with hopes I'll come back to it later on in life and enjoy it properly!

The book started promisingly, but ultimately I didn't really engage with any of the characters. They were unsympathetic and I didn't really get the appeal.

The first half of the book was fine, and looked at Cat's life starting to unravel when she discovers she's pregnant and has cancer. She faces the facts that her life is really not what she fought so hard to pretend it was, and that her husband was even more of a letdown than she thought.
Initially, Cat's flight to escape the stress of her current circumstances and try to figure out what she wants for her future is inderstandable. However, there's not really enough insight into her ongoing thought process that really explains how it's helping her cope other than just plain avoidance which in the meantime would bring much more negativity to other people's lives. The ending was somewhat of a letdown, and I didn't find much humor, even "dark" humor in the book - just some brief flashes.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I didn’t love it to be honest. It just wasn’t for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy.

Cat finds out her life is about to take a massive turn as she finds a lump and is diagnosed with the possible outcome, with her husband making rash decisions as well as juggling two children it all becomes to much for Cat and she decides to do the only reasonable and run in doing so she upheaves multiple characters along the way! This is such a good and thrilling book, definitely don’t want to put it down!

3.5 STARS!!!

I was SO intrigued by the book description and was so pleased to have been approved to read/review.

The book starts off so strong. I knew from the first few pages that I was going to enjoy this book and I found myself always looking forward to getting back to reading it.

It’s an emotional, dark but satiric book told from multiple perspectives. I enjoyed the plot and the writing style of the author, however my main complaint is the ending. It just felt so rushed, like there were several chapters missing and other character perspectives (Bianca too). I also wish we had read more from Cat’s perspective, I didn’t understand her actions completely and I think we needed more from her perspective with more info on her mental state to explain her actions - otherwise it just felt a bit random.

Overall though, I did enjoy this book and would definitely recommend

Whitlock's writing is raw and unflinching, with a style that is both poetic and honest. He does an excellent job of capturing the emotional turmoil that Lump experiences, as well as the complexities of his relationships with his family members.

I initially wanted to read this after reading the summary. It had me smiling and in my head, it reminded me of a style of a couple of books I’d read by other authors. So I was hoping for something similar. That the humour would continue in this book and I’d get to know the main character,Cat, and follow her journey through a life fraught with testing situations and characters and see her overcome them.
This isn’t what I got unfortunately. I found none of the characters relatable and as the story went on the situations became more ludicrous and the reactions of the characters to them worse.
I really wanted to like this one but in the end it just wasn’t for me.