An outstanding book that captured my attention from the start. A heartwarming story that reminds us of the special family bonds we carry and reminds us that life is full of good and bad surprises. Books about abortion and parenthood aren't new but I found it refreshing to get it from the father's point of view. And even though the family remains nameless I became so attached to the characters that I hated to see it end.

The story is so well written, heart wrenching and full of surprises, I didn't want to put it down. The characters are real and raw and flawed yet still lovable and I felt like I was living their lives along with them. Even though the subject matter was tough I found myself laughing at some parts. What an excellent, thought provoking book...I look forward to reading more from Peter Ho Davies in the future.

3.5 rounded down

A poetic story about parenthood told in the context of a couple weighing up whether to have a "virtuous abortion". I've read my fair share of books on motherhood, but those on fatherhood are more difficult to come by. Whilst not a parent myself I found this to be an honest and candid insight into its joys and challenges, albeit a relatively plotless and sometimes meandering meditation on the topic. This is my first Ho Davies novel, but I found the writing to be impressive and will be reading more of his work.

A Life Someone Told You About Yourself is a book about so many things. It's certainly literary, but it also read quite political to me as well. It read as if the author had a political point of view he wanted to explore in depth and did so through his characters. At times, it felt as though he was espousing that political view through strategically placed characters in the story, using them as mouthpieces, rather than telling a story about characters who experienced that issue themselves.. While the story was very powerful and well-crafted with razor sharp prose, it also felt manipulative.

The plot line that I enjoyed the most was not the focus on abortion, but rather the developmental issues with one of the children. The author wrote with great clarity and accuracy about what parents feel, think and experience in that situation. That plot threat was compelling to me and far more nuanced. The abortion plot thread was understandably difficult to read, but mostly difficult because it felt forced. I would have preferred more focus on the grey areas and complexities of what is certainly a complex issue fraught with differing opinions.

The book also had some very crass, sexually graphic language that felt unnecessary and out of place in what was otherwise carefully craft prose.

I wish I enjoyed this novel better. The writing was so stilted and clunky, I could hardly get through it. The plot was very interesting and deep, but I just felt like the story went nowhere. Certain phrases were repeated to death, and the narrative was weird and distracting.

Thank you, Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin for the digital ARC.

It is a mediatitive story about a couple who have an abortion due to health reasons, and then later have a son who is on the neurodiverse spectrum.  As told by the husband, a writing professor, the feel of this book possesses an intimate quality, one that made me think it was autobiographical. The narrator employs a wry eye and a contemplative vibe to recount the couple's experiences.  The attention to detail. such as the sound a knife makes when it's cutting cheese, makes this read further realistic.

Ho Davies is masterful at portraying a situation that feels well-rounded, emotionally deep and near ethnographic or personal. In "The Fortunes," his stories about Anna May Wong and Vicent Chin are compelling and affecting. The one on Chin haunts me still.

I loved A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself, much more than I expected to. I hadn't realized how heavily the plot centered around abortion so I was nervous when that element was introduced almost immediately. However, the way it is dealt with in this book was thoughtful and nuanced in a way I haven't previously seen in discussions on the subject by and about men. All in all, the book was compassionate and engrossing.

I really enjoyed this exploration of parenthood and the moral choices people have to make when it comes to birth or abortion in this case. What came through so strongly was the father's love for the son, and it was refreshing to have a male perspective on some of these issues.

Different type book. No characters names. Made it a bit off for me. While the storyline itself was fine, it wasn't a typical read. Maybe that was what the author looking for.

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book . While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I wanted to like this more than I did. It seems like two separate stories, as though the author first wrote a study of the painful choice to terminate a potentially impaired pregnancy and then tried to expand it to novel length by exploring subsequent pregnancy and parenthood. The descriptions of fatherhood are keenly observed, realistic, and touching. The sections on the pregnancy termination seemed to have a different voice - more self-consciously arty and academic.

This book was such a unique point of view, no names given to some of the main characters. But oddly enough that seemed to make me more invested. This story is important, and so well written. The family dynamic is beautiful and the love of a father shines through. Definitely recommend for those who have had similar life experiences; especially parents who didn't start out with the easiest circumstances. I related to this on an intrinsic level at times and there was such a flowing to the writing that I couldn't help to be drawn in!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced eRead copy!

At first I didn't know if I would enjoy this book. There are no names given to the three characters, they're referred to as the father, the mother, the boy. And I thought maybe with no names I wouldn't connect with those characters. But what you connect with Is the story...the heart breaks and the joys of the choices we make in our lives.
I think if someone has gone thru abortion that perhaps they may react as the mother did, or maybe the father. Also as a parent myself, I can relate to all the love and worries and fears we harbor for our children as we watch them grow.
I love how the father falls in love with the people that are kind and show love to his son, but dislikes those who are opposite of those things to his son lol, because,it's such a relatable moment. How you may not know someone closely but when they're so loving to your child you can't help but fall in love with those people by a default.
A beautiful relatable story that makes you think about your own journey in life.

An honest novel about parenthood, abortion and life in general.

Reading the synopsis, I thought it might be difficult to relate to the story as I am not a parent. But from the start I think it is easy to connect with the story and the characters because we all have thoughts and opinions on being a parent, abortion, human and women’s rights in general. But it is also a novel about relationship, which we all have in our life.

And I do believe that this book might be really helpful for people who have a relatable life, from a lot of different angles.

Ho Davies ‘s writing is flowing and prose style like sometimes. It is vulnerable, honest and sometimes there is a deep sadness to it I feel. A good read!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy

An introspective examination of the spectre of parenthood in the wake of difficult decisions surrounding abortion and the birth of children, and the best decisions to be made in the wake of the potential of a baby suffering. This was a really interesting look at all of the wild emotions that run high throughout the big choices made surrounding parenthood, and it is, in a sense, not something that can be wholly rated. It is so personal and deep, and it obviously has a lot of weight and meaning to the author, so to rate his feelings on a basis of disagreement would be entirely inappropriate. This is a book about difficult choices and ones that most of us would hope we never have to make.

The conclusion does lack a bit, and I do feel like it could've been longer and gone deeper into the whole affair. With that said, I do note that it is a poetry/prose piece, and therefore it is left a little ambiguous in some senses, but the language involved is absolutely beautiful, especially considering its application to such difficult subject matter. This is not the kind of book that you enjoy so much as you feel, and I think anyone who has had to face the quandary of parenthood will feel this book deep in their souls.

<I>Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</I>

This novel is poetry in prose. It centres around a couple who are forced to choose whether to have a "virtuous abortion" or not based on the results of a fetal genetic test. It is one of the most honest and unique representations of the internal struggles of abortion that I have seen. I felt connected to the tumult of conflicting emotions the protagonist was whirling through as he stumbled along in almost-and-then-actual fatherhood. It was raw and real. I do not think that Ho Davies' style is for everyone, but it definitely worked for me. Except for the ending...that one left me feeling unsatisfied.