Cover Image: My Name is Anton

My Name is Anton

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I always love that Catherine’s books have lessons we can all learn. As spoken by Antons grandmother, love is doing what’s best for the other person and not just what you want for yourself. The book goes through several decades of Antons life as he gains strength and lives a very unselfish life through joy and sadness. Great character and relationship development.
Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC

Was this review helpful?

This is a beautiful story of love, commitment, and trust under very trying circumstances. Anton is 18. He was brought up in a household that was less than supportive. It seemed to be a safe environment though. Until it wasn't. Tragedies can happen in an instant and alter everything you thought you knew. It happened to Anton. We've all read stories like that, But this one is different. It has that "Catherine Ryan Hyde" stamp on it. In other words, you can count on a meaty story with lots of things to think about as you make your way through the pages. Despite the 'less than supportive' parents, there is an abundance of love depicted here in many different forms. I won't tell you any more than that. Just that this is a story well-worth spending your time to read and then contemplate for a while after you finish. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the advance reader copy. Pub date is December 1, 2020.

Was this review helpful?

What a wonderful book. This is the third book I’ve read written by this author. As always she draws you into the book from the very beginning.. I loved the characters, writing, and the story line. If you have a chance to read this book please don’t pass it up!

Was this review helpful?

My Name is Anton is another book by Catherine Ryan Hyde that I couldn't put down.

Touching on subjects such as mental health, family and enduring love, I found the characters relatable. I enjoyed reading from a young man-to grown man's point of view.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Omg. This author has become one of my favorites. This book just tore me up!, i just love Anton and Edith so much! I didn’t want this book to end. Definitely a big fan!

Was this review helpful?

Wow what a powerful book written bye Catherine Ryan Hyde! This book made me feel real emotion. The characters are so real. Anton is the main character who you will fall in love with. Well written book, this is a must read by all! This should be a Number 1 Best seller

Was this review helpful?

My Name is Anton is a coming of age and a love story. At an early age Anton is learning to adjust to life after a tragic accident involving his brother. His parents are no help because they appear to have a harder time of dealing with the issue than he is. He meets his neighbor and helps her through a bad time in her life. They fall in love and end up married. My Name is Anton tells the story of their life together from 1965 to the present. I thought the book was a bit slow at the start but was worth reading. Thank you NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and author Catherine Ryan Hyde for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

One of my go to authors. I love how she always brings out her characters human nature sometime in subtle ways, but always with a big impact.
Her stories always give us a view into life experiences, which we may or may not have experienced ourselves, but things that are constantly in the news or literally around us. She make me realize that I need to be more conscious, of the people and circumstances around me and to always see the different sides of an issue.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a copy of this book.

Was this review helpful?

This is my first time reading this author and it will not be my last.

My Name is Anton is a love story. Anton is emotionally and physically scarred from the death of his brother. His parents leave him home for the holidays because they do not deal with things but instead choose to ignore them. Before they go they give Anton his Christmas present, a telescope, and when he inadvertently witnesses a neighbor across the street being abused by her husband he seeks her out and offers to help her by giving her a place to stay and helps her to leave town to get away from her husband. In the two weeks she spends with Anton she forms a life long bond with him but refuses to tell him where she is going so he won't have to lie to her husband. The story picks up at different intervals in their lives and Anton can never forget the woman he spent time with. I loved this story. I loved Anton and Edith. They are both sensitive and caring individuals who have the ability to love and know that sometimes you have to let go to make the other happy. Edith is strong. She had the courage to finally leave an abusive relationship and forge a new life. Everyone should have a Grandma Marion. Without her I don't think Anton would have grown into the man he became. The setting is New York City in the 1960s and progresses to 1985 and then follows until Anton is in his 70s. The only downside for me was Jenny, the foster child. I wished there was more about her life after she went back to her mother and the end seemed just a bit rushed but wanting more from the story is a good thing. It means that the author made me care.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union for providing me with a complementary copy of this book. These are my thoughts.

Was this review helpful?

This book struck me with its theme of loving someone enough to let them leave. It starts with Anton’s grandmother when his grandfather died. Then when Anton is faced with losing the woman he loves he decides he must let her go, even though it hurts to do so. Eventually Edith must make the same decision. I loved how his grandmother’s advice had such a profound effect on Anton’s life and the lives of those he loved. If everyone could love so unselfishly the world would be a much better place.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Was this review helpful?

“My Name is Anton” is Catherine Ryan Hyde’s latest novel that explores the family dynamics when tragedy strikes and nobody understands how to heal. Anton is a young man on the verge of adulthood dealing with the loss of his hand resulting from the tragedy that has torn his family apart. His parents are hiding behind a veil of indifference and decide to leave Anton alone for Christmas, but before they leave on their trip they give Anton the telescope he desired. Upon using his gift for the first time he discovers that one of his neighbors is being abused by her partner. Anton devises a plan to find out if she is okay and they strike up a friendship. Edith is abused by her husband and it is not until she meets Anton that she is finally able to leave the oppression she has been living through. This story is part romance and part understanding how fragile life and family can be. Ms. Hyde created believable characters who wrap themselves around the reader and allow for total immersion into this amazing novel. I was given an advanced copy of this book, and all of the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Was this review helpful?

Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of my favorite authors. I have read almost all of her books. So when NetGalley offered this book as a pre-release, I was excited to read it. I was not disappointed! I loved everything about it! It was a coming of age story, a love story, and a very in-depth look at two people who are very deeply wounded but manage to climb out of their pain. Anton is an eighteen year old boy who has survived a traumatic event which destroyed his brother’s life and severely damaged his own. Finding no support where It should have been, his parents, his salvation comes through the selfless act of trying to help a women he accidentally discovers is being abused by her husband. How does someone who has been raised by two very distant, dysfunctional parents survive the greatest of all tragedies and become a successful, unselfish human being? Not many people could do it, but Anton does through the power of love.

A sub-note I would like to make regarding this pre-release version of My Name is Anton is that more editing definitely is needed. There were numerous punctuation errors, particularly in the beginning chapters of the book.

Was this review helpful?

Catherine Ryan Hyde is known for her sympathetic characters. This book provides the same.
A young man risking his future to save a woman. The story is interesting and plausible. A typical
book from this author

Was this review helpful?

LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! I am a huge fan of Catherine Ryan Hyde and her books never disappoint including this one! I fell in love with Edith and Anton. What a ride of difficult times and how they prevailed made this book a one of a kind!

Was this review helpful?

Ms. Ryan has created characters that rise from the pages to engage the reader. I loved this story and the emotions that it brings forth. Well done!
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Was this review helpful?

This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. This was such a character driven, heartfelt story! The story starts in 1965, 18 yr. old Anton's brother died a year ago and he is still grieving. His parents are not very present in his life, and they leave him alone over the holidays. He sees his neighbor Edith across the way being abused by her husband. He wants to help her, and give her a place to stay so she can escape her abusive marriage. While she is there, they develop a strong friendship, and Edith realizes she needs to leave, and Anton must let her go. But what happens when they cross paths years down the road?! I do not want to give away the plot, but let me tell you, I definitely shed a tear while reading this book. It tugged at my heart strings. Such a wonderful, well written love story. You should consider adding this to your list, because it's a beautiful Story.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to the publisher, and to Netgalley for an advance copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

This novel was not what I thought it would be. Abandoned by his family over Christmas, Anton sees a woman being assaulted in the apartment across the street, through his brand new telescope.

Anton being the gentleman decides to help the woman.

This is a beautiful novel. I was afraid it would linger on domestic violence, or veer into a stalker story as I am not familiar with this author. But it does not.

What it does become is a beautiful novel that will stay with your for days afterwards. Do yourself a treat and request it from the Read Now option on Netgalley (if its still there)

Was this review helpful?

Sweet story that kept my interest. I love all this author's novels and hope she continues. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher

Was this review helpful?

I have read several books by this author. I have never been disappointed but I would have to say that this one is my favorite. Anton and Edith’s story stayed with me even when I wasn’t reading. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Anton had a miserable life until he met Edith. I knew they would eventually find each other again.
Thank you Ms Hyde for a wonderful novel that I really enjoyed!

Was this review helpful?

Anton is still recovering from the loss of his hand and his brother. It’s a few short months later and the first Christmas since the tragic events which caused this to happen when his incredibly self centered and selfish parents give him his Christmas present on their way out the door for a trip, leaving him alone during the holiday. The gift was an expensive telescope that he had been wanting ( they did not think how was he going to assemble it with one hand). While learning how to use and position it. Anton accidentally sees an act of violence in an apartment across from him.
He figures out a way to meet the woman ( Edith) and lets her know that if she ever needs an escape that he will help. They develop a friendship and after another incident Edith shows up at his door late one night. She hides out in his apartment until they feel it is safe for her to make her escape and disappears without letting him know where she will go.
Anton never forgets this first love and it gives him both the strength to stand up to his mother and to finally admit he is not ok.
This is a love story and again, there are no big surprises but it draws the reader in as you want to see what happens to these two separated by age and circumstances.
I would not read back to back stories of this nature but it was a nice break from my usual fare. If you enjoy contemporary fiction, too good to be true men, or love stories you will enjoy this.

Was this review helpful?