A great debut novel
It is very beautifully written. The book touches on loneliness
It is a nice and easy book to read. It’s nothing too complex.

This was an uplifting, beautifully written book, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I really enjoyed the way the two timelines melted together, it felt quite similar in concept to The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.

As a debut it was amazing, I felt that the characters weren't as likeable as they could have been, but that didn't obstruct the reading experience. I did however feel that the ending was a little abrupt, but hopefully, that just means there will be a continuation in the future.

Many thanks to Netgalley and publishers for providing my review copy.
Alfie had such an interesting life and I found the transitions back and for to really tie everything together. It was a bit slow in parts so I think it could have been a little shorter.

This was a really good book, I recomend it. This book was very well constructed. Although the characters weren't likable, you can't help yourself but feel for them. The end was a little bit rushed. I think this book portrayed the feeling of lonelyness very well.

Alfie’s story is beautifully written and captures your attention from the start. It draws you in. His story is one about the complexity and beauty of relationships, about mistakes and regrets, and about the challenge we all face of finding your place in the world.

This was the story of Alfie who is of an old age and in a nursing home. The book is written from his perspective and flows back and forth telling his story from being a young man into adulthood and up to the current day.

It is one of those nice and easy books to read, nothing too complex and I read it quickly. I found the writing style to be quite simplistic and stronger towards the end of the book. The fact that some surprises in his story came about are good. Things I would not have predicted. Alfie is a likeable character.

I enjoyed other characters in the book also, there are quite a few that come and go in his life story. I won't reveal my favourites as that would really spoil it for you. I was hoping this may be up to par with books like A Man Called Ove or The Unlikely Pilgramage of Harold Fry which are both excellent. This book isn't on that level but being a debut novel I can see lots of potential for more books in the future.

If you enjoy a tale, being told a story, especially in the first person and are looking for a non-complicated read that this is recommended for you.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own and totally unbiased.

The inconvenient Need To Belong is the book of Alfie’s life. We meet him in later life, in his 80’s, living in Pinewood Retirement home. Pinewood is not a great retirement home, a sad reflection on how some our elderly find the last years of their lives.
Through his regular Saturday chats with a young lad called Fred, we start to learn of Alfie’s younger life. Alfie is determined to share his life with his young friend, so he can learn from the older man’s mistakes. We learn how, in 1953, he left his oppressive and controlled upbringing. With the optimism of youth in his heart, a spring in his step, and all of his dreams for his future bursting through, sometimes too enthusiastically.
We know from Alfie’s current life, that he has closed himself off from forming any attachments. There is obviously something that has made him so curmudgeonly, something very deeply rooted. We can feel his regret, and have a sense that he feels he doesn’t deserve a happy life.
The book is the story of getting to know Alfie. I felt that the end of the book, the culmination of what we had been working up to, was a little rushed.
For this reason, it’s a 4* from me.

I enjoy reading books when one or more of the main characters are of the older generation. I was attracted to this book because of that fact. The main character Alfie Cooper is an 86 year old living in Pinewood Care Home for the Aged Residents. In the US, this would be equivalent to an assisted living faculty. It’s very interesting to meet the other people in this care home. Some are annoying, some are very lively and then there is Alfie, who keeps to himself and is pretty much a grump all the time.

Viewing these elderly residents on the surface, you would take them just as they present themselves and not think about what happened in their prior life that influenced who they are now in their later years. This book tells the story of Alfie’s life. The reader comes to understand the experiences which shaped his life. Some people overcome their difficulties and some make the difficulties an excuse for how their life unfolds.

This is a debut novel by Paula Smedley. I liked her writing style. She did a great job of developing her characters. The plot is believable. I personally did not like the ending of the book. After reading Alfie’s life in meticulous detail, the ending seemed to very rushed and over before I fully realized it was ending. (I read the eBook and did not focus on the percent read.)

Also, I want to mention I disliked the undercurrent of the author’s opinion on the politics in the US. (This is a small part of the book, but I want to express my feelings.) This comes through in a character’s voice, but I could have done without this subject in the book. I read to escape real life and I was surprised to be reading comments about politics. A quote from this book “My own daddy always told me that you don’t discuss politics or religion”. I wish the book held to that statement. If I want to read opinions of US politics, I am sure I could find many books on that subject.

I want to thank NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for allowing me to read the advanced reader copy. My review is my own opinion not influenced by receiving the ARC.

A heartbreakingly sad book about loneliness, regret and the bad consequences of childhood insecurities .
There are times of hope and possible happiness in Alfie's life but he seems not to have the coping skills to engage properly in life and make the most of the opportunities he opens up.
I love the contrast between the old Alfie and the young vibrant Alfie and the themes of loneliness and also unexpected friendships.
A very good read but melancholy and sad too.

Thanks to netgalley for the arc.

The Inconvenient Need to Belong reminds me of a few other books I've read before which isn't a bad thing . This was a heart breaking story but something just didn't connect with me. I'm not sure what exactly so please don't like that deter you but maybe it was the ending for me. Either way, I did like this. Thank you for the copy of this book!

This novel packs an emotional punch.
I really love reading books with older characters as I feel like they give you the feeling of talking to your grandparents - a whimsical wise narrative of life.
Alfie is very grumpy and has isolated himself for many years, but he was likeable and he broke my heart many times.
I enjoyed how his life was revealed to the reader by his conversations with the guy he meets every week, as you could really imagine being apart of this conversation yourself.
Overall it broke my heart but left me thinking about it long after I finished the last page.

I need to confess that the first thing that caught my attention was the title of this book. We all know that the human being is the kind of animal that needs to be in contact with others from the same species, therefore we have a need to belong, which can be pretty inconvenient sometimes, so, well, in some days, we can relate to a title so strong like that.

When I stared to read this book, I immediately fell in love with the lonely eighty-six-year-old Alfie. He had so much to say and no one to talk to but a teenage boy who he kept meeting at the park every saturday.

At first I didn't want to dig in Alfie's past. I thought it was much more fun to read about him struggling with his on moodiness at the care home, towards everything and nothing at the same time. But as I kept reading, I wanted to know more and more about his past and how that shaped him, without a family, without friends, without a support.

I love how the author dropped hints about Alfie's story little by little, in the past or in the present, it was so smart and it kept me wondering what had happened. I did think the end was a bit fast, at least faster than the pace of the rest of the book, but it's still an amazing read.

I'm really glad I got the chance to dive into this story, into Alfie's past and present. It's a great book to think that our actions have consequences and that we may think life is short, but we still get old and what we do when we're young reflects on who ourselves later on.

This review was also posted on Goodreads.

I know a lot of people loved The Five People You Meet in Heaven and I think if you liked that you would like this, but unfortunately I strongly dislike that book. I’m sure a lot of people will like this book but it was definitely not for me.

It tells the story of Alfie, an octogenarian, telling the story of his life to Fred, a young boy he meets in the park.

At the start I thought this would be like Three Things about Elsie, which I loved, but straight away I found the narrative technique (Alfie telling his story to Fred) too contrived and convenient and not realistic, and instantly realised this was going to be “heart-warming” and for me, too sentimental.

As Alfie he starts to tell his story, everything seemed to move too quickly, Alfie’s character suddenly began to act completely different for no reason, the plot with Grace was so creepy and bizarre I thought it was satire, and the incident with Adam was just completely unrealistic and overly dramatic, as well as coming from nowhere. Alfie changes completely from who he is at the start of his time in Exeter to the end and it happens too quickly and dramatically. I’m still trying to work our if I missed something.

I don’t complain about characters not being likeable, but in this case I didn’t find any of them even believable. Everyone felt too one-demensional, characters actions were either unrealistic or plot lines too contrived or convenient. One thing I did like was Alfie’s letters to Anne, but Anne ended up being purely a plot device (and a means to throw in some irrelevant pop culture references?!) and didn’t feel realistic at all.

I didn’t find Alfie relatable or even sympathetic. I didn't find him likeable at all and a story like this relies on a likeable but relatable narrator.

As I said I’m sure a lot of people will enjoy this but for me it was too cliche, too sentimental and lacking in development.

3 stars.

Really good read. Would recommend to friends and family. I could sympathise with characters (important for any fiction novel!) and looked forward to picking it up and reading the next few chapters! Interesting plot line and a good ending. Will look out for more novels by the author. Thank you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Paula Smedley, and BooksGoSocial for allowing me read this ARC in return for an honest review.
I found this book after the publication date, and am really glad I did. As a senior citizen, I often think about my past, my future, and what things will happen to me as I grow older. I enjoyed meeting Alfie and traveling with him from his youth to present day, around age 86. As a young man, he felt stifled, like most young boys, and sets out to find his dream. Things were good for him for awhile, then life happened. We don’t always get to choose our future. Sometimes, the past creeps back in to slow us down. This is a delightful story about discovering your best life and the love of family and friends.

I found this book very difficult to read given the black background. I also did not enjoy reading thr book through letters.

A bittersweet story that flicks tantalisingly between two timelines. Alfie, has a story to tell, one which twists and turns: a man with a deeply troubling past. This is a story which has to be told, and as a reader I was desperate to know what he was hiding. The irascible old man has regrets and shame which he has carried with him for his whole life and has resulted in a lonely residency in a home. An interesting story-telling relationship develops between him and a young man, who he meets in the park each Saturday, which is the only time Alfie 'escapes' the home he lives in (by sneaking out!). There is a sense that Alfie is hoping that someone can learn from his mistakes, if only he can ring himself to reveal them. The self-restraint he demonstrates when sharing his past life, appears to be one of the few things that Alfie is now able to control.
The picture of Alfie's 'retired' life is bleak, but one which he seems to feel he deserves as a result of past mistakes he had made.
I was captivated by his adventures as a young man, and found myself truly frustrated and surprised at the end of each young Alfie chapter when I was catapulted into a modern setting. The contrast between his early adulthood and his current life are stark and only as his story draws to an end do you learn the reasons for this.

I was not the best person to read to review this book. I am 75 years old, a retired teacher, and an ex-spouse of an alcoholic. This is not a book about older people or relationships or redemption. It is a disguised treatise on the dangers of drinking alcohol. I would not recommend it for young adults or anyone because it is misleading from the beginning until the very last page. There is no feel-good or ah-ha learning moment. Just a total downer.

An uplifting, beautifully written tale!

I really enjoyed how Smedley wove together Alfie's present-day and his past, she reels you in so seamlessly I sat and read the whole book in one sitting.

It just missed out on 5⭐the ending felt very abrupt to me and I wanted more Alfie, hopefully, we hear from him again soon!

Overall, a moving debut with engaging characters that are hard to leave behind. Perfect for fans of The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.

A huge thanks to Anne Cater & SilverWood Books for sending me a copy in return for an open & honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was a moving book to read. I felt such loss and sadness for Alfie, both when he was younger and when he was older. I enjoyed the manner in which the book was written, with one narrator but two timelines. They were woven together well so the story progressed nicely and there was no confusion. While the book was not overly descriptive I found myself sitting in the seniors home with Alfie and the other residents. The ending had a nice unexpected twist. I found myself thinking of my mother and other seniors and wondering what exactly their lives had been like when they were 20 and 30, the time that most of us know nothing about. These were the years when so many things happen to people but as senior citizens we don’t think of them as young. I believe you will enjoy this book and it will leave you thinking differently about the senior citizens in your life. There were a few parts in the book that didn’t really seem to make a difference in the story but they didn’t detract too much from the book. I thank NetGalley and Books Go Social for the chance to read this lovely novel.