Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback

"We Are Not in the World" is about Paddy, a middle aged Irishman whose affairs have destroyed his marriage and the relationship to his entire family and who now drives a truck from England to France. On board is his twentysomething daughter who is not well, mentally or physically. They either do not talk or try to reconnect. The readers learns a lot about Paddy, his family, his struggles but also about the woman with whom he has had an affair that destroyed him. With her as the focaliser, disturbing sex scenes and unhealthy obsessions disrupt the narrative and also prove how both of these characters cannot let the other go, cannot stay with their respective families. I found the sex scenes to be quite male-gaze-y, a nymphomaniac as the wet dream. Having said that, I found all female characters to be somewhat lacking. The daughter was a bit too much and I felt like I needed more backstory, but due to the narrative situation, having her drift in and out made sense. The entire novel felt like a fever dream as Paddy is not well, his mental health is not well, time passes and he does not notice. The daughter is like a ghost in the truck, other truck drivers demons haunting them both, the entire world is their enemy. Nevertheless I was unable to put the book down in parts and was impressed by the deft way the novel is crafted. I will need to think more about this novel. 3.5-4 stars

Sorry but I could not finish this one. It's not what I thought it would be and has some content that should possibly be tagged.

While parts of this dragged a bit for me, it was an overall very powerful story that reads like an epic.

I couldn’t get through it. When there is one sentence early in that flippantly talks about sexual assault, I am going to tap out because that is a Chekhov’s gun situation. I am sure there is something to say here. I wanted to read this, but it wasn’t going to work for me.

An incredibly interesting story with a sense of real history and deep rooted issues against colonialism. Was a bit hard to get into since it was strange to figure out the initial plot but so exciting once it settled in. Would definitely recommend!