This was an interesting, unique book that has really stayed with me after reading. It follows a woman living with Alzheimer’s, Evvie, as she packs for a trip with her husband, but her thoughts keep meandering into memories, allowing us to relive snapshots of her life alongside her.

It did take me a while to get into the writing style, as it’s pretty much one long stream of consciousness with no full stops, but once it clicked, I found it completely immersive. I really felt like I was inside Evvie’s head, following the way her thoughts drifted and looped back on themselves, and it ended up being a really effective way of showing her experience.

I liked the story’s lack of chronological structure and the way her life gradually came together through little fragments. I really enjoyed getting lost in her thoughts and found her reflections on her relationship with her husband particularly affecting. It felt like a really honest portrayal of a life, made up of joyful, painful and often very ordinary moments.

It was not always an easy read, as it showed the frustrating and cruel nature of the disease, but it really struck a chord with me - I'd definitely recommend.

In Handsome, Ezra Palmer captures the quiet, often painful persistence required to navigate a life that is slowly being rewritten by memory loss. The narrative voice of Evvie Kurtz is both visceral and lyrical, stripping away the polish of Manhattan’s Upper East Side to reveal the unglamorous work of being human. It is a compelling study of family bonds and the secrets we keep to survive, ultimately offering a poignant reflection on the search for redemption when the past begins to fade.

"Handsome" is about a moment in time with Evvie, a woman suffering from Alzheimer's.

The stream of consciousness writing style is difficult to get into at first and can feel exhausting to read, which for this book I personally love. Things get repeated a fair amount, and there are no full stops. The chapters are of a reasonable length however which does help give you places to mentally catch your breath.

It really did feel like I was sitting in the room with Evvie listening to her talk about her life and experiences, her opinions and feelings. Her story is told nonlineary and sometimes suddenly, but it always made some sort of sense through the chaos.

I feel like some media surrounding Alzheimer's can really infantilise the person suffering. I didn't get that feeling from Evvie; she has personality, wit, extremely strong emotions on both sides of the spectrum. Even through her illness you can see who she is. I will be thinking about her long after I finished this book.

I do think the book went on slightly too long, maybe by a chapter, as the reptitiveness of her thoughts do start to become very tiring to read by the end. You could argue that's part of the point though.

I think some people could struggle with the writing style, but if you can adapt to it I would recommend it.

Handsome is one of those books that won’t work for every reader, but I found myself thinking about Evvie long after I finished it.
This is definitely a quieter, slower literary fiction story, but there’s something very human about the way it’s written. Evvie’s thoughts feel scattered at times, repetitive at times, emotional at times… but honestly, that’s what made it feel believable. You’re inside the mind of a woman trying to hold onto herself while her memory is slipping away, and the book never turns her into just “the woman with Alzheimer’s.” She still feels sharp, funny, complicated, loving, angry, stubborn, and very much alive.
I think what stood out to me most was how ordinary her memories were in a way that made them hit harder. Marriage, friendships, disappointment, growing older, trying to figure out who you are outside of the roles you’ve played for everyone else. It felt less like reading a plot-heavy novel and more like listening to someone unpack their entire life one memory at a time.
There were moments where the repetition slowed the pacing for me, and I do think some readers may struggle with the stream-of-consciousness style. But at the same time, I almost feel like the structure is part of the experience. You’re supposed to feel a little untethered with her.
This isn’t a dramatic sob-fest type of book. It’s more reflective and quietly emotional. The kind of story that sneaks up on you later when you’re thinking about memory, aging, identity, and how much of ourselves is tied to the stories we remember.
Also, the title Handsome didn’t fully click for me until after I finished the book, and I actually loved that.
I’d probably rate this 3.5 to 4 stars. Not because it wasn’t beautifully written — it absolutely was — but because this feels more like a book you appreciate than one you necessarily fly through. Still, Evvie is a character I won’t forget anytime soon.

Extraordinary POV-style. An intimate mind's eye point-of-view of characters going back and forth about the troubles of being in some semblance of a relationship. Poignant, psychic and worth a damn read.

This is a story about a woman who is struggling with Alzheimer’s, and despite this, ruminates on her life and her marriage. This trip down memory lane takes place whilst Jack is trying to get their bags packed for a holiday to Greece.
It’s an interesting idea to tell a life story in this way. I have sadly seen my fair share of dementia in my nursing days and with my own relatives, and I would often think about where they go when their minds drift. It’s maybe a comforting thought, perhaps to consider they are playing back through the scenes of their life, something this novel makes feel as tangible as the real world happening around Evvie; an intimate cinema viewing for one.
In the spirit of winding streams of consciousness and memories that bleed into the next, Palmer dared to go where few authors do and wrote this without full stops, without dialogue punctuation and, overall, quite a limited structure. It’s uncomfortable to read and, therefore, absolutely intentional. Fortunately, the chapters were short and allowed the reader some breathing space, but with a purpose. Breaks were given at moments when Evvie was distracted or pulled back to the present. Indeed, it felt like they got shorter as the story progressed, possibly to symbolise her mind getting more tired as the day went on, and, if anyone knows about this neurological condition, then they are aware that the person suffering it tends to struggle more in the late afternoon/evening, a phenomenon known as sundowning. I appreciated how the structure, however limited, seemed to honour this detail.
I also appreciated this type of unreliable narrator because I felt the need to believe her story. This condition is cruel in how it wipes out a person’s identity, and so I was compelled to be on her side. However, I also really loved the complexity of this marriage. Awful things were done, but then such beautiful things too; things that showed partnership and commitment. Always light with the shade, and isn’t that the case with so many “good” marriages? By the end of the story, you are simultaneously left wondering about his side of things and also whether it matters now that he is there, present when she needs him most, present despite her slow departure from reality. It seems cruel yet fitting that when her job ceased to pull her away from him, something else took its place.
I did feel like I wanted more of an ending, like maybe something was missing that made it feel more rounded off. There was so much emotional tension around her without her being a part of it; it felt like trying to listen to a conversation underwater. But then, isn’t that exactly how it might feel to have dementia and be surrounded by those you love? Unable to connect in the same way, but feeling all the same, however distant, however quietly.
This won’t be for everyone, but I really enjoyed the story of Evvie's life; it felt all the more important.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could remember for those who can’t anymore.
3.5 / 5 stars

An evocative and sympathetic exploration of a woman's life and all the things she remembers even as her present begins to disappear under the fog of dementia. The form of Evvie's narration (the chapter-length run-on sentences, the stream of consciousness and repetition) all serve the narrative perfectly and enhance the quality of the voice. Evvie's mind is fractured by her dementia, but her personality still shines clearly through her words. The narrative jumps between past and present with little warning, yet always flows seamlessly. Evvie's vivid and detailed recollection of the events of her past make the depiction of her experience of her present all the more harrowing and visceral; the last few chapters, and the last few pages especially, delivered an absolute emotional gut punch.

Thank you to Taag & Rohg for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a beautiful story written in a way that although it might take time to getting used to ends up being the key point of telling Evelyn's story.
I loved the back and forth between her and Jack, how there were bad moments in their relationship she would still remember the good ones.
Thank you Taag & Rohg for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I asked for an advanced readers copy based solely on having recently lost a family member who suffered from dementia. Someone who valued their intelligence and slowly lost it reverting to someone almost unrecognizable. Having viewed it from the outside. This book gave me a better view of how she may have felt what she was going through. I really enjoyed the stream of consciousness it made a very immersive read for me. I did get emotional and that’s often what I enjoy about a book. This book isn’t for everyone and not everyone will relate, but it’s almost healing for those who have witnessed the disease in person.

Firstly, thank you for the advance copy of this book.

The concept of this book was very unique. I have never read a book from an Alzheimer patient’s POV and I feel like the author has captured the emotions and the intensity of the thoughts exactly. It did take me a while to get into the book because of the format and the way the protagonist kept repeating a certain sentences and phrases. But this particular format is definitely part of the experience of the book. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to understand such a unique POV.

My major drawback from this book was that I was not able to connect with any of the characters. Not able to connect with other characters, such as the husband or the son is understandable because the protagonist is not trying to show their personalities. But unfortunately, I was not able to connect with the protagonist herself. I believe this opinion to be subjective based on the type of reader.

This was a beautifully told story about Evvie Kurtz from her perspective. In a way the story isn’t grand, it’s about her life and her memories as she grapples with Alzheimer’s and losing what memories she has left. This was written in way that left me wanting to know more about Evvie and her life. It was also heartbreaking and heavy so if you aren’t in the headspace for that, come back to this one later. I really enjoyed this and will be looking to read more from this author! Thank you NetGalley for the copy!

An incredible novel that gives a realistic glimpse into the mind of a women in the cruel grasp of dementia. Told in a stream of consciousness, the book covers an afternoon in the life of main character Evelyn and her husband Jack as they prepare for a trip to Greece. As Evelyn packs, she begins to remember her life with Jack and takes the reader through her tumultuous marriage.

Ezra Palmer shows he is a force to be reckoned with in this book. His use of punctuation (or lack thereof) highlights the constant barrage of consciousness Evelyn endures due to her dementia. Despite the protagonist being the victim of such a devastating illness, they are revealed to be a powerhouse of a person, sadly removed from themselves.

I recommend this novel to lovers of Maggie O’Farrell, Sally Rooney and Niall Williams.

A marriage in full, prosecuted from inside a failing mind

Handsome is a prosecution conducted by a failing mind. Evvie Kurtz has spent a marriage building a case against her husband. Ezra Palmer makes the case airtight. The court is the problem.

Palmer writes in long, unbroken blocks of consciousness. The form sounds forbidding, but the prose is lucid and swift. Memory does not drift into impressionism. It arrives as evidence: money spent, rooms altered, affairs discovered, bodies touched, routines maintained. Evvie narrates through contact. The novel advances by charge rather than chronology.

The charge is Jack.

Gifted, evasive and allergic to the kind of ordinary employment that funded the household he helped make beautiful, he is the husband around whom Evvie has arranged too much. She earns. He improvises. She carries the adult machinery. He gives it style. The "job-job" is not a quirk. It is a marital economy. Her work creates the conditions for his freedom, and his freedom returns to her as charm, disorder, sexual opportunity and control.

He builds shelves, repairs rooms, labels objects and gives the house an exact visual grammar. Precision is his gift and his instrument. The house is beautiful because his taste is everywhere: showerheads, travel plans, music facts, vegetables. Control and care arrive in the same hands.

His affairs are sordid and cruel. Yet the novel is less interested in revelation than in administration. Evvie remembers the practical systems that surround betrayal: the dinner plate left out, the delayed arrival, the children’s schedules adjusted around absence. Infidelity survives in logistics. The injury settles into routine.

Because Evvie is the novel's only voice, Jack and the marriage exist entirely as she constructs them. There is no other witness. A reader who pushes back against her case has only her words to push against — it is the architecture.

The title keeps narrowing. "Handsome" begins as description and spreads into a moral problem. Beauty attracts, excuses, softens and delays judgement: Jack's, but also Evvie's own. Her narration carries contempt for him and evidence that she has never been immune. The reader who condemns Jack must account for why Evvie stayed. The title will not let that question go.

The archive fails from inside
Alzheimer's enters as formal logic, not sentiment. Evvie does not simply lose memory. She loses access unevenly. Old injury stays bright. Present arrangement blurs. A long-ago object arrives with cruel precision while a person in the room requires explanation. The disease does not erase the archive. It corrupts the index.

Evvie can still summon the first sight of Jack, the affairs, the unpaid labour, the money. What she cannot keep is the position from which those memories should be judged. The prosecution remains. The prosecutor's authority does not.

The children make that unbearable. Tess, Brian and Quinn are known through the body: smell, touch, birthmark, voice. When the present begins to test that knowledge, recognition fails exactly where intimacy should be strongest. Palmer makes the family a room full of people working around a mind that will not stay still.

Into that room, the home health aide arrives with his name on a whiteboard. The house begins to supply the memory she can no longer reliably produce. Evvie was once the institutional memory of a newsroom. Now the home is an institution of reminders.

Jack has damaged the marriage. Evvie's mind is no longer a secure court for that damage. Neither truth cancels the other. Palmer maintains both. The withheld verdict is where the novel's severity lives.

She remembers everything. She cannot hold her ground. That is where Handsome cuts deepest.

The audiobook narration is excellent: controlled, intimate and alert to Evvie’s mixture of accusation, injury and fading authority. It supports the material by making the long blocks feel spoken rather than merely written, carrying the pressure of a mind still arguing while its ground gives way.

ARC NetGalley & Taag & Rohg Press

Rating: 5 stars: A bad-husband novel that will not deliver verdict.

Evvie remembers everything and this is her story.That was what drew me to the book and I was not disappointed.

The prose is very much a thought stream/stream of consciousness style and we go into these different times in Evvie's mind while she's in a 2 hour time period of packing her clothes for a trip with her husband. I think the author did a great job portraying the moments of lucidity and haziness that comes with Alzheimer's. There were even moments listening to the audiobook where I was like ,"she'd said that like twice now, hasn't she?". It was quite interesting to read.

Concerning the audiobook, the narrator was wonderful but the volume was not. It was far too low for regular standards that even in my quiet room, I had to have both earphones in to even hear a little bit clearer. I can't imagine how much more difficult it'd be for those that are hard of hearing.

Thank you Netgalley and Ezra Palmer for the book in exchange for an honest review!

This book is a journey. I admit, at first I was a little put off by the format, as Handsome is written as a stream of consciousness and so there are no periods, with each chapter being one continuous sentence.

However I couldn’t be happier that I decided to stick with it. Our main character, Evvie’s voice is loud and unique and the way of writing is such a clever move as we follow through Evvie’s memories.

Handsome is an incredible novel, set through one afternoon, really highlights Evvie’s struggle with Alzheimer’s and the effect it has on her and her family. I was so incredibly moved by this book and simply couldn’t put it down.

The intimacy and intensity of this book is sure to stick with every reader. I felt so deeply for Evvie, and could feel her sense of betrayal and her sheer strength through every word.

Handsome is a beautiful book written within a moment about many moments (okay within a day but this is prettier) always circling back to the moment that Evvie met her husband, Jack.

This book is written in a strange and for some, difficult way - there is no punctuation except for commas. Those who love Sally Rooney’s writing style will likely enjoy this as well. This style’s not for me, but I enjoyed the book regardless. I was completely engrossed in Evvie’s story. She dissects her life before the Alzheimer’s took over in beautiful detail, and it feels like you’re learning all of her innermost thoughts.

Overall, 3 stars for the book, 4 stars for the audiobook, so a solid 3.5 stars overall rounded up to a 4 given the audiobook would be nothing without the original story. Thank you to IBPA and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This felt much sadder underneath the humor than I initially expected.

A lot of the story revolves around image, masculinity, and wanting to be desired or validated in ways that become increasingly uncomfortable as things progress. There’s a strong emotional awkwardness to it that feels very intentional.

Weirdly affecting.

I really enjoyed this book, I have some experience with taking care of old people and more often than not, when they have Alzheimer or dementia, they can recall very vividly their past, but right away forget what is in front of them, in a day care for old people where I worked, we had there an old lady, almost 100 years old, and if we left her unattended she would slip by and go out of the door, because her heart was in taking care of her children that were alone at home, its been more than 70 years that those children have been left alone, but her heart was still in that time.

I was lucky enough to experience both the audiobook and the e-book, and I will say, its very useful to have both, the story may feel at first repetitive, but if we realise that Evvie forgets what is in front of her, its like she is learning time and time again what is happening to her, right now I am recalling when Evvie looked at her husband and saw him for who he was at that moment, and she was alarmed and wanted him to go to the doctor because he looked old, or when Evvie looked at her son and felt he was the other twin, yes it hurts the person and I think it is a good thing to make us realise that it is a reality and while its difficult Evvie needs to be protected, sometimes even from herself, all the book takes place in a spam of a couple of hours, and we go with Evvie through her memories that make her herself and tell us the story of how she become the person she is today, even if what she recalls is not exactly as she remembers but its something else… this book felt like poetry, like a memoir.

This was a great speculative fiction, and in many aspects feels very real, people who loved the movie “The Father” will enjoy this book as well

Thank you Netgalley and Taag & Rohg, for the free ARC, and this is my honest opinion.

This story completely unsettled me, It’s one of those rare novels that makes you feel emotionally off balance while you’re reading it, as though the ground beneath both the character and the reader is slowly shifting. I wasn’t sure how I’d get on with the stream-of-consciousness style and lack of punctuation, but very quickly it stopped feeling like a stylistic choice and started feeling like living inside Evvie’s mind. The fragmented memories, repetitions and sudden emotional pivots become incredibly immersive and heartbreaking as her Alzheimer’s progresses.
How deeply human Evvie felt really moved me. She isn’t reduced to her illness. She’s sharp, furious, funny, wounded, reflective and full of contradiction. The novel captures the terrifying instability of memory and identity, but also the lingering emotional truths that remain underneath it all.
There’s an uncomfortable intimacy to this writing. The marriage at the centre of the story is messy and deeply believable, full of resentment, love, betrayal and dependency existing all at once. There's no easy judgements or sentimentality.
This is not an easy read emotionally, but it’s an incredibly powerful one. Devastating really, it has really stayed with me.

Thank you NetGalley and IBPA for this Audiobook ARC of Handsome by Ezra Palmer!

This literary fiction novel kept drawing me back in to listen— and that is largely due to the stream of consciousness style that Palmer utilizes and Marilyn Downey’s performance that embodies Evvie! It felt like I was listening to someone recount their life to me personally. Palmer creates and explores an entire life during a fixed moment of Evvie packing for a trip to Greece, and she remembers everything despite her Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Palmer moves from love to loss to hilarious moments in Evvie’s life to some that were absolutely devastating. Beautiful writing!

4.5 stars rounded up

Wow, this one hit close to home 🩵
Both my grandparents had dementia and I now work as a carer where most of my elderly clients have some form of cognitive decline.

We in Evie's POV, in what I imagine to be only 30-60 mins of her day. Evie has dementia and is helping her husband Jack pack for a trip to Greece but while packing her thoughts keep wondering to different times and memories in her life, making it difficult to focus and remember the task at hand and triggers her into exhibiting behaviour that her family can't follow.

This is told in a stream of consciousness format which is very effective. Evvie's thought processes are exactly how I imagine my clients to think and to anyone who hasn't cared for or known a person with dementia, this can provide a valuable insight into how their thoughts and behaviour, which can be confusing to us, makes perfect sense to them in the moment.

Evvie and Jack's marriage is by no means perfect, you feel Evvie's love and resentment for Jack in equal measure as she remembers her long term memories both the good and the bad. Her short term memory is murky at best and hearing her come to this realisation only to forget again breaks your heart.
I found the pacing good, although there were some memories I wasn't as interested in as others. Over all a great read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Taag & Rohg for allowing me to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What happens if you start losing your memories due to Alzheimer's? And what happens when you have short but unmistakably lucid moments when you remember parts of your life that are so powerful that lead you to long due decision? This is what happens to the protagonist, in the span of an day.

Just like "Catbirds", I appreciated how the author has chosen to depict characters that are flawed, with their struggles in their relationships and the self-reproaching behavior. In this story, however, the focus is on a woman and how she has spent most of her life doing most of the emotional and actual work, while her husband almost never even tried to make amends for his faults. And yet, she's the one who has always been feeling in the wrong. Now an older woman, with two grown up kids, and Alzheimer's, she might just have enough of it — and the sparks of lucidity bring with them memories that show us the young, vibrant woman she was and how she came to bear what life (mainly through her husband) has put her through.

The writing style doesn't really change from "Catbirds", mimicking the jumps that a person's thoughts tend to do when reliving facts, assessing situations, and just going through emotions. Since it's a first person narrator, you go where she goes, and sometimes right to the point, others through repetions that are heighten by her condition. This might sometimes make it a bit too difficult to follow the story and her thoughts, but there are never loose ends and everything comes together in the end.

Well-written, raw and touching, this story is perfect for those who love a short story about never being to old or unwell to make to right decision for yourself.

I'd like to thank the author and the publisher for offering me the arc through NetGalley!

I really enjoyed the unique writing of this book. The story is told in a stream of consciousness; there’s no punctuation, only commas, so each chapter is a long-flowing sentence. It takes a bit to get used to, but once I did, I was really enveloped in Evvie's story. I also thought it was quite clever that the author chose to tell the story in this style - it’s very fitting for Evvie, who has Alzheimer’s, as she’s remembering different times of her life while the confusion of packing her suitcase in the present sets in. At times, the story can be a little repetitive, which is the point of the writing style, but because of it, Evvie feels like a really fleshed out character. I do feel like the novel could be condensed ever so slightly, but I still found Handsome to be a really entertaining, unique read.

Thank you NetGalley and Taag & Rohg Press for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Taag & Rohg for providing me with an eARC.

This was a well written book, slow and quiet but deeply affects you. Evvie's story itself didn't feel very unique but the way she suddenly started realizing that she was forgetting things or the reader started realizing that she was going in circles was heartbreaking. I started this book expecting something like Still Alice, which was more about how knowing it affected herself and her family. But, this was more subtle and was a lot more about how not knowing or realizing would hurt you. Initially I found it a little annoying, the way she kept describing how charming her husband was, but now that I realize it might be because she forgot what she mentioned before, it makes me sad. The ending was so sad too. I'm not sure how the cover art really relates to the story, and I find it a little misleading. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a story to break their hearts in a very subtle manner.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me.

Besides the point, thank you netgalley for the wonderful audio expirience!

Book fell flat. Wanted to like it more.
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.

[Thank you to NetGalley and Taag & Rohg for the eArc and Audio Arc!]

Wow, this was incredible. The way that the author approached and wrote this novel was phenomenal. I read this for 4 hours straight one day solely because of how it was written. The talent and knowledge it takes to be able to, not only, write inside the mind of a character with Alzheimer's, but also immerse the reader so well into the cadence--I know that doesn't belong in this context, but it is the best word I could use--of his writing, it truly left me speechless. Everything quite literally felt like a spiral that somehow jumped back up to three or nine topics before the original spiral, which would then lead into another spiral, so on, continuing the loop.