The Easy Way Out
Steven Amsterdam
Evan’s job as a nurse is a little more complicated than the usual – instead of saving lives, he is easing dying people into a quicker way out. He hands the poison to those with life-destroying illnesses, but can’t help them drink it.
This is a thoughtprovoking novel for anyone who has seen a loved one in pain. Instead of watching your loved one in pain, they can take a suicide drink to end it all. We see Evan witness a variety of situations, and personally I think his job is an important one. It’s not the easy way out at all, a lot of thought goes into it.
Evan. I’m not sure about your ending. I could have had a bit more clarity there. Or perhaps a bit left. Despite the novel seemingly leading to the only possible conclusion, it felt to me like it was a surprise.
It hardly seems worth noting, but Evan is dating a couple – a gay couple. This is what I should expect to see in fiction – it’s not the fact that he is gay that makes the novel move along, its his compassion for all people. His relationships are important, but they don’t define him as it sometimes does in other ‘finding yourself and being gay’ novels.
I loved this novel. I’m undecided on whether I will reread it, but I did honestly enjoy it enough to want to go back and read key passages. I’m going to give it 5 stars because I just couldn’t stop thinking about the characters and I was fascinated every step of the way.
Hachette | September 2016 | AU $29.99 | Paperback
Sigh. The blurb gives away the whole story. I mean, everything of it. So if you’re going to read this novel, please don’t read the blurb. Why are people so useless at writing blurbs that don’t give away everything?
Why is there no next book? I need one. Why was this so short? I need it to be longer! I didn’t want to step away from the characters.
Unfortunately the blurb gave away pretty much everything in the past sections of the novel. I was promised a suspenseful novel, but from the outset I knew what would probably happen. Then, finally, I HATED the ending of this novel.
Honestly, I think if I had paid for it, I would be asking for my money back. I’m not even certain it’s good enough to give as a present. There are heaps of little books like this that claim to change your life for you by just a little message here and there, and I’m not buying it.
Liv is a cute little character that isn’t very bright. Oh wait, she’s only 14. So we can excuse a wide number of things she does wrong, except maybe that theft. What were you thinking Liv? I think her brain just went into overdrive sometimes with the sheer amount of mess she had gotten herself into.
Having just read a novel where there is a difference between nice guys and good guys, River makes a good contrast of it. He starts out nice, passes through completely useless, then maybe to good. It’s that character evolution of being just another guy to being one who has gotten a bit of self-awareness happening.
I wanted to like this novel, I really did. But instead it reminded me of 
I really like how the story develops with only hints of Annabel’s problems. It keeps the reader interested, and then invested in both of the characters. Julia too takes some time to get used to, and most of the time I found myself sympathising with her and wishing that she had more guts!
Kendra! I love you! I love you every time I read you. You’re plucky, irritating, and yet becoming more human all the time. I do wish you weren’t so stubborn, you should know that your friends will go first, but ah well. Everyone has their blind spots right? [How punny!]