Verity - Colleen Hoover - Book Review

 I feel like you can’t move for Colleen Hoover at the moment, on social media. She’s everywhere and it makes me laugh to think of my friend who was trying to get me to read ‘It Ends With Us’ about 4/5 years ago, I think of her as the original CoHo stan. It should come as no surprise then that my next book is Verity, as again, it’s everywhere. For this reason, I’m not going to give a full synopsis. I’ll just say, Lowen Ashleigh goes to stay in the Crawford house to take over a popular book series from bestselling author Verity Crawford, who after an injury, is unable to fulfil her contract. Once there, she uncovers some pretty harrowing secrets.

 

As I've said before I try not to think too much about what to expect from a book or what it may be about before reading it, I like to be surprised and let it take my mind where it wants, without any pre-emptive judgements. Especially given how much information there is out there on it, book reviews, BookToks etc... I try to not let it affect my view of the book. 

 

I read it quite quickly and finished it at 2am one morning because I couldn’t put it down, once I was coming to the end. I enjoyed it and I can definitely see where the hype has come. It’s like nothing I've ever read before, or a story I’ve ever come across so for that reason I loved it. It was intense, traumatic and even a bit much at times, (this coming from someone that has watched every single episode of Law & Order SVU.) The back of the book promises "a twist that will leave you reeling", and while yes it left me reeling, I didn’t particularly enjoy it. I kept imagining other scenarios as I read, that Verity and Jeremy were in it together and had lured Lowen to their house, or that Verity is faking her injuries and biding her time to do something sinister. I felt like this particular twist explained everything away and I hate when a book does that. It almost makes it feel like getting there wasn't worth it. Plus, I was left with a lot of questions, a big fat WHY overall, first of all? IYKYK. Why sleepwalking was a back story for Lowen, I don’t particularly think it was needed and why she was ok with Jeremy lying to her?? Just a lot really. By the time I had finished, I thought the characters weren't particularly deserving of that ending either. Lowen was dry, Verity just... psychotic and I don't think you should ever trust a man called Jeremy. 

 

Since finishing it, I have read other reviews and also ended up on a thread on Reddit discussing whether you are #TeamManuscript or #TeamLetter, which is quite an interesting debate. The majority of people seem to be #TeamManuscript, including me, purely because I think it makes it a better story. #TeamLetter like I said is almost accepting that the whole story can be excused and explained away and I think both Verity and Colleen Hoover are too clever for that.  

I gave it 4* on Goodreads because I do think it is very well written, the way it weaves between the autobiographical manuscript 'So Be It' and the story Lowen tells of going to live in the Crawford house. Also, as far as thrillers go (which I believe is not Colleen Hoovers usual choice of genre) is pretty good. I have two different kinds of love for a book. One, I love it that much I’ll race through it not stopping to draw breath; and two, I have to stop reading every so often because it’s so overwhelming and I don’t want it to end. This one was definitely a race through kind of book, because I couldn't put it down. 

 

The Midnight Library - Matt Haig - Book Review

I'm back back back back back again. 

For real this time, I've promised myself I'm going to keep up with this blog and the book reviews. It should be a little easier now I have started a Book Instagram to try and hold myself accountable for my TBR list. @tacklingmytbr if you're interested. 

I read the Midnight Library by Matt Haig a while ago now, but it's a book I would still like to talk about and potentially have conversations about. Before reading it I didn't really think too much into what it would be about, or what to expect. I remember reading the back blurb and it being quite vague, but it was clearly enough to hook me. I'm sure by now the majority of people will know the synopsis of this book so I'll keep it short. Nora Seed is unhappy with her life, filled with regret about the choices she has made throughout her life, she ends up in the Midnight Library (wondering if that should be capitalised?) There, she is given the opportunity to explore other lives she may have had, if she had made different choices. 

I thought this book was short and sweet. Easy to read, and I actually really enjoyed the concept of it. As someone who has always felt like she made the wrong decisions and choices in life, I felt I could relate to Nora. I'm not saying I'm so unhappy with my life that I would consider ending it for a chance to go to the Midnight Library, but there are significant moments I would like to see, if I had made a different choice. So it became a book that warranted a lot of food for thought and I like books like that, that make you stop and think; as well as being beautifully written. I feel as though I read it holding my breath in parts, and again I am all for a book that can have that effect on you.  

"The only way to live is to learn." 

One of my favourite quotes in the book, I had a few. It reminds me of one of my favourite quotes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "The hardest thing in this world is to live in it." It's true and I believe the message of this book is important. Nora encounters many different lives she could have led, rich, famous, none of them ensured happiness. It's the typical, it's not always greener on the other side story. 

I've been confused when reading reviews since finishing this book and even coming across it on social media, it seems to evoke two opposite reactions. People either love it, or they hate it and I mean HATE it, I've seen some scathing words said about it. I guess I just can't understand why. What does Nora do that is so wrong? While I can understand a character like Noras can be frustrating, I am concerned that people read this book and think she is very 'woe is me'. That seems to discredit her feelings. I understand everyone has problems but to disregard someones experiences seems a little harsh to me. I've also seen the word selfish thrown around, which again I just find harsh. It's no secret that people struggle and deal with their problems in different ways. 

I also read a review saying something a long the lines of 'don't be fooled by the title 'The Midnight Library', it is not about a books', which I'm sorry I can't help but laugh at. In all fairness it is about books, only in a metaphorical way, each book opens the possibility to new worlds. Another reviewer said it became to "preachy" with its instagrammable quotes. Again, I didn't get that impression. I know books are not meant to please everyone and I think this is just one of those. 

Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and I like to think in one of my many other lives, I'm happy and things worked out slightly different for me. 

So Lucky - Dawn O’Porter - Book Review

It’s been four long years since I’ve attempted to write a book review. My last one being ‘The Cows’ (also by Dawn O’Porter). Coincidence, I think not (I love her!) It’s not that I haven’t read anything since 2017, I have, but they’ve all just been books I’ve either read before/books I've never finished or books that at the time I just didn’t feel like writing about. The Saga of Darren Shan for example, a 12 book series I started when I was around 12, I’m now 29 and had only ever gotten as far as book 9, I finished it recently and was too annoyed by the ending to consider writing about it. I’ve also still definitely been riding the high of THEE Dawn O’Porter reading and replying to my last review of her book. I remember I nearly fell off the couch when the tweet came through and I thought nothing is going to top this, so I may as well quit while I’m ahead.

I have just finished my MA course in Surface Pattern & Textiles, which involved a lot of academic writing and it made me realise how much I’ve missed writing. So now that I’m back, it seems appropriate that my first review in three years is a Dawn O’Porter book. So Lucky, like The Cows doesn’t give much away on the back, except that it follows three women’s lives, Ruby, Beth and Lauren. The few lines it does give are enough to get you to open up the front page and start reading. While it’s a completely different story to The Cows it has a similar go-between of characters, telling the story of their lives at the same moment in time, all struggling to navigate family life, relationships, careers, just life in general. Ruby is a detached mother struggling with a personal issue (it took me way too long to realise what it was), Beth is a new mum juggling her business and home life with a husband who is quite frankly a gobshite. Lauren is a social media influencer about to marry the love of her life and for the majority of the book she is mainly projected through Instagram posts that keep her quite distant and soulless. Slowly but surely their lives intertwine and O’Porter is very clever about the way she brings them together. 

I don’t like to give too much away in reviews and I always question how journalists/others who write reviews for a living manage to walk that fine between giving enough of the plot without spilling too much. With this book it’s not so much about having a plot, I don’t believe you necessarily need one either, as from the beginning you are plonked in the middle of these women’s lives when things are tough or not quite right and you need to find out why. I mean it is obviously not a thriller but you become so invested in these women’s lives that you read it as if it were one, scrambling to get to end hoping for a happy resolution. The way the characters evolve throughout, you find yourself rooting for them. I won’t lie, despite rooting for them there were times I did struggle to relate being 28 years old and childless, however it didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the book in any way. One of the main points I took from the book and it reflects back to the sentence on the cover is, “Don’t judge a woman by her cover’. Something the women in the book are guilty of doing and something I’m sure most people at some point are guilty of, but it’s an important message to be reminded of. We never know what someone is going through and what people choose to project to the outside world is not always an indication of what’s going on inside. 

After reading both The Cows and now So Lucky I strongly believe everyone should read O’Porter purely for the way she writes women. I don’t know anyone else that’s writes them the way she does, almost as if she’s sitting right next to you telling you about these women. I’ve also watched enough of O’Porters instagram stories (@hotpatooties follow her if you don’t already) to have been able to imagine her voice reading certain parts of the book, which makes for a more hilarious read. There are also very few people on this earth that can get away with saying “a comment like that can send a clitoris sailing to the ground like an unopened parachute. Thud.” but Dawn O’Porter is one of them. The bottom line, if you’re looking for a laugh this will definitely provide one. 

The Cows - Dawn O Porter - Book Review

I've decided I haven't quite got the hang of this blogging thing yet. When I looked at how long ago I posted my first review, I realised it's been quite a while and I should try and do it more often. (However in my defence this post has been in drafts for weeks now.) Sometimes I find it hard to get my thoughts in order long enough to write a blog post, my head is all over the place lately, writing cover letters, applying for jobs, you know just general life, BUT I am going to try...

My latest read was 'The Cows' by Dawn O'Porter, I've not read much by Dawn O'Porter before apart from the occasional column in Glamour (which I've always enjoyed) but I came across this book in the library on the new arrivals stand and thought I would give it a go. The blurb didn't give much away but I was intrigued. My mum kindly took it out for me on her library card as a) I don't know if mine still exists and b) if it does, the amount of money owed would potentially bankrupt me. 

As I said the blurb didn't give much away, just that the story follows the life of three women who as it states are 'strangers living their own lives as best they can' and that one extraordinary event ties them together. The three women are Tara, Stella and Cam. Tara is a documentary maker, working in a very male dominated company, with a 6 year old daughter called Annie. Cam or Camilla Stacey is a blogger, she's built up her own website called HowIsIt.com which she voices her controversial (to some) lifestyle, no children, no husband just young lovers. Among other things, she is 36 years old but the youngest of four sisters, who are all married with children. Stella is a PA to a photographer, she lost both her mum and identical twin, Alice to cancer and has found out that she has the BRCA gene which means she has a 85% of being diagnosed with cancer.

I can't heap enough praise on this book. It cut between characters perfectly and it takes you through so many different emotions, hate, doubt, pity, a wide spectrum. It was funny and touching and at times extremely cringey but it was real, real life, real scenarios that women have to handle. I could never have predicted what was going to happen and those are the stories I love. I liked how relevant it was to today, with subjects touching on Feminism and Cyber Bullying. The book is quite brazen and the characters are daring and not what I would have expected from Dawn O'Porter at all, but actually really enjoyed, she writes about the things women go through, friendships, pregnancies, relationships, female masturbation. Which if you can't handle reading about this definitely isn't the book for you. 

It's funny because without even meaning to a book can mirror what is going on in the world at that exact moment. A specific point in the book reminded me of an incident that sparked such a backlash a couple of weeks ago across all social media platforms. Hetty Douglas shared an image on her in Instagram story, of workmen in McDonalds, with a caption referencing GCSE's and essentially downgrading their intelligence. It was shared all over Twitter and has since made it on to nearly every online news publication. In an instant her life had changed, one small comment, one misjudgment can lead you to be a public laughing stock and ridiculed by people you don't know. It sort of makes you realise how dangerous social media can be, when things spread like wildfire. It felt strange reading this while something similar was going on in the real world, and I was reading REAL twitter comments.

My one critique and really the only thing I did find annoying was the character Stellas' naivety. (Which I suppose is just a tell of how well the character is written when it gets a strong reaction out of you.) There is a point when she is researching ovulation and she says about never having heard of an ovulation test and I just thought really? I've been reading other reviews since I finished the book, and some mentioned how certain scenarios were unbelievable. For example, when one of the men Jason, after his date with Tara, is hit by a cyclist on a busy London road and loses his phone down a drain while texting her back. Now this I think could legitimately happen, whereas a women who has had pregnancy on her mind for a very long time, does not know that there is such an invention as an ovulation test kit. Please. That is farfetched. Has she never been in a Boots or a Superdrug before? 

To finish, I would recommend this to book to anybody and everybody, it is definitely worth a read and I think it will be one of those book that I will always remember, I look forward to hopefully reading more of Dawn O'Porter in the future. 

Lie With Me - Sabine Durrant - Book Review

I chose Lie With Me as my holiday read for this year and it was purchased from Amazon in one of their 3 for £10 deals and I started it pretty easily, unlike my last book (The Breakdown). It was a lot smoother and the story just flowed from the beginning. Within the first couple of pages, you're already questioning 'What girl? Who is she? What's happened to him? Where is he?' etc... Before beginning Lie With Me, I didn't know what to expect, the blurb didn't give much away. All I really took from it was that a man charms his way on to a family holiday and a lot of lies are told, which is essentially what happens. Paul, a 42 year old author, had a one hit wonder with a novel straight out of university but since has had nothing published, and has no home of his own to speak of. He meets Alice, who is a widower, through an old university friend and ends up on their family holiday to Greece, where things unfold there. 

I read a review of this book on Goodreads which gave it only 2.5* out of 5, which I can kind of understand. The main character Paul, is extremely egotistical, who has a passion for lying. He is very hard to like, at all, but I suppose that is what I enjoyed about the book. Even though at times he makes situations very uncomfortable and you know his lies are surely bound to catch up with him, I wanted to continue reading to find out what happens to him. You would like to think that obnoxious people like Paul get their comeuppance in the end. However, while Paul might have been an absolute horror, none of the characters were very likeable, all them at some point showed hints of obnoxiousness and often patronised each other. 

The story took a twist I was not expecting which was good but the ending was slightly disappointing for me personally. It wasn't really a resolution you could be satisfied with. I'm not sure, it would be nice to hear other peoples opinions about this one, because it's a difficult one. While I wasn't particularly satisfied with the ending I was with the writing of the book. The detail in it compared to the last book I read were completely different. I've seen a review saying this just made the story drag on but I found the amount of detail used was perfect, I could picture everything clearly and was fully immersed in the story. 

Would I recommend this book? Again it's difficult, I think people should form their own opinions of the book and the only way to do that is by reading it, but I'm torn because I enjoyed it for the way it was written, I'm just unsure about the story and the ending.