Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The No-Show

I picked up “The No-Show” expecting a light, John-Tucker-Must-Die type of romantic comedy, but was pleasantly surprised by a much more heartfelt story about the importance of intimacy and connection. I liked that the story was told from the three separate points of view of the main women. It gives the reader an interesting insight into the different facets of the characters and makes the twist at the end that much more unexpected. The beginning of the book started a bit slow and it took me awhile to straighten out all of the side characters in each story line, but towards the midway point the pace picks up and the plot becomes more engaging. This is certainly more of a romantic drama than it is a comedy, so if you’re looking for a light read, this isn’t the book for you. Overall, I think it’s worth the read and will definitely pick up more of O’Leary’s work!

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krisrow's review against another edition

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emotional funny

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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sofiya's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

This book was really quite lovely. I love a romantic plot that also involves a lot of friendship and a bit of mystery, which it absolutely delivers. We get to see Joseph (/Carter), who's technically the main character as he is involved with every story, through the eyes of three different important women in his life, which is a really cool way to learn about him and his character. He's kind of an enigma for the first half of the book since we never see his POV, which made him really intriguing for me as I read.

My only real issue with this book is that the alternating POVs were exhausting at points, particularly if you weren't invested in one of the stories at that time. Even if I was enjoying them all, I noticed that if I skipped a day of reading, I'd often forget what was going on in one or two of the POVs, making it difficult to keep track. In terms of the women, Jane was my clear favorite, which is unsurprising as to the fact that I related to her most. Because of that, I slumped reading through the 1st third of the book.

So, in terms of the plot twist. Even reading the cover, I didn't think it was a cheating situation and I discerned that the timelines were different about a fifth of the way in, and was really hoping that Jane was the endgame (though I figured it would be either Siobhan or Jane - there was a point where I thought Siobhan would get with Mr. Silverfox and woah did that not age well). About halfway through, I figured out that it was Siobhan --> Miranda --> Jane, but I hadn't been able to figure out yet what had happened to Siobhan. For a little while, I thought she'd had Joseph's baby and then something happened, then I did figure out that she probably passed away (which I'm very glad wasn't related to her mental health).

The real plot twist for me was figuring out how Jane's plot intersected with Siobhan's! For some reason, I didn't put together that Jane's boss had been Richard until he grabs her arm and she notes his grey/silver hair. The signs were all there, but I just didn't put it together. That actual storyline was really interesting. I thought it was done with care (as opposed to the self-harming, which I thought was weaker), but I don't think I disliked Richard enough. I especially didn't see him as someone who would stalk a woman and then have no empathy about her death after literally witnessing it mere hours before. I think had I known Jane's boss was him, it would have drawn my dislike more early on.

So, the actual death. Even though I'd known Siobhan was going to die for a while, I cried in the hospital lobby I was sitting in. Multiple times. Every time Joseph told the story, the tears fell. Getting to see the real him at the end was beautiful, including how poorly he was dealing with the grief. I also loved getting to reflect back to his early chapters with Jane and Miranda. Jane thinks that he's keeping his distance because he's worried to scare her off, when it's a lot of the opposite. He's worried about ruining it himself, which gives a lot of nice retrospection. And Miranda, we see her trying to always be perfect for him, meanwhile he's been doing the same.

Overall, really enjoyed it! Would definitely want to read it again knowing what's really going on with Joseph and the girls.

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rebeccai's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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emharris's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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