Reviews

Your Perfect Year by Charlotte Lucas

geckoedit's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

The showing vs telling was massively imbalanced, to the point where the big meeting between the two characters and their interactions are mostly off-screen or at such a great narrative distance that I felt cheated of the moment the whole book had been building towards. And that meant the romance aspect was completely unbelievable. 

Sappy and full of clichés and trite self-help quotes. Big "manifest your destiny" energy which clashed with the idea of having agency and choosing T the change yourself. Both main characters were unlikeable. Plot twists and catalysts were mostly external, like other characters interfering as if the author hadn't figured out how to get from A to B. 

This felt like a plot outline of the book I thought I was going to be reading. It had q lot of potential but missed the mark for me. It mostly feels like the author or publisher wanted to sell a similar diary and wrote this to go along with it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

nikkislix's review

3.0

3.5 stars. Very cute. I’d love to stumble upon a journal like the one in this book. ;)

khackett's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

cent_5's review against another edition

3.0

Cute story. Lots of miscommunication.

jennchandler's review against another edition

2.0

I did not enjoy this. Exceedingly predictable. And neither characters’ stories went anywhere for a good portion of the book.

kamaoze's review against another edition

3.0

This was such a sweet story! I really liked how they were able to talk about suicide, Alzheimer, alcoholism, and cancer. I loved Jonathan's perspective although I had to speed read through some of Hannah's parts. Even though it was a fluff book it was still a good read.

karenreads1000s's review against another edition

3.0

Cute story. Love the publishing/book setting... and in Germany! Hannah and Simon's relationship was so frustrating. They were so mismatched and all the crying. Good gracious! Lisa is the best friend ever. No one is that nice. :)

lkthomas07's review against another edition

4.0

I really did enjoy this one! I was super close to giving it 5 stars, but I felt like I needed to be a little more discerning this year, lol. It wasn’t AMAZING, but definitely worth a read. It honestly made me think about how I’m living my life. A great choice for my first book of 2021!

shailydc's review against another edition

3.0

I liked reading a book that didn't take place in the US or UK. The concept was really interesting and I did like Jonathan's openness to change. The first half of the book dragged out a little too much and the back half felt rushed. Simon also seemed like a crap boyfriend so Hannah's sections quickly got old.

illborrowthisone's review against another edition

5.0

I don't even remember when, why or how this book ended up on my Kindle, but I cracked it open this week. Lately I've been finding myself thriving on dialogue and this story doesn't have alot of dialogue, but I found it didn't matter. Spending a year with these two characters on very different journeys of overlapping self discovery had me wishing to mirror the experience. Introspection, exploration, contemplation. I frequently found myself tearing up. This was a moving read for me and a reminder to look both inside and outside myself.