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dryftveil's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i've only given beth o'leary books 5 stars and this one is no different. i love the way the author writes female characters and their stories, it always leaves me in awe. the writing style of both the dialogue and scenes is also fantastic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Car accident, Death, Grief, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny
Moderate: Stalking, Alcohol, Dementia, and Pregnancy
phoevincent's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Miscarriage
lunep's review
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Grief, Mental illness, Death, and Alcohol
Moderate: Dementia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Self harm, Pandemic/Epidemic, Stalking, Cursing, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
banannabel's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
absolutely incredible book i literally could not put it down omg just the way the plot reveals itself at the perfect pace is DELICIOUS
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Car accident
Moderate: Alcohol
slimy gross misogynist corporate man who abuses his power over women warning (only mentioned more frequently towards the end of the book)arhm_000's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-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
3.0
This concept could have been IT! But it wasn’t. The characters really bloom in the end but the beginning is slow and a bit confusing. The nonlinear timeline makes for a surprising ending, which is fun but makes the ending feel sudden. I wonder if this would have been more successful with first person narration? Overall I was confused with the tones and timelines shifting. The ending was really sweet though and buttoned up nicely. I did listen to the audiobook and that should be factored in as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, and Sexual harassment
aspiereads33's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
Minor: Stalking, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
epellicci's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
My least favourite Beth O’Leary book. I was more interested in following the chemistry between Miranda and Aj than getting to the bottom of what was going on with Joseph for most of the book. I had began to suspect that the timelines didn’t quite match up, and found myself disappointed when that turned out to be the big twist. Joseph and Siobhan’s past was emotional, but it didn’t make up for spending over 70% believing he was cheating on these women, and I simply wasn’t invested enough in him to find the conclusions to the book satisfying. Also, while it was a very neat and tidy ending, it frustrated me that Joseph’s happy-ever-after came back to a woman who shared a connection with Siobhan. As I said, not my favourite.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, and Grief
Minor: Dementia
allyjshand's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I normally avoid rom-com books, but I’d read that this book had a plot twist so I was intrigued. The book is very easy to read and I found myself reading large chunks at a time. I enjoyed the three female protagonists and felt invested in each of their storylines and narrative voices.
When it seems that the three women are finally meet going to meet, we’re hit with the plot twist - a real ‘ohhh’ moment! I wished this moment came sooner so we could read more about Richard’s escalating obsession with Siobhan, so that her death is more hard-hitting and reflects the violent dangers women face from men. But regardless I found this section very impactful.
Definitely want to pick up one of O’Leary’s other books.
Definitely want to pick up one of O’Leary’s other books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Alcohol, Death, Miscarriage, Stalking, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Dementia, Car accident, and Emotional abuse
I normally avoid rom-com books, but I’d read that this book had a plot twist so I was intrigued. The book is very easy to read and I found myself reading large chunks at a time. I enjoyed the three female protagonists and felt invested in each of their storylines and narrative voices. When it seems that the three women are finally meet going to meet, we’re hit with the plot twist - a real ‘ohhh’ moment! I wished this moment came sooner so we could read more about Richard’s escalating obsession with Siobhan, so that her death is more hard-hitting and reflects the violent dangers women face from men. But regardless I found this section very impactful. Definitely want to pick up one of O’Leary’s other books.yelaninihara's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
TW: self harm
Very very slow paced my god
Beth O’Leary might not be my style at all. A bit too serious.
Ugh god so it’s a SAD BOOK. This is not a romcom.
This book is not about these women, it’s about this stupid man and his mystery because that’s what keeps you reading.
HERE IS A PLOT BREAKDOWN TO SAVE U THE TRAUMA.
Spoiler. I scrolled through the first 20 reviews and no-one posted a spoilery review. Here’s the summary. Let's begin with the big twist. Carter, or Joseph, or whoever. I'll call him Carter to uncomplicate things. Carter is not cheating because it’s 3 different timelines. And im gonna save you the trouble and untangle the timelines. There's a TLDR at the bottom.
For Carter’s timeline, it’s Siobhan he meets first. They fall in love, through her trauma, through her damage. They work on their relationship and they are #foreverinlove. He calls her the love of his life. Meanwhile, one of Siobhan’s clients, Richard, is beginning to behave inappropriately towards her,. He starts by revealing that he’s having an inappropriate relationship with his assistant and then this slowly turns into making inappropriate advances towards Siobhan which she clearly rejects. However, he makes her feel unsafe. Unfortunately it is revealed that in a moment of panic, when she was running away from Richard, who was being a real slime and following her on her journey through the tube, Shioban is involved in a hit and run and dies.
Man I’m doing SLEUTHING to figure out this fucking timeline. It is not this simple, let me tell you.
Ok at this point, Carter is now single for 3 years, but doesn’t get over Siobhan. This is when he meets Miranda. They have a relationship that’s funky because of course Miranda thinks Carter is cheating on her. Because his mother who has dementia mentions Siobhan, and there's a long standing google calendar invite that implies Carter is seeing someone else, but in reality he just hasn't let go of his past love so it's just the longstanding date that he had in his calendar with Siobhan. Of course, since this book banks on Carter not dealing with his feelings or fucking COMMUNICATING, the reader believes, like Miranda, that he's two timing. But it's not like Miranda has the backbone to COMMUNICATE either??? God this is so stupid. Anyway. It all comes to a head, and Miranda confronts C, and they get in a big fight. Where he reveals Siobhan is the ex who DIED. Miranda dumps Carter. Side plot moment: she longs for her coworker who was interested in her, but he moved on to someone else, so Miranda is big sad, too. Well, a few months pass and Miranda decides to reach out to Carter to find out the details of what happens with Siobhan. She arrives at his house, where he is drinking, a lot. Miranda and Carter become friends, sort of, and Miranda tells Carter he's not ready to date anyone until he works on processing his grief. He's piss drunk, and at this point he reveals that after he and Miranda broke up, he ran into a girl in a charity shop and he's developing feelings for her. Miranda tells him to not date for at least a year because he needs to get his shit together and deal with stuff. She and her hot coworker get together and theyre both kind of friends with Carter, idk.
Now let’s come back to Jane for a moment. Jane had to leave her job in London because she was harassed. This is slowly revealed over time. The climax point of her narrative is when it’s revealed that it’s Richard that seduced Jane and then fired her from her job, at which point, tons of rumors had spread about her at the law firm where she was working as a secretary to Richard. She has to confront him at some social gathering, because it’s revealed that more allegations have come out against Richard at his workplace and he’s looking for her to buy her off. Now, Richard and Carter work in the same law firm, so the day Siobhan died, Jane (Richards secretary who he was boasting about have sex with to Siobhan) saw Carter storming in to Richards office to shout at him. So when he walks into the charity shop where she is volunteering, its a big traumatic for her, but he's so nice and they become friends so he banks on the face that he didn't really notice her sitting outside Richard's office, because he only stormed in to argue with him that one time. Jane is v brave and goes up to London to tell her story to the law firm's HR, explaining this altercation between Richard and Carter, as well as detailing their affair. It's clear to HR that this woman was taken advantage of. HR (and the reader) piece together that Carter stormed into Richard's office to accuse him of being the reason that Siobhan died.
Ok now we have to swing back around to Miranda because its’ through Miranda’s timeline we can piece all this together. When miranda learns of shiobahn and how fucked Carter is, not dealing with his grief, she and AJ encourage Carter to take a year off dating. Even tho at this point, he's met Jane, who he thinks is dating someone because it's her standby lie to say that she has a boyfriend. He's attracted to Jane but basically agrees to not date for a year. When Jane confesses she has no BF, and then later confesses her feelings for him, HE LIES AND SAYS HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND, WHICH IS THE RED HERRING OK, tHIS IS WHAT MAKES YOU THINK HE'S TWO TIMING JANE AS WELL OH GOD I HATE THIS COMPLICATED ASS BOOK and this stupid man.
But ok, the linear timeline ends with Jane not seeing Carter for a bit and then they get together cus he explains everything to her. THERE. THE END. GOOD LUCK.
TLDR: Siobhan and Carter meet and fall in love. Siobhan dies. Carter runs into Richard's office, offering Jane a glimpse of him. Jane gets fired. 3 years pass. Miranda and Carter get together. They have a relationship that is meh because Carter won't communicate. Miranda confronts Carter. They break up. some time passes where Carter walks into the charity shop Jane is working at. Miranda gets back in touch with Carter. They become friends. He promises her that he’ll not date for a year. He and Jane fall for each other but can't be together cus he just won't communicate. Jane is a badass and gets Richard fired. Jane and Carter get together. Miranda, Jane, Carter and everyone stay in touch as friends and meet to honour Siobhan's memory.
Very very slow paced my god
Beth O’Leary might not be my style at all. A bit too serious.
Ugh god so it’s a SAD BOOK. This is not a romcom.
This book is not about these women, it’s about this stupid man and his mystery because that’s what keeps you reading.
HERE IS A PLOT BREAKDOWN TO SAVE U THE TRAUMA.
Spoiler. I scrolled through the first 20 reviews and no-one posted a spoilery review. Here’s the summary. Let's begin with the big twist. Carter, or Joseph, or whoever. I'll call him Carter to uncomplicate things. Carter is not cheating because it’s 3 different timelines. And im gonna save you the trouble and untangle the timelines. There's a TLDR at the bottom.
For Carter’s timeline, it’s Siobhan he meets first. They fall in love, through her trauma, through her damage. They work on their relationship and they are #foreverinlove. He calls her the love of his life. Meanwhile, one of Siobhan’s clients, Richard, is beginning to behave inappropriately towards her,. He starts by revealing that he’s having an inappropriate relationship with his assistant and then this slowly turns into making inappropriate advances towards Siobhan which she clearly rejects. However, he makes her feel unsafe. Unfortunately it is revealed that in a moment of panic, when she was running away from Richard, who was being a real slime and following her on her journey through the tube, Shioban is involved in a hit and run and dies.
Man I’m doing SLEUTHING to figure out this fucking timeline. It is not this simple, let me tell you.
Ok at this point, Carter is now single for 3 years, but doesn’t get over Siobhan. This is when he meets Miranda. They have a relationship that’s funky because of course Miranda thinks Carter is cheating on her. Because his mother who has dementia mentions Siobhan, and there's a long standing google calendar invite that implies Carter is seeing someone else, but in reality he just hasn't let go of his past love so it's just the longstanding date that he had in his calendar with Siobhan. Of course, since this book banks on Carter not dealing with his feelings or fucking COMMUNICATING, the reader believes, like Miranda, that he's two timing. But it's not like Miranda has the backbone to COMMUNICATE either??? God this is so stupid. Anyway. It all comes to a head, and Miranda confronts C, and they get in a big fight. Where he reveals Siobhan is the ex who DIED. Miranda dumps Carter. Side plot moment: she longs for her coworker who was interested in her, but he moved on to someone else, so Miranda is big sad, too. Well, a few months pass and Miranda decides to reach out to Carter to find out the details of what happens with Siobhan. She arrives at his house, where he is drinking, a lot. Miranda and Carter become friends, sort of, and Miranda tells Carter he's not ready to date anyone until he works on processing his grief. He's piss drunk, and at this point he reveals that after he and Miranda broke up, he ran into a girl in a charity shop and he's developing feelings for her. Miranda tells him to not date for at least a year because he needs to get his shit together and deal with stuff. She and her hot coworker get together and theyre both kind of friends with Carter, idk.
Now let’s come back to Jane for a moment. Jane had to leave her job in London because she was harassed. This is slowly revealed over time. The climax point of her narrative is when it’s revealed that it’s Richard that seduced Jane and then fired her from her job, at which point, tons of rumors had spread about her at the law firm where she was working as a secretary to Richard. She has to confront him at some social gathering, because it’s revealed that more allegations have come out against Richard at his workplace and he’s looking for her to buy her off. Now, Richard and Carter work in the same law firm, so the day Siobhan died, Jane (Richards secretary who he was boasting about have sex with to Siobhan) saw Carter storming in to Richards office to shout at him. So when he walks into the charity shop where she is volunteering, its a big traumatic for her, but he's so nice and they become friends so he banks on the face that he didn't really notice her sitting outside Richard's office, because he only stormed in to argue with him that one time. Jane is v brave and goes up to London to tell her story to the law firm's HR, explaining this altercation between Richard and Carter, as well as detailing their affair. It's clear to HR that this woman was taken advantage of. HR (and the reader) piece together that Carter stormed into Richard's office to accuse him of being the reason that Siobhan died.
Ok now we have to swing back around to Miranda because its’ through Miranda’s timeline we can piece all this together. When miranda learns of shiobahn and how fucked Carter is, not dealing with his grief, she and AJ encourage Carter to take a year off dating. Even tho at this point, he's met Jane, who he thinks is dating someone because it's her standby lie to say that she has a boyfriend. He's attracted to Jane but basically agrees to not date for a year. When Jane confesses she has no BF, and then later confesses her feelings for him, HE LIES AND SAYS HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND, WHICH IS THE RED HERRING OK, tHIS IS WHAT MAKES YOU THINK HE'S TWO TIMING JANE AS WELL OH GOD I HATE THIS COMPLICATED ASS BOOK and this stupid man.
But ok, the linear timeline ends with Jane not seeing Carter for a bit and then they get together cus he explains everything to her. THERE. THE END. GOOD LUCK.
TLDR: Siobhan and Carter meet and fall in love. Siobhan dies. Carter runs into Richard's office, offering Jane a glimpse of him. Jane gets fired. 3 years pass. Miranda and Carter get together. They have a relationship that is meh because Carter won't communicate. Miranda confronts Carter. They break up. some time passes where Carter walks into the charity shop Jane is working at. Miranda gets back in touch with Carter. They become friends. He promises her that he’ll not date for a year. He and Jane fall for each other but can't be together cus he just won't communicate. Jane is a badass and gets Richard fired. Jane and Carter get together. Miranda, Jane, Carter and everyone stay in touch as friends and meet to honour Siobhan's memory.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Sexual harassment, Death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Self harm and Grief
this book is not a romcom, despite it's cute and kitchsy cover.flydorsch's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Miscarriage
Minor: Self harm and Grief