Reviews

After completely loving Marks’ debut, I was keen to read her second offering and she doesn’t disappoint. This follows Noah as he’s really struggling after separating from his wife and soulmate Kate who has started a new life with their two boys (who he misses desperately) and her new partner Jerry.

He’s got such a great relationship with his sons (and Kate!) and is desperate to become more than just a weekend dad. But he’s got a long way to go. And it’s this voyage of self growth and discovery that you follow. He makes some bad decisions along the way, really bad decisions. But his heart is in the right place.

I really liked Noah - he’s such a caring, passionate character who’s funny and charming. But he’s also flawed in many ways; his desperation to reconnect with Kate, his own expectations of fatherhood, the damage to his own well-being and his relationship with his dad following the traumatic death of his mum (see trigger warning and potential spoiler below!) - the list is really quite long. He’s a bit of a mess. Actually he’s a lot of a mess.

I love Mimi and Harley and they are such important characters to Noah’s growth - they really do bring out the best in him.

⚠️TW and potential spoiler: this includes references to suicide and the after effects on those bereaved, including an attempt. There’s also references to mental health and the struggles to cope. ⚠️

bibliorey's review

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4.0

“I always thought that being heartbroken was just an expression, a state of being, but it’s not. It’s a physical thing, a real pain, like something in your chest is actually cracking.”

Reading this book, it kinda hits home to me. My family too had our issues and it deeply impacted me when I was a kid but not so anymore now and in a way, I feel like both of my parents, my dad especially, could relate to Noah’s character or the situation that Noah and Kate are going through in this book.

It’s lovely how Noah’s relationship with Mimi developed from simply supportive friendship into something more, though I wish they had more time together towards the end, I’m happy with their progress. We all need a Mimi in our lives really. She’s a really nice character truly.

We also get to see Noah’s character development very well in this book. I love the way the author wrote his character very realistically in this book. His thoughts and his feelings are very relatable. In a way, you could also sort of feel his pain having to be apart from his kids at times, including his ex-wife too.

As Nana said while we’re reading this book together, it is a story of how sometimes your soulmate, your one true love, is not the person you’ve been chasing, but the person that has always been in front of you. And that truly, perfectly, describes the story so well, no other words needed.

If you need something light, romantic, yet hits your emotion and feels, this is it. It was such a great read between my hectic schedule right now

andintothetrees's review

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2.0

I was SO HAPPY to finish this book, what an absolute grind it was, I don't know why I felt compelled to finish it tbh. Some of this is due to the book having been marketed in a bit of a dishonest way - it's described as being a fairly humorous, Nick Hornby-esque, romcom type light read about a man trying to win back his ex-wife/mother of his children. It is a bit about that, at least in the first third or so, but it's more about a COMPLETELY INSUFFERABLE man trying to come to terms with problematic drinking and traumatic past experiences. These are deep issues but I felt they were dealt with in what was often a shallow way and though he did have setbacks it was almost too easy/convenient, #thanksimcured. (I'm not at all averse to reading about serious topics - as my other reviews show - but this was marketed as a fluffy, escapist read, when it's not. And again, they aren't addressed in the depth I'd want if reading about such topics).

As I said earlier, the main character (Noah) really grated on me, and the supporting cast weren't much better - his ex-wife was a sort of angel/doormat combo and Mimi a Magic Pixie Dream Girl. His brother (Ben?) also seemed there only to serve Noah's needs. And the book goes on and on and ON AND ON. I read the Kindle edition (grateful I only paid a quid for it) but the print one is something like 400 pages I believe.

The only reasons I'm giving this 2 stars are 1. The kid characters are really well written and 2. It's not entirely the author's fault that the book is being marketed as something it's not.