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ladyreading365's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant in every way I loved it and based in around Manchester thumbs up
reviewdiaries's review against another edition
2.0
This review was written for The Review Diaries: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-10-reasons-not-to-fall-in-love.html
I’m a big fan of chick lit – I fight the corner incessantly, trying to prove that it isn’t all fluff and bad metaphors for sex. There are some truly brilliant books that fall into the chick lit category – unfortunately this isn’t one of them.
Everything about this book screams light fluffy romance, from the cover to the highly amusing blurb. This is the only reason I picked it up, expecting the same well worn, but good plots that involve romance, humour, twists and a happily ever after. And I suppose you do get that, but there’s also a lot of bad stuff in between that really isn’t necessary.
The first part of the book made me so depressed I debated just putting it down and never looking at it again. It was miserable, the situation was pants, and you wonder how Jo is even getting up in the morning with her attitude and the bad things that have been going on.
Then we meet Dan! Yay love interest! Witty banter! Excellent, finally this book is picking up! And then we get a chapter from Dan’s childhood which made me morbidly depressed again.
Whilst we get Jo’s intermittently light story, it’s interspersed with Dan’s background told from child Dan’s perspective, about his abusive father. As the tale of abuse unfolds and we see how bad family life is, I began to wonder why on earth the author had chosen to do this. By all means make the hero tortured and brooding with a past – it keeps them interesting. But this was too much. It was heavy, it was horrible, and it was not what I wanted in my ‘light reading’. If I want miserable stories I will go to the ‘painful stories’ section in Waterstones. As it is, I’ve never been big on wallowing in other people’s misery, I want to be cheered up or amazed by a book. Shocking I know.
It seemed like two different books that had been smushed together. The light fluff and the hard hitting abusive childhood, and she couldn’t pick which one so she just rammed them together and hoped it stuck. It really didn’t.
Once Dan and Jo get flirting the book picks up, the humour is there, the pace is better, and everything runs a lot more smoothly. Of course then there’s the typical tragic twist that results in everything going tits up. But by that point I just didn’t care.
I finished this book out of a morbid desire to see whether it would be redeemable. It wasn’t, and it’s put me off wanting to read any more of Linda Green’s books.
The actual chick lit romance at the core was very good, and if she’d stuck to that then this could have been a really good book – the characters were believable and well rounded, and I could actually sympathise with them.
Unfortunately it felt that the further in we got, the more the author wished she was writing the hard hitting abuse story, and the more depressing it got.
If you want a combination of depressive real life and fluff then this is the book for you. However if you, like me, are looking for the next chick lit to make the world seem a fuzzier place, I advise you to steer well clear.
I’m a big fan of chick lit – I fight the corner incessantly, trying to prove that it isn’t all fluff and bad metaphors for sex. There are some truly brilliant books that fall into the chick lit category – unfortunately this isn’t one of them.
Everything about this book screams light fluffy romance, from the cover to the highly amusing blurb. This is the only reason I picked it up, expecting the same well worn, but good plots that involve romance, humour, twists and a happily ever after. And I suppose you do get that, but there’s also a lot of bad stuff in between that really isn’t necessary.
The first part of the book made me so depressed I debated just putting it down and never looking at it again. It was miserable, the situation was pants, and you wonder how Jo is even getting up in the morning with her attitude and the bad things that have been going on.
Then we meet Dan! Yay love interest! Witty banter! Excellent, finally this book is picking up! And then we get a chapter from Dan’s childhood which made me morbidly depressed again.
Whilst we get Jo’s intermittently light story, it’s interspersed with Dan’s background told from child Dan’s perspective, about his abusive father. As the tale of abuse unfolds and we see how bad family life is, I began to wonder why on earth the author had chosen to do this. By all means make the hero tortured and brooding with a past – it keeps them interesting. But this was too much. It was heavy, it was horrible, and it was not what I wanted in my ‘light reading’. If I want miserable stories I will go to the ‘painful stories’ section in Waterstones. As it is, I’ve never been big on wallowing in other people’s misery, I want to be cheered up or amazed by a book. Shocking I know.
It seemed like two different books that had been smushed together. The light fluff and the hard hitting abusive childhood, and she couldn’t pick which one so she just rammed them together and hoped it stuck. It really didn’t.
Once Dan and Jo get flirting the book picks up, the humour is there, the pace is better, and everything runs a lot more smoothly. Of course then there’s the typical tragic twist that results in everything going tits up. But by that point I just didn’t care.
I finished this book out of a morbid desire to see whether it would be redeemable. It wasn’t, and it’s put me off wanting to read any more of Linda Green’s books.
The actual chick lit romance at the core was very good, and if she’d stuck to that then this could have been a really good book – the characters were believable and well rounded, and I could actually sympathise with them.
Unfortunately it felt that the further in we got, the more the author wished she was writing the hard hitting abuse story, and the more depressing it got.
If you want a combination of depressive real life and fluff then this is the book for you. However if you, like me, are looking for the next chick lit to make the world seem a fuzzier place, I advise you to steer well clear.
swaggie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
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
3.0
belcherbird's review against another edition
4.0
Ahh what a lovely story! Light hearted chic lit read.
leahmichelle_13's review against another edition
4.0
10 Reasons Not To Fall In Love is Linda Green’s second novel but the first I’ve read. It’s told from the point-of-view of single mum Jo, whose son is 2 and called Alfie. She’s vowed never to let another man into her life and has 10 very good reasons why not to! Until she meets Dan – who has some reasons of his own why not to fall in love…
I absolutely loved 10 Reasons Not To Fall In Love. When it comes to new authors I’m always worried I might not enjoy it but with 10 Reasons I had no reason to worry. Linda Green’s writing is brilliant and sucks you straight into the story. It’s told in the first-person narrative and for most of the book that’s narrated by Jo. However there’s a few chapters from Dan in which we learn of his past, again told in first-person.
I loved Jo’s character, I could understand exactly why she didn’t want to fall for another man particularly after what her ex, who is also her boss, Richard did. I loved the relationship between her and her son Alfie and found Alfie highly amusing.
Dan was a great main male character. He had serious issues and his childhood was horrific which we learnt through his chapters and I felt so sorry for him and what he went through. As we got nearer to the end I was surprised at what we found out about his past and didn’t see it coming.
What I liked most though was that Linda managed to bring Dan, Jo and Alfie together at the beginning of the book and it was great to read how they got to know each other and how their feelings changed toward each other. Not only that but Alfie was hugely important to Jo and Dan’s friendship – he was the driving force! I have no idea how 2-year-olds act/speak but I found Alfie infectious – he just seemed so happy!
From Dan, Jo and Alfie’s first meeting to everything in between, it was really well done by Linda and I just wanted to keep reading to see what happened next between them all. Alfie’s accident came as a huge surprise and put a huge spanner in the works and I couldn’t help hoping they could all sort it out! Not only that but I wanted Jo to find out exactly what happened to Dan.
All of the minor characters were just that, minor including Jo’s ex (and Alfie’s dad) Richard, Jo’s parents, Jo’s friends… all present but not of huge importance to the story. The story was really just about Jo, Dan and Alfie and I liked that that was how it was.
It was a hugely enjoyable read – one of my favourite of 2009, I’m sure! Well written and with enjoyable, sympathetic character. I’ll be on the look out for Linda’s debut and whatever novels she has out in the future.
Rating: 5/5
I absolutely loved 10 Reasons Not To Fall In Love. When it comes to new authors I’m always worried I might not enjoy it but with 10 Reasons I had no reason to worry. Linda Green’s writing is brilliant and sucks you straight into the story. It’s told in the first-person narrative and for most of the book that’s narrated by Jo. However there’s a few chapters from Dan in which we learn of his past, again told in first-person.
I loved Jo’s character, I could understand exactly why she didn’t want to fall for another man particularly after what her ex, who is also her boss, Richard did. I loved the relationship between her and her son Alfie and found Alfie highly amusing.
Dan was a great main male character. He had serious issues and his childhood was horrific which we learnt through his chapters and I felt so sorry for him and what he went through. As we got nearer to the end I was surprised at what we found out about his past and didn’t see it coming.
What I liked most though was that Linda managed to bring Dan, Jo and Alfie together at the beginning of the book and it was great to read how they got to know each other and how their feelings changed toward each other. Not only that but Alfie was hugely important to Jo and Dan’s friendship – he was the driving force! I have no idea how 2-year-olds act/speak but I found Alfie infectious – he just seemed so happy!
From Dan, Jo and Alfie’s first meeting to everything in between, it was really well done by Linda and I just wanted to keep reading to see what happened next between them all. Alfie’s accident came as a huge surprise and put a huge spanner in the works and I couldn’t help hoping they could all sort it out! Not only that but I wanted Jo to find out exactly what happened to Dan.
All of the minor characters were just that, minor including Jo’s ex (and Alfie’s dad) Richard, Jo’s parents, Jo’s friends… all present but not of huge importance to the story. The story was really just about Jo, Dan and Alfie and I liked that that was how it was.
It was a hugely enjoyable read – one of my favourite of 2009, I’m sure! Well written and with enjoyable, sympathetic character. I’ll be on the look out for Linda’s debut and whatever novels she has out in the future.
Rating: 5/5
lejazzhotbaby's review against another edition
4.0
The best out of Linda Green's books that I have read.
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