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yourkindredreader's review
4.0
Adorable fun book!
A Question Of Us by Mary Jayne Baker.
This has been on my TBR list for a long time now, even before I got the chance to read the author's book, Meet Me At The Lighthouse. I finally read it and I love this so much more. It's so delightful, and I'm a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope. While the build-up of the main characters' relationship is long, I enjoyed it because I got to read more about the other characters in this book. They're interesting and fun. I love their friendship and how they all genuinely care for one another. This is going to my re-read soon pile!
A Question Of Us by Mary Jayne Baker.
This has been on my TBR list for a long time now, even before I got the chance to read the author's book, Meet Me At The Lighthouse. I finally read it and I love this so much more. It's so delightful, and I'm a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope. While the build-up of the main characters' relationship is long, I enjoyed it because I got to read more about the other characters in this book. They're interesting and fun. I love their friendship and how they all genuinely care for one another. This is going to my re-read soon pile!
cnewby927's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I was hooked from page one of this book! I loved the characters and their dynamic. I struggled at times with Clarrie because I feel like her issues weren't always represented well. She has anxiety but I feel like the reasons for it weren't always valid. I know that sounds heartless, what I'm trying to say is that I found her panic attacks to be somewhat unrealistic. It was hard for me to care about her struggles. I liked Simon a lot, I feel like the most realistic part of this whole book was when he walked away from Clarrie. I think it should have happened sooner than it did.
The reason this book isnt getting more stars from me is mostly due to the pacing of the book. I'm all for a slow burn novel but it was like 65% of the way through the book before anything happened. In my opinion there was just a lot of unnecessary filler.
I was hooked from page one of this book! I loved the characters and their dynamic. I struggled at times with Clarrie because I feel like her issues weren't always represented well. She has anxiety but I feel like the reasons for it weren't always valid. I know that sounds heartless, what I'm trying to say is that I found her panic attacks to be somewhat unrealistic. It was hard for me to care about her struggles. I liked Simon a lot, I feel like the most realistic part of this whole book was when he walked away from Clarrie. I think it should have happened sooner than it did.
The reason this book isnt getting more stars from me is mostly due to the pacing of the book. I'm all for a slow burn novel but it was like 65% of the way through the book before anything happened. In my opinion there was just a lot of unnecessary filler.
mpr2000's review
5.0
This is a book of friendship, fear and quizzes! You just have to know the correct answers if you want to win the bet…
In the beginning of the story I was a little bit lost, because there’s no “official presentation” of the characters, you simply start being part of a friend’s meeting that are enjoying a quiz night. And don’t get me wrong, I loved the beginning, because it made you feel involved on the story and wanting to know more about them!
There’s a lot of chemistry between the two main characters of the story, Clarrie and Si, they have been friends since forever and they’ve always been joking about dating, but never done it. Now Si thinks it’s time, so he makes a bet, if they win the Quizz Championship she will have to go on a date with him… but are they ready to make this big step and change their relation forever? You’ll have to read the book to discover the answer.
In the beginning of the story I was a little bit lost, because there’s no “official presentation” of the characters, you simply start being part of a friend’s meeting that are enjoying a quiz night. And don’t get me wrong, I loved the beginning, because it made you feel involved on the story and wanting to know more about them!
There’s a lot of chemistry between the two main characters of the story, Clarrie and Si, they have been friends since forever and they’ve always been joking about dating, but never done it. Now Si thinks it’s time, so he makes a bet, if they win the Quizz Championship she will have to go on a date with him… but are they ready to make this big step and change their relation forever? You’ll have to read the book to discover the answer.
nikkideeley's review
5.0
A lovely, heart-warning story. I feel like Mary-Jane Barker has the ability to make a story feel like home or a group of friends filled with warmth and love. Delightful.
hijinx_abound's review against another edition
2.0
**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*
I generally love British romance. But this book was a bit of a mess. I loved the pub quiz parts but this friend group is very immature and a bit codependent. There is a lot to of cheating amongst the friend group. There is so much slang it distracts from the story.
Although I loved the premise, the book itself was disappointing.
I generally love British romance. But this book was a bit of a mess. I loved the pub quiz parts but this friend group is very immature and a bit codependent. There is a lot to of cheating amongst the friend group. There is so much slang it distracts from the story.
Although I loved the premise, the book itself was disappointing.
cityofstarlight_library's review
1.0
DNF. Well, that was disappointing.
sigh another ARC I've had to DNF. I've had no luck at all with them this year.
First off, this book was mostly just dialogue. I don't recall much scene-setting or backstory, it was just so much dialogue. And so much British slang. That's weird for me to point out too because I'm British myself so it takes a lot for me to complain about that but uggh. Every other word was something like 'bloody/bloody hell' or calling someone a git and even things like 'HP-lavished bacon sarnie' which I do know what it is but why. Remember, Baker, that your audience is everyone, not just Brits. They won't understand what you're talking about. Sometimes I didn't. (Sidenote: a HP-lavished bacon sarnie is a bacon sandwich with brown sauce :) just so you know). It just seemed more like she was trying to prove she/the characters were British or something. We get it. I mean, Harry Potter is British but you don't see J.K shoving all that slang in there. It felt like a bit too much, even for me. Just felt a little odd.
The friendship group was fine but it was the same conversations over and over and over and over again. In the same setting. I genuinely felt I was just reading about someone's pub night out and the bullshit you push around with your friends. But very dull bullshit.
And why were these friends the worst to Sonny? Trying to convince him to get back with a girl that cheated on him. Like, is he even your best mate? They did nothing to help him out with this, he's still struggling and telling him to 'get over it' isn't helping. What kind of friends are you though
#judgingyou
This book was just a bit of a mess. The pacing was bad as it dragged so much, the conflict was barely a conflict (being Simon's insistence of Clarrie going out with him) which made Simon look more like a sex pest than a guy in love with his best mate. Repetitive conversations including her sulking about why she won't go out with him, and endless chats about nothing at all. Also, there was so much sex talk - sorry, talk of 'shagging' - that was off-putting because oh my god please stop talking about it. It's not even interesting.
Also there's mention of Clarrie being a feminist. Hmmm. Not sure I agree with this. I don't see her being friends with these guys either as they said some questionable things. (Sidenote: why did Clarrie's mum refuse to let her daughter have a beer at dinner but Simon and her new bf could? She had to stick to wine? Lads? Just felt weird.)
Clarrie owns a bookshop and she has three customers a day. How does she even keep the shop going? She is doing something wrong and needs to address this instantly or she'll go out of business. Bookshops are wasted on her, that's my dream. Do some marketing or something, woman! Disappointing that we hardly get anything from said bookshop too.
Thanks but no thanks.
sigh another ARC I've had to DNF. I've had no luck at all with them this year.
First off, this book was mostly just dialogue. I don't recall much scene-setting or backstory, it was just so much dialogue. And so much British slang. That's weird for me to point out too because I'm British myself so it takes a lot for me to complain about that but uggh. Every other word was something like 'bloody/bloody hell' or calling someone a git and even things like 'HP-lavished bacon sarnie' which I do know what it is but why. Remember, Baker, that your audience is everyone, not just Brits. They won't understand what you're talking about. Sometimes I didn't. (Sidenote: a HP-lavished bacon sarnie is a bacon sandwich with brown sauce :) just so you know). It just seemed more like she was trying to prove she/the characters were British or something. We get it. I mean, Harry Potter is British but you don't see J.K shoving all that slang in there. It felt like a bit too much, even for me. Just felt a little odd.
The friendship group was fine but it was the same conversations over and over and over and over again. In the same setting. I genuinely felt I was just reading about someone's pub night out and the bullshit you push around with your friends. But very dull bullshit.
And why were these friends the worst to Sonny? Trying to convince him to get back with a girl that cheated on him. Like, is he even your best mate? They did nothing to help him out with this, he's still struggling and telling him to 'get over it' isn't helping. What kind of friends are you though
#judgingyou
This book was just a bit of a mess. The pacing was bad as it dragged so much, the conflict was barely a conflict (being Simon's insistence of Clarrie going out with him) which made Simon look more like a sex pest than a guy in love with his best mate. Repetitive conversations including her sulking about why she won't go out with him, and endless chats about nothing at all. Also, there was so much sex talk - sorry, talk of 'shagging' - that was off-putting because oh my god please stop talking about it. It's not even interesting.
Also there's mention of Clarrie being a feminist. Hmmm. Not sure I agree with this. I don't see her being friends with these guys either as they said some questionable things. (Sidenote: why did Clarrie's mum refuse to let her daughter have a beer at dinner but Simon and her new bf could? She had to stick to wine? Lads? Just felt weird.)
Clarrie owns a bookshop and she has three customers a day. How does she even keep the shop going? She is doing something wrong and needs to address this instantly or she'll go out of business. Bookshops are wasted on her, that's my dream. Do some marketing or something, woman! Disappointing that we hardly get anything from said bookshop too.
Thanks but no thanks.
erin_xx's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
british2197's review against another edition
3.0
It's not bad, but it wasn't as enjoyable as Mary Jayne's previous novels I have read, and this is my fifth one. The tightly-knit friendship was really sweet and the friends to lovers trope was really nicely developed, but it's the pacing which is a big let down. There's not really much going on in terms of a plot, other than lots (and lots) of
ruby78738's review
funny
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
3.0