Reviews

The most there-was-only-one-bed book of all time. Tiffy and Leon both need to save money, so they begin sharing Leon's one-bedroom apartment: he's a night-shift nurse, so he gets it from 8 am to 6pm, and she gets it the other half of the day. They never meet in person because of Reasons, but exchange bantery notes. Points to O'Leary for making these notes actually charming and cute, as well as for coming up with what may be my dream relationship scenario: having my own space, but also a boyfriend who can fix things in the flat and whom, ultimately, I can hang out with on the weekends (possibly the perfect amount of boyfriend time for me).

Tiffy and Leon are both great characters; I also liked Leon's brother and his patients at the hospice. Sadly, I found Tiffy's friends a bit annoying in a Richard Curtis-y way (and the need to heterosexually pair everyone off by the end a bit annoying also). The biggest strike against this book, though, is the plot about Tiffy's ex-boyfriend.

Spoiler

He's horrifically -- terrifyingly -- abusive; and like, O'Leary knows this -- that's the point. And for a too-big chunk of the book, the plot. But I found this element traumatizing and awful and sort of out of place in what's otherwise a cute semi-epistolary rom-com.

Tonally, this is an odd book. But O'Leary clearly has talent, and I may check out more of her work.

yossy_cookie's review against another edition

Go to review page

lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

2.0

I read this for a book club and I should prefix this review by saying that this book really isn't the kind of book that I usually read. I do like some romance though so I wasn't totally against reading this initially. I felt this started strong, but then seemed to go downhill after the first third and then the ending was super predictable. I didn't find that the characters were hugely engaging. Looking at the aggregate reviews on StoryGraph though, I do seem to be in the minority on this point.

I just found it disappointing overall. This could have worked better as a short story rather than a full novel.

Content Warnings

pchopd's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This had a strong start, but I felt like it faltered in the second half. At the start, I thought the relationship between Tiffy and Leon was very believable and meaningful, especially considering how Tiffy supported Richie and Leon supported Tiffy through Justin's abuse. I think the two struggles just got a little too mixed up in the final sections for me for either to feel like either got a proper, thoughtful conclusion for being such real experiences of trauma. Even the eventual identity of Johnny White felt rushed when it had received such a lovely, thoughtful beginning. I did love the characters though - Beth O'Leary did a wonderful job painting each of them.

noeliacew's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

this has been the sweetest read ever

supercoops's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Fab feel good chic lit. I like the format of the book. There are more serious issues in the book I wasn’t expecting but very well managed.

calvin_k_ho's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5

3.5 stars!

The Flatshare was much more wholesome than I expected: balanced the right amount of cute and fluffy while taking on serious topics in this book

i.e.: emotional abuse and supporting a family member in prison

I didn't particularly like how Leon's chapters were written but didn't mind it all that much once Tiffy and Leon began to interact with each other more frequently. I loved their banter and their friendship before it segued to their strangers to friends to lovers romance arc.

The ending did drag a little bit but a very solid romance read.

peacetree's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

More...