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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
It was interesting to have a romance told entirely from a man’s perspective. If I was in a better mood maybe I would have given it a 4? I don’t know. It was fine.
I wanted to enjoy this book, but found that I only finished it because I started it. While this story was cute, I felt it dragged on in several spots and once the main character was reunited with Sunflower girl, it was rather anticlimactic. In the end, I was more relieved to have finished than elated at the actual story itself.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My first read of 2021 and what a perfect read to start the year off with, I loved every minute of this book!
It’s been a while since a book has made me laugh out loud, the writing was so witty and I love sarcastic humour and it was a nice change to the usually cheesy humour you get in a rom-com. The storyline is fab, it’s hard not to become completely invested. Great and interesting characters, I’ll always have a soft spot for Pap and maybe Jeremy (the rabbit)
It’s been a while since a book has made me laugh out loud, the writing was so witty and I love sarcastic humour and it was a nice change to the usually cheesy humour you get in a rom-com. The storyline is fab, it’s hard not to become completely invested. Great and interesting characters, I’ll always have a soft spot for Pap and maybe Jeremy (the rabbit)
It was a cute and quirky read. Some parts of the book seemed a bit random sometimes and could probably have been cut out and replaced with more relevant scenes. Loved the details about London and the characters. Wish I could have had more scenes about the girl and him though.
I am a huge rom-com fan and there's nothing better than listening to one while out running. This one though... didn't really grab me. First of all, I just don't like Josh. He's such a douche and why? Because he was cheated on? No reason to treat people who had nothing to do with that like crap (he takes a woman on a date and doesn't have any money so he pretends it's his birthday to save money and is miffed when she has the audacity to actually order something... this guy has friends and parents he could have asked for money - and that's just one example. Don't get me started on abandoning cheering on one of his best friends running her first marathon).
The romance didn't grab me either. There was no real chemistry and then he tries to find her all over the world. Why not use the internet first, dude? It got a bit better towards the end even though the romance between Josh and Sunflower Girl was only meh.
The romance didn't grab me either. There was no real chemistry and then he tries to find her all over the world. Why not use the internet first, dude? It got a bit better towards the end even though the romance between Josh and Sunflower Girl was only meh.
I know know what book all these reviewers who said this book left them with tears because of laughing so hard read, but it wasn't this one I'm reviewing right now.
This is not a romcom. This is a book about a man who wastes £1000 wandering around European cities with Van Gogh paintings stalking a women he met once and knows nothing about, including her name. It's super creepy and not funny. Nothing about the romance was believable or even romantic.
This is not a romcom. This is a book about a man who wastes £1000 wandering around European cities with Van Gogh paintings stalking a women he met once and knows nothing about, including her name. It's super creepy and not funny. Nothing about the romance was believable or even romantic.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was book was funny, lighthearted and sweet in all the right ways - a great, easy-to-read romcom! While I did enjoy reading this book, I will say I found a few confusing gaps in the narrative, and the plot was a little predictable and perhaps slightly superficial. Nevertheless, this book made up for it's shortcomings by making me smile, laugh, and tear up - exactly as a romcom should.
This was book was funny, lighthearted and sweet in all the right ways - a great, easy-to-read romcom! While I did enjoy reading this book, I will say I found a few confusing gaps in the narrative, and the plot was a little predictable and perhaps slightly superficial. Nevertheless, this book made up for it's shortcomings by making me smile, laugh, and tear up - exactly as a romcom should.
Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin and James Bailey for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The Flip Side focuses on the main character Josh, and his life in the year following his rejected proposal to his ex girlfriend. After the rejection, he decided to flip a coin for the major decisions in his life, and to trust in the coin's decisions more than his own. I really loved this concept, although at points it felt very unrealistic and I was going 'do you really need to flip for that?' at times.
I started off loving this book, the first chapter had me laughing and cringing and I enjoyed it, but following on the book made me laugh less and less and at points it made me cringe from second hand embarrassment so badly that I genuinely wanted to DNF it. I found a lot of the situations that Josh got himself into unrealistic and at times his own fault, and it made me really uncomfortable at times (and here I'm thinking of his two dates, and if you've read it you'll know which ones I'm talking about). At times he was just so awkward and unrealistic that it bordered on painful to read, and the more hateable his character became. This wasn't just in relation to dating either, but also in relation to his friends, family and himself. I found him to be incredibly frustrating and started to not care about the plot because of it.
However, I did enjoy a few things about the book, for example I thought the idea of going into a museum and getting postcards from the giftshop to do a treasure hunt of the art on them is a great idea, and something I want to do in the future when I can next get to a museum. I found the hearse getting towed outside the church genuinely funny, and bar the first chapter it was one of the only moments in the book that made me laugh. I also actually enjoyed the last chapter, I really enjoyed the symbolism and I thought that it was a fitting ending, especially considering the foreshadowing throughout the book. I loved Lucy's character but I did find that she verged on the manic pixie dream girl stereotype which was a little frustrating. I also loved the descriptions of the different bookshops across Europe, and found that those were the best bits of the book (even if creepy) as they felt so realistic and made me want to visit them.
Overall the book is an easy and short read, perfect to switch off with. I think I just had issues with the characters, it felt like it lacked some depth to me. There were also issues I had about the portrayal of Lucy and the language used around anxiety and disability within the book. I think it would probably work better as a rom-com on screen where you could potentially flesh the characters out better.
I think the best way to sum up the book however, Bailey already did when he wrote Josh saying to his ex "I've been a wanker the whole year since you left me". Truly nothing sums up Josh better than that.
The Flip Side focuses on the main character Josh, and his life in the year following his rejected proposal to his ex girlfriend. After the rejection, he decided to flip a coin for the major decisions in his life, and to trust in the coin's decisions more than his own. I really loved this concept, although at points it felt very unrealistic and I was going 'do you really need to flip for that?' at times.
I started off loving this book, the first chapter had me laughing and cringing and I enjoyed it, but following on the book made me laugh less and less and at points it made me cringe from second hand embarrassment so badly that I genuinely wanted to DNF it. I found a lot of the situations that Josh got himself into unrealistic and at times his own fault, and it made me really uncomfortable at times (and here I'm thinking of his two dates, and if you've read it you'll know which ones I'm talking about). At times he was just so awkward and unrealistic that it bordered on painful to read, and the more hateable his character became. This wasn't just in relation to dating either, but also in relation to his friends, family and himself. I found him to be incredibly frustrating and started to not care about the plot because of it.
However, I did enjoy a few things about the book, for example I thought the idea of going into a museum and getting postcards from the giftshop to do a treasure hunt of the art on them is a great idea, and something I want to do in the future when I can next get to a museum. I found the hearse getting towed outside the church genuinely funny, and bar the first chapter it was one of the only moments in the book that made me laugh. I also actually enjoyed the last chapter, I really enjoyed the symbolism and I thought that it was a fitting ending, especially considering the foreshadowing throughout the book. I loved Lucy's character but I did find that she verged on the manic pixie dream girl stereotype which was a little frustrating. I also loved the descriptions of the different bookshops across Europe, and found that those were the best bits of the book (even if creepy) as they felt so realistic and made me want to visit them.
Overall the book is an easy and short read, perfect to switch off with. I think I just had issues with the characters, it felt like it lacked some depth to me. There were also issues I had about the portrayal of Lucy and the language used around anxiety and disability within the book. I think it would probably work better as a rom-com on screen where you could potentially flesh the characters out better.
I think the best way to sum up the book however, Bailey already did when he wrote Josh saying to his ex "I've been a wanker the whole year since you left me". Truly nothing sums up Josh better than that.
The beginning of the book had me. Then it lost me. He wasn't the best main character. It felt boring at times and I felt like I was reading to just finish it.