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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
The Flip Side was the perfect read for my weekend and I truly believe it’s a winner if you need a delightful novel to put under the Christmas tree! Or as a birthday present. Or a ‘no reason’ present. Just buy a copy!
A romantic 28 year-old British guy losing the woman of his life, his home, and his job in a few minutes. When his girlfriend turns down his marriage proposal, it doesn’t just break Josh’s heart, it also sends seismic waves to all parts of his life.
I am no romantic, but I fell for Josh and his take on life. He was sure he’d ticked all the boxes; he was doing what was expecting of him… so why did it go wrong?
We don’t get a manual when we are born, and we get to learn our lessons the hard way. Josh decides that he can’t trust himself with life decisions, and an epiphany hits him. He’s going to let it all in the hands of fate. Armed with a coin, he is going to flip it to get it right.
But can it be so easy? I can’t say I’ve never looked for signs, but wow, leave a coin dictate my choices? Nope! I’d rather own my mistakes, thank you very much. Still, the way Josh holds onto his coin as a life jacket, my heart broke for him. It was a really nice chance not to read from a man’s point of view. I didn’t find any clichés in The Flip Side. Instead, I found warmth, family, friends, and serendipity. I am fighting the ideas pressured on us by society – get the job of your life in your twenties, marry around 30, start a family… People change with the decades and this is no longer how we have to live. If that’s your plan, great! But I refuse to be pushed into that direction and feel the weight and guilt because I’m thirty, single and a freelancer!
Josh doesn’t get it easy. His job hunt is a dead end, he is living with his parents again, in a tiny village where everyone knows everyone… Not easy at all! We’ve all been there, thinking it can’t get worse, but unable to see a way out, thinking we must have done something wrong.
There is a lovely balance of seriousness and humor in the book. Life’s stages are blurred as Josh recovers, then discovers there is more to life than what he thought. The characters are endearing, and I felt I was visiting emotions along places. This was a wonderful experience.
The writing is fluid, smooth, and keeps you entertained. You spend a year with Josh, and believe me, you won’t see it pass! Reading The Flip Side was exactly what I needed to reset my mindset about many things, it was cute and fun, but also made me think about what I was doing, and I don’t know, I simply enjoyed reading about someone growing and learning, and it made me want to make some changes!
There’s also romance in this novel, and the author managed a miracle; I actually enjoyed this part the most. Who am I??? I thought the whole story was adorable, witty, fun, and cute. The kind of love you don’t allow yourself to dream about because it never happens… unless you find the right guy, if he exists. I must applaud James Bailey for creating a couple I rooted for, and a love that gave me hope. Me, the cynical, skeptical woman. Bravo!
I definitely recommend The Flip Side to anyone looking for a hug in a book. You won’t resist a cute guy and his adorable friends who are… you’ll see!
A romantic 28 year-old British guy losing the woman of his life, his home, and his job in a few minutes. When his girlfriend turns down his marriage proposal, it doesn’t just break Josh’s heart, it also sends seismic waves to all parts of his life.
I am no romantic, but I fell for Josh and his take on life. He was sure he’d ticked all the boxes; he was doing what was expecting of him… so why did it go wrong?
We don’t get a manual when we are born, and we get to learn our lessons the hard way. Josh decides that he can’t trust himself with life decisions, and an epiphany hits him. He’s going to let it all in the hands of fate. Armed with a coin, he is going to flip it to get it right.
But can it be so easy? I can’t say I’ve never looked for signs, but wow, leave a coin dictate my choices? Nope! I’d rather own my mistakes, thank you very much. Still, the way Josh holds onto his coin as a life jacket, my heart broke for him. It was a really nice chance not to read from a man’s point of view. I didn’t find any clichés in The Flip Side. Instead, I found warmth, family, friends, and serendipity. I am fighting the ideas pressured on us by society – get the job of your life in your twenties, marry around 30, start a family… People change with the decades and this is no longer how we have to live. If that’s your plan, great! But I refuse to be pushed into that direction and feel the weight and guilt because I’m thirty, single and a freelancer!
Josh doesn’t get it easy. His job hunt is a dead end, he is living with his parents again, in a tiny village where everyone knows everyone… Not easy at all! We’ve all been there, thinking it can’t get worse, but unable to see a way out, thinking we must have done something wrong.
There is a lovely balance of seriousness and humor in the book. Life’s stages are blurred as Josh recovers, then discovers there is more to life than what he thought. The characters are endearing, and I felt I was visiting emotions along places. This was a wonderful experience.
The writing is fluid, smooth, and keeps you entertained. You spend a year with Josh, and believe me, you won’t see it pass! Reading The Flip Side was exactly what I needed to reset my mindset about many things, it was cute and fun, but also made me think about what I was doing, and I don’t know, I simply enjoyed reading about someone growing and learning, and it made me want to make some changes!
There’s also romance in this novel, and the author managed a miracle; I actually enjoyed this part the most. Who am I??? I thought the whole story was adorable, witty, fun, and cute. The kind of love you don’t allow yourself to dream about because it never happens… unless you find the right guy, if he exists. I must applaud James Bailey for creating a couple I rooted for, and a love that gave me hope. Me, the cynical, skeptical woman. Bravo!
I definitely recommend The Flip Side to anyone looking for a hug in a book. You won’t resist a cute guy and his adorable friends who are… you’ll see!
I had the distinct feeling while reading this book that the author found his own jokes very funny, even when they weren’t. The plot is pretty basic, man meets girl once and pines after her on a long international search to find her, but the romance felt super thin. Am I to believe he really traveled to another country to find a girl he had one good conversation with?
I audibly groaned at a couple of the more obvious jokes (maybe I’m hard to please, but God his characters’ bar for humor is incredibly low), and the book moved slowly. Like took-me-a-month-to-finish slowly. There were a lot of extra scenes and unneeded plot, and I also really didn’t love any one character, especially Josh. He flips a coin for every decision for an entire year in order to decide what to do with his life. It sounds good on paper, but wow is it boring to read a story where the protagonist has no inner motive driving any of his decisions.
Mostly though, if it’s going to take 60-70% of the book for the two main love interests to meet again (spoiler, sorry), they better have an outstanding first meet cute. This one was just so meh.
I audibly groaned at a couple of the more obvious jokes (maybe I’m hard to please, but God his characters’ bar for humor is incredibly low), and the book moved slowly. Like took-me-a-month-to-finish slowly. There were a lot of extra scenes and unneeded plot, and I also really didn’t love any one character, especially Josh. He flips a coin for every decision for an entire year in order to decide what to do with his life. It sounds good on paper, but wow is it boring to read a story where the protagonist has no inner motive driving any of his decisions.
Mostly though, if it’s going to take 60-70% of the book for the two main love interests to meet again (spoiler, sorry), they better have an outstanding first meet cute. This one was just so meh.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Really quick read - entertaining and a light read for those quarantine rainy days.
The Flip Side was a fun and light-hearted read that gives you a break from reality. The premise is entertaining, Josh, the main character, decides to make all of his decisions for the year by flipping a coin. The subsequent journey he goes on brings him to his ultimate happiness. The book is somewhat predictable but does not make it any less fun. It might be the first rom-com book that I have read by a male author, and from the male perspective, which was also a nice change of pace!
This was a solid debut novel, and I look forward to seeing what else James Bailey writes!
This was a solid debut novel, and I look forward to seeing what else James Bailey writes!
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-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:
Complicated
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3/5 stars!
A huge thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for sending me an E-ARC for an honest review!
As someone who devours romance and loves reading any romance I can get my hands on, I was really looking forward to this book. I had heard a lot of good reviews about it on GoodReads and was super excited to receive a copy on NetGalley.
This book was fun, but it did not live up to the expectations that I had of it going in. I really wanted more romance from this book. To me, we didn't really even get the romance until halfway through the book. I felt like the first half of this book kind of lagged a lot for me, and I found myself almost DNFing it. However, I am glad I pushed through because the ending was super cute. For me, I just ended up wanting MORE. I wanted the book to be a lot deeper than it was, especially when it came to the romance. I felt like the entire love story was good, but it was also very surface-y and I felt myself not really being invested in the characters at all. The things that I did like about this book were the travel aspects in the second half of the book, and also the ending. I really loved the ending! I also really loved the scenes that we got with Lucy once they met in Paris. Once Lucy's character came into the story, I was a lot more invested in what was happening.
In the end, I do think that this is a cute rom com, but it doesn't have as much romance as I was hoping it would. I do recommend it, though, to people who love the "every-day life" rom coms and to anyone looking for a light and fun romantic read.
Thanks for reading!
Caden
A huge thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for sending me an E-ARC for an honest review!
As someone who devours romance and loves reading any romance I can get my hands on, I was really looking forward to this book. I had heard a lot of good reviews about it on GoodReads and was super excited to receive a copy on NetGalley.
This book was fun, but it did not live up to the expectations that I had of it going in. I really wanted more romance from this book. To me, we didn't really even get the romance until halfway through the book. I felt like the first half of this book kind of lagged a lot for me, and I found myself almost DNFing it. However, I am glad I pushed through because the ending was super cute. For me, I just ended up wanting MORE. I wanted the book to be a lot deeper than it was, especially when it came to the romance. I felt like the entire love story was good, but it was also very surface-y and I felt myself not really being invested in the characters at all. The things that I did like about this book were the travel aspects in the second half of the book, and also the ending. I really loved the ending! I also really loved the scenes that we got with Lucy once they met in Paris. Once Lucy's character came into the story, I was a lot more invested in what was happening.
In the end, I do think that this is a cute rom com, but it doesn't have as much romance as I was hoping it would. I do recommend it, though, to people who love the "every-day life" rom coms and to anyone looking for a light and fun romantic read.
Thanks for reading!
Caden