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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
2.5 stars. It wasn’t bad exactly but I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone.
I recommend this book if you like:
-Romantic comedy
-Light hearted read
-Adventures and travel
This book was an easy read. Some funny moments and also some real, hard hitting reality moments. Is it a must read? Not for me.
The travel was interesting, if slightly repetitive. It was more comedy than romance.
-Romantic comedy
-Light hearted read
-Adventures and travel
This book was an easy read. Some funny moments and also some real, hard hitting reality moments. Is it a must read? Not for me.
The travel was interesting, if slightly repetitive. It was more comedy than romance.
Thank you @tlcbooktours and @williammorrow for a gifted copy of this book.
Would you let your fate be chosen by the flip of a coin?
Josh had it all. The girlfriend who he loved, a job at the hotel and lived in a condo with the greatest view. That is until he no longer didn't. Josh planned a very romantic evening for his girlfriend where he proposed and before he knew it, his heart was crushed. Not only did she say no to the proposal, she confesses that she has been having an affair (talk about a brutal rejection). This is where my heart is all for Josh and I desperately want him to WIN! He leaves his job, packs up his things and moves back home with his parents so that he can get back on his feet.
Josh decides to flip a coin to make every decision for himself for an entire year. The premise of this book was so unique, and what I enjoyed about the book was the banter that existed throughout the book. While the book was a little slow for my taste, the second half of the book I enjoyed. I am a romantic at heart, so when Josh meets Sunflower Girl, and then loses her in the chaos of the race, his efforts to find her where *heart eyes* Listen if someone goes on a world wide scavenger hunt for me....that's it...we're getting married!!!
I think Josh's approach on flipping the coin was a bit annoying at times. But the concept of putting yourself in situations that you sometimes would never be in has a level of excitement to it. We can sometimes stress ourselves out making decisions. So flip a coin, heads or tails...what's it going to be??
Would you let your fate be chosen by the flip of a coin?
Josh had it all. The girlfriend who he loved, a job at the hotel and lived in a condo with the greatest view. That is until he no longer didn't. Josh planned a very romantic evening for his girlfriend where he proposed and before he knew it, his heart was crushed. Not only did she say no to the proposal, she confesses that she has been having an affair (talk about a brutal rejection). This is where my heart is all for Josh and I desperately want him to WIN! He leaves his job, packs up his things and moves back home with his parents so that he can get back on his feet.
Josh decides to flip a coin to make every decision for himself for an entire year. The premise of this book was so unique, and what I enjoyed about the book was the banter that existed throughout the book. While the book was a little slow for my taste, the second half of the book I enjoyed. I am a romantic at heart, so when Josh meets Sunflower Girl, and then loses her in the chaos of the race, his efforts to find her where *heart eyes* Listen if someone goes on a world wide scavenger hunt for me....that's it...we're getting married!!!
I think Josh's approach on flipping the coin was a bit annoying at times. But the concept of putting yourself in situations that you sometimes would never be in has a level of excitement to it. We can sometimes stress ourselves out making decisions. So flip a coin, heads or tails...what's it going to be??
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Grief
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
lighthearted
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Would you leave your life up to chance? Would you make decisions based on the flip of a coin? After Josh loses his girlfriend, his job and his home all in one spectacular evening, he vows to make different decisions: he decides to spend the next year letting a 50 pence coin choose his fate.
Sadly, I couldn’t make heads nor tails of this book (I couldn’t resist a terrible pun, sorry!) and it really fell flat for me. I struggled to feel invested in the storyline or the main character and there were several small aspects that personally annoyed me. I had been really excited for this book and I tried really hard to love it, but I found reading it to be a chore.
This is clearly intended to be a funny book and I can definitely see the hilarity in some of the situations. Unfortunately, I personally don’t like situations that make me cringe; I don’t find them funny, they just made me uncomfortable. The main character, Josh, ends up in some really unfortunate scenarios that bordered on the ridiculous, but because they were so cringey I couldn't find them funny! If cringe-worthy scenes don’t make you uncomfortable, and you happily laugh at a character’s misfortune, then I do think you’d enjoy this book far more than me –– it’s just not to my personal taste.
It did pick up after about 40% and I found myself more invested in the romantic aspect of the plot. I started to enjoy it more and even root for Josh, who I had struggled to like for the first part of the novel. I liked seeing him exploring the different bookshops in Germany and Amsterdam in his search for his 'Sunflower Girl' and though it was obvious that he would find her eventually, I was excited to find out how the pair would be reunited. And...then it went downhill for me.
Finally, there were just a couple of minor comments in the book that personally annoyed me. About 4 or 5 chapters in, a man Josh describes as having an anxiety disorder ends up having a panic attack at their family celebration. Whilst this is clearly intended to be funny and pokes fun at the man and the situation, in which people are frantically panicking and moving furniture and creating chaos, I just found it unnecessary. I like to think we’ve moved past the need to use mental health as a source of humour and amusement. And secondly, there’s a comment about Josh’s Sunflower Girl being ‘naturally beautiful’ before he goes on to talk about her having minimal make-up, along with frequent references to how ‘different’ she is, presumably as opposed to other girls. The novel, therefore, falls into the classic ‘not like other girls’ trope that I don’t really like; it places women in competition with each other and implies that certain women have an inherently greater value to others based on their choices. These are only minor things that someone really enjoying the book might not have even noticed, but I thought they were worth mentioning as they did lessen my enjoyment of the book.
I am gutted that I didn’t end up loving this book. I really did want to love it, especially as it has been compared to The Flatshare, but unfortunately, it was just not for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
REVIEW ‼️ The Flip Side - James Bailey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Romance is usually such a hit and miss genre for me as I am very picky about it. I recently read ‘Worst Best Man’ and I really did not get along with it. Usually, I find romance novels to be predictable and superficial which make them incredibly unenjoyable for me as there ends up being no suspense or much eagerness for me to carry on. However, with ‘The Flip Side’ I found the complete opposite.
I was taken on a journey through Josh's mind. I especially loved how the protagonist was male, as from the romance books I have read they are largely female. It added an extra layer of emotion for me and which made me enjoy the book further. It was refreshing to read about a male character that was emotionally intelligent and very in touch with their emotions, especially surrounding the stereotype of men being completely emotionless beings in society.
Another aspect I really enjoyed was how in depth the author has explored the character of Josh. From previous romance books, I have found that the character descriptions are so on the surface that Im not able to fully connect or engage with them. However Bailey really did an excellent job of portraying Josh (and the various other characters!). Josh’s love life didn't define him and his whole existence in the book, which I have seen authors do in the past and I find very disappointing. There were so many layers to all the character but especially Josh, it really is one of my favourite elements of the book!
As a queer person though,I do have to say that my favourite part was the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters and relationships within this heteronormative story. Although it may come across as something small and insignificant for some, the representation really made a big difference for me.
The element of fate within the book really struck a chord with me, as I am also someone that believes/relies on fate in life, and this little detail really warmed my heart and kept me smiling! Can you spot my special coin in the photo?
Romance is usually such a hit and miss genre for me as I am very picky about it. I recently read ‘Worst Best Man’ and I really did not get along with it. Usually, I find romance novels to be predictable and superficial which make them incredibly unenjoyable for me as there ends up being no suspense or much eagerness for me to carry on. However, with ‘The Flip Side’ I found the complete opposite.
I was taken on a journey through Josh's mind. I especially loved how the protagonist was male, as from the romance books I have read they are largely female. It added an extra layer of emotion for me and which made me enjoy the book further. It was refreshing to read about a male character that was emotionally intelligent and very in touch with their emotions, especially surrounding the stereotype of men being completely emotionless beings in society.
Another aspect I really enjoyed was how in depth the author has explored the character of Josh. From previous romance books, I have found that the character descriptions are so on the surface that Im not able to fully connect or engage with them. However Bailey really did an excellent job of portraying Josh (and the various other characters!). Josh’s love life didn't define him and his whole existence in the book, which I have seen authors do in the past and I find very disappointing. There were so many layers to all the character but especially Josh, it really is one of my favourite elements of the book!
As a queer person though,I do have to say that my favourite part was the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters and relationships within this heteronormative story. Although it may come across as something small and insignificant for some, the representation really made a big difference for me.
The element of fate within the book really struck a chord with me, as I am also someone that believes/relies on fate in life, and this little detail really warmed my heart and kept me smiling! Can you spot my special coin in the photo?