Reviews

Ivy Feckett is Looking for Love: A Birmingham Romance by Jay Spencer Green

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

2.0

Finished reading: October 11th 2016

“Every single day there are billions of acts of generosity, of good deeds, of cooperation. Just because they're not on the news... well, the job of the news is to report extraordinary events, and if extraordinary events are bad, presumably the ordinary things, the things not worth mentioning because they're so commonplace, are good.”

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

Spoiler

WARNING: unpopular opinion ahead. I was sent a copy of Ivy Feckett Is Looking For Love by the author some time ago and it sounded like a fun contemporary read. I was looking forward to it, but unfortunately I wasn't able to enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I'm not sure the problem is the book itself though, because the rest of the reviews have been really positive so far. I guess this is just another of those cases where the book simply isn't for me... There was just too much explicit sex talk, romance and colorful language involved to my taste, but then again the romance genre is not really my thing in the first place. Due to those elements I found it really hard to warm up to the story, which is a shame because the plot is without doubt interesting. I'm not completely sure about the characters either, but that might just be related to the before mentioned elements and the appearance of an annoying love triangle. I loved the geocaching elements though! In short, I'm having a hard time properly reviewing Ivy Feckett Is Looking For Love and if you like contemporary romance and don't mind 'adult' content and colorful language, definitely don't rule this one out.



Bookish Ivy Feckett is smart and sensitive, but also a little socially awkward and doesn't have a lot of experience with relationships or dealing with men in general. Her search for love has never gone smoothly, although she has never tried actively before either. Then she meets her boss, the rich and handsome Ned Hartfield, and she cannot stop thinking about him. Not sure what to do, she asks for the advice of her flatmates and her best friend Sam, which will cause a lot of awkward moments since Sam has been secretly in love with her for a long time. Is Ned really so 'perfect' as he appears to be? And what will happen to her weekly search for geocaches with Sam?



Like I said before, this book is probably yet another title to add to my list of books that are simply not for me. I'm not really a fan of the romance genre, especially if there is a lot of explicit sex talk and general colorful language involved. And Ivy Feckett Is Looking For Love definitely has a lot of both. Looking at the other reviews, I guess I'm in the minority when it comes to my opinion... So if you like the genre and don't mind the 'adult' content, you will probably enjoy reading this story.

P.S. Find more of my reviews here.

bjr2022's review against another edition

4.0

A fun and funny light Irish-nerd-love romp . . . and more. [A note for Americans: There were a lot of words and references I didn't understand, but I still laughed and enjoyed this.]

The title says the plot. Here's a description of the kiss Ivy, a researcher at a think tank where she researches euphemisms for vagina (the list is hysterical and goes on for pages), has with her boss:

It was an awkward kiss, not least because of the significant difference in their heights. Ned was bending from the waist as far as he could, while Ivy craned her neck up and back so that her open mouth was nearly horizontal, her tongue reaching for the stars. It might have been easier for Ned to bend his legs and crouch, but it would have looked even more comical, and no man stoops like that to kiss someone unless he's giving his little niece a peck on the cheek. Crouching and French kissing at the same time is just weird.

Clever and charming with some delicious storytelling surprises toward the end, this novel is called a "romance" (a joke lost on American me--see comments) but I think it is a genre-defying romantic fairy tale that also manages to be a philosophical treatise on cooperative ecology and religion. I read this delightful book in one day.

kingjason's review

5.0

I see what Mr Green is trying here, he is testing the waters, it's been about 2000 years since the first book was released, is the world ready for the sequel to the bible? Here is an sample of what he has been working on:

"And Reagan begat Saddam, and Bush begat Saddam, and Saddam begat war, and Bush begat war, and Bush begat Osama, and Osama begat war, and Bush begat Bush, and Bush begat war, and war begat war.
Hypocrites 9:11"

If the rest of his bible is gonna be of that class then I'm signing up for membership to his cult.

The book contains a brilliant group of characters, the Nerdy Ivy, the best friend Sam, sexy Caroline, awesome Nana, a couple of super sluts and the biggest knob in the literary world (Ned).

The editing is super slick as with his previous book, I could find no fault, no plot holes and no pointless paragraphs. What I did find was myself smirking and getting looks asking what the hell was so funny. I won't say anything about the story, you need to go get yourself a copy and find out for yourself. I'm not a fan of romance stories but this is such a good book you can't help but love it.

Book review > https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2019/04/12/ivy-feckett-is-looking-for-love-a-birmingham-romance-by-jay-spencer-green/

sheamussweeney's review

funny lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75