Reviews

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

Only show reviews with written explanations

It took me a little while to fall in love with this charming, sweet and joyous book and I worried that it was too light but before I knew it I was head over heels. It’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and The Rosie Project meets Me Before You and it’s delightful. Tiffy is emerging from an emotionally abusive relationship and watching her find herself again, make professional gains and develop feelings for her flatmate Leon is lovely. Leon (who may well be a feminist fantasy) is dealing with his brother’s incaceration, the damage of his mother’s relationships and his inability to commit and watching him emerge from the fog thanks to Tiffy is lovely. Basically, if you want a feel good, sweet book that does have some weight to it then this is the one. Also, I want to see the movie of this NOW.

eromer4's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful medium-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? Yes

3.75

careycarpenter's review

Go to review page

4.0

I needed a completely predictable romance full of floof and cheesy, gooey, wonderful love right at this time in my life after I’ve lost another friend to cancer. This book was perfect for that. I appreciate the creative concept for how they met and fell in love. I also liked how the author addressed abusive relationships through Tiffy’s experience. I enjoyed all of the characters and the interplay between them.

martinenl's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

This book just made me very happy. And it did feel more real than most of the feelgood books I read. It’s not only good, also bad is happening. It feels honest.

emmabeckman's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I feel very conflicted about this book. There were parts that I loved, parts that I hated, and parts that just didn’t sit quite right.

Loved: the voices of the audiobook narrators, it was an entertaining story, I liked Tiffy and Leon as characters, the shared bed trope is one of my faves and I liked the way it was twisted just slightly here.

Hated: the way Leon’s sections were written. I think the audiobook narrator actually did a pretty good job of making it feel a bit smoother, but it was sometimes very jarring, especially because it was inconsistent. I’m actually glad I listened to the audiobook because having to read dialogue like a play with the character names at the beginning of each line is the worst. The audio narration smoothed that out a lot I think. But I truly hated this aspect of the book and I think it could have been done differently to show how clipped Leon is.

Meh: there is SO MUCH GOING ON. There are so many strings of plot. Most of them come together by the end but it almost feels like five different books mushed into one. There was also a bit of awkward fatphobia throughout. Nothing is overt per se, but a lot of “do I look fat in this?” And also the quintessential tall girl problem where people think you’re “big-boned” or fat and they tell you so and you internalize that you must be “too big” because you’re tall. And also a girl who is recovering from LEUKEMIA is judged by one of the main characters as having gone “too far” and gained back “too much” weight and now she looks “chubby” (chubby is the actual word in the book he uses to describe her. An 8-year-old girl. Who is recovering from leukemia.)

So overall this was entertaining but it wasn’t the best contemporary romance I’ve read.

kathi_123's review

Go to review page

3.0

The beginning was quite boring and it took a long time for me to get attached to the story. It was not one of those books that have you excited right from the start.