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A review by beate251
The Year of What If by Phaedra Patrick
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for this ARC.
Carla, 42, believes in maths and logic. The rest of her vast family (sister Jess, grandmother Lucinda, aunts Mimi and Evelyn the most prominent) are deeply superstitious. They claim a hundred year old curse exists that women in their family are destined to be unlucky in love, starting with ill-fated couple Agatha and Lars.
After an acrimonious divorce from first husband Aaron, Carla founds a match-making agency called Logical Love, which heavily relies on questionnaires and pragmatic algorithms. These algorithms have led her to Tom, her fiancé and soon to be husband. The wedding is mere weeks away and this time, Carla will avoid all mistakes and prove her family wrong about the curse.
Then her family take her to a fortune teller called Myrtle who is also a distant relative. She gives her six tarot cards, claiming they represent past lovers and that one of them that she met on her gap year travelling around Europe 21 years ago is her forever love.
So she takes herself off to Barcelona (Pedro), Portugal (Adam), Amsterdam (Ruben), Sardinia (Fidele) and Paris (Aaron), while Tom has swanned off to the US for a boardgames convention.
I love Phaedra Patrick's books. They cover so much. Here, Carla is sent on a journey of self-discovery - not just to find out what she has learnt from her past relationships but also find out more about that inconvenient curse.
What if it never existed but lives on as a self-fulfilling prophecy? What if Tom never was "the one" because their compability was wrongly calculated? And why does she keep finding out deeply important and personal things that nearly derail her path in life?
Altogether, this is a charming book with a very smart core, interesting characters and lovely travel descriptions. There is so much love for partners but also for friends and family that it's really heartwarming. Highly recommended to anyone who likes an eventful story and a slightly open ending.
Carla, 42, believes in maths and logic. The rest of her vast family (sister Jess, grandmother Lucinda, aunts Mimi and Evelyn the most prominent) are deeply superstitious. They claim a hundred year old curse exists that women in their family are destined to be unlucky in love, starting with ill-fated couple Agatha and Lars.
After an acrimonious divorce from first husband Aaron, Carla founds a match-making agency called Logical Love, which heavily relies on questionnaires and pragmatic algorithms. These algorithms have led her to Tom, her fiancé and soon to be husband. The wedding is mere weeks away and this time, Carla will avoid all mistakes and prove her family wrong about the curse.
Then her family take her to a fortune teller called Myrtle who is also a distant relative. She gives her six tarot cards, claiming they represent past lovers and that one of them that she met on her gap year travelling around Europe 21 years ago is her forever love.
So she takes herself off to Barcelona (Pedro), Portugal (Adam), Amsterdam (Ruben), Sardinia (Fidele) and Paris (Aaron), while Tom has swanned off to the US for a boardgames convention.
I love Phaedra Patrick's books. They cover so much. Here, Carla is sent on a journey of self-discovery - not just to find out what she has learnt from her past relationships but also find out more about that inconvenient curse.
What if it never existed but lives on as a self-fulfilling prophecy? What if Tom never was "the one" because their compability was wrongly calculated? And why does she keep finding out deeply important and personal things that nearly derail her path in life?
Altogether, this is a charming book with a very smart core, interesting characters and lovely travel descriptions. There is so much love for partners but also for friends and family that it's really heartwarming. Highly recommended to anyone who likes an eventful story and a slightly open ending.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy