A review by markreadsbooks_sg
Lifesaving for Beginners by Josie Lloyd

3.0

I got Lifesaving for Beginners by Josie Lloyd, for free from NetGalley for a fair free and optional review.

Lifesaving for Beginners is a sweet sentimental novel about a group of women who go swimming in the sea of Brighton and work together to deal with the issues in their lives.

Lifesaving for Beginners is one of those novels that I found very difficult to enjoy as a whole, however there were so many amazing chapters showing how the lives had been changed by being in this group.

For example there was a scene on the beach were characters who was suffering with the menopause was able to talk it over with the group and was able to find not only some helpful tips but a better understanding what was happening.

Another scene showed how swimming in the sea particularly when it was snowing was able to help with her issues, and the writing in this section really brought me into her mind.

The problem I had with Lifesaving for Beginners, was the fact that the whole novel was full of these moments for each character, yet there was no connection with the people involved with these scenes, the only connection I had was with the situation, not the people involved.

This could be because of the number of individuals in the story or the way that after a moving scene the next chapter started and you moved onto another person’s issues, only to go onto another character in the chapter after that.

The easiest way for me to describe this book is similar to when you are flicking through the channels on your television, where you get involved with a show for a couple of minutes and then move on to the next channel before changing again.

The way for me the writer could have improved the connection, is either cutting the number of characters down or staying with a character for a couple of chapters to allow readers to gain more of a connection with them or even making the book a collection of short stories.

Having said that with the emotional stories from each character still had me staying with the novel, it is just that there was never enough of a connection with the characters in the book to make it a must read recommendation,

However, Lifesaving for Beginners by Josie Lloyd is still a book which for the correct reader should be added to your TBR.