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A review by mairispaceship
Preloved by Lauren Bravo
4.0
This book is so incredibly "London 30-somethings bookclub"-ish. It reminds me so much of the type of books I also read as part of a book club and wouldn't have picked up otherwise... Think [b:The Peculiar Sadness of Lemon Cake|55918226|The Peculiar Sadness of Lemon Cake|Aimee Bender|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|7299170], or [b:Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead|59366182|Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead|Emily R. Austin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1655915331l/59366182._SY75_.jpg|82462924]. I can imagine a group of late 20s - 30s women sitting around discussing this book, with glasses of chardonnay in hand, saying "yeah she's just like me fr".
Which if that sounds disparaging, it isn't meant to be. Because for all my big ergodic literature books, and foreign sci-fi, I am also a late-20s woman from London, and sometimes I too just want to drink a glass of chardonnay with my friends and say "yeah she just like me fr".
Because hey, I did enjoy it. It's so relatable. I loved that I knew every single street she mentioned, and I loved that I could almost figure out exactly where it's set too. All the characters are like people I know in my life. But I think it's not just relatable to me, the story Lauren Bravo tells is relatable to many, many people. It's about personal growth, it's about burnout, it's about friendship. It's about a lot of things I love.
Another review on Goodreads mentions being disappointed it wasn't a romance, but gosh I'm so thrilled it wasn't a romance because I think this book is the perfect anti-romance. Nobody 'finds' themselves in a whirlwind romance. All the personal growth of the characters comes from within, and that's great.
So why only 4 stars? Well, it really isn't the kind of book I normally read. So I really never know how to mark these. Is it a good example of this book, or is bad? I have no idea. It's just warm, heartfelt, uncomplex. Its book club ish. And for some reason I can't articulate, the full title on Everand (the app I listened to the book on) annoyed me every time I read it: "Preloved: A sparklingly witty and relatable debut novel" (I get it, everyone on the app is competing for SEO and to be noticed, and I'm sure it's some PR team's decision not the author).
Which if that sounds disparaging, it isn't meant to be. Because for all my big ergodic literature books, and foreign sci-fi, I am also a late-20s woman from London, and sometimes I too just want to drink a glass of chardonnay with my friends and say "yeah she just like me fr".
Because hey, I did enjoy it. It's so relatable. I loved that I knew every single street she mentioned, and I loved that I could almost figure out exactly where it's set too. All the characters are like people I know in my life. But I think it's not just relatable to me, the story Lauren Bravo tells is relatable to many, many people. It's about personal growth, it's about burnout, it's about friendship. It's about a lot of things I love.
Another review on Goodreads mentions being disappointed it wasn't a romance, but gosh I'm so thrilled it wasn't a romance because I think this book is the perfect anti-romance. Nobody 'finds' themselves in a whirlwind romance. All the personal growth of the characters comes from within, and that's great.
So why only 4 stars? Well, it really isn't the kind of book I normally read. So I really never know how to mark these. Is it a good example of this book, or is bad? I have no idea. It's just warm, heartfelt, uncomplex. Its book club ish. And for some reason I can't articulate, the full title on Everand (the app I listened to the book on) annoyed me every time I read it: "Preloved: A sparklingly witty and relatable debut novel" (I get it, everyone on the app is competing for SEO and to be noticed, and I'm sure it's some PR team's decision not the author).