Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by defiantconfusion
The Flip Side by James Bailey
2.0
After a marriage proposal that couldn't have gone any worse, protagonist Josh decides to leave all decisions over the following year to chance by flipping a coin. We follow Josh's life over the year as he navigates his friendships, family relationships and healing heart.
I enjoyed reading a romcom from a man's point of view, which feels like a rarity. I was also pleased to read a British book that wasn't set entirely in London. The bits of the book that worked best for me were the little silly moments that felt relatable, like when Josh smashes his knees on the underside of a table while standing up to greet a woman who turns out to not be his blind date.
Unfortunately, as a whole, the book did not work for me. I don't think the protagonist Josh had a strong enough voice to carry the novel, and the conflict that threatened to tear apart the developing relationship was too flimsy for me.
There was also a lot of repetition in terms of the quips made and the internal sardonic musings. And a lack of an internal monologue to guide readers through the story and what Josh was thinking and feeling. Often it was hard to know whether the author was setting things up to have a pay-off later or if it was just a one-off moment to show how awkward and British the protagonist is.
An example being when Josh spilled red sauce on his shirt before going on TV, which resulted in... nothing. Also, there was no internal narration explaining Josh's reason for trying to hide the stain and not changing into one of the other shirts he brought. It could have easily been explained away had the narration included something like, 'The death glare I got from the wardrobe woman earlier makes me question whether I'd rather get caught in a shirt with a stain or in a shirt she didn't pick.' (I can't see any production allowing anything other than water in the wardrobe department anyway.)
There was quite a bit of clumsy writing that made me wonder why an editor didn't pick up on it, though perhaps I didn't read the final draft and am being overly harsh.
Some examples:
1.
There's one scene at a fancy dress party where everyone's come as London Tube stops. Josh is talking to someone and says:
'Yes, that's not too hard when that guy's carrying a can of beer and has got a dildo on his head, dressed as Cockfosters.'
This is weird and unrealistic dialogue and is clearly included only for the joke. But if it had been written this way, it could have done more:
'Yes, that's not too hard when you're competing with Cockfosters,' I say, nodding at a guy with a dildo on his head and carrying a can of beer.
2.
One part in the book went:
Yes, I think I saw. Congratulations,' I say, falling asleep listening to her.
That is a weird way to phrase it. Instead it could have been something like:
Yes, I think I saw,' I manage to wake myself up enough to say. 'Congratulations.'
And lastly, this isn't necessarily bad, but I wondered why the protagonist's mum didn't support her son's coin flipping. She was into horoscopes and other woo-woo stuff, and I'd have expected her to support her son following fate? Her support would have added extra conflict within the protagonist because he would then have to grapple with the fact that he was going along with something his mum believed in.
All in all, I would recommend this book to those who are avid romcom readers. If you dip in and out of the genre like I do, I'd say give this one a miss.
I enjoyed reading a romcom from a man's point of view, which feels like a rarity. I was also pleased to read a British book that wasn't set entirely in London. The bits of the book that worked best for me were the little silly moments that felt relatable, like when Josh smashes his knees on the underside of a table while standing up to greet a woman who turns out to not be his blind date.
Unfortunately, as a whole, the book did not work for me. I don't think the protagonist Josh had a strong enough voice to carry the novel, and the conflict that threatened to tear apart the developing relationship was too flimsy for me.
There was also a lot of repetition in terms of the quips made and the internal sardonic musings. And a lack of an internal monologue to guide readers through the story and what Josh was thinking and feeling. Often it was hard to know whether the author was setting things up to have a pay-off later or if it was just a one-off moment to show how awkward and British the protagonist is.
An example being when Josh spilled red sauce on his shirt before going on TV, which resulted in... nothing. Also, there was no internal narration explaining Josh's reason for trying to hide the stain and not changing into one of the other shirts he brought. It could have easily been explained away had the narration included something like, 'The death glare I got from the wardrobe woman earlier makes me question whether I'd rather get caught in a shirt with a stain or in a shirt she didn't pick.' (I can't see any production allowing anything other than water in the wardrobe department anyway.)
There was quite a bit of clumsy writing that made me wonder why an editor didn't pick up on it, though perhaps I didn't read the final draft and am being overly harsh.
Some examples:
1.
There's one scene at a fancy dress party where everyone's come as London Tube stops. Josh is talking to someone and says:
'Yes, that's not too hard when that guy's carrying a can of beer and has got a dildo on his head, dressed as Cockfosters.'
This is weird and unrealistic dialogue and is clearly included only for the joke. But if it had been written this way, it could have done more:
'Yes, that's not too hard when you're competing with Cockfosters,' I say, nodding at a guy with a dildo on his head and carrying a can of beer.
2.
One part in the book went:
Yes, I think I saw. Congratulations,' I say, falling asleep listening to her.
That is a weird way to phrase it. Instead it could have been something like:
Yes, I think I saw,' I manage to wake myself up enough to say. 'Congratulations.'
And lastly, this isn't necessarily bad, but I wondered why the protagonist's mum didn't support her son's coin flipping. She was into horoscopes and other woo-woo stuff, and I'd have expected her to support her son following fate? Her support would have added extra conflict within the protagonist because he would then have to grapple with the fact that he was going along with something his mum believed in.
All in all, I would recommend this book to those who are avid romcom readers. If you dip in and out of the genre like I do, I'd say give this one a miss.