I actually ‘started’ this review about a month ago, or
intended to until I got a little too into my research of the author, got
majorly distracted and then kind of just forgot about the initial post
altogether…but I think that’s a pretty good excuse, and speaks volumes of Lucy
Robinson before I’ve even started the review!
Lucy Robinson is the ultimate ‘cool girl’ in the
reading/writing society. Starting out as a blogger for Marie Claire, her
hilarious accounts of Internet dating quickly propelled her to huge success and
she landed a publishing deal to write a novel. Can you tell I kind of wish I
was her a little bit yet?
Her first novel The
Greatest Love Story of All Time was recommended to me by my sister. I was
in desperate need of some light reading in the interim between 2nd
and (groan) final year - with the full works of Christopher Marlowe plus all 16th
Century literature ever WRITTEN looming over me, I was keen to read something I
could actually CHOOSE for once.
Now I’m not a reading snob in any way, but I have to admit
labels such as ‘Women’s Fiction’ and ‘Young Adult’ have been known to put me
off in the past. I don’t know if it’s because of the stereotypes or the thought
that the genre overcomes the quality of writing when labelled like that, but
whatever it is I realise if I want to widen my horizons past anything pre-1980s
I should probably learn to live in peace with these little labels. This novel
did in fact completely turn my expectation of certain genres on its head –
hilarious, clever, addictive, and pretty unpredictable are some of the words
that spring to mind that I just wasn’t expecting (sorry Lucy). To be honest, if
I’d read her blog before I would’ve gone into it with much higher expectations –
but being pleasantly surprised is always part of the fun isn’t it?
The novel follows the attempts of Bridget Jones-esque Fran to
keep her life together after the love of her life breaks up with her. Fran
herself is incredibly endearing, the classic modern-day damsel in distress who
always gets it ever so slightly wrong, and can never handle it gracefully. It
may sound obvious, but one of the best things about this book is the characters – they are so utterly
believable and relatable, and can be conjured up instantly in my mind as if
they were my close friends (I wish). There’s sexy man-eater Leonie, crazy but endlessly
caring Stefania, and no-nonsense rough-around-the-edges Dave (who you will fall
a teensy bit in love with I gurantee). Each character is perfectly developed - you
know what they’re going to say next, not in a predictable storyline way, in a I’ve-known-them-all-my-life
way. I gave the book to my best friend for her holiday and received daily texts
referring to herself as Leonie and pointing out similarities – that’s how real
the characters become.
I think this quality directly leads to the addictiveness of
the book – at risk of being too clichéd, I literally could NOT put it down. I developed
some sort of constantly conflicted and confused mental state where I was desperately
torn between wanting to grab it at every free second and wanting to prolong it
as long as possible for fear of losing all my new bezzies and actually finding
out what would happen. Ok….a little dramatic maybe, but they do say the sign
of a good book is feeling a loss once it’s
over, and that’s exactly how I felt. I actually regretted reading it in 3
sittings – something I’ve been programmed to do at uni.
It wasn’t just the characters that I missed reading about
and lolling at - the writing style is so friendly, so casual and inclusive that
I felt I was becoming friends with Lucy herself. Being an experienced
journalist and blogger for quite some time now, Lucy has an edge over other
writers in the genre – she’s funny without it being obvious, she’s
knowledgeable about people’s way of speaking and manages to make it realistic
without becoming bland – quite a feat I think. There is no try-hard aspect to
the writing, but there is a definite undertone that really expresses her
talented journalistic style.
This book is not going to change your life, it is not a
philosophical masterpiece, but it is a really cute, fun read that you will
devour in about 3 days and won’t want to put down, even when it’s finished. And
even better, one you won’t know the ending to by chapter two. Lucy’s newest book – A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger is absolute top of
my reading list – once I’ve emerged from a pile of 16th Century
plays and political documents that is….
Greed Satisfaction Scale: As I said, I quite literally devoured this book like the boy with the chocolate cake in Matilda, it filled me up and left me feeling perfectly satisfied for the rest of the day. Warning: extremely addictive (again much like chocolate cake) and you won't be able to resist gobbling it all up in as little time as you possibly can.
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