It's been a while since my last Book Club, three months to be exact. I'm excited to be back with another Book Club, even if it's only one book this month. Slowly but surely, I have emerged from an awful reading slump that seemed impossible to get out of. Looking on my Goodreads, I noticed that I've only read one book so far this year (well, two now) which is shocking.
As I said above, I only have one book to share with you this month as that's all I've read this month. But I still wanted to share something, it's been too long! This is a book that I have found to be a very heart-warming read. It's something that takes you away from the horrors of the world right now. Which is funny because my next read places you exactly in said horrors (you'll find out more next month).
The book I read this month is called The Flat Share. You may or may not have heard of it. The Flat Share is a novel about a woman called Tiffy who moves into a flat with a man called Leon. They share one bed, but they've never met: their lives revolve around very different schedules.
For the first few months of their relationship, they communicate through text messages and post-stick notes alone. It's a fun way to read the pairs' relationship blossom. Of course, you can tell from the very beginning that they're going to end up together but the journey to that point is fun, heart-warming and heart-breaking all at the same time.
We see the story from both Tiffy's and Leon's perspective and the two voices are very distinctive. I wasn't so sure of Leon's voice, I found it quite hard to get lost in the narrative during his chapters (although this did improve towards the end as I got used to it). Tiffy's chapters, however, I found myself easily melting into the storyline and the ways of the world.
Tiffy and Leon both have former flames to deal with, neither of which the author gave me any reason to like or feel sorry for. Especially Tiffy's ex-boyfriend, Justin, who is nothing short of evil and abusive. I feel the fear Tiffy feels when confronted by him, and he does not seem to get the hint even though he was the one who left Tiffy and made her feel worthless. Now suddenly he wants her all to himself again? Oh, hell no. This character was written well in my opinion, because boy did I hate him.
As for Leon's ex-girlfriend, Kay, whom he was still dating at the beginning of the book, I didn't know how to feel about her. On one hand, like I said, she wasn't very likeable. However, I sympathised with her. She was just a woman who clearly loved and cared for a man she couldn't get through to. Although I was rooting for Tiffy and Leon, I did feel sorry for Kay. I perhaps even felt like she deserved better. Her leaving felt a bit abrupt as well, we don't hear anything about her afterwards. I would like to know how she's doing.
Even though I found it hard to get into at the beginning due to my reading slump, I found that I was glued to it by the end. It was a beautiful, mostly happy story with a wonderful ending that filled my heart with joy. The abuse from Tiffy's ex-boyfriend was handled well, and I didn't find it too triggering to read.
Overall, I give this novel 5/5 stars.
Unfortunately, that's it for this month's Book Club. But I am planning on coming back with a bang next month when there will be even more wonderful books to share, that is my promise to you.
Until the next time,
Char.
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