Tag: book

After You by Jojo Moyes…

On By louiseIn Books, Lifestyle, Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment


Summer, holidays and a good book go hand in hand. There’s something about soaking up some sunshine with a book in hand or killing flight time immersed in a fabulous plot that’s just rather special. I love choosing which books to take with me, spending hours wrapped up in a storyline so gripping that for a moment nothing else matters. 

I’ve been a huge fan of Jojo Moyes for years and was literally about to burst with excitement when her latest offering, After You, hit our bookshelves. We happened to be Stateside when it was released and I made sure I picked up my copy from a local Target store. I already had another book on the go, so popped my latest treasure to the side until alas it was time to find out what happened next to Louisa Clark.

I’ll be honest, I was expecting great things from this book. My expectations were not just sky high, they were out of the universe and back. There must have been such a vast amount of pressure put on Jojo to write a successful follow up to critically acclaimed Me before You and it must have been quite terrifying for her. That being said, I wouldn’t say that this was quite what I was expecting. In some ways I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was definitely expecting something magical and sadly I’m not certain that this was sparkly enough. From the start I felt like Louisa was rather unfamiliar and I get it, she went through something life changing and she changed. I’m just not sure if it was entirely consistent with the Louisa that I felt I knew. The storyline itself also felt a bit odd and at first I really wasn’t sure of where it was going. The last one hundred or so pages were brilliant though and I loved being dragged through the trials of Lou’s life. I loved the new characters, the representation of the old ones too. I feel like the last one hundred pages were what I was expecting all along and I was once again in love.

Read it if:

  • You loved Me before You
  • You like a decent chick lit novel
  • You like something a bit different

Best bits:

  • The humour
  • The way the storyline unfolds towards the end
  • The characters

Worst bits:

  • It took a while to ‘get going’
  • Louisa seemed a little too different to me

Have you read After You? What did you think? What’s on your to-read list?
L x

Book review: Us by David Nicholls

On By louiseIn Books, Lifestyle, Uncategorized2 Comments


‘Us’, tells the story of Doug, his wife Connie and son Albie. Doug is a middle aged British man who finds himself in a situation when his wife Connie announces that she will be divorcing him after their family travelling holiday around Europe which they are having as Albie will be off to university after the summer.

I had such a funny relationship with this book. At times I couldn’t wait to delve further, discover more about this family and their life. At other times I felt like I could only read a couple of pages before my attention was averted. It took me a whopping two and a half months to read, and landed up coming to both Iceland and Florida as well as in my handbag when we moved house. Honestly, I was so glad last week when I finally managed to finish it and could start something new. I think it was partly because being a girl in her mid twenties, recently married and not pursuing a career in science, I didn’t really have much to relate to with the lead character, Doug. I also found that Connie was a bit annoying at times and didn’t relate to her either. I think that this is the main reason that I struggled with it. It is quite well written though and certainly wasn’t torturous enough to give up on. There are some truly humorous parts as well as some heart warming snippets and I really found myself routing for Connie and Doug to make it work.

Read it if:

  • You like a love story 
  • Enjoy a smidge of humour 
  • You like to be taken on a journey 

Best bits:

  • The way in which the story is told. It flips back and you slowly learn about Connie and Doug’s relationship and their past
  • The comedic value
  • Their journey through Europe

Worst bits:

  • I found Doug unrelatable
  • Connie is annoying 

Whilst I did enjoy ‘Us’ overall, I won’t be re reading it anytime soon. 

Have you read ‘Us’? What did you think? Have you read anything exciting recently?

L x