In all honesty I fully expected to work the final day of the year. In a weird twist of fate I’m off and have no plans. I’ve been out and about with my sister following a lazy morning, got a few bits I needed but nothing much. I would like to try and finish my book before the year is out although I’ve not done too much and ended up watching bits of old films with my sister. How do I not word for word remember Mean Girls… I had expected to be off tomorrow and to be alongside my Spurs family watching my beloved Tottenham Hotspur and having a few drinks with them.
My Spurs family are a great bunch and I’ve loved spending more time with them in 2022.
Met a legend at the Champions League night at Spurs. Love Ossie. Had met Gary before but never got a pic until this year.
I could add pics of this lot for days….
2022 saw the return of life in many ways Ronan finally went on tour and tour we did. With Ro aptly naming us the Frowers!!! His Front Rowers 🙂 best tour.
The best tour he’s done, setlist and everyone getting along such a fun time.
We also saw Westlife take on Wembley Stadium – I mean it meant I missed a Spurs game but what a gig we even ended up on the screens that showcased through the cinema so my colleagues saw my face on the screen ha. I mean I’ve also ended up on the TV at the football this year too.
We also finally got to see Top Gun: Maverick
2022 saw us return to Dymchurch- there hasn’t been as much running in my year as my foot has been so so but I did get a bit of a run in whilst I was away.
I really hope to get back to my Running as I miss it so much. May have to start couch to 5k again. I did discover Boxfit this year and I’m so glad to have punching back in my life. I need to get a routine back and fast but for the last day of the year I’m just embracing whatever and tomorrow I start over.
There was probably loads of amazing things I’m forgetting…like a few fun work nights out although probably some can be forgotten if that makes sense. Plus a whole bunch of theatre and football.
So this post has gone on long enough. I hope by this time next year I would have ran a lot more maybe even a Half Marathon that would be the dream. Right now I’m not even sure I could make the 5k and that saddens me.
I have to add this pic with the girls. More of this in 2023.
How have I not mentioned the Lioness’s they bloody won the Euros and I saw them beat the USA at Wembley.
Now this has been an interesting reading year. At times I’ve been so in love with my reading and at other points I’ve had no time or energy to read. It hasn’t been the greatest year of targets but that’s ok.
So how do I determine which books make this list and how many do I choose. Now some months have been better than others but I’m going to aim to list 12 books to represent the 12 months of the year.
This book I kept seeing everywhere before I picked it up. I had been to an author event where she mentioned it and I just kept seeing it absolutely everywhere. So it had to be done. I ordered a signed copy from Bert’s Books and loved every single second of this literary treat. What a stunning debut from Bobby Palmer I’m intrigued to see what’s next for him. You can read my review here. Now everyone who knows me will know that Sporty Spice has and always will be my absolute fave. I was itching for this read when I knew she had penned it, yet was also worried. Mel’s story isn’t the nicest and there were many tears as well as smiles. I listened to the audiobook so I could have my fave read to me and what a read it was. You can read my thoughts here. I adore Alex Scott even though she’s always been a red. I’ve loved her as a player and as a pundit. When I realised she would be reading it I had to listen to the audio and what an experience it’s been. Highs, lows tears and smiles…you can read my review here.This may well be a 2023 release which means I’ll be talking about it for a long time. It was one of my favourite reads of the year. I love a buddy read and one that spoke to me in so many volumes has to be included in my books of the year. Thank you Lucy for making me feel seen, heard and omg is he a collector? You can read my full gushing here.
There has been a few books that I’ve read and loved but for one reason or another I haven’t penned my thoughts yet….
I’m playing catch up where Angela is concerned and I listened to this one whilst I was away, this may well be my most favourite of the series. I mean that’s why I’ve not found the words right…This is a truly gorgeous A-Z and I can’t believe I haven’t given this proper justice. I love Will and he’s going through so much in his life yet he’s chosen to create something to help all of us. I will read this treat again. I got so much from it and I believe everyone needs to read this book. This one was recommended to me by a friend and what a read it was. I honestly haven’t the words to do it justice but it’s made me realise I need to get out and read more. Following reading this I added Fahrenheit 451 to my to be read pile. This was a very different Milly Johnson read but it captivated me from start to finish. You can read what I thought here. I love Bryony Gordon and this is her Young Adult offering – yet it still spoke to me in so many ways about society and our perceptions and how flawed they can be, and what we can do to change that. You can read my review here.SJ from Simon & Schuster sent me this beauty, it arrived as I was packing for my trip to the seaside and naturally it came with me. Sharon created a story that whisked me away in one of the most breathtaking ways and you can read my thoughts here. Lindsey Kelk writes such effortless novels and this festive Groundhog Day was a mood in so many ways. It made me think about and appreciate so many things about the big day. Including that not everyone enjoys it and that’s ok. You can read my thoughts here. One of the few blog tour reads of this year and what an absolute treat. I adore Catherine Bennetto but this subject matter resonated with me threefold and you can read my thoughts here.
A few final thoughts…next year not only do I want to read more, I also want to review every single thing I read. So that when I create this post next year there will be a review for all no matter how hard it is to write. Like this year they’ll no doubt not only be 2023 books as my to be read pile is forever growing. I also aim to get more classic books read. I love them and I need to make more time for them…can I get one more book finished by the end of tomorrow let’s see eh.
On Tuesday after finishing that days blog post I was sat listening to my audiobook, drinking my coffee and thinking of blog content. In doing so I started thinking about Wandering Wednesday’s – this was a meme I created that looked at travel whether that was through books, theatre or just travelling itself. I haven’t posted one in a while but in looking back it had me reminiscent.
Today I think I’m going to share a few of these posts as two of them brought back so many memories for me. Up first I’m going to take you to Ireland – the child in me finally got to kiss the Blarney Stone although I cannot tell you what I wished for as I honestly don’t remember. You can read that post here.
The next post I will share with you takes you back to the 1930s and you can read that here.
My old blog was called Hayleyslilworld until I stopped using it thanks to trolls. I loved this post I wrote about Pierrefonds in France you can read that one here. This was one of my favourite travel things to document. In finding this I found myself scrolling back through my old blog. I really did write about all number of things on there…
Let me know what you’d like to see on these Throwback Thursdays….
During a deadly snowstorm, Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. Evacuated from a secluded boarding school, her coach careered off the road, trapping her with a handful of survivors.
Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She’s in a cable car stranded high above snowy mountains, with five strangers and no memory of how they got on board.
Carter is gazing out of the window of an isolated ski chalet that he and his companions call home. As their generator begins to waver in the storm, the threat of something lurking in the chalet’s depths looms larger.
Outside, the storm rages. Inside one group, a killer lurks. But which one? And who will make it out alive?
Before I share my thoughts…I’m going to share the extract that I read.
The Drift by C J Tudor
The Earth is Full of Dead Good Guys
Hannah
A watch alarm was beeping. Someone was being sick. Loudly, close by. Several people were sprawled at odd, impossible angles over the uprooted coach seats. Blood pooled in eyes and dripped from gaping mouths. Hannah noted this dispassionately, clinically. Her father’s nature kicking in, her mother would have said. Always able to detach. Sometimes, this lack of emotional empathy made life difficult. Other times, like now, that side was useful. She unclipped her seatbelt and eased herself out of her seat. Wearing the belt had probably saved her life when the coach tipped over. It had rolled twice down a steep slope, causing most of the carnage, and then come to rest softly, propped half on its side, embedded in a snowdrift. She hurt. Bruises, scrapes, but nothing seemed to be broken. No massive bleeding. Of course, she could have internal injuries. Impossible to know for sure. But for now, in this immediate moment, she was okay. Or as okay as she could be. Others were moving. Hannah could hear groans, crying. The hurler had stopped, for now. She looked around the coach, assessing. There were a dozen students on board. They hadn’t really needed such a big coach, but it was what the Academy had provided. Of the students, she’d say almost half were dead (mostly those who hadn’t bothered with their seatbelts). There was something else, Hannah thought, as she took in the scene. A problem she hadn’t fully comprehended yet. Snowstorm outside, coach tipped over and half buried in a drift. What was it? Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice shouting: ‘Hey. HEY! Can someone help over here? My sister, she’s trapped.’ Hannah turned. At the back of the coach an overweight young man with a mass of dark curls was crouched over an injured girl, cradling her head on his lap. Hannah hesitated. She told herself she was just gathering her wits, preparing. Not that she was hoping someone else would move forward, step up, so she didn’t have to. She didn’t like close physical or emotional contact. But no one else was in any fit state to help, and as she had medical knowledge, it was her duty. She started to move forward, awkwardly, stumbling her way along the lopsided gangway, stepping over bodies. She reached the man and his sister. Straight away, she could tell, as they said in the movies, that the girl wasn’t going to make it. This had nothing to do with the stuff Hannah had learned in the classroom during her medical training. That was just a plain, honest gut reaction. Hannah was pretty sure the girl’s brother knew it too, but he was clinging to hope, as people do in these situations, because it was all they had. The girl was pretty, with pale skin and thick, wavy, dark hair. The sort of hair Hannah had always wished she’d been blessed with, instead of the fine, mousy strands that she could never do anything with and always ended up yanking back into an untidy ponytail. Hannah realized it was probably odd to feel envy when the girl was dying, but human nature was unpredictable. The girl’s eyes were glazed, her breath short and wheezy. Hannah could see that her left leg was trapped beneath two coach seats that had been forced together in the crash. A mess of mangled metal and crushed bone; she probably had multiple fractures. But the blood loss was the real problem, and that was before you got to the wheezy hitch of the girl’s breathing, which made Hannah think she could have other, less visible, injuries. Those were the ones that would get you. The British princess – Diana – had died from a small tear in the vein of her lung that no one knew was slowly, fatally, bleeding out. ‘We need to get her leg free,’ the man was saying. ‘Can you help me move this seat?’ Hannah looked at the seat. She could tell him that it wouldn’t make any difference. She could tell him that the best he could do would be to stay here with his sister for however long she had left. But she remembered her father telling her: ‘In extreme situations, feeling like you are doing something makes a difference psychologically, even if it has no effect on the outcome.’ She shook her head. ‘We can’t move the seat yet.’ ‘Why?’ ‘It may be the only thing stopping that leg from bleeding out more than it is.’ ‘Then what?’ ‘Are you wearing a belt?’ ‘Err, yeah.’ ‘I need you to take it off and make a tourniquet here, above the knee. Then we can try to move the seat, right?’ ‘Okay.’ He looked dazed, but nonetheless fumbled beneath his coat to take off his belt. His stomach spilt over his jeans. His sister stared up, lips moving but unable to force words out. Every effort concentrated on fighting the pain, sucking in those vital gasps of oxygen. ‘You look a little young for a doctor,’ the man said, handing her the belt. ‘Medical student.’ ‘Ah, right.’ He nodded. ‘One of Grant’s.’ The Academy did not specialize in medicine. Generally, it specialized in parents rich enough to buy their offspring an obscenely expensive college education. But a few years ago it had been chosen by the Department as the location for a new medical research centre. An extra wing had been built and Professor Grant, one of the world’s leading virologists, installed to oversee the development. Now, brilliant young students from around the world were selected to study at the isolated mountaintop campus. ‘Wrap the belt around here,’ Hannah instructed. ‘Pull really, really tight. Okay. Good.’ The girl groaned a little, but that was a good sign. If she was still conscious enough to feel discomfort, her brain hadn’t started shutting down yet. ‘It’s okay,’ the man whispered into the girl’s hair, tucking some of his own dark mane behind his ear. ‘S’okay.’ ‘Right,’ Hannah said. ‘Let’s try and lift this.’ The man laid his sister’s head gently down and joined Hannah in trying to heave up the coach seat. It was no good. It creaked and gave a little, but not enough. They needed another person. Two to lift. One to pull the girl’s leg out from underneath the twisted metal. Hannah could hear more voices, movement around the coach, people coming to, ascertaining whether their companions were still alive, or not. She turned and yelled: ‘Hey, we need a hand here! Can someone help?’ ‘Kind of busy over here,’ one smart Alec from further up the coach replied. But then a tall, slim figure stood and made his way towards them. Pale, short blond hair, matted on one side with blood. It looked bad, but Hannah knew that even small headwounds bled like bastards. ‘You called?’ His voice was cultured, with a slight German accent. ‘We need some help lifting this chair so we can free her leg,’ Hannah said. The blond man looked at the girl, then back at Hannah, and she saw the cool appraisal in his eyes. She shook her head slightly and he nodded, understanding. ‘Right then. Heft-ho!’ Hannah allowed the two men to do the lifting while she eased the girl’s leg out from underneath the seats. It took a couple of attempts, but finally, the leg was free. The girl’s brother moved his sister to a slightly more comfortable position, whipped off his jacket and placed it underneath her head. Beneath his coat, he was wearing a baggy sweatshirt that read: Excuse me for a moment while I overthink this. Weird, Hannah thought, the small stuff you noticed. She felt a hand touch her arm and turned back to the blond-haired man. Aryan, Hannah thought. He’d look at home in lederhosen and a hat with a feather in it. ‘How many do you think are dead?’ he asked. ‘Four or five – others may be injured.’ He glanced at the girl and nodded. ‘D’you remember what happened?’ Hannah tried to think. She had been sitting on the coach, dozing. It was snowing heavily outside. A horn blare. A squeal of brakes and suddenly they were swerving off the road, rolling and rolling, and then blackness. Crazy that they had even tried to make the journey in this storm, but the Academy had been eager to get the students out to the Retreat. To safety. ‘Not much,’ she admitted. She looked around the coach again. Her eyes skirted over the bodies, the people sitting around, moaning, crying. She was trying to recall what she had missed before. The coach had landed, tilted on its right-hand side. From where Hannah stood, looking up the coach towards the driver’s cab, the windows on her left were intact, facing up towards the darkening sky. Snow whisked around in lacy sheets, large flakes already beginning to settle. The worst of the damage was on the right: crushed metal, smashed glass. That entire side of the coach was buried in a thick drift, meaning… The door, she thought. The door is buried. We can’t get out. ‘We’re trapped,’ she said. The blond man nodded, as if pleased she had reached the same conclusion. ‘Although, even if we could get out, we wouldn’t last for long in these conditions.’ ‘What about the emergency exit?’ Hannah asked. ‘I have already tried that…it appears to be jammed.’ ‘What?’ The man took her elbow and guided her a little way along the coach. On their left, three steps led to the toilet and another door. A sign above it read: IN EMERGENCY PULL RED HANDLE. PUSH DOOR TO EXIT. The blond man pulled at the handle and pushed at the door. It didn’t give. He stepped aside and gestured for Hannah to attempt it. She did. Several times, in increasing frustration. The door was stuck firm. ‘Shit,’ she cursed. ‘How?’ ‘Who knows? Perhaps it was damaged in the crash?’ ‘Wait –’ Hannah remembered something. ‘Shouldn’t there be a hammer on board, to break the windows?’ ‘Correct. That is the other conundrum.’ Hannah frowned. ‘What d’you mean?’ The man stepped back and pointed towards a case mounted just above the windows on their left. Where the hammer should be there was an empty space. ‘There should be another up here, for the skylights.’ He gestured towards the roof. ‘That has also been removed.’ Hannah’s head spun. ‘But why?’ The blond man smiled without humour. ‘Who knows? Maybe some Arschgeige stole them for a prank. Maybe no one checked this coach before it left –’ He let the sentence hang. ‘We need to call for help,’ Hannah said, trying to batten down the panic. Which was when the other realization hit. ‘Our phones.’ All phones had been confiscated when the students boarded and stowed away with the luggage. No communication en route. No one must know where they were going. Hannah stared at the blond man. No way to call for help. No way of knowing how long it might take for rescue to come. How long until they were missed? And even then, who would come to their aid in this storm? She glanced back out of the windows, looking towards the sky. Already snow was piling up, cutting out the faint grey light. They were trapped. With the dead. And if rescue didn’t come soon, they would be buried with them.
My Thoughts: What a thrilling opening chapter…C J Tudor has set the scene in the most chilling of ways leaving so many unanswered questions in the opening pages. I loved The Chalk Man and I loved The Burning Girls. So when I saw this extract was available ahead of the release I was itching to read and I’m so glad to have… this thriller is going to be a rollercoaster read and I’m looking forward to getting back on this coach to see how it plays out….I’m definitely going to look into pre-ordering this treat. I’m pretty sure that Waterstones have a signed copy too.
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 out of a love of lists. In January of 2018 we decided it was time to close our doors. It was then moved to That Artsy Reader Girl here. It came from a love of lists, books and a desire to bring bookish people together.
Today’s instalment is most recent additions to my book collection.
This is a series of short stories I started this on 23rd December I had thought I would have finished it on Christmas Eve as these are short but I did not have the time. I should complete today. This is another collection of short stories – this has 12 to be precise. I purchased this mainly as Ruth Ware has a story in it, and there are other authors I’ve wanted to read for a while. I am on the fourth story which is by an author I’ve wanted to read. I’m on the blog tour for this gorgeous debut in January. Having listened to Rebecca read from this I honestly cannot wait to dive into this one. Another gorgeous Simon & Schuster blog tour read for January….starting my reading year well I hope. This book starts from Boxing Day so I started reading it on Boxing Day. Christina Lauren are such a treat to read and how it’s taken me so long to read this one I’ll never know. I’m only a few chapters in but soo many feels. I’m off today so when I’m not finishing the audiobook I will be reading this. Theo and Mae have had me on tenderhooks already. I have the latest one of this so naturally I need to start where it begins. So this will be one of my next purchases. This is a January release I’ve read two of C J Tudor’s novels and I’m about to read a sampler of this one…I’ve seen so much about this one that I’m now intrigued….this has been added to my GoodReads I don’t own it yet. Another one from the Simon & Schuster event. I really enjoyed the first Sharon Gosling book I read and this sounds ace. I need to start Christmas books earlier. I would like to try and get this one read as a Heidi Swain novel is a hug in literary form.
Another fabulous Top Ten Tuesday list. Let’s see how many reads I can finish in the last few days of 2022.
Summary: A soul-stirring new musical conceived by New York Timesbest-selling novelist Jodi Picoult and playwright Timothy Allen McDonald, Breathe places listeners inside the walls of five homes during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Filled with songs and vignettes that examine new relationships, rekindling flames, parenting, racial reckoning, and grief during a pandemic, this incredibly timely world premiere—written and produced online in 2020 in real-time as events unfolded—reflects the very topics that weighed on the hearts and minds of Americans. Featuring heartwarming music from five different songwriting teams—Rebecca Murillo and Rob Rokicki, Daniel Mertzlufft and Kate Leonard, Doug Besterman and Sharon Vaughn, Douglas Lyons and Ethan Pakchar, and Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich—and mindblowing performances from Broadway’s top talent—Tony Award® winners Kelli O’Hara, Brian Stokes-Mitchell and Matt Doyle, Tony nominee Denée Benton, powerhouses Patti Murin, Colin Donnell, T. Oliver Reid, Daniel Yearwood, Max Clayton, Rubén J. Carbajal, and Josh Davis— Breathe is a powerfully touching production that shines a glimmering light on the reality of adjusting to a virtual world.
My Thoughts: I saw Jodi Picoult tweet about this and I was instantly intrigued. Jodi is an author I love ever since reading The Storyteller and Small Great Things to name two of her novels that have stayed with me. You can read some of my other thoughts on Jodi here and here.
Now the pandemic was something none of us had ever experienced and hopefully something we never go through again.
It’s mad to think that I’ve read a lockdown inspired book and now have listened to a musical based on covid 19. This audible musical was an unexpected treat – what it made me think of was how grateful certain aspects of the pandemic made us. Jodi and Co have created a new musical with fantastic music that really reminds me of a one off show or an off west end show.
We meet a number of people who are going about life and understanding the changes that covid 19 brought to us. From working from home, juggling home schooling kids, new relationships feeling strained and one night stands ending up in quarantine. It has really funny elements and elements of calm and seriousness of what the pandemic caused.
This was a diverse read that mentioned the element of Racial prejudice and I think this was handled well and with care.
Breathe is a two hour musical that is included in the Audible subscription. A rare treat even though it fully focuses on a time we would all like to forget. I must say I truly loved the music.
Whether you are working or getting into the festivities I hope that today treats you well. I’m working today and I’ve never minded working Christmas Eve it’s always a more chilled day – well we hope. By the time I get home they’ll be an array of Sausage Rolls, Cocktail Sausages and stuff ready for me to gorg on. The only downside is they won’t still be pipping hot but that’s ok.
Christmas time always makes me reflect good and bad and I’m not gunna lie I’ve felt a tad emotional today. This morning I was lucky enough to see all my nieces and nephew and to exchange our secret Santa. My bro actually came through – I haven’t taken a pic yet so that will come later. My work secret Santa was also a treat this is what I was gifted.
I’ve still never tried the orange Baileys so I’m itching to sample that.
I met up with my bestie this week and we watched The Polar Express which was glorious. Such a beautiful festive film. I was gifted a holiday – I cannot wait to go back to Salou one of my happy places.
So I’ve done very well already. What’s been on the blog this week?
I wasn’t sure I could do Seven Exes justice but the response I got from Lucy Vine gave me all the feels and more. You can read that post here.
Next up was a Throwback Thursday post I’ve really enjoyed these. Do let me know what you would like to hear? You can read that one here.
I listened to What Fresh Hell this week as I needed more Lucy Vine in my life. And I almost instantly penned my thoughts and you can read them here.
I still have a whole host of festive reading to try and get to. I started listening to this yesterday and I should finish it tonight.
As a child I loved Enid Blyton – these short stories are full of such Christmas warmth…
There wasn’t that much on the blog but I’m happy with what I’ve shared. Over this evening and tomorrow I hope to get some reading in – so let’s see what the next week looks like on the blog ha. I do have an audible musical post coming soon so watch this space.
Happy Christmas all I hope you have a fantastic time. I know this isn’t always the best time for all but what I will say is don’t be alone reach out where possible. As there is always someone waiting to give a kind word or a cuddle.
Blurb: What do you get if you cross a dozen drunk hens with one shiny Butler in the Buff?
Meet Lilah Fox. She’s on the hen do from hell. Then she gets a message (44 of them, actually) from her best friend with big news: she’s getting married in six months. Oh, and Lilah’s her maid of honour. Which means she just got signed up for:
– A military schedule of wedding fairs and weekly planning meetings
– Excel spreadsheets and endless hen emails
– All the enforced, expensive fun you can imagine…
What fresh hell is this?
Review: Following reading Seven Exes which is Lucy’s latest novel which isn’t out until next year. I was left wanting more of Lucy’s trademark wit and raw entertainment. Lucy makes me feel seen but she also gives me so much in forms of entertainment and understanding. We all need to know that it’s not just us who feel like life’s turning to shit or a guy has made us doubt our own existence and self esteem.
Lilah Fox is the friend we all need and the gumption we all need a little bit more of. I loved every single second of this journey with her. From the off I adored her but seeing her grow and change was empowering. Lilah starts off being a bit of a yes person someone who is so scared of missing out she says yes to absolutely everything even though it’s not making her happy at all.
On paper Lilah has it all, a good job, a nice home that she shares with her boyfriend Will and a good friendship group who keep her busy. The majority of this novel focuses on Lilah going to a number of weddings, being that yes girl and not wanting to miss out. Yet alongside the humour at laughing at the drama of it all she starts to lose a bit of herself. This is where we see an empowered Lilah rewrite her own story, not settling with life in anyway shape or form. This turning point of change will have you thinking of your own life experiences and wondering what you can do to change it.
What I notice with Lucy Vine novels is not only are you in for a romp of a read with lots of laddette culture, which I absolutely love and the odd penis reference to name a few, you will also find a friendship group of ladies who will well and truly claim your heart.
Lilah, Lauren and Joely are the best bunch – they all have their own unique spark which is why they are friends and why the dynamic works so well. Without any actual spoilers the scene where they make peace will actually have you laughing so hard and feeling such a rush of love for the trio.
What Fresh Hell is a rollercoaster read in seeing a woman change her own story, we all need to feel empowered and this has definitely left me empowered. Lilah is a force to be reckoned with and if I can bring some of her spark to my 2023 then I’ll be flying high on all cylinders. I have one Lucy Vine left her debut novel Hot Mess which I’ve had on my kindle for forever but once that’s done I’ll be well and truly spent 😦
Happy Thursday, I shan’t keep asking as these throwbacks seem to be popular here at Hayley Reviews. Granted as much as I’ve loved creating these posts it’s also kind of daunting working out where to go ha. I did say maybe I’ll start a few just on me but not this week ha. I’m not that brave right now…so I was looking back through the archives and last December was a bad blogging month I don’t think there was any content.
So I’m throwing it back to December 2020 thanks to the pandemic I read a whole bunch and was able to fit in a lot of buddy reading too. I honestly love reading alongside Catriona we share a lot of the same loves and there are certain authors that are go too’s for us both.
The post I’ve delved back into is about Debut authors that I discovered in 2020 and you can read that post here.
I would love to know what you would like to see from these posts.
Blurb: Esther is out with her two friends, bemoaning her lack of relationship, when she finds a magazine from the noughties. Seeking comfort – and a laugh – she turns to the dating advice only to find an article that feels a little too close to home. According to the journalist, there are seven people a woman will date before finding the one:
The First Love, The Work Mistake, The Friend with Benefits, The Overlap, The Missed Chance, The Bastard and The Serious One.
Her friends laugh but Esther realises each of her exes fits these roles perfectly. Deciding that she’s mistaken her true love in the reject pile she decides to contact each of her exes to find out which is the one that got away…
Review: I’m going to warn you there is going to be lots of gushing in this review, and whether I can do it the justice it deserves I’ll never know.
Back in November I attended the Simon & Schuster blogger event where Lucy read from Seven Exes. I was like a kid at Christmas when I found a copy in my goodie bag. Right there and then myself and Catriona decided it would be our Buddy read for December and we started it on 1st December. I’ve previously loved the novels of Lucy’s that I’ve read, with Are We Nearly There Yet? and Bad Choices and I believe they were both Buddy reads. I have Hot Mess but haven’t read it yet although I need to rectify that.
From the off I fell in love with Esther she’s fun and she’s real in so many ways. Moaning of her lack of relationship whilst drinking Esther comes across a magazine article that starts the chain of events. The article seems far too close to home when each of the choices of men remind her of her exes which sparks the quest.
What I love about Lucy is she writes such relatable content although at times during this novel I was like have I found myself a collector. So I can’t be the only one who like Esther was thinking of guys past and present in my life. Just from the blurb it’ll have you thinking oh no what will this trigger. As ever Lucy manages to make you wistful yet also let’s you escape into Esther’s world. This is such a humorous tale of the world of dating and the matters of the heart. What I truly loved though was the female friendships and how our friends help shape us. Although like Esther I’ve often asked for advice and gone against it. We all learn in our own way and in some instances we have to simply see it for ourselves.
Lucy’s style of writing makes it so easy to just keep reading. I always love the changes in font though, that of messages, emails etc it makes it so easy on the eye and breaks up the text. I loved getting to know each guy and seeing what they brought to the table…Esther changed throughout and I really enjoyed being on this emotional rollercoaster with her.
There’s so much more I want to say but I also cannot without spoiling the story. There are a few bumps along the way that will keep you guessing and keep you reading. Seven Exes is one of my favourite books of 2022 and it’s not even released until 2023. Every single woman needs to read this book, you’ll feel completely seen but also heard.
Lucy Vine can do no wrong in my eye. Time to read one of the ones I’m missing. I may have started listening to What Fresh Hell and once again I’m feeling seen.
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