3*
Although billed as a rom-com, this story belongs in the women’s lit genre, being more a journey of self-discovery than a second-chance romance. Georgina Horspool is having a bad day. First, she’s fired from her waitressing job at a crappy trattoria after taking the fall for her boss’s lousy food, then she walks in on her boyfriend having sex with his assistant. In desperation, she accepts a job at a newly-opened pub only to find that the co-owner is Lucas McCarthy, her first love from high school who she hasn’t seen in 12 years. For a girl who was voted “Most Likely to Go Far” in high school, it’s a mystery why, at 30, she is so underachieving. Her family sees her as a failure and Lucas doesn’t even remember her. The ex-boyfriend, a self-absorbed prick who fancies himself a great stand-up comic, gaslights and harasses her by using their relationship to promote his career. The one positive in her life is her group of friends, reminiscent of the dynamic in “Bridget Jones’ Diary.”
When Georgina hears about a writing competition taking place at the pub with the theme of “Sharing Your Shame,” she decides to enter as a way of kickstarting her writing career. In the final week, after confronting her ex and quitting her job when Lucas rejects her, admitting that he remembered her all along, she shares her “Worst Day at School”: the night of the prom when she made the mistake of going off with the Golden Boy and losing not only her innocence but also the boy she loves. It’s only when she’s finally able to share her story with her friends and family for the first time that she’s recognizes how that night derailed her life.
Aside from the lack of romance up until the final pages, the other major problem is the plethora of British references and slang that make it hard to understand much of Georgie’s internal monologue (ex., “…after my quitting the Kilner jar hipster hellmouth” and “Oh, I’m psychically disintegrating like wet bog roll draped around a tree for a student prank, I should see a counselor.”) Although sprinkled with humor, the story covers some heavy topics (sexual assault, emotional abuse, etc.) and disappoints with its lack of backstory details concerning Luke and Georgina’s relationship. If you go into it with eyes wide open, it’s a decent story, but still lacks the humor of Sophie Kinsella’s books to which it’s been compared.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from William Morrow Paperbacks through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
When Georgina hears about a writing competition taking place at the pub with the theme of “Sharing Your Shame,” she decides to enter as a way of kickstarting her writing career. In the final week, after confronting her ex and quitting her job when Lucas rejects her, admitting that he remembered her all along, she shares her “Worst Day at School”: the night of the prom when she made the mistake of going off with the Golden Boy and losing not only her innocence but also the boy she loves. It’s only when she’s finally able to share her story with her friends and family for the first time that she’s recognizes how that night derailed her life.
Aside from the lack of romance up until the final pages, the other major problem is the plethora of British references and slang that make it hard to understand much of Georgie’s internal monologue (ex., “…after my quitting the Kilner jar hipster hellmouth” and “Oh, I’m psychically disintegrating like wet bog roll draped around a tree for a student prank, I should see a counselor.”) Although sprinkled with humor, the story covers some heavy topics (sexual assault, emotional abuse, etc.) and disappoints with its lack of backstory details concerning Luke and Georgina’s relationship. If you go into it with eyes wide open, it’s a decent story, but still lacks the humor of Sophie Kinsella’s books to which it’s been compared.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from William Morrow Paperbacks through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
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