Let me start by saying that I had high expectations for this book. Due to the comparison's with David Nicholls writing, I had expected something as beautifully written as One Day. One of my favourite books of all times.
It's easy to understand the comparison initially because Max and Kate meet at university. They become instant friends. However, unlike the aforementioned novel they're not the only ones at centre stage. Max' whole family, the wealthy Rippons, are as well.
It took me around 50 pages to realise that this book is nothing like my much loved One Day. The plot is incredibly linear. I don't know if this is a thing in literary land, but it feels like everything is as it should be. As such, it's incredibly predictable. The friendship between Max and Kate was a fact from the moment they met without explanation on internal ruminations. It felt a bit too set in stone for my taste.
After graduation, Kate's whole life is turned upside down during a party at the Rippons. I really hope that the author has tackled all the heavy subjects such as rape, self-harm and suicide well. I can't comment on any of that, just know that there are quite a lot of mentions of these subjects.
The ending as a reveal I thought was incredibly strong and needed. It took me by surprise, which I'm happy about since it redeemed part of the novel for me.
Not enough to call it one of my favourite novels. I'm happy I persisted through to the end though, because I thought the second half was a bit stronger and less predictable than the first. It's still unfortunately a bit of a mediocre read in my opinion.
Many thanks to the publisher Random House UK, Vintage and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy!
2.5 stars
Statistics:
Date read: July 26, 2020
Date published: August 20, 2020
Publisher: Random House UK Vintage
Format: eBook
Pages: 384
Genre: Contemporary
My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1
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