The Shape of Us by Drew Davies
Published by Bookouture
Publication Date: 27th November 2018
Genre: Womens Fiction/Humour
327 pages
My thanks to publisher Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel, a quirky new take on love in the 21st century.
My thanks to publisher Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel, a quirky new take on love in the 21st century.
Book Description:
If you read one book this year, make it this hilarious and emotional novel about love, loss and second chances. Fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Note and Jojo Moyes will be utterly charmed by this unique love story.
If you read one book this year, make it this hilarious and emotional novel about love, loss and second chances. Fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Note and Jojo Moyes will be utterly charmed by this unique love story.
One day in London…Daisy is rushing to work when a stranger on a bicycle almost knocks her over – and then asks for her number.
Dylan, a teenage boy, lives with an illness which means he can’t leave his bedroom – but which hasn’t stopped him from falling hopelessly in love.
JoJo, a wife in her sixties, is trying desperately to win her beloved husband back from his mistress.
Adam has recently lost his job and lies to his housemate about where he goes every day.
Drew Davies was born in London and grew up in New Zealand. He attended the Unitec School of Performing Arts in Auckland and won a Playmarket New Zealand Young Playwright of the Year award in 2000. After a brief stint on a kiwi soap, he has worked in Search for the past 15 years. Drew’s other claim to fame is that Stephen Fry once called him droll. Either that, or he got his name wrong. He now lives in Wanstead, London. The Shape of Us is his first romantic comedy.
Dylan, a teenage boy, lives with an illness which means he can’t leave his bedroom – but which hasn’t stopped him from falling hopelessly in love.
JoJo, a wife in her sixties, is trying desperately to win her beloved husband back from his mistress.
Adam has recently lost his job and lies to his housemate about where he goes every day.
These four total strangers – whose paths cross in the charming city of London – have one thing in common. They are all lonely souls looking for love. But what are the chances of them actually finding it?
An absolutely unputdownable, uplifting and unforgettable book-club read for anyone who has ever made a mistake, been broken-hearted, or waited by their phone for it to ring.
My Review:
Traditional 'Once upon a time' and 'They all live happily ever after' love story this is not. Quirky, contemporary and intriguing is more apt. To be honest, I could easily have enjoyed each of the four people's stories as a separate novella, but the author has woven their lives together rather cleverly into one great book leading to an ending I wasn't expecting.
Early on I found this tale a little confusing at times as I wasn't always sure which of our characters I was reading about in the opening sentences of each chapter. This pretty much forms a pattern through the book and in a strange kind of way I came to accept this as the norm and soon settled in to the style of writing. The clearest chapters were those describing Adam in his often comedic life pretending to be an employee at Mercer and Daggen and also young Dylan, struggling with chronic fatigue syndrome alongside falling headlong for his therapist Janelle. These two were probably my favourite characters as they each tackled difficult situations in life in their own inimitable ways. This isn't to take anything away from Daisy and JoJo, but I felt their stories were the more ordinary tales of relationships among those presented here and I felt they weren't as strong - probably due to the quirkiness of the other stories rather than any weakness in the ladies' characters or storylines.
All told this book is a really enjoyable look at relationships and how love is different for every one of us, how every relationship starts in its own way and takes its own path depending on the people involved. There is no rule book which works for everyone, each couple having to find their own boundaries in a world constantly trying to impose an image of what 'should' be.
The cover of the book led me to think that this was going to be very chick lit market orientated, but I found it to have far more depth than your average women's fiction read. Quite thought provoking, and a little sad in places if you like a slightly quirky, step away from the norm book then this is one for you.
Buy your copy here:
Early on I found this tale a little confusing at times as I wasn't always sure which of our characters I was reading about in the opening sentences of each chapter. This pretty much forms a pattern through the book and in a strange kind of way I came to accept this as the norm and soon settled in to the style of writing. The clearest chapters were those describing Adam in his often comedic life pretending to be an employee at Mercer and Daggen and also young Dylan, struggling with chronic fatigue syndrome alongside falling headlong for his therapist Janelle. These two were probably my favourite characters as they each tackled difficult situations in life in their own inimitable ways. This isn't to take anything away from Daisy and JoJo, but I felt their stories were the more ordinary tales of relationships among those presented here and I felt they weren't as strong - probably due to the quirkiness of the other stories rather than any weakness in the ladies' characters or storylines.
All told this book is a really enjoyable look at relationships and how love is different for every one of us, how every relationship starts in its own way and takes its own path depending on the people involved. There is no rule book which works for everyone, each couple having to find their own boundaries in a world constantly trying to impose an image of what 'should' be.
The cover of the book led me to think that this was going to be very chick lit market orientated, but I found it to have far more depth than your average women's fiction read. Quite thought provoking, and a little sad in places if you like a slightly quirky, step away from the norm book then this is one for you.
Buy your copy here:
Amazon: http://geni.us/B07GXM5ZB7Social
AppleBooks: http://ow.ly/O0NC30mKKCg
Kobo: http://ow.ly/ylmO30mKKFH
Googleplay: http://ow.ly/yeh530mKKKn
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