bepettiford's review against another edition
1.0
Do yourself a favor and don't read this book. In fact don't read any of her books. You'll only be disappointed. I know I was.
librariann's review against another edition
A slightly more serious entry into the chick lit genre. Girl meets Boy is a (moderately) successful dating agency, with Holly, an energetic 29 year old at its head. When a date to make her still-living-with-her ex Nick jealous turns into rape, Holly's life spirals.
sharonfalduto's review against another edition
A young, optimistic woman who runs a dating agency has her world torn apart by a man gone wrong. This novel explores the havoc that is wreaked on her relationships with family and friends, as well as the changes in her own personality. The book unfolded in a twisty way, making it unpredictable and a good read.
amberleila's review against another edition
1.0
TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE/ SEXUAL ABUSE
I’m sorry, I have to DNF this book for my mental health.
Spoilers ahead.
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Within the first few chapters of this book, the main character, Holly (who runs a dating agency) is raped by the man she asked to a business party. Through a series of roundabout occurrences and alcohol intake, they wind up back at her place, where he begins aggressively kissing her and making it known that sex is at the forefront of his mind.
All of her protests are ignored and he proceeds to rape her in the middle of her kitchen floor.
Pretty startling to the beginning of what you may think is a cute romance, right?
As we continue, all we see Holly do is pair off completely inappropriate couples in her dating service, and wallow in the losses of her ex-fiancé. (With whom, SHE ended the relationship, and whom SHE asked to move out.) She constantly mopes and reminisces about the incredible times she had during her engagement and how, seemingly, it was only petty, trivial things that lead to her calling it off.
Briefly, the characters are incredibly unloveable. Hell, they’re not even like-able, or even tolerable. They’re boring, whiny, and exceptionally stupid. I found myself dreading my reading sessions with this book, and so I can’t take in another moment with Holly or her rapist, or her ex.
I’m sorry, I have to DNF this book for my mental health.
Spoilers ahead.
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Within the first few chapters of this book, the main character, Holly (who runs a dating agency) is raped by the man she asked to a business party. Through a series of roundabout occurrences and alcohol intake, they wind up back at her place, where he begins aggressively kissing her and making it known that sex is at the forefront of his mind.
All of her protests are ignored and he proceeds to rape her in the middle of her kitchen floor.
Pretty startling to the beginning of what you may think is a cute romance, right?
As we continue, all we see Holly do is pair off completely inappropriate couples in her dating service, and wallow in the losses of her ex-fiancé. (With whom, SHE ended the relationship, and whom SHE asked to move out.) She constantly mopes and reminisces about the incredible times she had during her engagement and how, seemingly, it was only petty, trivial things that lead to her calling it off.
Briefly, the characters are incredibly unloveable. Hell, they’re not even like-able, or even tolerable. They’re boring, whiny, and exceptionally stupid. I found myself dreading my reading sessions with this book, and so I can’t take in another moment with Holly or her rapist, or her ex.
pepper1133's review against another edition
3.0
Good overall, but it dragged in places and probably could have stood to be at least 150 pages shorter than it was.
lauren_salsa's review against another edition
2.0
Ugh, I really like Maxted's books as she's the master of jaw-dropping surprises and dark-tinted chick lit. They're sooo addicting especially since her characters are either making achingly bad decisions or plot bombs are dropping in every chapter. But I just couldn't make it through this book.
The main problem? It was surprisingly hard to follow. Not in terms of the plot but just that I couldn't follow the main character's train of thought at all. It's written in first person but it somehow manages to come across as a stream-of-consciousness writing style. A typical paragraph felt like, "I was talking to Claudia as she was filing her nails but she looked sad and I remembered the time that I was tap dancing with my mother isn't it funny how our relationships glisten like a tea pot I couldn't believe that Nige was still talking about his audition he looked cheeky as he was wearing a white suit ooh look at that dog over there isn't it cute I'm so sad about what happened but I will never tell anyone deep within my soul I need coffee and the rain fell down, pitter patter."
I mean, this isn't exactly how she wrote, but it's how it came across. Something just didn't click here. I even put it down, picked it up, rinse, repeat, a number of times. But I just couldn't make it.
The main problem? It was surprisingly hard to follow. Not in terms of the plot but just that I couldn't follow the main character's train of thought at all. It's written in first person but it somehow manages to come across as a stream-of-consciousness writing style. A typical paragraph felt like, "I was talking to Claudia as she was filing her nails but she looked sad and I remembered the time that I was tap dancing with my mother isn't it funny how our relationships glisten like a tea pot I couldn't believe that Nige was still talking about his audition he looked cheeky as he was wearing a white suit ooh look at that dog over there isn't it cute I'm so sad about what happened but I will never tell anyone deep within my soul I need coffee and the rain fell down, pitter patter."
I mean, this isn't exactly how she wrote, but it's how it came across. Something just didn't click here. I even put it down, picked it up, rinse, repeat, a number of times. But I just couldn't make it.
izzy_bizzy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
balden4325's review against another edition
3.0
The scenes with Stuart are degrading and her "dealing with it" and facing what happened are a long time coming. Nick and most other people involved are clueless and when Nick and Holly fiiiinally get it together you may be sick of the pair of them.
reikifeet's review against another edition
5.0
For me, the story turned out to be secondary to the psychology of the characters. This book made me notice that i often read the action and conversations more closely, but skim through the thought processes. The reason i noticed is because when i went to do that (during a conversation that was interrupted for a pages-long mental soliloquy) it didn't work. Initially that was annoying, but i came to LOVE this book for just those trains of thought. Holly's thoughts and feelings seemed amazingly real, perfectly in synch with many i've had myself! I decided the author must have been through such a thing herself, to have it down so complexly, and yet (having recently come through a different trauma myself) i was *still* stunned at how someone could get it all down with such clarity after the fact, b/c of the so often accompanying mental fog & patches of amnesia.
I was very surprised at the depth of & level of perception in this story!
I was very surprised at the depth of & level of perception in this story!