mhite11's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jvdijke's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
lylls's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
ladybellatrix's review against another edition
2.0
Abigail's sister Catherine became 'Cleo', an internationally famous model, after being spotted in her teens and Abi was left never feeling like she could do anything that would make her parents as proud as Cleo did.
With a grown up daughter going for her gap year, Abi takes up Cleo's invitation when she invites Abi to stay in her London house with her 2 girls and husband for 8 weeks over summer. Abi sees a chance to reconnect with her sister after years of barely seeing each other and only fleeting emails.
Instead she ends up mostly ending up as an unpaid nanny and barely seeing her sister as she struggles to come to terms with finding the sister she grew up with under Cleo somewhere.
Mostly this book, and the people in it, make a lot of poor choices and infuriating rationalisations for a number of situations that could have been very easily avoided. Most characters are one dimensional and you don't really care about any of them because their personalities are so wishy washy and their justifications are so stupid and inconsistent you wonder how anyone ever thought the plot was cohesive unless they made their characters all so stupid.
Every time you think Abi's actually gonna do something interesting, she ends up backing down and we end up right back at the start. This is cyclical and happens over and over in more and more irritating situations without any real pay off. Even at the climax, Abi backs down with almost zero character development.
The romance is stupid and unnecessary. John and Abi come across as two people who fall in love off the back of nothing but loneliness and I can't imagine that would ever work out.
With a grown up daughter going for her gap year, Abi takes up Cleo's invitation when she invites Abi to stay in her London house with her 2 girls and husband for 8 weeks over summer. Abi sees a chance to reconnect with her sister after years of barely seeing each other and only fleeting emails.
Instead she ends up mostly ending up as an unpaid nanny and barely seeing her sister as she struggles to come to terms with finding the sister she grew up with under Cleo somewhere.
Mostly this book, and the people in it, make a lot of poor choices and infuriating rationalisations for a number of situations that could have been very easily avoided. Most characters are one dimensional and you don't really care about any of them because their personalities are so wishy washy and their justifications are so stupid and inconsistent you wonder how anyone ever thought the plot was cohesive unless they made their characters all so stupid.
Spoiler
I think you're supposed to sympathise with Abi or consider her hard done by, but given she claims to never really see her sister after the age of about 16, you have to wonder how she's gotten herself in this funk, even with having Phoebe so young and ending up a single mother. It seems more like she spent her life dwelling on something she could have probably done something about without much interference from "Cleo" if she really wanted to.Every time you think Abi's actually gonna do something interesting, she ends up backing down and we end up right back at the start. This is cyclical and happens over and over in more and more irritating situations without any real pay off. Even at the climax, Abi backs down with almost zero character development.
The romance is stupid and unnecessary. John and Abi come across as two people who fall in love off the back of nothing but loneliness and I can't imagine that would ever work out.
yellowchairreader's review against another edition
2.0
It builds and builds then nothing...worst ending book in a long time. Doesn't make me want to delve into any other of her novels
miamia1's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Didn’t really enjoy this book but I don’t read contemporary romance books often so that could be the reason I didn’t like it
ladybellatrix's review
2.0
Abigail's sister Catherine became 'Cleo', an internationally famous model, after being spotted in her teens and Abi was left never feeling like she could do anything that would make her parents as proud as Cleo did.
With a grown up daughter going for her gap year, Abi takes up Cleo's invitation when she invites Abi to stay in her London house with her 2 girls and husband for 8 weeks over summer. Abi sees a chance to reconnect with her sister after years of barely seeing each other and only fleeting emails.
Instead she ends up mostly ending up as an unpaid nanny and barely seeing her sister as she struggles to come to terms with finding the sister she grew up with under Cleo somewhere.
Mostly this book, and the people in it, make a lot of poor choices and infuriating rationalisations for a number of situations that could have been very easily avoided. Most characters are one dimensional and you don't really care about any of them because their personalities are so wishy washy and their justifications are so stupid and inconsistent you wonder how anyone ever thought the plot was cohesive unless they made their characters all so stupid.
Every time you think Abi's actually gonna do something interesting, she ends up backing down and we end up right back at the start. This is cyclical and happens over and over in more and more irritating situations without any real pay off. Even at the climax, Abi backs down with almost zero character development.
The romance is stupid and unnecessary. John and Abi come across as two people who fall in love off the back of nothing but loneliness and I can't imagine that would ever work out.
With a grown up daughter going for her gap year, Abi takes up Cleo's invitation when she invites Abi to stay in her London house with her 2 girls and husband for 8 weeks over summer. Abi sees a chance to reconnect with her sister after years of barely seeing each other and only fleeting emails.
Instead she ends up mostly ending up as an unpaid nanny and barely seeing her sister as she struggles to come to terms with finding the sister she grew up with under Cleo somewhere.
Mostly this book, and the people in it, make a lot of poor choices and infuriating rationalisations for a number of situations that could have been very easily avoided. Most characters are one dimensional and you don't really care about any of them because their personalities are so wishy washy and their justifications are so stupid and inconsistent you wonder how anyone ever thought the plot was cohesive unless they made their characters all so stupid.
Spoiler
I think you're supposed to sympathise with Abi or consider her hard done by, but given she claims to never really see her sister after the age of about 16, you have to wonder how she's gotten herself in this funk, even with having Phoebe so young and ending up a single mother. It seems more like she spent her life dwelling on something she could have probably done something about without much interference from "Cleo" if she really wanted to.Every time you think Abi's actually gonna do something interesting, she ends up backing down and we end up right back at the start. This is cyclical and happens over and over in more and more irritating situations without any real pay off. Even at the climax, Abi backs down with almost zero character development.
The romance is stupid and unnecessary. John and Abi come across as two people who fall in love off the back of nothing but loneliness and I can't imagine that would ever work out.
theal's review
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kellylacey's review against another edition
2.0
Easy going predictable book. I wasn't blown away by it. I was eager for it to end.