Reviews with content warning for Chronic illness - The Flatshare

Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

41 reviews

saukittome's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.5

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siankrb's review

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A cute romance book, I really enjoyed the pacing and the characters, especially how the writing style differed between Tiffy and Leon’s perspective. I found it difficult to get into at first but ended up struggling to put it down.

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ceceska's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Ce livre suit l'histoire de Tiff qui vit avec Leon dans le même lit mais à des heures différentes de la journée. Tiff vient de sortir d'une relation toxique. Les deux protagonistes ne se sont jamais rencontrés mais ils s'échangent des petits mots dans l'appartement. Est-ce qu'il est possible de tomber en amour avec quelqu'un que l'on n'a jamais rencontré?

J'ai apprécié l'histoire mais il y avait des longueurs. J'ai aimé le début et la fin mais le milieu de l'histoire était répétitif.

Les personnages étaient ok. Un peu unidimensionnels. Tiff est un peu l3 cliché de "not like the other girls". Elle est quirky et gorgeous mais ne le sait pas. Pourquoi pas écrire un personnage d'une femme qui est belle et qui le sait? C'est ridicule d'écrire encore des personnages comme ça...

Le personnage de Leon est décrit comme ayant cheveux bouclés bruns et ayant un "adorable lopsided smile". Ces mots ont été tellement utilisés c'en était étourdissant. Le personnage n'est pas assez développé selon moi.

Les amis de Tiff sont très premier degrés. Ils n'ont pas d'utilité mis à part de faire avancer l'histoire de Tiff.

Le personnage de Justin était réaliste. J'ai apprécié cela. Le cheminement de Tiff avec la violence conjugale était réaliste.

L'histoire de Ricky était assez prévisible. Il n'y avait pas de rebondissements.

Bref, ce livre était très prévisible et beaucoup de celui-ci était très unidimensionnel. Je ne recommanderai pas ce livre. Puisqu'il y en a des meilleurs. C'est dommage parce que le début du livre était vraiment bon et l'histoire était prometteuse.

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manola's review

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emotional funny hopeful tense fast-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

4.25

Really enjoyable read. From the synopsis, I was afraid the story might become long-winded in the waiting of both protagonists getting together (especially since they weren't seeing each other or ever meeting in person), but thankfully the story unfolded and became so much more than what I expected it to be.
Tiffy is incredible as a protagonist. She does have an air of this stereotypical movie-quirkiness recurrent in romance stories (mismatched clothing, being 'awkward' in social situations, etc.), but she manages to come across as such a lovely human being you're just glad to listen her talk about her life. Sometimes I did find the work-related shenanigans a bit slower to get through, but the author usually managed to pull something in at the last minute to turn the situation around and throw more conflict into the story.
Leon I also really liked. At first, his POV chapters felt odd and choppy because of his writing style (pretty robot-like, almost), becoming a bit annoying at times. But I eventually warmed up to him and it's interesting to see his writing style evolve as he changes as a character as well.
The rest of the cast was also enjoyable. Tiffy's best friends are a solid presence in the story and don't feel like background stuffing to give more depth to her personal life. Some characters did feel a bit too cartoonish (thinking of Martin here, specifically), and others slipped out of the plot without much reason to (a sort of fling Tiffy has that felt like a device for her development, and an old man-JW-who's suddenly out of the picture at the half-way point without explanation).

But overall, the characters do reel you into the story and push you into becoming invested. Both protagonists have their own personal drama to manage throughout, and some heavier themes are discussed (check trigger warnings here). The story manages to balance a sweet slow-burn romance with issues that carry a darker tinge. The characters feel real because they deal with shitty things that are uncomfortable to think about and more uncomfortable to read about, and they deal with them with a messiness that simply feels... human.
Truly recommend :)

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