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A review by sara9b
Just Friends by Holly McCulloch
4.0
Received the ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review:
Rating: 4/5
You know when you come across a novel and it speaks to you on a personal level? Well at times it felt Bea’s thinking was a reflection of mine.
Anyhow, Bea is a thirty something woman who realises she’s not actually happy. She has supportive friends, a stable job that she hates and a side card designing business that she’s not really doing much about. After her best friend’s wedding, as part of a New Year’s resolution she makes an effort to change things up and seek the happiness she feels all of those around her have achieved. One of the things she decides to go for, is putting herself back into the dating world.
Throughout the novel you will watch the highs and lows as Bea tries to make the best of what life throws at her, whilst learning a lot about her own person including the fact that maybe she already found the perfect someone without having realised it.
I loved Bea’s character and her growth and her little faults throughout. The characters were all well developed (even the dog Hugo!) and I enjoyed their supportive attitudes who would sometimes despite their best intentions, still cause some hurt. The writing was great; it flowed well and the pace felt even throughout the book. There were even a few moments that had me chuckling out loud. Never did the plot feel too over the top, in fact, it was downright authentic by managing to mirror life pretty well.
One thing that really bugged me though, was the formatting (I’m not sure if it’s just in the copy I’ve received from Netgalley) such as text messages being indistinguishable to the main text, a different font would have made so much difference. Another thing was the dialogue, and how it was written. Occasionally it would get a bit confusing as to who was saying what, and I would have to go back and try to figure it out, as it wouldn’t be made obviously clear. Lastly, it was too short - at least another chapter or an epilogue would have been amazing to tidy everything up, show how life for Bea was turning up after she decided to stop running from her problems. Some scenes could have been longer and if it were up to me I would have included slightly more interactions between Bea and Peter, as I loved their chemistry but just didn’t feel that they interacted all that much throughout the novel.
It was a lighter read and not often do I say that I ever choose to re-read those, but ‘Just Friends.’ is one I would like to keep on my bookshelf and revisit again.
Rating: 4/5
You know when you come across a novel and it speaks to you on a personal level? Well at times it felt Bea’s thinking was a reflection of mine.
Anyhow, Bea is a thirty something woman who realises she’s not actually happy. She has supportive friends, a stable job that she hates and a side card designing business that she’s not really doing much about. After her best friend’s wedding, as part of a New Year’s resolution she makes an effort to change things up and seek the happiness she feels all of those around her have achieved. One of the things she decides to go for, is putting herself back into the dating world.
Throughout the novel you will watch the highs and lows as Bea tries to make the best of what life throws at her, whilst learning a lot about her own person including the fact that maybe she already found the perfect someone without having realised it.
I loved Bea’s character and her growth and her little faults throughout. The characters were all well developed (even the dog Hugo!) and I enjoyed their supportive attitudes who would sometimes despite their best intentions, still cause some hurt. The writing was great; it flowed well and the pace felt even throughout the book. There were even a few moments that had me chuckling out loud. Never did the plot feel too over the top, in fact, it was downright authentic by managing to mirror life pretty well.
One thing that really bugged me though, was the formatting (I’m not sure if it’s just in the copy I’ve received from Netgalley) such as text messages being indistinguishable to the main text, a different font would have made so much difference. Another thing was the dialogue, and how it was written. Occasionally it would get a bit confusing as to who was saying what, and I would have to go back and try to figure it out, as it wouldn’t be made obviously clear. Lastly, it was too short - at least another chapter or an epilogue would have been amazing to tidy everything up, show how life for Bea was turning up after she decided to stop running from her problems. Some scenes could have been longer and if it were up to me I would have included slightly more interactions between Bea and Peter, as I loved their chemistry but just didn’t feel that they interacted all that much throughout the novel.
It was a lighter read and not often do I say that I ever choose to re-read those, but ‘Just Friends.’ is one I would like to keep on my bookshelf and revisit again.