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A review by sikonat
Her Fixer Upper by Emily Kerr
4.0
I think we can all say, if you're a hopeful first home buyer, you're shit out of luck. Housing prices in most capital cities are insane. In my city, the average price for a two-bedroom flat is $600k or $1.4m for a house! The situation is even more dire if you, like me, would be buying on your own. And that's the situation Freya and Charlie are in, in Emily Kerr's Her Fixer Upper.
As children, Hutch and Humph (aka Freya and Charlie) were once thick as thieves, until Freya was forced to move towns. As an adult Freya is desperately saving to buy her first home on a meagre teacher's salary. At a pub quiz night she runs into Charlie, whom she hasn't seen since. An offhand comment by her best friend Leila that they should team up to buy a place as joint-owners suddenly becomes a serious idea.
Freya and Charlie are chalk and cheese. Freya is full of lists, spreadsheets and planning, while Charlie is a lot more freewheeling. Of course, Freya drafts The Rules, one of which includes they should not get involved.
This book is a little gem, I loved the premise and I found it highly relatable. In one scene a well-off middle aged colleague spouted off about young people being picky when buying homes, all the while being married to a rich wife who allowed him to acquire a holiday house.
I did find the middle became a bit too repetitious with Freya snapping at Charlie because she was covering up her embarrassment at her attraction to him and jealousy. While it was understandable, it messed with the pace of the book. The denouement was also something I didn't expect and to be honest, I found it just a bit too much, I would've preferred if the book focused on their relationship and progress of their home as I felt it finished abruptly and wrapped up the house issues without seeing a real pay off.
Overall, this book was just a delightful, funny and cosy read, I couldn't put it down. I look forward to reading more of Emily Kerr's books.
Thanks to Harper Collins UK and One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC, I truly enjoyed this.
As children, Hutch and Humph (aka Freya and Charlie) were once thick as thieves, until Freya was forced to move towns. As an adult Freya is desperately saving to buy her first home on a meagre teacher's salary. At a pub quiz night she runs into Charlie, whom she hasn't seen since. An offhand comment by her best friend Leila that they should team up to buy a place as joint-owners suddenly becomes a serious idea.
Freya and Charlie are chalk and cheese. Freya is full of lists, spreadsheets and planning, while Charlie is a lot more freewheeling. Of course, Freya drafts The Rules, one of which includes they should not get involved.
This book is a little gem, I loved the premise and I found it highly relatable. In one scene a well-off middle aged colleague spouted off about young people being picky when buying homes, all the while being married to a rich wife who allowed him to acquire a holiday house.
I did find the middle became a bit too repetitious with Freya snapping at Charlie because she was covering up her embarrassment at her attraction to him and jealousy. While it was understandable, it messed with the pace of the book. The denouement was also something I didn't expect and to be honest, I found it just a bit too much, I would've preferred if the book focused on their relationship and progress of their home as I felt it finished abruptly and wrapped up the house issues without seeing a real pay off.
Overall, this book was just a delightful, funny and cosy read, I couldn't put it down. I look forward to reading more of Emily Kerr's books.
Thanks to Harper Collins UK and One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC, I truly enjoyed this.