Im a huge fan of David Nicholls and like some was nervous about this follow up to the huge success of One Day (although I also liked his previous books). The important thing to establish is that this is a very different book, and I think thats a good thing.
Its a very different situation and very different characters and my main concern was attraction to the plot. One of the beauties of One Day is the mass appeal and how relatable the characters are to people of different ages but I felt as a younger female reader I was not immediately drawn to the story of an older man faced with divorce. Its not something Im familiar with or can relate to, and so it took me a little while to get into the story because of this. Yet the writing from the first line had all the appeal of Nicholls - real and honest and funny and observant. I loved an early comment about taking the Eurostar through dark and dull tunnels but feeling disappointed as though you expected to see fish through the glass case! He writes how a real person thinks and really gets inside your head.
Before I knew it I was hooked. It took me a while to read (largely due to general life and lots of other things I had to read) and therefore these characters and story were really with me for a long time, to the point of not wanting to let go. I actually slowed down towards the end, keen not to finish and worried about the outcome for characters I'd really come to care for.
Its well worth a go and as long as treated as a very different book you will enjoy it. I had no choice but to give five stars as its a wonderfully told story with very real and flawed characters. One Day has glimpses of sentimentality at the edges - inevitable with will they wont they romance - and I found this much harsher, found myself expecting the worse. Again, I think this was a good thing - these are real people in real situations. Warts and all. It made the sweet and happy parts mean all the more the way they do when they crop up in real life. And some of the funny bits are just brilliant - actually laugh out loud.
Nicholls is such a talent of British writing. I have had the great fortune of meeting him at events and he's an incredibly nice and humble man, Im delighted for his continued success with Us and already look forward to the next one.
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- Ms Sara McGrathReviewed in the United Arab Emirates on 26 November 2022
Book is fantastic but arrived in poor condition!!
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