JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Nineteen Letters by Jodi Perry

Nineteen. There’s something about that number; it not only brought us together, bonding us forever, it also played a hand in tearing us apart.

The nineteenth of January 1996. I’ll never forget it. It was the day we met. I was seven and she was six. It was the day she moved in next door, and the day I developed my first crush on a girl.

Exactly nineteen years later, all my dreams came true when she became my wife. She was the love of my life. My soul mate. My everything. The reason I looked forward to waking up every morning.

Then tragedy struck. Nineteen days after we married, she was in an accident that would change our lives forever. When she woke from her coma, she had no memory of me, of us, of the love we shared.

I was crushed. She was my air, and without her I couldn’t breathe.

The sparkle that once glistened her eyes when she looked at me was gone. To her, now, I was a stranger. I had not only lost my wife, I had lost my best friend.

But I refused to let this tragedy be the end of us. That’s when I started to write her letters, stories of our life. Of when we met. About the happier times, and everything we had experienced together.

What we had was far too beautiful to be forgotten.

Nineteen Letters is a romance novel by Jodi Perry, documenting the relationship between husband and wife Jemma and Braxton. They’re childhood sweethearts and newlyweds, but Jemma is in a car accident and loses her memory. Braxton — who doesn’t want to live his life without Jemma — writes her nineteen letters about their past in an attempt to jog her memory and bring her back to him (both mentally and physically).

“I screw up another piece of paper The first letter came easily — it made sense to start at the very beginning — but now that I know she’s actually going to read them, my approach has changed. I want to cram as much as I can into this one. There’s so much I yearn to say.”

The premise of this novel is perfect for a romance story — it’s the classic ‘girl forgets who boy is and boy must win girl back’ kind of story. It may have been done many times before, but Jodi has done a great job of making it feel unique to the characters and enjoyable to read.

The novel is well-paced, taking the time to really explore Jemma and Braxton’s history and their childhood, whilst also focusing on their journey together post-accident.

“When the accident happened, I worried she would never wake up, and I would lose her. Not once did I contemplate the possibility that she would wake up and I would lose her anyway.”

Jodi Perry is a skilled writer, perfectly balancing dialogue and prose and allowing the reader to get to know the characters without beating us over the head with backstory and emotion. I think that perhaps the book was a little longer than it needed to be, and at times I found myself skimming the the book until we got to the next letter.

Jemma is a strong character — intuitive and intelligent. She definitely grew on me over the course of the novel. I’ll admit, I didn’t like her that much after her accident. I think the reader was supposed to sympathise for her and acknowledge her fear and vulnerability, but instead Jemma just came off incredibly rude and mean to Braxton. She was blunt, harsh, and totally unwilling to let him into her life. However over time, she softens and the two begin reconnecting.

Braxton was the more relatable character of the two. He was patient, calm, loving and compassionate. He was definitely the stronger of the two characters, and he’s one of the reasons I really loved this book.

“I bend down and pick up a pebble from near my feet, then skim it across the water. As kids, Jem and I had competitions to see who could get the most bounces. I usually won, but there were times I purposely threw a bad one so she could beat me.”

I feel that the relationship between Jemma’s parents detracted from the overall plot. Because I was so invested in Jemma and Braxton’s relationship, I didn’t care enough about Christine and Stephen to really feel emotionally invested in them rekindling their romance. And the fact that friends Rachel and Lucas are ALSO having problems means there are three couples in the book and three relationships that need fixing. At times, it felt a little too much.

I think Jodi did a great job of pacing the relationship between Braxton and Jemma, slow-building their reconnection and making their friendship seem authentic. Braxton was patient and thoughtful, and Jemma was desperate to remember her old life.

In saying that, I quite often found the characters over-the-top sweet. Sickly sweet. At the beginning of the novel, Jemma and Braxton are just back from their honeymoon and Jemma is about to go back to work. It’s the morning, and they each stand in their bedroom/bathroom and for a good couple of pages, they just keep telling each other how much they’re going to miss each other:

‘I’m not ready to go back to work. I can’t stand the thought of spending the entire day without you.’

‘I’m going to miss you.’
I’m going to miss you too, Jem. The past four weeks have been my kind of heaven.’

“I wish you didn’t have to go,’ His warm breath on my skin leaves goosebumps in its wae.
‘Me either.’
‘The next eight hours are going to feel like an eternity.’
I sigh in agreement. ‘I know.’

Is it cold of me to think that this isn’t realistic? That the average couple aren’t this expressive/complimentary/sweet? At the beginning of the novel, their relationship is mostly conveyed through their dialogue and I think there could’ve been ways for their actions towards each other to show the same level of love but without the (sometimes cheesy) dialogue. However, as the novel progress Jodi illustrates their friendship and eventual romance mostly through description and prose (and letters!), which I think worked better.

While packaged like a Jodi Picoult novel, fans of Nicholas Sparks will love Nineteen Letters. It also reminds me of the movie The Vow with Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. This book is for romance readers – there’s no doubt about that. If you like a good love story, then this is the book for you!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nineteen Letters
Jodi Perry
September 2017
Hachette Book Publishers

Lovesick by Jean Flynn

Beth is an absolute wreck. She is certain that she has some kind of disease — a fatal one, most likely. She is also very single and quite keen on her (boss) colleague, Dr Brendan Roberts. He seems to fancy her, too — well, until The Morning After.

Beth knows it’s time to sort out her messy life, but she has no idea where to start.

Enter Shane — a slightly dishevelled forklift driver. He may not be suave or wealthy, but he does laugh at Beth’s jokes and remember how she likes her coffee. Plus, the more they hang out, the healthier she feels.

But when Shane suddenly cuts off all communication, Beth starts to think there’s no such thing as The One, and she decides to stop being slapdash and move on. Only life is never that simple, and Beth must take a chance if she hopes to find the cure to her ills.

Lovesick is a hilarious romantic comedy about taking risks and learning to let go of whatever is worrying you or holding you back.

Beth is a wonderful protagonist — she’s 26 and she’s witty, smart, sharp and she knows what’s good for her. She has a crush on her boss, but she doesn’t let it overcome her. She doesn’t get her hopes up. And after their Morning After, she doesn’t get in over her head. She is level-headed and mature. I loved reading about her in the story. At first, she’s unsure of herself and she’s quite shy. She doesn’t go for what she wants and she (in some ways) lets people walk all over her, like her sister Simone.

“I’m ready! Most days are like this. Every day, really. It would be nice to sit neatly at the dining table and eat organic bircher muesli and read the newspaper before work. I would like to carefully consider my outfit, wear fitted dresses and brooches and have my hair done properly. But calmly calmly just isn’t my style. Slapdash! is all I can manage.”

Over the course of the novel, she learns to adjust her expectations and believe in what she actually wants. Her sister is pushing her to pursue a relationship with her boss Brendan, but Beth knows something isn’t quite right. She knows that Shane is a better fit for her, despite the fact that they’re so different and his roommate is warning Beth against him. And then Shane disappears for a couple of weeks, and Beth isn’t sure what this means.

“What’s weekend Brendan like? I can’t imagine him in anything except slim-fit tailored pants and collared shirts. Does he wear skinny jeans? Bootcut and moleskins? Beige chinos? Surely not chinos. He’s only thirty-two.”

“I wouldn’t mind kissing Brendan. Or, really, just kissing someone. Brendan’s super attractive and everything, but does he take longer than me getting ready every morning? Are his teeth too white?”

Beth — and all of the other characters — are flawed in many ways. But that’s what makes them relatable, and fun to read about. This is a light romance novel for anyone looking for something not too heavy. Jean won the inaugural XO Romance Prize, so it’s easy to understand why this novel is so fun to read.

In saying that, I think the ending wrapped up a little too abruptly. We find out the reason why Shane has been avoiding Beth, and then the book finishes. It felt a little sudden to me. I would’ve liked for the resolution between Beth and Shane to be a little more in-depth rather than just one conversation. I definitely think Jean had room to expand this.

“Sometimes when I’m halfway through saying something that I think is a good joke I realise that it’s probably just weird, but then it’s too late people I’m with look at me like, What? So, I love that Shane gets when I’m not being serious (most of the time) and goes along with my bizarre conversations.”

The best part about this book is the humour. Jean had me laughing out aloud on the train all throughout the book, with hilarious one-liners and really witty character observations. I raced through this book, devouring each page and desperate to read how the story was going to progress. This is a novel I’d recommend to all the romance readers out there — it’s fun and light but it’ll also pull on your heart strings.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lovesick
Jean Flynn
August 2017
Xoum Publishing

Remind Me How This Ends by Gabrielle Tozer

It’s the summer after high school ends and everyone is moving on. Winning scholarships. Heading to uni. Travelling the world. Everyone except Milo Dark. Milo feels his life is stuck on pause.

His girlfriend is 200km away, his mates have bailed for bigger things and he is convinced he’s missed the memo reminding him to plan the rest of his life. Then Layla Montgomery barrels back into his world after five years without so much as a text message. As kids, Milo and Layla were family friends who shared everything. But they haven’t spoken since her mum’s funeral.

What begins as innocent banter between Milo and Layla soon draws them into a tangled mess with a guarantee that someone will get hurt. While it’s a summer they’ll never forget, is it one they want to remember?

I once read an article about how most people go one of two ways after school or university. They either take off, travel, see the world and disappear for a while, eventually returning home to settle down. Or they immediately settle into a career and a relationship and they leave the nomad travelling life until a lot later down the track. In this article, the writer argues that no matter which path you take, there’ll be some point in your life where you wonder if that’s what you were supposed to do. What would my life have been like if I did X instead? What if I went travelling? What if I went to uni straight away and didn’t travel and then got a job a lot sooner?

Life is full of what if questions. And when you’re 17/18 and finishing school, it can be impossible to know what you want to do for the rest of your life. Some people know straight away, diving headfirst into a uni degree or a job and they’re content that they’ve picked the right thing. But some don’t know, and some people take a lot longer to figure it out than others.

Remind Me How This Ends illustrates that there’s nothing wrong with waiting — taking some time to figure out your next move. Milo grew up in Durnan, a small town six hours away from Sydney. He’s graduated high school but he’s not sure yet what he wants to do in life. Does he want to study? Does he want to travel? His father is pressuring him to sort his life out, but he’s not entirely sure how to do that. His high school girlfriend, Sal, has moved away to university in Canberra and is having the time of her life. Sal knows what she wants to do, and the longer she’s away, the more it seems like Milo doesn’t fit into that life.

“That’s the thing. Everyone else is doing stuff. Real stuff. The sort of stuff you can brag about. Studying law and accounting and nursing and actuarial science. I don’t even what that is, but it sounds hard core.”
-MILO

On the other hand, we have Layla, who grew up in Durnan too but who hasn’t been back for a few years. Five years earlier, her mother died suddenly and Layla and her father left town. They moved from place to place and Layla never really had the opportunity to mourn her mother’s death or confront her feelings about the loss. And when she returns home to Durnan, she runs into Milo and their lives intersect.

They reconnect their friendship, building it back up again with trust and respect and understanding. There’s also plenty of banter and hilarity and adventure. For both of them, they are no longer alone. And together, they overcome the doubts and worries that have been plaguing them for some time now.

“We left most of our belongings behind for removalists to move into storage later, only taking what fitted into the car. Turns out there’s only so much of a life you can fit in the car. As we left town, Dad told me he couldn’t stand one more night in the house where she’d lived. There were too many memories trapped within those walls.”
-LAYLA

This book is beautiful. It’s sweet and funny, but also heartbreaking and wonderful. The writing is effortless, lyrical and poetic, and the characters are fully fleshed out and so very real. For anyone who has approached the end of school and thought, ‘well what am I supposed to do now?’ then this book is for you. For anyone who is working in a professional environment and suddenly realises that they don’t like what they do and they need a change, then you’ll love this book. That’s the great thing about Remind Me How This Ends. It may be a young adult novel, but the experiences in the book are universal. People can feel lost at any age, not just in those teenage years.

There is also another element to this novel worth mentioning. Remind Me How This Ends explores grief, with Layla struggling to even visit her mother’s grave, let alone talk about her. She’s lost the connection with her father, and she’s avoiding the fact that he has a new woman in his life. For many readers, they might understand what Layla is going through.

“I close my eyes and try to pinpoint what Mum would want me to do. If I can’t be with her, then I have to think like her.”
-LAYLA

There are a lot of teenagers in society who have a really tough life. They might have had a tough childhood, or their parents might be split up. Perhaps they’re an orphan or one of their parents have died. It’s nice to read a young adult novel that allows those readers to feel like they’re not alone. They can read this and feel okay that perhaps they haven’t yet dealt with their emotions or feelings. It takes time, and Milo and Layla are both in need of a little time.

Remind Me How This Ends
Gabrielle Tozer
April 2017
HarperCollins Publishers

It’s Not Me, It’s You by Mhairi McFarlane

It’s Not Me, It’s You is a hilarious romance/chick lit novel from Mhairi McFarlane, author of Who’s That Girl?

Delia Moss isn’t quite sure what went wrong. She proposes to her boyfriend, he says yes and then he accidentally sends a message to Delia that he intended to send to his mistress. So, their relationship ends, and she needs a change. She moves to Newcastle for a PR job and lives with her best friend in the meantime. And of course, there’s a handsome journalist on the prowl threatening to expose her new boss and Delia tries to singlehandedly fend him off. All in all, this book is a jam-packed, hilarious recipe for a great romance read.

“Uncovering an affair wasn’t a one big fact headline story. It was like Metroyshka dolls, lies inside lies inside lies.”

This book is smart and funny, with characters you fall in love with and hilarious mishaps that you want to relive. Mhairi McFarlane has written another novel with comic romance and a dreamy love interest. The dialogue is witty and sarcastic and the book is laugh-out-loud funny.

“Ann’s policing of the office fridge was frightening. Despite being post-menopausal, she decanted her semi-skimmed into a plain container and labelled it ‘BREAST MILK’ to ward off thieves.”

There’s something in this book that I’m sure all readers can relate to – what do you do when the rug gets pulled out from under you? This is for all readers who’ve been suddenly dumped, or fired, or evicted. It’s for those of us who may need a little escape from the world right now – something to laugh at and giggle over. The characters are three dimensional and real, and the situations realistic.

“One night with you and he’s turned into a love-letter writer. You must have an incredible pelvic floor.”

I found my attention dropping off in the middle of the book. I felt like the book was about 100 pages too long and I couldn’t see where the story was going. The romance interested me and I persevered in order to find out what happens, but the storyline with Delia’s PR job and its complications are perhaps not strong enough to keep the ‘occasional reader’ interested. I soldiered on because it’s Mhairi McFarlane and I knew it’d have a satisfying conclusion, but I it was a real effort during those middle chapters.

It’s Not Me, It’s You is about picking yourself up after some hardships. It’s about taking that necessary time out to figure out what you really want and what you really need, and then going for it. It may take Delia a while to figure that out, but she does, and it’s uplifting and enjoyable for the reader.

I recommend this book to romantic fiction lovers, and to fans of chick lit. This is a feel-good book full of hilarity and heart. It’s one of those stories where you know it’s going to end up alright, like a Disney movie or a Hollywood rom-com.

It’s Not Me, It’s You
Mhairi McFarlane
November 2014
HarperCollins Publishers

Who’s That Girl? by Mhairi McFarlane

What’s the one thing you DON’T do at a wedding? Kiss the groom!

What a gloriously enjoyable story with a dash of Bridget Jones and a pinch of a Hugh Grant rom com.

Edie is secretly in love with her colleague Jack, and they’re caught kissing at his wedding. She’s distraught, confused, humiliated, and she escapes back home to Nottingham to escape all of the online hatred towards her. She can’t go back to work because Jack’s wife – who has forgiven Jack – also works there, and Edie is in the minority. She’s shunned and her boss forces her to work out of the office.

Jack keeps on going with his life claiming innocence, because Edie is apparently the only person to blame for the kiss. To take her mind off the situation, Edie takes a job as a ghost-writer on an autobiography for hot new acting talent, Elliot Owen.

This book is witty, creative, unique and hilarious. The dialogue between Edie and her family is thoroughly enjoyable, and the budding romance between her and Elliot is wonderful. It is only after Edie spends time bonding with her family and overcoming any issues they have that Edie comes to understand who she is and what she wants. She grows a backbone, understands what her feelings for her colleague are, and she begins to stand up for herself. Edie comes to know what she is worth and evolves over the course of the novel.

Mhairi illustrates the effects of gossip and social media and how it affects people, but she also uses Edie’s mistakes to illustrate her need to discover her own identity. Edie needs to return to her roots to pull herself together and grow and mature. She is vulnerable, kind, bold and hilarious, and she is a fantastic protagonist. The romance between her and Elliot was subtle but also enjoyable.

Who’s that Girl is a long novel, but a rewarding one. It’s light-hearted but has moments of heartbreak and seriousness, but those moments are reprieved with a quick pace and unique plot points and sarcastic remarks between characters.