The Flatshare book review

Posted May 17, 2019 by Jordann @thebookbloglife in 4 star, book reviews / 0 Comments

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Flatshare book reviewThe Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
Published by Quercus on April 18, 2019
Pages: 400
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads
four-stars


Tiffy and Leon share a flatTiffy and Leon share a bedTiffy and Leon have never met…

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…

I was so excited to be accepted to review The Flatshare by Netgalley, it was definitely a book I thought I would enjoy and for the most part I did, it made me laugh and I looked forward to reading it. It was pitched as a light-hearted room sharing agreement that has hilarious consequences however that wasn’t what I got, there were a lot of issues with the development of the story and the problematic writing that continues through to the end. There was definite potential for something more for the story but I think it was hindered by lazy writing and lack of development.

I wanna talk about how likeable the characters were in this book, and this was definitely it’s saving grace. I think if the characters hadn’t had been as good as they were then this book would have been a complete flop for me. I think I almost looked past the problematic issues in The Flatshare because I was enjoying the characters so much. Tiffy was fun and she made me smile with all the different parts of her personality and style, and I loved how down to earth Leon was. The way they communicated through the notes and text was really well done, it made me connect with the characters in a whole different way, something I would love to see more off in the books I read.

I should really touch on the issues that I had with the books and I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone but emotional abuse does play a part within the main story plot. I thought, especially with The Flatshare being quite lovey-dovey that it wasn’t developed enough and it was wrapped up far too easily. I get particularly annoyed with the reactions from each of the characters in different situations and how quickly they get over everything. I feel as though the abuse was used as a conflict creator and didn’t actually add anything to the story or the characters.

I think this book is a feel good story with fun characters and maybe I was expecting way too much from it but I genuinely enjoyed the relationship aspect of the story and the way that everything ends up. I loved the different situations they found themselves in and how well developed that all became, it was a lot different from the other contemporary books where the relationship becomes very insta-love and there isn’t anything for them to actually fall in love with. But with both Leon and Tiffy in The Flatshare they knew everything they needed too about each and fell in love aware of everything.

I definitely think I would recommend The Flatshare, it was overall a feel good book and although I had issues within the actual story I loved the characters and the ending. I suppose the way I look at it is, that not every book can be perfect all the way through.

Have you read The Flatshare? What did you think of the characters and the way everything works out?

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