The Flat Share - Beth O'Leary (Book Review)

I've been reading like I've never read before. The past week was just me with my nose buried in one book after another. I read John Grisham's Camino Winds and it was...er....not as expected? I mean, it was awful. It was.

So, I am not going to share what I think about it here.

After the disappointing and confusing fiction novel by Grisham, I decided to pick something light instead - The Flat Share by Beth of Leary. Sounds like a rom-com I can enjoy without too much judgment.

The Flat Share - Beth O'Leary

It was a good idea.

The premise was a little weird, granted, we don't have a bed-share practice here in Malaysia. I don't know of anyone who would be willing to share their flat/bed with a stranger they've never met, really. Not even when I am really desperate for money.

Putting personal 'thoughts' and 'common sense' aside (please enlighten me if this is common in your country or culture), it kind of makes sense for a (male) nurse who works nights (because it pays more) to offer to share his empty flat/bed with another person who works days.

I went to O'Leary's website and her intro says it all - she writes love stories that you can pick up and read about when you need a hug.

The pace is great because she spent a lot of time developing the characters and she used a rather strange 'writing voice' when depicting Leon's part of the story. I guess it describes how quiet, reserved, and introverted he really is. It works because Tiffy is loud, outspoken, and over-optimistic.

I loved the nice touches in the form of Richie, Leon's brother who was waiting for his retrial in jail, and of course Tiffy's friends, Gerty, Rachel and Mo. Enough time was spent on them that it gave Tiffy the layers that her character needed.

Leon was a loner so, he basically was alone most of the time, except for his critically ill patients.

On the other hand, the uncovering of Tiffy's love-life situation was a little unexpected. Her madcap ex-boyfriend who was initially such a winning character, was a surprise. Also, I had a really different picture of what Richie would look like (because he was never properly described throughout the book), so when he appeared, I was like 'wth'. #LOL

The situations were animated, of course, with it being a rom-com. You can almost see it (in your mind) being played out as an OTT movie starring Jennifer Aniston or something.

All in all, it was a fun-to-read book.

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Marsha Maung: I write. I love. I live

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