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A review by beate251
From London With Love by Katie Fforde
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for this ARC.
I've been reading Katie Fforde's novels for years and I've always liked them but I only gave the last one 3.5 stars. I had high hopes this would be better but unfortunately I couldn't get on with this at all.
The story is so slight. There are two young women living in the same house in a posh part of London in 1968 who become friends and both deal with step families and romances that suffer from miscommunication.
There was some attempt to show the quaintness of the sixties with maps and telephone directories (and the casual sexism of that period) but other than that I don't think that decade was drawn too well and it didn't feel particularly relatable.
I didn't like all the classism and hatred towards French people, there wasn't enough plot going on and I constantly mixed up Felicity and Violet and their two suitors. I also didn't believe in the chemistry of any of the love stories, and the pacing was all over the place.
The mudlarking and trying to find a forgotten palace was at least some semblance of a story but it wasn't enough. I am afraid this was too predictable and instantly forgettable. There was also no reason to set the story so far back in time. This book will work for a lot of people but for me it's not one of the author's best.
I've been reading Katie Fforde's novels for years and I've always liked them but I only gave the last one 3.5 stars. I had high hopes this would be better but unfortunately I couldn't get on with this at all.
The story is so slight. There are two young women living in the same house in a posh part of London in 1968 who become friends and both deal with step families and romances that suffer from miscommunication.
There was some attempt to show the quaintness of the sixties with maps and telephone directories (and the casual sexism of that period) but other than that I don't think that decade was drawn too well and it didn't feel particularly relatable.
I didn't like all the classism and hatred towards French people, there wasn't enough plot going on and I constantly mixed up Felicity and Violet and their two suitors. I also didn't believe in the chemistry of any of the love stories, and the pacing was all over the place.
The mudlarking and trying to find a forgotten palace was at least some semblance of a story but it wasn't enough. I am afraid this was too predictable and instantly forgettable. There was also no reason to set the story so far back in time. This book will work for a lot of people but for me it's not one of the author's best.