Friday 26 September 2014

Review: You're The One That I Want by Giovanna Fletcher

Maddy, dressed in white, stands at the back of the church. At the end of the aisle is Rob - the man she's about to marry. Next to Rob is Ben - best man and the best friend any two people ever had.

And that's the problem.

Because if it wasn't Rob waiting for her at the altar, there's a strong chance it would be Ben. Loyal and sensitive Ben has always kept his feelings to himself, but if he turned round and told Maddy she was making a mistake, would she listen? And would he be right?

Best friends since childhood, Maddy, Ben and Rob thought their bond was unbreakable. But love changes everything. Maddy has a choice to make but will she choose wisely? Her heart, and the hearts of the two best men she knows, depend on it...




Review: this book does that wonderful thing of basically being set over one day but also being set over several years due to the flashbacks, but whilst some books can be confusing when there are a lot of flashbacks to cope with, this book is structured so well that the flashbacks don't cause any confusing at all. You know what age the characters are at the start of each chapter and you know which character has the narrative because you are told at the beginning and each new section is punctuated by the grooms speech at Maddy's wedding. I thought this was really clever!

The storyline itself isn't anything particularly new or exciting, but if you're looking for that predictable love triangle kind of novel then you will definitely like this book. the predictability doesn't just come at the end it is the entire way through which is what stopped me from giving this book five stars really because I loved everything else about it. There are some shocking moments and some real aww moments, what you would expect from a coming of age type novel. I thought the friendship between the three of them came across really nicely and couple picture the three of them having a laugh together!

I liked the characters on the whole, despite their flaws, but they were extremely well-written because they did actually have flaws. I though Ben was rather dramatic and Maddy a little ditzy and Robert came off as selfish at times but this means that they actually seemed human. Well done to Giovanna Fletcher for writing characters who have flaws and therefore making them leap off the page as if they were actually real life individuals!

This book ends with an epilogue which is one of my favourite things and it is a fair way into the future as well. I was worried for a moment that there was going to be a death, with it being so far ahead but it was ok and it just wrapped things up nicely for me. Overall I enjoyed reading this novel and would recommend it to fans of women's fiction, If you're not normally a fan of the genre though, I'd say that this book isn't for you as it has all the classic traits of this genre, perfect if you love that, not so much if you don't. I did laugh and I did cry and I could recognise moments from my own life so I am grateful to this author for writing something so real. 

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