Firstly, anyone who knows me, could tell you, I am a huge fan of this author. Sophie is one of my idols. Her book titled ‘The Un-Domestic Goddess’ is one of my all time favourites. This is why it is sad to have to report, that I was disappointed with this book. This was a bit of a letdown after eagerly awaiting its release late last year.
In a lot of ways, it is what we have come to expect from this author, in regard to some fun characters, laughs, and of course, romance. I have to say I found the main character irritating. I found her to be overly optimistic all the time, and a bit flaky. I had the urge to grab her and shake her on a few occasions throughout the book.
In this story we meet Ava. She lives in a quirky flat in London and hops from one project or idea to another, never finishing anything she started. She jets off to Italy to a writing retreat to try and finish writing her novel, but quickly gets distracted when she meets ‘Dutch’. All the attendees at the retreat are not allowed to tell people their real name, having to come up with an alias while they are there. Ava calls herself ‘Aria’. ‘Dutch’ turns out to be Matt. They are also forbidden to share any personal details of their life with others.
After only a few days together, ‘Aria’ and ‘Dutch’ fall madly in love, and vow to make a life together when they both return home to London, but of course, they don’t know anything about each other, or their polar opposite lives.
No matter how much they clash, or how much it is obvious they are very different, with many aspects of each other’s lives annoying the other, they carry on with their relationship. Ava is obsessed with him, worryingly so at times. She is relentlessly upbeat no matter what is thrown at them. She is so desperate to be ‘in love’ that she always turns a blind eye. Throughout the book Matt seemed much more realistic about their differences.
The side characters were likable, and I think that is what helped me get to the end. There were parts of this book I liked, and there were certainly a few giggles, mainly surrounding the antics of Ava’s very naughty Beagle called Harold.
I won’t give too much away, but the ending is very unrealistic and I was left feeling annoyed at both of the characters in the end.
I give it 2 and a half stars ** 1/2
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