The Flatshare Rating: 3.5/5
The Flatshare Synopsis: Tiffy is in need of a cheap flat ASAP. With her ex-boyfriend finally kicking her out of his apartment and demanding payment for the last three months of rent she needs a new place. When she finds Leon’s listing for a flatshare for a price she can afford she jumps on it. The only catch is that they’ll be sharing the same bed. But she works the dayshift as a book editor and he works the night shift as a hospice nurse, so they’ll never meet. Through a litany of post-its and cooked meals Tiffy and Leon form a friendship. with demanding clients, an ex that just won’t leave, John Whites, and a wrongly imprisoned brother Tiffy and Leon might find the solace they need together.
TW: Emotional/Domestic Abuse, Therapy
Review:
I have a strict no Doc Martins and dress I’m-so-quirky-and-eccentric policy. I actually stopped reading this book as a physical copy a couple months ago because of this. These characters are typically utterly annoying. So go on with this warning.
It’s not bad. I listened to The Flatshare as I did my normal daily things and it went pretty quickly. It helped that I didn’t have to have my entire focus on the book because it was a little dry.
The beginning is incredibly slow and the writing takes getting used to. O’Leary did an excellent job at creating vastly different voices for her two characters and having their chapters writing reflect their personalities. It was unique. Tiffy is incredibly chatty and Leon is very brisk. In all honesty I preferred Leon’s simple thoughts and views of the world to Tiffy’s. I found her character to be annoying.
I did love how the deeper you get into this book the deeper the problems get and how layered the story becomes. They way that O’Leary writes Tiffy’s character realizing she was in an abusive relationship was absolutely stunning. Tiffy remembering things and coming to the conclusions on her own were well written and truly the most stunning part of the novel. I found Leon’s plot lines more interesting with John White and his brother. They propelled me along.
Long Story Short:
Do I recommend this book? Well, if you like Bridget Jones or Crazy Rich Asian’s style of writing and story telling I’d suggest reading this. I enjoyed listening to the novel as I did things but I don’t think I would have finished reading the book. It’s just not my cup of tea, but I appreciated the surprising depth of the story.
I know that this is an unpopular view of this book! It’s so loved, but it just wasn’t my thing🙈! I guess I just wanted more from it.
I borrowed my own copy from my library.
Here is the Amazon Link (I am NOT affiliated with Amazon)
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All opinions are of my own are not reflective of anyone else. I buy/loan all of the books I review unless specified and I only give my 100% true opinion on them.
If you liked The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary I would recommend reading Ten Rules for Faking It by Sophie Sullivan. My review is here. Both of these novels are cute fade-to-black romances with just enough fluff!
