3.5*
Before this book came out I had an emotional attachment to it. The author. The process. The build up. Having followed Laura Jane on social for the best part of a year (and having read both of her non fiction books) I could not wait to get my hands on her first fiction novel. I really enjoyed 'Becoming' which was autobiographical, gritty, raw and real. So my expectations were set high for Our Stop.
The story tells of Nadia - a young professional who gets the tube to work in the mornings, who is a little bit of a hot mess and is often late for everything. She has a plan to prioritise her self care after a bad relationship and to create good habits, and so is making an effort to get to bed at a reasonable time and therefore catch her 7.30am tube to work. One Monday morning her attention is brought to the 'missed connections' section in the daily paper where it sounds like the gentleman may be referring to her...
This brings us to Daniel - a young professional who also gets the tube to work, is a little more organised, and who sadly lost his Dad a few months ago. He spotted Nadia one day, realised she gets the same tube as him - when she's on time! - and in a moment of wanting to seize the day (with some encouragement from friends) and make good things happen for himself, he posted a message in the daily paper hoping she would read it.
And so begins the story of missed moments, personal relationships - of all kinds - and the complexities of romance in our constantly busy modern lives. The blurb promises a 'hilarious, heartwarming romance' and it is both funny and heartwarming at times... and in others it is less so. The missed moments do get frustrating at times and I found the first half quite slow going. In fact I managed to read 2 other books in between starting and finishing Our Stop because I lost interest about a third of the way through. Which I feel bad for saying! (see first sentence re emotional attachment) but ploughed on and the second half - all read in one evening - definitely has more going on. Maybe my mistake was not reading it all at once? I guess my gaps between reading would have made the gaps between their missed connections all the more frustrating!
I'm afraid to say that I didn't find Nadia particularly likeable as she seemed to be the only one that didn't develop throughout the story. Her best friends Emma and Gaby had a little more depth to them, but a few of their choices in certain situations did make me question how they prioritised their friendships. Daniel is written as a very amicable and 'woke' character in touch with his emotions, and is one of those people many would like to describe as 'too nice' - a few reviewers have described him as 'too good to be true' but I found his development to be realistic (he will have flaws like everyone else) and would err against the cynics and say no, there are men out there like him!
Overall I did enjoy the book in the end. It is well written, there are some witty one liners, some emotional moments which touched me, and also some great characters - oh hi Romeo! I enjoyed the London references (events, locations etc) as a Londoner myself and felt mostly connected to the reality of their lives. I can really see a commuter enjoying reading this on their own tube journeys! There were a few moments throughout the book however where I found the cultural and political references to be a little forced. As if the author wanted to pack in as much relevant and time appropriate subjects in as possible, eg. feminism, consent, sexual orientation, gender appropriation, mental health and more. These are all valid and important points to talk about but I felt a little heavy for what was a lighthearted and fun romance. I did feel towards the end of the book the heartwarming moments of a good romance, and ultimately believe that Our Stop will do great as a quick and easy, summer romance read!
Before this book came out I had an emotional attachment to it. The author. The process. The build up. Having followed Laura Jane on social for the best part of a year (and having read both of her non fiction books) I could not wait to get my hands on her first fiction novel. I really enjoyed 'Becoming' which was autobiographical, gritty, raw and real. So my expectations were set high for Our Stop.
The story tells of Nadia - a young professional who gets the tube to work in the mornings, who is a little bit of a hot mess and is often late for everything. She has a plan to prioritise her self care after a bad relationship and to create good habits, and so is making an effort to get to bed at a reasonable time and therefore catch her 7.30am tube to work. One Monday morning her attention is brought to the 'missed connections' section in the daily paper where it sounds like the gentleman may be referring to her...
This brings us to Daniel - a young professional who also gets the tube to work, is a little more organised, and who sadly lost his Dad a few months ago. He spotted Nadia one day, realised she gets the same tube as him - when she's on time! - and in a moment of wanting to seize the day (with some encouragement from friends) and make good things happen for himself, he posted a message in the daily paper hoping she would read it.
And so begins the story of missed moments, personal relationships - of all kinds - and the complexities of romance in our constantly busy modern lives. The blurb promises a 'hilarious, heartwarming romance' and it is both funny and heartwarming at times... and in others it is less so. The missed moments do get frustrating at times and I found the first half quite slow going. In fact I managed to read 2 other books in between starting and finishing Our Stop because I lost interest about a third of the way through. Which I feel bad for saying! (see first sentence re emotional attachment) but ploughed on and the second half - all read in one evening - definitely has more going on. Maybe my mistake was not reading it all at once? I guess my gaps between reading would have made the gaps between their missed connections all the more frustrating!
I'm afraid to say that I didn't find Nadia particularly likeable as she seemed to be the only one that didn't develop throughout the story. Her best friends Emma and Gaby had a little more depth to them, but a few of their choices in certain situations did make me question how they prioritised their friendships. Daniel is written as a very amicable and 'woke' character in touch with his emotions, and is one of those people many would like to describe as 'too nice' - a few reviewers have described him as 'too good to be true' but I found his development to be realistic (he will have flaws like everyone else) and would err against the cynics and say no, there are men out there like him!
Overall I did enjoy the book in the end. It is well written, there are some witty one liners, some emotional moments which touched me, and also some great characters - oh hi Romeo! I enjoyed the London references (events, locations etc) as a Londoner myself and felt mostly connected to the reality of their lives. I can really see a commuter enjoying reading this on their own tube journeys! There were a few moments throughout the book however where I found the cultural and political references to be a little forced. As if the author wanted to pack in as much relevant and time appropriate subjects in as possible, eg. feminism, consent, sexual orientation, gender appropriation, mental health and more. These are all valid and important points to talk about but I felt a little heavy for what was a lighthearted and fun romance. I did feel towards the end of the book the heartwarming moments of a good romance, and ultimately believe that Our Stop will do great as a quick and easy, summer romance read!