This was such a fun and enjoyable read!
After Tiffy's boyfriend dumps her, she's in desperate need of a new place to live. So she answers an ad asking for a flatmate, but it's a little unconventional: there's only one bed in the flat, and the night shift working flatmate will sleep in it during the day while Tiffy is at work, and vice versa. The two never even need to meet! They communicate via post it notes around the apartment, and of course, they eventually do meet.
Tiffy and Leon are a couple of very memorable characters! Tiffy is a bit outlandish and has a unique sense of style, while Leon rarely talks except to the people he cares a lot about. I loved reading their story and seeing the really natural relationship develop between the two of them.
This book also tackles the serious topic of escaping from abusive relationships. Over the course of the novel, Tiffy comes to terms with the fact that her previous boyfriend emotionally abused her, and I think this book does this very tactfully. Tiffy has to unlearn a lot of the ways she thinks about herself because of the way her ex treated her, and it's never made out to be her fault. The ex is the clear villain in this story, and Tiffy's journey is punctuated with lots of support from her found family and normalizing visits to a therapist.
The subplot on Leon's side of the story is his brother's fight to appeal his sentencing for a crime he didn't commit. I loved Richie every time he was on the page and I enjoyed seeing the impact the prison system was having on him. It was an interesting look at how even innocent people can be negatively impacted by the justice system.
One thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the writing style for Leon's chapters. He is not a man of many words, and his dialogue often had him speaking in fragments. This was also reflected in his narration as well. I mostly got used to it after a while, but I still didn't love it as a stylistic choice. I understand why the author wrote his chapters that way, but I didn't like it.
Overall, this was definitely an enjoyable read and one that had more depth that I would have originally thought!
After Tiffy's boyfriend dumps her, she's in desperate need of a new place to live. So she answers an ad asking for a flatmate, but it's a little unconventional: there's only one bed in the flat, and the night shift working flatmate will sleep in it during the day while Tiffy is at work, and vice versa. The two never even need to meet! They communicate via post it notes around the apartment, and of course, they eventually do meet.
Tiffy and Leon are a couple of very memorable characters! Tiffy is a bit outlandish and has a unique sense of style, while Leon rarely talks except to the people he cares a lot about. I loved reading their story and seeing the really natural relationship develop between the two of them.
This book also tackles the serious topic of escaping from abusive relationships. Over the course of the novel, Tiffy comes to terms with the fact that her previous boyfriend emotionally abused her, and I think this book does this very tactfully. Tiffy has to unlearn a lot of the ways she thinks about herself because of the way her ex treated her, and it's never made out to be her fault. The ex is the clear villain in this story, and Tiffy's journey is punctuated with lots of support from her found family and normalizing visits to a therapist.
The subplot on Leon's side of the story is his brother's fight to appeal his sentencing for a crime he didn't commit. I loved Richie every time he was on the page and I enjoyed seeing the impact the prison system was having on him. It was an interesting look at how even innocent people can be negatively impacted by the justice system.
One thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the writing style for Leon's chapters. He is not a man of many words, and his dialogue often had him speaking in fragments. This was also reflected in his narration as well. I mostly got used to it after a while, but I still didn't love it as a stylistic choice. I understand why the author wrote his chapters that way, but I didn't like it.
Overall, this was definitely an enjoyable read and one that had more depth that I would have originally thought!