| Title | : | Sleeping Arrangements |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0552772291 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780552772297 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 303 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2001 |
Hugh is not a happy man. His immaculate wife Amanda seems more interested in her new kitchen than in him, and he works so hard to pay for it, he barely has time for his children. Maybe he'll have a chance to bond with them on holiday. His old friend Gerard has lent them a luxury villa in Spain - perfect.
Both families arrive at the villa and realise the awful truth - Gerard has double-booked. What no-one else realises is that Chloe and Hugh have a history, and as tensions rise within the two families, old passions resurface. It seems that Gerard's 'accidental' double booking may not be an accident after all...
Sleeping Arrangements Reviews
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I almost never give a book one star. I always try to find something good to say about a book, and this one's by a best-selling author so I expected something enjoyable. Sadly, I found it just plain unpleasant. Two unlikeable couples find themselves unwillingly vacationing together. I couldn't relate to any of them. All they did was drink, (I don't think any of them were ever soberthroughout the whole book), and complain about their lives. Two of them have an affair. The Nanny that one couple brought with them seduces a 16-year-old boy. His parents don't care. They smoke pot together. His parents don't care.
Why should I -- the reader -- care what happens to any of them? -
Was fine, will prove to be unmemorable but at the time of reading it was OK.
Two stars. -
I might have finished this book, but I'm leaving for vacation in a few days and I had to prioritize my reading. Sleeping Arrangements didn't make the cut. I love Sophie Kinsella, but while Madeleine Wickham might be the same person, she's not the same writer. It seems that in attempting to create a slightly more serious scenario, she lost all her spark. Sophie Kinsella's plot premises are utterly ridiculous, but she has me laughing and turning the pages. Madeleine Wickham's premise in Sleeping Arrangements is almost as improbable, and the scenes where she attempts to be funny are just lame (like the dinner where all the food is dyed different colors). Instead of turning pages I found myself getting vaguely depressed and wandering off to do something else. No thanks!
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This book is awful. Right now I'm listening to it on my Creative Zen player while at the gym and I can't wait until it's finished. The characters are all completely unlikable, which makes it difficult to care what happens to them. I'm half-way through now and not expecting much out of the rest. We'll see in about a week...
I was right. This book did not pick up, the characters did not become more relatable or even empathizable. The ending was okay, but it left a HUGE loose end dangling. I mean, Wickham tied it up somewhat, but it was so unrealistic that I refuse to believe that it's the best conclusion.
Bottom line: Do not waste your time. This book is for shallow, rich, snobby women who only care about sex, money, and being bitches. Period. -
When I picked this book up, I'd never heard of the author, and I had no idea what the book could be about. I only knew that I liked the cover.
So when a friend of mine pointed out what's written on the cover, aka; "Two families, one villa, who's sleeping with whom?" I was left wondering if it would be spicy, or leaning more towards the secretive side. I won't answer that. I'll leave it for you to figure it out when you read it.
✨I loved the fact that the holiday was set in a villa in Spain. That was new for me. I thought it might be meh, just a villa, not much to do. But I enjoyed it.
✨Contemplating life decisions could not be more scary. Did we do the right thing?
Is it too late to change the course of our lives? Are we going to regret not seizing certain chances?
We don't always get what we want.
We don't always live the lives we want.
Things didn't work out the way we wanted them to. But we'll still make it work. Together.
✨I loved how the book discussed these topics.
✨I loved Jenna's slyness, her weird jokes and her energy.
Dislikes: ⚠️( Contains spoilers )⚠️
✨I hate cheating. I do not tolerate it. It doesn't make sense that he left you. No, freaking ghosted you 15 years ago. And when she sees him it all comes back. Especially since she's been with her partner 13 years. Where's her loyalty? Gone with some bumps, I suppose.
Then there's Hugh. Cant get close to his family so he runs at the first opportunity he gets with another woman, - even if it's his ex - completely putting his and her families at jeopardy and danger of disrupting their lives. How utterly and absolutely selfish.
And what's with them sleeping in each other's arms that last time? And right next to your partners? In open air? Make it make sense. Or don't, honestly. Because it doesn't.
✨Amanda did nothing but whine in the whole book, and complain that Hugh was doing nothing for the girls. And when he actually tried, she brushed him off then complained some more.
✨✨✨✨✨✨
Overall, would I recommend it? Maybe. If you don't mind reading about cheating, whiny characters, go ahead.
I did not like most of the adult characters, except Philip. He was actually a decent human being.
However, I liked the author's writing style. And since this was my first book by her, I'll give her another chance. -
the main difference between madeleine wickham's books & sophie kinsella's books is that when wickham writes under her real name, she forgets that ther novels should have at least one bearable character or un-hackneyed situation.
in this one, two families are offered the use of a spanish villa owned by a mutual friend. chloe is the matriarch of family #1. she is partnered to (but not married to) a banker named phillip. phillip's bank recently merged with a much larger company, & phillip is anxiously waiting to learn whether or not his branch is being shut down, leaving him unemployed. chloe & phillip have two children: a 16-year-old son named sam (chloe's child with a long-ago ex-boyfriend, but adopted by phillip) & 9-year-old nat.
the other family is comprised of two little girls named beatrice & octavia, & their parents, stay-at-home mother amanda & corporate decision-maker hugh. as it turns out, hugh had briefly dated chloe many years before, when they were both quite young. things had gone swimmingly until chloe confessed that she had a none-month-old son (baby sam). hugh couldn't begin to imagine taking on the responsibilities of stepfatherhood, so he cut & run, never giving chloe any kind of explanations for his behavior. in another coincidence, hugh works for the major corporate entity that bought the bank that employs phillip. hugh & amanda are also employing a nanny for the week, named jenna. she is the only remotely enjoyable character in the entire book, but even she is kind of fucked up.
so hugh & chloe recognize each other right away. & they are still attracted to each other. this aspect of the plot is fairly unbelievable considering that they dated for like two months. that's not exactly star-crossed lovers territory. hugh & phillip don't realize that they are bound together by their employments because chloe won't let phillip talk about his work. she thinks he's being obsesseive about whether or not he's going to get fired & she wants to spend the vacation not worrying about it.
why i don't like these characters:
chloe: i think it's kind of fucked up & very insensitive that she won't let phillip talk about his concerns over getting fired. obviously if he loses his job, that is going to mean big upheaval for the entire family. the dude is understandably panicked. but chloe actually screams at him at one point when she catches him on the phone, checking in with a co-worker about whether or not there's any news about their branch closing down. she also is bafflingly attracted to hugh, despite the fact that she is enraged with him for abandoning her all those years ago after he found out about baby sam. never mind that she has a long-term partner & another child, & hugh has a wife & two little girls. chloe's attraction to hugh is the most traditional "romance" aspect of the book, & it rings completely hollow.
phillip: he's okay. just kind of clueless about chloe's feelings for hugh (he never even knew they had dated or known each other previously) & obsessive about his job.
amanda: she doesn't really let hugh involve himself in any kind of parenting, & then complains that she may as well be a single mother for all the help she gets from him. she is obsessed with re-decorating her house & bosses around her decorators in such a way that i don't think she realizes that decorators are not slaves. but she does get points for being a really involved & caring mother.
sam: i hate this little asshole. all he does is think about whether or not he has a chance to bone someone on his spanish holiday. he even scopes out amanda's rack. he basically walks right up to jenna, the nanny, & is like, "so...wanna fuck?" & she she laughs at him, he gets sulky & treats her rudely. because he's entitled to sex, right? & any woman that won't give it up is just a bitch, right? didn't chloe raise this kid to have any respect for women at all?
nat: no big problems with him, though it's obnoxious that his parents take him to a spanish villa & he spends the whole time watching TV & playing video games.
beatrice & octavia: i feel that they are unrealistically well-behaved children, but other than that, no big issue.
jenna: i thought she was funny...until she agreed to have sex with sam. she's young, but she's still an adult woman who probably shouldn't be bedding a teenage boy. she seems like a really good nanny though. great with kids when she's not having sex with them.
anyway, chloe eventually concludes that gerard engineered the whole villa double-booking in order to bring her & hugh back together again. she thinks gerard would find it amusing to watch them struggle with their temptation to sleep together again. eventually they both end up in the little nearby town, where they rent a motel room & have sex. chloe kind of immediately regrets it because she still thinks hugh is a jerk, but hugh is all, "chloe, i'm in love with you! let's run away & be together! i could kick myself for giving up the chance to be sam's father!" etc etc. no word on why he regrets abandoning sam so much while he is in the midst of preparing to abandon his own two children.
after they go back to the villa, hugh & phillip get drunk together & phillip admits that he works for the bank hugh's company bought & that he fears being fired. hugh realizes that if phillip loses his job, chloe will never leave him for hugh. so hugh tries to pull some strings to make sure phillip doesn't get fired. it doesn't work & phillip gets fired anyway. & he finds out that hugh works for the company that caused him to get fired. hugh stars to wonder if this was gerard's plot all along--to put the corporate downsizer in a villa with the downsized for a week & what the fur fly. while he's freaking out about it in the office, gerard calls & basically confirms his theory. hugh starts to ask if gerard also intended to throw hugh & chloe together again, but it turns out that their romance was so brief, gerard never even knew they were together. hugh quickly back-pedals.
hugh goes out to the pool & is all, "phillip getting fired taught me that family is what matters. that's why i quit my job to be a stay-at-home dad." amanda panics, but phillip is all, "good for you! family is what matters!" chloe is like, "um...yeah. totally." jenna is all, "hey amanda, chloe boned your husband." everyone freezes & then jenna says, "just kidding." they all decide they hate gerard for putting them into this awkward confront-their-demons situation & they go home, never to see each other again.
seriously. isn't that the worst conclusion ever? oh, & hugh didn't really quit his job. he thought about it but was too scared to do it, just like he was too scared to continue dating chloe after he realized she had a child. he's just letting amanda sweat it for a while for his own amusement. what a great guy. his wife & children sure are fortunate to have him around.
this book sucked. don't make my mistakes. leave it on the shelf. -
Maybe I'm outgrowing chick lit? Or maybe this was just crap. I'm not sure. The last few chick lit books I've read have not really been enjoyable to me, so I'm sort of leaning towards the former; but maybe I'm just making bad choices. There were not any characters in this book that I liked. They are all reprehensible, selfish and annoying. Two families are thrown together in the same house for a week of holiday and it's starting to look like it wasn't an accident. The books that Wickham wrote under the pen name Sophi Kinsella are highly enjoyable fun. But the ones written under her own name have been barely more than average in my opinion. This one is just pretty bad. I wish I could go back to my self two weeks ago and take this away.
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2.9 stars~ I didn't dislike it: it was a fast read, just not sure if I'd recommend it. The ending made me annoyed, so that's why it wasn't 3 stars.
This was my least favorite of the Wickham books I read. I'm really not sure what the point of it was because the status quo of the book from beginning to end is pretty much the same except two people have cheated on their partners and have no plans to admit their infidelity. One thing I like about romance novels is that the status quo is different than it was at sentence 1 of the novel. Two characters didn't even know each other at the start of the novel, but by the end, they are in love and planning a future together. If I remember this book as the blurb on the front cover jacket of my library says, it will only be because of the strange, frustrating plot and ending.
Chloe and Hugh had a relationship 15 years ago, but Hugh freaked out when he found that Chloe already had a son because he was 20 and not ready for fatherhood. Chloe and Hugh still have unresolved feelings for each other, and when a mutual friend double books them in his Spanish villa, they give in to these feelings. Like the other Wickham books, by the end of the book, I was on (almost) the edge of my seat because unlike romance novels, I didn't know how it was going to end. Was Chloe going to leave Philip and Hugh Amanda? How was this situation going to be resolved? For this book to have been worth reading, i.e. for the status quo, I wanted Chloe x Hugh to metaphorically run away together.
It was disappointing when the confrontation with Gerard, their scheming host, never happened because instead, they all tried to run away from their problems and the villa. (Thank god this book is fiction because the bath being left on wasting so much water would have ticked me off.)
The only scenes of a sexual nature I enjoyed reading were between Sam, Chloe's 16-year-old son, and the babysitter of Hugh and Amanda's kids. When Jenna, the babysitter, was first introduced, I was just thinking to myself how the most stereotypical description of a teenager was given LOL.
I can imagine Chloe and Philip being happy together in the future, but I'm not so sure about Hugh and Amanda.
In Madeline Wickham's books, too many characters are okay with cheating/affairs and doing drugs. It makes me wonder is the author okay with that too? -
2.5 stars
I have mixed feelings about this story.
Positives
- great characterization: you get both the positive and the negative aspects of each character that makes them believable. They are fallible and imperfect.
- great plot and writing style;
- nice – though predictable – ending.
Negatives
- alternating third person viewpoint, except Amanda’s. Even the babysitter has her own POV, why not Amanda?
- cheating – unnecessary. The plot would have been totally intact even without it.
- some clichés and some over-sentimentalized and overdramatized moments.
Mediocre, but could be satisfying, if you are in the mood.
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2.5 stars
This was my first book by Madeleine Wickham, and I'd say that I prefer Sophie Kinsella to Madeleine Wickham.
Writing was not very impressive, plot somewhat bland. End wasn't as expected. Hugh and Chloe were utterly shameless liars, bloody cheats. Poor Philip and Amanda! Jenna was my favorite, she added some cheer to the book.
Overall, run-of-the-mill!! -
Cette lecture n'a pas vraiment eu d'impact sur moi. Je ne peux pas dire que j'ai adoré ce roman, mais je ne l'ai pas non plus détesté. Disons que c'était une lecture plaisir, sans prise de tête et sans véritable questionnement ou remise en question de la part du lecteur.
L'intrigue n'est pas très morale, on peut le dire, et pas très élaborée non plus. Les personnages sont plutôt faibles, mielleux et sans grande profondeur. Autant, il y a des romans chick lit> que j'ai beaucoup apprécié, parce qu'ils posaient des questions fondamentales alors que l'intrigue était plutôt légère, autant celui-ci ne suppose rien du tout, à part peut-être nous indigner si on a un minimum de valeurs, notamment concernant le mariage et la fidélité. Je pense qu'il faut aborder ce roman sans s'attendre à grand chose, parce que finalement, il n'y a pas vraiment de suspense ou de retournements de situation. Une lecture un peu plate donc. -
i think the author might have been trying to steal/use the setting of "Enchanted April" for this book...instead of Londoners needing a break and heading to a villa in Italy, this one was Londoners needing a break and heading to a villa in Spain. i dont like spouses cheating in the storyline so i would have given it 1 star, but it took a turn three quarters of the way through the book that was good and a little redeeming it to 2 stars. but if you dont mind people cheating on their significant others and a 20ish year old woman seducing a 16 year old boy, go for it! =)
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Just one word . -
This was so fun! I loved the characters and their dynamics with each other. I really didn't know how everything would wrap up, but I like the way that it ended. A fun contemporary!
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By Madeleine Wickham. Grade B
For those who don’t know, this is Sophie Kinsella writing under her real name. Being a huge fan of Sophie’s stand-alone books, I decided to check out her Madeleine Wickham books as well.
Chloe needs a holiday. Her partner, Philip, has troubles at work, and the whole family wants a break. Hugh is not a happy man. His immaculate wife, Amanda, seems more interested in her new kitchen than in him—and he works so hard to pay for it, he barely has time for his children. Maybe he’ll have a chance to bond with them on holiday…
When the two families arrive at a villa in Spain for their respective vacations, they all get a shock—it has been double-booked. An uneasy week of sharing begins, and tensions mount in the soaring heat. But the temperature isn’t solely to blame: What no one else realizes is that Chloe and Hugh have a history—and that the “accidental” overlap might not have been so accidental after all…
Chloe and her blended family need a holiday. Her partner Phillip is having trouble at work. She’s sick of making wedding dresses for stressed out brides and could use a change of scenery. Amanda and Hugh are going through a rough patch in their marriage and need a holiday too. Hugh is obsessed with work and spends so little time with his family that his children barely even know him and Amanda is currently stressing the redecoration of their home.
When both families receive an invitation to their friend Gerard’s villa, they each look forward to a restful week in Spain. What they find out when they arrive is that Gerard has accidentally double booked his villa and they end up having to share it as every hotel in the area is fully booked.
But there is this big unfortunate thing, Chloe and Hugh had been a couple at some point in their and now they stand before each other fighting the demons of the past.
This was a quick and light fluffy read that I got through quickly. The book has got a typically clichéd plot. I tried my best to love it as I love the Kinsella books but couldn’t. It is not that I didn’t like it, I did. But I didn’t really die to know what happened next. However, the story was solid and the characters believable in that they had flaws and seemed real.
The Madeleine Wickham books are not even half as good as good as her Sophie Kinsella books. It seems as if two different persons are writing them. It did not grab me and have me rolling with laughter like her Shophie Kinsella books.
There were certain unrealistic and stupid things in the book that were hard to digest. The Nanny that one couple brought with them seduces a 16-year-old boy. His parents don’t care. They smoke pot together. His parents don’t care.
Hugh is after Chloe even after knowing they have their children and partners. And apparently Chloe is not interested at all. Wickham should note that life’s not just drinking a billion types of wine and seducing other people’s wives. It’s a lot beyond that. And people, usually, cannot get that lucky that they get to sleep with their oh-so-old-so-missed love so easily and then get away with it without losing a strand of their hair.
I read a lot of Women’s Fiction but when I read this one I felt that I hated, loathed chick lit. For a moment, I thought I was really done with it. I do not deny Wickham’s marvellous storytelling skills but at times, some things really need to be pulled in place.
I’d say that if you like Kinsella, stay away from this one. You might lose some respect for her.
Originally reviewed at
www.vaultofbooks.com -
Wat een immense bullshit.
Chloe en Hugh zijn net twee irritante kleine kinderen die je wil doodslaan.
Philip en Amanda zijn misschien niet de perfecte partners maar wat een immense little shits.
Alle kinderen
DENK AAN DE KINDEREN
Jenna omschreef Hugh prachtig:
"Zonde van de ruimte. Typische Engelse kerel. Geen emoties, geen humor, niks."
Waarom zijn we allemaal verliefd op hem????
Hij is een shitty vader, al huilt hij de hele tijd dat dat niet zijn schuld is (uh-uh gurl) en een waardeloze husband. Wat een eikel.
Also Chloe. Wat een zeikwijf. Ga lekker huilen in je kamertje boehoe je hebt de seks gehad met een persoon die dood is vanbinnen en alleen maar om zichzelf geeft.
Daar geef je Philip voor op? Hij is een adorable knakker en vader die alleen even een paar moeilijke maanden heeft gehad omdat hij mogelijk ontslagen wordt. Tegenover 13 jaar niet-huwelijk vind ik dat je een little bitch bent Chloe.
Sam en Jenna.
Oh god.
Het was zo ongemakkelijk omdat er maar niet werd gezegd hoe oud Jenna was.
Aan de ene kant kun je dan denken; dan kun je haar zo oud maken als je zelf wilt, maar hoe erg ik mijn best ook deed, ik zag haar maar telkens voor me als creepy en in de 30 terwijl Sam 16 is.
Misschien was ze zelfs wel 50 wie weet niemand want haar leeftijd wordt niet gezegd.
Tot op ongeveer driekwart van het boek en ze "rond de 20" blijkt te zijn. Okok.
Alsnog is ze niet echt een leuk persoon, dus go, have the sex met haar Sam, maar val mij er niet mee lastig please.
Arme Nat, hij probeerde gewoon Pokémon te spelen op zijn playstation ;c -
Sleeping Arrangements was what I expected. It is typical Wickham, which I enjoy, so there isn't much to say. It wasn't too obvious, which was nice.
Chloe is a dressmaker in a long-term partnership with her guy Philip. They and their two children are about to embark on a much needed holiday to Spain, they have much stress in their lives and are looking forward to the getaway. Hugh and Amanda are married with two little girls and live a very different lifestyle than Chloe and Philip. Their worlds will collide when they arrive at the villa in Spain to find it double-booked, but that's not the only surprise that will be forthcoming.
I didn't feel like I was constantly predicting what would happen next although it did fit into the genre nicely (which overall is a bit predictable). I read Sleeping Arrangements really quickly, and I wanted to keep going to see what would happen and how things would turn out. The subject matter is adult, full of adult choices and sort of real.
Definitely would recommend for a nice beach read! -
Once again I enjoyed Madeleine Wickham's book hugely. It was a very touching story about life itself, about love, past and about family. Of course there was the holiday factor and I think we all have had at leas one totally messed up holiday. I'm quite young still, the same age as Chloe and Hugh were when they first met so I couldn't really put myself into their shoes but still this was an amazing story.
The book itself was very quick paced so I read it really quickly. It took me about three days and I didn't read the whole time, I kept quite long breaks. It was very enjoyable reading experience and I learned a lot from it even though I'm still young and I have to wait a while to get into to that kind of situations.
:) -
I had a difficult time getting into this book. The characters weren't very interesting or involved, so I didn't develop any empathy for them and their stories. I thought it ended abrubtly and since I read the whole book, I was hoping for more closure. The only redeeming part of this book was the son Sam's relationship with the Jenna, the nanny. His awkwardness about losing his virginity was both humourous and igry.
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Did not like this very much . . . Madeleine Wickham may be Sophie Kinsella but Sophie Kinsella is the much better writer! It seems as if Madeleine Wickham likes to deal with more serious issues and she doesn't do that good a job of it. She really should stick with the wacky, funny, ridiculous characters she creates as Sophie. Or maybe she's just bipolar and the Madeleine part is depressive. It's one to skip.
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Not at all that interesting. The story was dry and pointless. Chloe and Hugh, who were once in relationship meet up again 10 years later, and they are both involved with other people. The only bright spot of this book was Jenna, the nanny. I won't go into great detail but the story just ends rather abruptly. There was no kind of resolve, just a rush to finish the book. A waste of time, I don't think I'll be trying anything by this author in the future.
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Silly fun! Not the best book Wickham has written, by far, and more for the maturing audience (Hen-Lit, instead of Chick-Lit), which is a step away from her norm. But, still witty and fun. Super easy summer read...taking place in HOT SULTRY SUMMERY SPAIN! So, grab a sangria and sip away the afternoon!
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Ummmm... was disappointed by this book. I liked the idea of the book but she just didn't execute it well. I'm not going to hate on it like a lot of people did but I will recommend to read her other books before this one.
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I don't know if Madeleine Wickham is Sophie Kinsella's alter who expresses the latter's subconscious thoughts. Only God knows why Sophie Kinsella, sorry, I mean Madeleine Wickham chose to romanticize cheating. Really disappointed.
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I didn't really enjoy this book. It had a lot of themes I didn't enjoy and I wasnt really attached to any of the characters... I dont know this book just felt pretty pointless
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I swear I would not have touched this book with a 10-foot pole. But my father was clearing out his books and asked me if I wanted it. As it was by Sophie Kinsella AKA Madeleine Wickham, I said yes. Then it was lying around for months, looking pitiful and beckoning me with its beautiful cover (not the one on the GR page). Plus, it has been 6 years since I've read a paperback, so I thought, "Why not pick this book?" I love most of SK's books so what could go wrong?
Apparently everything.
Picking up this book was one of the worst mistakes of my life.
So let me get to the story so that you understand what I'm going on about.
There are two couples - Hugh and Amanda and Philip and Chloe. H and A are the 'power' couple - they have cash and class. The other couple are simply middle-class. They both have their problems (who doesn't?) but they're pulling along.
They all go to a friend's villa that has been 'accidentally' double-booked by said friend. And there they find a third couple! Hugh and Chloe!!!! They were together for two months 15 years ago and lo and behold! they still have feelings for each other.
There are few things that make me as angry as infidelity and this book has it. Hugh and Chloe sleep together - Hugh, because he thinks his wife is a bitch, and Chloe, because.....just because she feels ignored by her partner. It doesn't matter that her partner might lose his job and has been on tenterhooks for weeks due to the suspense. Chloe needs to feel loved.
These bloody people and their first-world problems.
Then Hugh goes ahead and proposes to Chloe! The nerve! He has a wife and two little children but he has sex ONE TIME with an ex-girlfriend and he is ready to leave his family for Twu Wuv. And yet, Chloe is drawn to him because he suffers so much in the hands of bitch-wife!! Poor Hugh!
And then she refuses because she feels something close to guilt AND THEY GO BACK TO THEIR LIVES AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED!!! What happened to being faithful to one's partner and being honest and all that shit?!
And then....then they actually sleep in each other's arms RIGHT NEXT TO THEIR SLEEPING PARTNERS because bloody Hugh wants to spend a whole effing night with Chloe! How about looking at your WIFE to spend the night with, Hugh?
I am so angry right now I could honestly strangle all of them because really I couldn't connect with anyone (code for: I hated everyone). As I cannot strangle them, let me give them marks instead.
Hugh = -15/10 (no spine, gaslighting, UNFAITHFUL, bad father, complete asshole)
Amanda = -5/10 (bitchy and uptight)
Philip = -5/10 (Grumpy man child, cannot get his head out of his bloody ass)
Chloe = -10/10 (UNFAITHFUL, unsupportive, is prone to victim-blaming)
Jenna = 0/10 (judgmental, takes a joke too far but is maybe the only redeeming character in the whole lot)
Sam = -2/10 (selfish teenager, looks on women as objects)
Nat, Beatrice, Octavia = 5/10 (appear less in the book, vomit in Amanda's car)
Gerard = -100/10 (doesn't appear in the book at all but is the cause of this whole bloody story)
The only redeeming factor was that the writing was easy and the book got over quickly enough.
I need a strong sedative to get out of this book. And maybe a better book.
1/2 star only if Goodreads would allow me but it doesn't. -
A breezy read with an original premise. I enjoyed the dilemma in which the characters found themselves and it took on a depth that I didn't expect. I have loved all of Sophie Kinsella's books, so now I have to read Madeleine's!
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I really liked this book. It is a look into the past of two seemingly perfect families...and when you realize that the two are intertwined, anything could happen. This romance is full of cliffhangers and flashbacks, I really recommend it!
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So I busted my Kinsella Cherry. about what I expected I guess. Cheap thrills haha
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After 7 years on my TBR shelf, it’s time for this book to be upgraded to my READ shelves. Hallelujah!
