"I've discovered the secret to successful singledom. I'm acting like a man. And it's working.
After breaking up with her boyfriend of, well, forever, Abigail Wood must learn how to be single from scratch. Her dating skills are abysmal, and she ricochets from disaster to disaster – until Robert, one of London's most notorious lotharios, agrees to coach her. With his advice, she learns to navigate the bastard-infested waters of the bar scene and practices the art of being bulletproof. The new Abigail is cocky, calm, composed… but what happens when she meets her match?"
Rating
Review
You know when sometimes you are in the mood for some fantasy? Or you feel like reading one of the thousands of dystopian trilogies or sagas that have been published lately? I remember that there was a time when I loved having a historical fiction book in my hands. But then I also get pretty frequently in the mood for some chick-lit novels. Oh, how much I do enjoy a good, fun, lovely chick-lit with a cup of tea (cliché, I know). They're my easy read, my comfort zone in terms of reading. That doesn't mean I don't read them with a critical feminist mindset because I do.
Anyway, A Girl Like You is one of those stories so engaging that you can't put it down. In fact, I read it in barely two days even though I was pretty busy. That's how fluent and easy to read Gemma Burgess' writing is.
It's true that the plot is quite predictable and the characters are pretty stereotypical but that's what makes it more enjoyable. Even though I might have a general idea of what's going to happen, I still want to know how the author is going to make it happen, if you know what I mean. Burgess' writing made me feel like I was watching a movie. It actually reminds me of a movie I know I have watched and liked but I just have a vague memory of it so I don't know if it's an actual movie or just my head messing with me. I'm almost sure that there is a movie with a similar plot though in a different context. If anyone know which one (just by reading at the synopsis above), please do tell me because I'd love to watch it.
As I said, A Girl Like You is a fun read. It's also easy for me to empathize with the main character. We're almost the same age and her concerns and worries about life are kind of similar to mine. Her approach to them makes me think: how would I approach them? Do I like how she approaches them? And it gives me a new perspective on how to see things in life and to rethink about my life situation. This may seem weird but it kind of motivates me to do new things and be more active. I'm probably seeing more than there is to it but that's my way of reading it.
Continuing with the main character: Abigail is her name and she's pretty likeable. She is funny and smart. Sometimes, she's not brave or confident enough and sometimes she's a bit oblivious and you kinda want to punch her. But that makes her more real and it gets easier for the female reader to identify with her. Because no one is perfect and, also, no one likes perfect characters. We want them to have flaws and make mistakes, don't we? Anyhow, Abigail is that kind of girl you'd want to be friends with.
Oh, friends. Let's talk about friends. Abigail has a bunch of funny, supportive, nice friends as any girl should have in this kind of novel so nothing to add in that department. Moving on.
Which leads us to the "person/people of interest", the dreamy guys. There's always more than one dreamy guy and there's always one that is wrong and one that is right. And you usually know from the very beginning which one is the right one and root for him like there's no tomorrow; but the female protagonist takes the entire book to realise this and when she finally does, you can't help but shout YES! and smile satisfyingly. And don't tell me that's a spoiler because it's not. We all know that's how the story is going to end even before we start reading and that's what we want to read. That's what you look for when you open this kind of book. If you get that and a funny, well written story, then you have a 4 out of 5 novel on your "read" shelve on GoodReads. Well done, Gemma, I will surely pick more of your books in the future.
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