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elouisedouglas's Reviews (721)
We went on holiday to Scotland for our anniversary this year, and gifts/souvenirs for Outlander were absolutely everywhere. I’d watched the first episode of the Amazon TV series with my friend, but I decided I wanted to read the book before I watched any further. I LOVE Scotland, and a book set in such beautiful scenery sounded like a dream.
Having watched the first episode of the series, I knew the main premise of the book was a woman called Claire Randall who unexpectedly travels through time from 1946 to 1743 and finds herself caught up immediately with the ancestor of her current-time husband, Frank.
It turns out that this ancestor (Jack) is not quite the man that Frank is, and Claire only narrowly escapes and finds herself caught up with a bunch of Scottish outlaws. Claire finds herself drawn inexplicably to a young man named Jamie, and it seems like their futures may be more intertwined than she could ever imagine. But that run-in with Jack won’t be her last, and it turns out that Jack and Jamie have a history that you would never have imagined.
At over 800 pages, there’s a lot of book here, but it felt fast-paced and exciting throughout, the writing completely drew me into the surroundings as if I was living through it with Claire. The descriptions of the Scottish highlands were so vivid that I don’t think I really need to watch the TV series anymore! It brought back memories from our holiday, all I could imagine was how much different it would all have looked 200 years ago!
I will say, there’s a lot of romance (and sex) in this book (more than I expected), but it didn’t feel gratuitous, and I really loved how Jamie and Claire grew gradually closer together as the story developed.
I also loved how the characters were not at all how you would expect. Claire is definitely not a damsel in distress and is more than capable of looking after herself, and Jamie is not your typical scottish outlaw – capable of such tenderness and care for Claire that I would not have expected given how we are introduced to his character!
But if you’re not a fan of romance, don’t let that put you off, as there’s a huge amount of action – some more gruesome than I would probably have liked, but it was gripping and definitely didn’t let me predict what was going to happen next.
Since I started reading this, I found out that there’s another 7 books, and they all seem just as long as this one, but I can’t wait to get stuck in – I feel like this might be my new obsession!
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/06/30/diana-gabaldon-outlander/
Having watched the first episode of the series, I knew the main premise of the book was a woman called Claire Randall who unexpectedly travels through time from 1946 to 1743 and finds herself caught up immediately with the ancestor of her current-time husband, Frank.
It turns out that this ancestor (Jack) is not quite the man that Frank is, and Claire only narrowly escapes and finds herself caught up with a bunch of Scottish outlaws. Claire finds herself drawn inexplicably to a young man named Jamie, and it seems like their futures may be more intertwined than she could ever imagine. But that run-in with Jack won’t be her last, and it turns out that Jack and Jamie have a history that you would never have imagined.
At over 800 pages, there’s a lot of book here, but it felt fast-paced and exciting throughout, the writing completely drew me into the surroundings as if I was living through it with Claire. The descriptions of the Scottish highlands were so vivid that I don’t think I really need to watch the TV series anymore! It brought back memories from our holiday, all I could imagine was how much different it would all have looked 200 years ago!
I will say, there’s a lot of romance (and sex) in this book (more than I expected), but it didn’t feel gratuitous, and I really loved how Jamie and Claire grew gradually closer together as the story developed.
I also loved how the characters were not at all how you would expect. Claire is definitely not a damsel in distress and is more than capable of looking after herself, and Jamie is not your typical scottish outlaw – capable of such tenderness and care for Claire that I would not have expected given how we are introduced to his character!
But if you’re not a fan of romance, don’t let that put you off, as there’s a huge amount of action – some more gruesome than I would probably have liked, but it was gripping and definitely didn’t let me predict what was going to happen next.
Since I started reading this, I found out that there’s another 7 books, and they all seem just as long as this one, but I can’t wait to get stuck in – I feel like this might be my new obsession!
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/06/30/diana-gabaldon-outlander/
For £2.99, I would say this book was fine, and it did make me stop and think a fair few times, but it wasn’t really what I expected from (although that’s my problem as I didn’t know what this book was before I bought it).
To save you potential disappointment, this book is a collection of the speeches that Greta Thunberg has made, which unfortunately means that the book contains quite a lot of repetition – her speeches are impactful because she knows what she’s saying is strong, but that of course means that she does repeat herself.
She is (quite rightly) an inspirational young woman – deciding that politicians and those in power are not taking the climate crisis (yes – it is a crisis) seriously enough, and taking a stand to make people listen.
She’s been invited many places to give speeches, so people are clearly starting to listen, but when you read what she’s saying, you realise that none of it is enough – we’re heading towards a catastrophe, and only changes at the highest level are going to help.
Definitely an interesting woman to follow – but I imagine that you can probably read these speeches online without paying for the privilege, and I probably would have done so if I’d know what I was buying (damn you Waterstones with your enticing book covers by the side of the till!).
I’m giving the book 3 stars, but not because it was bad, it just wasn’t what I expected and I didn’t get out of it what I thought I would.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/07/16/greta-thunberg-no-one-is-too-small-to-make-a-difference/
To save you potential disappointment, this book is a collection of the speeches that Greta Thunberg has made, which unfortunately means that the book contains quite a lot of repetition – her speeches are impactful because she knows what she’s saying is strong, but that of course means that she does repeat herself.
She is (quite rightly) an inspirational young woman – deciding that politicians and those in power are not taking the climate crisis (yes – it is a crisis) seriously enough, and taking a stand to make people listen.
She’s been invited many places to give speeches, so people are clearly starting to listen, but when you read what she’s saying, you realise that none of it is enough – we’re heading towards a catastrophe, and only changes at the highest level are going to help.
Definitely an interesting woman to follow – but I imagine that you can probably read these speeches online without paying for the privilege, and I probably would have done so if I’d know what I was buying (damn you Waterstones with your enticing book covers by the side of the till!).
I’m giving the book 3 stars, but not because it was bad, it just wasn’t what I expected and I didn’t get out of it what I thought I would.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/07/16/greta-thunberg-no-one-is-too-small-to-make-a-difference/
My friend bought me this book for my birthday and she clearly knows me very well, because this book was exactly my cup of tea!
Characters that feel like friends and a setting that just can’t help but make you smile, what more could you ask for?
Seeing the relationships develop gradually throughout the book just gave me warm fuzzy feelings. And I don’t just mean the inevitable romance, but the growing relationship between Molly and the kids she works with on her farm was the best of all.
Plenty of ups and downs along the way meant that the story never got boring, and definitely not predictable, I read this book as if it was a movie playing in my mind (and I also think it would make a great movie too).
I read a few Carole Matthews books when I was in high school, but I haven’t read any for a while, I definitely think this is an author that’s back on my list!
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/08/18/carole-matthews-happiness-for-beginners/
Characters that feel like friends and a setting that just can’t help but make you smile, what more could you ask for?
Seeing the relationships develop gradually throughout the book just gave me warm fuzzy feelings. And I don’t just mean the inevitable romance, but the growing relationship between Molly and the kids she works with on her farm was the best of all.
Plenty of ups and downs along the way meant that the story never got boring, and definitely not predictable, I read this book as if it was a movie playing in my mind (and I also think it would make a great movie too).
I read a few Carole Matthews books when I was in high school, but I haven’t read any for a while, I definitely think this is an author that’s back on my list!
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/08/18/carole-matthews-happiness-for-beginners/
I read this book in one weekend while house-sitting for my sister. It was so hot out that I basically hibernated on the sofa in front of a fan and devoured this book.
I’d heard of Jess Phillips before with some of her tweets being retweeted into my timeline, but I didn’t really know much of who she was. This book was a great intro into her mind and the things that she stands for.
Partly her life story, partly her opinions on key issues such as abuse against women, the book was compelling throughout. You could feel the raw emotion that she was pouring into this book, you know that she truly cares.
It was pretty hard to deal with some of the sections, like when she talks about some of the horrific trolling that she has had to encounter. It’s hard to relate to that as someone who has never gone through it, but it’s not something that anyone should have to cope with.
Just like some other books I’ve read, it feels a little presumptious to assume that the author is speaking on behalf of all women, we all have such different experiences that you can’t just generalise, but this one wasn’t as bad as some others.
All in all, I thought this was a great read, I think Jess Phillips has a great future, she’s going to go far. Even if she’s not your cup of tea, this was still a great read.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/07/28/jess-phillips-everywoman/
I’d heard of Jess Phillips before with some of her tweets being retweeted into my timeline, but I didn’t really know much of who she was. This book was a great intro into her mind and the things that she stands for.
Partly her life story, partly her opinions on key issues such as abuse against women, the book was compelling throughout. You could feel the raw emotion that she was pouring into this book, you know that she truly cares.
It was pretty hard to deal with some of the sections, like when she talks about some of the horrific trolling that she has had to encounter. It’s hard to relate to that as someone who has never gone through it, but it’s not something that anyone should have to cope with.
Just like some other books I’ve read, it feels a little presumptious to assume that the author is speaking on behalf of all women, we all have such different experiences that you can’t just generalise, but this one wasn’t as bad as some others.
All in all, I thought this was a great read, I think Jess Phillips has a great future, she’s going to go far. Even if she’s not your cup of tea, this was still a great read.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/07/28/jess-phillips-everywoman/
I’ve been wanting to read this book for a couple of years, but when the author sadly died earlier this year, it moved up my to-be-read list after I heard so much about the author and the books she’d written.
The premise really intrigued me, trying out different aspects of biblical womanhood each month in an attempt to try and be the ‘perfect’ woman. You may have heard of things like the ‘proverbs 31 woman’, and this book is kind of like that tested to the extreme.
As you can see, biblical womanhood is not all great, and it’s not just about being the ‘ideal wife’. It was also horrible and brutal and a lot of women were severely oppressed. Throughout the book, Evans tells these stories too, stories that we should remember so we can not repeat them.
We need to share those stories, and our own stories, so that the next generation can have it slightly easier than us, and so on and so on.
As I mentioned, each month the author tries a new dimension of biblical womanhood, from seemingly small things like covering her head and making her own clothes, to bigger things like camping outside while she was on her period. The book was full of laughter and fun, but also hard times and stresses.
She doesn’t take herself too seriously, and that really comes across in what is written, the author is able to laugh at herself and honestly talk about her failures as well as her successes.
From reading the book, it’s clear that the usual definitions of ‘biblical womanhood’ are outdated and not remotely sensible to live by, but it also shows that what the new modern take on being a ‘traditional’ woman is doing to female independence. Being a ‘biblical’ woman does not mean bowing down to every whim of your husband, and it surely doesn’t mean that you can’t preach in church, it means being a member of Christ’s family.
I definitely won’t be trying the things that the author tried over her year long experiment, but it was fascinating to read, and written with warmth and humour. I loved it.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/09/07/rachel-held-evans-a-year-of-biblical-womanhood/
The premise really intrigued me, trying out different aspects of biblical womanhood each month in an attempt to try and be the ‘perfect’ woman. You may have heard of things like the ‘proverbs 31 woman’, and this book is kind of like that tested to the extreme.
“Those who seek to glorify biblical womanhood have forgotten the dark stories. They have forgotten that the concubine of Bethlehem, the raped princess of David’s house, the daughter of Jephthah, and the countless unnamed women who lived and died between the lines of Scripture exploited, neglected, ravaged and crushed at the hand of patriarchy are as much a part of our shared narrative as Deborah, Esther, Rebekah and Ruth.”
As you can see, biblical womanhood is not all great, and it’s not just about being the ‘ideal wife’. It was also horrible and brutal and a lot of women were severely oppressed. Throughout the book, Evans tells these stories too, stories that we should remember so we can not repeat them.
We need to share those stories, and our own stories, so that the next generation can have it slightly easier than us, and so on and so on.
“I see myself as a woman who is traveling through a thick jungle with a machete. I can see where other women have forged a path for me, but there are still a lot of vines in the way. My goal is to cut down some of those vines, so that the next generation will have a clearer path.”
As I mentioned, each month the author tries a new dimension of biblical womanhood, from seemingly small things like covering her head and making her own clothes, to bigger things like camping outside while she was on her period. The book was full of laughter and fun, but also hard times and stresses.
She doesn’t take herself too seriously, and that really comes across in what is written, the author is able to laugh at herself and honestly talk about her failures as well as her successes.
From reading the book, it’s clear that the usual definitions of ‘biblical womanhood’ are outdated and not remotely sensible to live by, but it also shows that what the new modern take on being a ‘traditional’ woman is doing to female independence. Being a ‘biblical’ woman does not mean bowing down to every whim of your husband, and it surely doesn’t mean that you can’t preach in church, it means being a member of Christ’s family.
“When we turn the word Bible into an adjective and stick it in front of another loaded word (like manhood, womanhood, politics, economics, marriage, and even equality), we tend to ignore or downplay the parts of the Bible that don’t fit our tastes. In an attempt to simplify, we try to force the Bible’s cacophony of voices into a single tone, to turn a complicated and at times troubling holy text into a list of bullet points.”
I definitely won’t be trying the things that the author tried over her year long experiment, but it was fascinating to read, and written with warmth and humour. I loved it.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/09/07/rachel-held-evans-a-year-of-biblical-womanhood/
Not my usual kind of book, but I got this one for free through the Amazon First Reads program and it kept me going through a long couple of train journeys to London and back.
I say not my usual kind of book, I’ve read crime/thrillers before and I usually do find them quite enjoyable, but it’s not my first choice genre as I like to feel warm and snuggled in a book and thrillers usually set me on edge – not good when you’re about to go to sleep!
But despite the fact that it’s not my normal cup of tea, I did find myself a little disappointed by this one. When we finally figured out ‘whodunnit’, I was genuinely surprised. I’d had my own theories, but I was way off, as per usual.
Aside from the fact that I couldn’t figure out who the culprit was, I found the characters completely unrelateable and at points pretty unlikeable.
There are some pretty big issues covered in the book, rape and domestic abuse, cheating and violence, and I don’t really think that they were dealt with that sensitively to be honest. Rather than feeling sympathy for the victims, I just couldn’t stand them. Not quite thinking they deserved it, but I didn’t feel any empathy or emotional pull towards them. And when the story finally wrapped up, although I was surprised by the ending, I didn’t find any happiness or relief in that.
I’ve had mixed luck with the amazon first reads books, but for me, this one was definitely a dud.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/09/18/claire-mcgowan-what-you-did/
I say not my usual kind of book, I’ve read crime/thrillers before and I usually do find them quite enjoyable, but it’s not my first choice genre as I like to feel warm and snuggled in a book and thrillers usually set me on edge – not good when you’re about to go to sleep!
But despite the fact that it’s not my normal cup of tea, I did find myself a little disappointed by this one. When we finally figured out ‘whodunnit’, I was genuinely surprised. I’d had my own theories, but I was way off, as per usual.
Aside from the fact that I couldn’t figure out who the culprit was, I found the characters completely unrelateable and at points pretty unlikeable.
There are some pretty big issues covered in the book, rape and domestic abuse, cheating and violence, and I don’t really think that they were dealt with that sensitively to be honest. Rather than feeling sympathy for the victims, I just couldn’t stand them. Not quite thinking they deserved it, but I didn’t feel any empathy or emotional pull towards them. And when the story finally wrapped up, although I was surprised by the ending, I didn’t find any happiness or relief in that.
I’ve had mixed luck with the amazon first reads books, but for me, this one was definitely a dud.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/09/18/claire-mcgowan-what-you-did/
I’ve been following Michelle on Instagram for quite a while (if you’re not following her, check her out, her feed is brill), and when I saw her book was reduced on Kindle, I had to buy it.
I love what Michelle has to say about body positivity and looking after your own mental health, and although I didn’t really know what the book was about, I knew it would be a good read.
I was completely shocked by the book, I had no idea all the things that the author has been through in her life. It would be easy for anyone who has gone through those things to feel sorry for themselves, but Michelle writes with such clarity and emotion that it felt like I was being taken along in her life story as she wrote it.
Attending a super competitive (and not at all nurturing school), Michelle would already be able to say she’d had a difficult upbringing, but if you then combine that with 15 surgeries and the complications that come with that, she’s nothing short of an inspiration.
Despite the myriad things that Michelle went through in her childhood, she writes with a humour and a warmth that shone from the pages of the book, and with her suffering of PTSD, this cannot have been easy to write.
Michelle rose to internet fame when a picture of her in a bikini went viral on the internet. Showing proudly her scars, she’s the definition of body confidence, and I an inspired by her daily. I’d recommend this book to anyone!
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/10/03/michelle-elman-am-i-ugly/
I love what Michelle has to say about body positivity and looking after your own mental health, and although I didn’t really know what the book was about, I knew it would be a good read.
I was completely shocked by the book, I had no idea all the things that the author has been through in her life. It would be easy for anyone who has gone through those things to feel sorry for themselves, but Michelle writes with such clarity and emotion that it felt like I was being taken along in her life story as she wrote it.
Attending a super competitive (and not at all nurturing school), Michelle would already be able to say she’d had a difficult upbringing, but if you then combine that with 15 surgeries and the complications that come with that, she’s nothing short of an inspiration.
Despite the myriad things that Michelle went through in her childhood, she writes with a humour and a warmth that shone from the pages of the book, and with her suffering of PTSD, this cannot have been easy to write.
Michelle rose to internet fame when a picture of her in a bikini went viral on the internet. Showing proudly her scars, she’s the definition of body confidence, and I an inspired by her daily. I’d recommend this book to anyone!
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/10/03/michelle-elman-am-i-ugly/
The perfect birthday present – a new Milly Johnson book! At least that’s what my husband thought when he pre-ordered it for my birthday, not bargaining on the fact that I’d be so eager to read it, I’d buy it two days before my birthday and read it in one sitting!
Sorry Cameron!
But how could I say no to the glorious blue edged pages (the special edition from Tesco). I’m a sucker for a coloured-edge, and I’ve not seen one this bright before, I could hardly not buy it!!
But I’ll stop fangirling over the outside now, and get down to the important bit – the inside.
I have to say, I think this is my favourite Milly yet (and there’s a lot of history to compete with). Our main character Sophie (Pom) is such a strong-willed woman (once she gets out from underneath her controlling bastard of a husband), and I fell in love with her character immediately.
The back-story we get from her about her school days really broke my heart. All she wanted was to be loved; she didn’t get that from her parents and she definitely didn’t get that from school – what a horrible place. But Sophie is fixed on the good memories, namely one special summer where she could be a child and have fun.
The opening chapters were completely gripping – we know we’re counting down to ‘doorstepgate’, where Sophie is going to claim back her life, but it’s teased to us so gradually that I was so tense by the time I got there. And through that unravelling, we come to see just how much of a piece of work her husband is.
John is a politician with aspirations to be Prime Minister and he’s surrounded by yes-men who are determined to smooth over any transgression and paint him as the perfect man – but we see that he’s far from it. Unfortunately, John’s yes-men also include Sophie’s parents, who see John as the son they always wanted, and they prioritise him completely over her, no matter the consequences.
So when Sophie finally runs away and finds herself in Yorkshire, she has a dilemma. She knows that she can’t run away forever, but the people she meets there are so lovely that she wishes she could.
The first person she meets is Tracey, a lovely warm character who makes Sophie feel immediately at home. And when she’s introduced to Tracey’s brother Elliot (the local vicar) and his son Luke, it feels like it’s going to be impossible to leave.
I loved the gradually unfolding relationships between all the characters in the book, you could see Sophie growing as her own person, and through that, helping the other characters to grow too. And the idea in the book for prom-dress recycling – what a great idea!
I won’t go into too much more detail on the plot so I don’t completely spoil it for you, but I will say that the romance in this book was spot-on. With Milly, you know that it’s always going to capture you and have you rooting for them from the start, but I liked the way that this romance seemed more ‘innocent’ and more like two friends coming together than anything that could have been more scandalous. As I said earlier, I think this may be Milly’s finest romance yet!
Bravo, Milly! I’m looking forward to book 17!
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/07/13/milly-johnson-the-magnificent-mrs-mayhew/
Sorry Cameron!
But how could I say no to the glorious blue edged pages (the special edition from Tesco). I’m a sucker for a coloured-edge, and I’ve not seen one this bright before, I could hardly not buy it!!
But I’ll stop fangirling over the outside now, and get down to the important bit – the inside.
I have to say, I think this is my favourite Milly yet (and there’s a lot of history to compete with). Our main character Sophie (Pom) is such a strong-willed woman (once she gets out from underneath her controlling bastard of a husband), and I fell in love with her character immediately.
The back-story we get from her about her school days really broke my heart. All she wanted was to be loved; she didn’t get that from her parents and she definitely didn’t get that from school – what a horrible place. But Sophie is fixed on the good memories, namely one special summer where she could be a child and have fun.
The opening chapters were completely gripping – we know we’re counting down to ‘doorstepgate’, where Sophie is going to claim back her life, but it’s teased to us so gradually that I was so tense by the time I got there. And through that unravelling, we come to see just how much of a piece of work her husband is.
John is a politician with aspirations to be Prime Minister and he’s surrounded by yes-men who are determined to smooth over any transgression and paint him as the perfect man – but we see that he’s far from it. Unfortunately, John’s yes-men also include Sophie’s parents, who see John as the son they always wanted, and they prioritise him completely over her, no matter the consequences.
So when Sophie finally runs away and finds herself in Yorkshire, she has a dilemma. She knows that she can’t run away forever, but the people she meets there are so lovely that she wishes she could.
The first person she meets is Tracey, a lovely warm character who makes Sophie feel immediately at home. And when she’s introduced to Tracey’s brother Elliot (the local vicar) and his son Luke, it feels like it’s going to be impossible to leave.
I loved the gradually unfolding relationships between all the characters in the book, you could see Sophie growing as her own person, and through that, helping the other characters to grow too. And the idea in the book for prom-dress recycling – what a great idea!
I won’t go into too much more detail on the plot so I don’t completely spoil it for you, but I will say that the romance in this book was spot-on. With Milly, you know that it’s always going to capture you and have you rooting for them from the start, but I liked the way that this romance seemed more ‘innocent’ and more like two friends coming together than anything that could have been more scandalous. As I said earlier, I think this may be Milly’s finest romance yet!
Bravo, Milly! I’m looking forward to book 17!
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/07/13/milly-johnson-the-magnificent-mrs-mayhew/
Fixie Farr has a reputation for always needing to fix things. Whether it’s just something out of place in her family shop, or something much bigger, she just can’t help herself. But most of the time, she ends up just causing more trouble by trying to make everything perfect.
When she saves a stranger’s laptop from imminent doom, he tells her he owes her one, and so begins a long line of favours back and forth between Seb and Fixie, some much bigger than others.
Unfortunately, although we can see that Seb would be a perfect partner for Fixie if she would just open her eyes, she’s blinded by her high school crush Ryan, who has just come back into her life and declared that he loves her. We can all see that he’s treating her like rubbish, but she’s been in love with him so long, she can’t see it. And with her need to fix everything, he’s like the perfect project.
Unfortunately, Ryan isn’t Fixie’s only problem. Her mum has had a health scare and left Fixie and her siblings in charge of the family shop, but it seems like only Fixie has the shop’s best interests at heart, her siblings have some rather wacky ideas that they’re determined to implement.
So as you can see, life isn’t straightforward for Fixie right now, but the path of true love never did run straight…
A fab book, just what I needed in my current reading rut, I was swept away in the story and captivated from beginning to end. I’d expect nothing else from Kinsella to be honest, she’s one of my favourite romance authors.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/12/14/sophie-kinsella-i-owe-you-one/
When she saves a stranger’s laptop from imminent doom, he tells her he owes her one, and so begins a long line of favours back and forth between Seb and Fixie, some much bigger than others.
Unfortunately, although we can see that Seb would be a perfect partner for Fixie if she would just open her eyes, she’s blinded by her high school crush Ryan, who has just come back into her life and declared that he loves her. We can all see that he’s treating her like rubbish, but she’s been in love with him so long, she can’t see it. And with her need to fix everything, he’s like the perfect project.
Unfortunately, Ryan isn’t Fixie’s only problem. Her mum has had a health scare and left Fixie and her siblings in charge of the family shop, but it seems like only Fixie has the shop’s best interests at heart, her siblings have some rather wacky ideas that they’re determined to implement.
So as you can see, life isn’t straightforward for Fixie right now, but the path of true love never did run straight…
A fab book, just what I needed in my current reading rut, I was swept away in the story and captivated from beginning to end. I’d expect nothing else from Kinsella to be honest, she’s one of my favourite romance authors.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/12/14/sophie-kinsella-i-owe-you-one/
Before I read this, I’d watched it on Netflix, not realising it was based on a book. I thought the Netflix show was great, the cast was fantastic and the story was captivating. I’m happy (but not surprised) to say the book was even better – I read it in one sitting!
Willowdean Dickson is the daughter of a former small-town pageant queen. Despite never quite living up to the daughter that her mother had in mind (her mother nicknamed her dumplin because of the way she looks), Willowdean is perfectly happy with her life. She has an amazing best friend with whom she shares her love for Dolly Parton, and she loves herself.
That is, until she takes a job at the local fast food joint and meets a boy called Bo. She immediately likes him, and is shocked when he seems to like her back. But this starts her second guessing herself and her previous self-assurance disappears.
She decides to fight back by doing the scariest thing she can imagine, entering the beauty pageant that is judged by her (less than supportive) mother. To say it’s a shock to her mum is an understatement, but Willowdean is serious about entering, and ends up the ringleader of several other unlikely beauty queens.
I fell in love with Willowdean from the first page, her character was so relatable to me (although I’d never in a million years be brave enough to do what she did), and I was rooting for her from start to finish. I was a little cross with myself for watching the show on netflix first, as it took away my imagination for the characters and all I could see were the actors, but that’s not too much of a problem because as I said before, I loved the book from the very first page.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/12/14/julie-murphy-dumplin/
Willowdean Dickson is the daughter of a former small-town pageant queen. Despite never quite living up to the daughter that her mother had in mind (her mother nicknamed her dumplin because of the way she looks), Willowdean is perfectly happy with her life. She has an amazing best friend with whom she shares her love for Dolly Parton, and she loves herself.
That is, until she takes a job at the local fast food joint and meets a boy called Bo. She immediately likes him, and is shocked when he seems to like her back. But this starts her second guessing herself and her previous self-assurance disappears.
“But then there was the way Callie looked me up and down. Like I was some kind of abomination. The truth is that I’m mad I felt uncomfortable to begin with, because why should I? Why should I feel bad about wanting to get into a pool or standing around in my swimsuit? Why should I feel like I need to run in and out of the water so that no one has to see the atrocity that are my thighs?”
She decides to fight back by doing the scariest thing she can imagine, entering the beauty pageant that is judged by her (less than supportive) mother. To say it’s a shock to her mum is an understatement, but Willowdean is serious about entering, and ends up the ringleader of several other unlikely beauty queens.
I fell in love with Willowdean from the first page, her character was so relatable to me (although I’d never in a million years be brave enough to do what she did), and I was rooting for her from start to finish. I was a little cross with myself for watching the show on netflix first, as it took away my imagination for the characters and all I could see were the actors, but that’s not too much of a problem because as I said before, I loved the book from the very first page.
Posted on: https://emmaloui.se/2019/12/14/julie-murphy-dumplin/