Book review - 28 Disastrous Dates: A (Mostly True) Humourous Memoir by Poppy Mortimer

 As a child of divorced parents, Poppy lost herself in romantic novels and romantic Hollywood films with dashing, handsome heroes. Furthermore, she blames these pastimes on her lack of intuition when going on a date. The book is a memoir of Poppy's dates which range from the funny to the scary, over ten years and three continents. How does Poppy find herself on a scary date with a fireman? How does Poppy deal with the date who asks her out by sending her a photograph of his penis? Moreover, does Poppy's memoir finish with her finding the love of her life? Read 28 Disastrous Dates: A (Mostly True) Humourous Memoir by Poppy Mortimer to find the answers to these and other questions. 

I liked that Poppy Mortimer starts each chapter with details of her age, where she is living, where she meets each man and how they ask her out. Which helps to visualize the scene created. The end of each chapter has Poppy reminiscing over what she has learnt from her date and what she will take from it. Sadly by the next chapter, she has forgotten most of what she has learned and gone out with another disastrous man!

I was disappointed with this book. For me, it was like reading a teenager's diary. Some dates were mildly funny but less humorous than the author would lead us to believe. The book is well written and flows very well, and I enjoyed the first half of the book; it was interesting being an onlooker of someone else's disasters. Unfortunately, the stories became formulaic after a while, and I felt that Poppy Mortimer needed to try harder to make the book funny, which made it boring. I struggled to read to the end of the book. 

I would recommend 28 Disastrous Dates: A (Mostly True) Humourous Memoir by Poppy Mortimer to young adults. There is no swearing in the book ( as Poppy can not bring herself to type expletives), but there is a fair sprinkling of penises, so I would not recommend it to a younger audience! 

I want to give 28 Disastrous Dates: A (Mostly True) Humourous Memoir by Poppy Mortimer 3 out of 5 stars. The book did not live up to my expectations; it was more of a groan-out-loud than a laugh-out-loud book. There were some spelling and grammatical errors, and the book could do with another proofreading, although these did not distract from the stories. The dates became too formulaic and similar the more I read, which made the last half of the book boring, and I struggled to finish it. I did enjoy Poppy Mortimer's style of writing, and the fact I was not keen on 28 Disastrous Dates: A (Mostly True) Humourous Memoir would not stop me from reading another book by this author.

Book Review - Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas

 

Kalayla, the debut novel by Jeannie Nicholas, is a brilliant story about three people, a mother, a daughter and a neighbour, who bond as they struggle through life's difficulties. Kalayla is a cheeky eleven-year-old mixed-race girl, and she befriends septuagenarian Lena, who lives in the same apartment block. Kalayla is fascinated by Lena, who always dresses head to toe in black. Kalayla's mother, Maureen, is nearly thirty and is a single parent. Maureen works several jobs to keep a roof over her and Kalayla's heads, and when she is not at school, Kalayla is left to her own devices.

All three have secrets. Lena had four sons. She works part-time with one of them at the family business, her twin sons are dead, and there is one she is alienated from. Maureen is a widowed white girl who married a black man, and her family now will not have anything to do with her and has never seen Kalayla. Maureen has told Kalayla that they all died in an explosion at a family wedding! Furthermore, Kalayla tells her Mum that she spends most of her time at the library, but she is never there! 

Gradually as the story progresses, the secrets come out. Kalayla is an excellent book highlighting many issues, including domestic abuse, racism, prejudice, homophobia and family abandonment. Jeannie Nicholas's sensitive and thoughtful story tells how community and friendship improve lives as the relationship between these three very different people grows.

I loved everything about Kalayla, from the building friendship between Lena, Maureen and Kalayla to the gradual understanding of the lies they all tell and why. The book covers some dark subjects, but it is not without humour, e.g. page fifty-seven, "Now I was in the middle of an alphabet soup that was boiling over with letters I couldn't turn into words." This book is a real page-turner, and I felt like I was saying goodbye to a friend when I turned the last page.

There was nothing I disliked about Kalayla; it is a well-written and thoroughly enjoyable read, storytelling at its very best.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. Kalayla by Jeannie Nicholas is well-edited, I did not find any spelling or grammatical errors, and I loved reading this wonderful book!

Due to the relatively heavy topics covered, I would recommend this to an adult audience. I would recommend it to women because it is a story of friendship between 3 female characters, and it covers issues which mainly affect women.

Thank you to Jeannie Nicholas for a free copy of this book in exchange for an impartial review.