Author: Beth O’ Leary
Publisher: Hachette Australia
Genre: Fiction, Modern & Contemporary, General
Year of release: 2020
Release date: 25th February 2020
Rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Synopsis
Tiffy and Leon share an apartment. Tiffy and Leon have never met.
After a bad breakup, Tiffy Moore needs a place to live. Fast. And cheap. But the apartments in her budget have her wondering if astonishingly coloured mould on the walls counts as art.
Desperation makes her open minded, so she answers an ad for a flat share. Leon, a night shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He’ll only ever be there when she’s at the office. In fact, they’ll never even have to meet.
Tiffy and Leon start writing each other notes – first about what day is garbage day, and politely establishing what leftovers are up for grabs, and the evergreen question of whether the toilet seat should stay up or down. Even though they are opposites, they soon become friends. And then maybe more.
But falling in love with your roommate is probably a terrible idea…especially if you’ve never met.
Review
Tiffany ‘Tiffy’ Moore needs to find a new place to live after breaking up with her boyfriend Justin once and for all, wasn’t exactly smooth sailing, she becomes rather eager to distance herself from him, unfortunately she’s on a tight budget unless she’s willing to risk exposure to mould.
Desperate times call for desperate measures Tiffy answers an ad for a flatshare arrangement, with Leon Twomey a nightshift worker, the pair make contact it’s agreed upon Leon will have full access to the flat during daylight hours, Tiffy nights and weekends; Tiffy’s not really in a position to say no and agrees with the reasoning that they won’t be crossing paths thanks to their work schedules, so what harm can come of saying yes?
Not long after Tiffy has moved in notes begin appearing all over the flat, at first the day to day running of the flat if the leftover food in the fridge is safe for human consumption? The pair fast become friends and although they’re still yet to meet each beginning to wonder could their friendship evolve into something more?
But that’s a terrible idea right… especially if your still yet to meet your roommate, right?
The novels tagline Tiffy and Leon share a bed. Tiffy and Leon have never, and this really grabbed me and every so often you need to feel-good so a chick-lit is in order – The Flat Share is a perfect fit.
Author Beth O’Leary has done a great job in bringing to life a wonderful cast of characters, I appreciate the efforts the author has taken to make sure each character was bringing something to the plotline this includes most of the minor characters such as Gerty and Mo
“We’re so overdressed for a daytime event about crochet.”
― Beth O’Leary, The Flatshare
I found the subplots of the nursing home patients a little over the top for me personally, just regarding the number of characters to keep track of, but this didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of this book.
Some Contemporary Fiction can feel a little slow and over the top at times but O’ Leary manages to keep the story moving along at an enjoyable pace, I believe the dual perspective writing technique and witty humor helps with this. I also enjoyed Tiffy and Leon’s chapters equally, making The Flat Share a 5-star read.
“Often think it must be very tiring, being Tiffy. Even in note form, she seems to expend so much energy.” ― Beth O’Leary, The Flatshare
I think the author has shown great skill in writing a book that includes humor but also touches on darker moments such as abusive relationships.
The detail that makes The Flat Share interesting for this reader is the fact that this technique of complete strangers having meet-cute moments is usually reserved and, in my opinion, better suited to film, Beth O’ Leary has actually managed to pull this off without turning it into a cringeworthy read.
I must admit it was predictable, sometimes you just need to know everything will turn how you hoped it would a pure comfort read, however coming to the end of this read I was left feeling content warm, and fuzzy.
If like me, you put off reading The Flat Share due to the hype but managed to read The Switch or The Road Trip first then the Flat Share is for you. I prefer The Flat Share and The Switch overall. I recommend The Flat Share to a mature audience, especially if you’re a fan of Chick-Lit, Contemporary Fiction, Rom-Com add this book to your shelf ASAP.
“Have you ever looked forward to reading a book so much you can’t actually start it?”
― Beth O’Leary, The Flatshare