Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hello guys! I know that I’ve previously spoken about wanting to explore the world on the blog, as my goals for this year heavily featured wanting to travel and capture memories for years to come. For a few days in April, I celebrated my 25th with my boyfriend in Amsterdam and it was such an experience; after having some issues with the original hotel, we ended up staying in a completely different place and not quite in Amsterdam, but in the overall region so it was easy enough to travel into the center with minimal hassle. As much as I’d read up about the city, I do feel like it’s definitely a busy city to the point that even as a Londoner I was a little overwhelmed! Two things: bikes and strange road layouts. Being from London, I’m used to seeing bicycles but this was to the extreme! Literally thousands of bikes line the streets and because of Holland using left hand drive I was so confused by simply crossing the road at times because of bikes, people, trams and buses being seemingly everywhere. I feel like myself and Piotr managed to pack a lot of activities into 4 days but at the same time, I do wish we had seen more as there’s just so much to see and do in Amsterdam. That being said, I don’t think I’ve taken so many landscape photographs in months; everything about the city just transfers so well into imagery, perfect for good memories!

Arguably the best thing that we did was a Canal tour at sunset; it was such a lovely way to see the city and it was great to hear about the city from a local guide as you learnt not only about Tourist hotspots but also everyday life. We also visited the Rijksmuseum, Tulip Museum, Van Gogh Museum, Red Light District, Sandvoort Gallery (inside Amsterdam Centraal Station), Cheese Museum and the Hash, Marihuana & Museum and Gallery. It doesn’t sound like much, but honestly it felt like a lot alongside various cafés, restaurants and wandering the streets. The Library in the Rijksmuseum literally took my breath away, as did Odelle’s dollhouse, the inspiration for one of my favourite books, The Muse. The museums in general were insanely good. I was disappointed that we couldn’t visit the Anne Frank House as there were no tickets available, but that does feel like a good excuse to revisit the city again as Piotr fell completely in love so I know that we’ll definitely be visiting the city again at some point. We were also there for Kingsday, a celebration of the Kings birthday which results in a massive street party in the centre of Amsterdam with street performers, dancing, drinking, music and more. It was an experience to say the least; the Dutch definitely know how to party hard, whereas I just found it exhausting! The city is so photogenic and there is so much to do that it was completely worth the ridiculous price of food, attractions and travel but if you do visit the city, try and take more money than you’ll think that you will need as it is very expensive, unfortunately. It was a lovely way to spend my birthday and spend time with Piotr; however I’ve definitely caught the travel bug so I can imagine travelling a lot more over the rest of this year, which I’m not sure my bank balance will love, haha. Until my next trip! 

Beauty Review: L’Oréal Paris Paradise Mascara

Hello again guys; it feels like a while since I’ve done a beauty related review. Over the past few months I’ve worn make up a bit less (or less make up, at least) however it definitely feels like time for a new review. There was so much hype surrounding this mascara on blogs, YouTube and simply in general that I felt like I just HAD to buy it. The mascara that I’m reviewing today is the L’Oréal Paris Paradise Extatic Mascara in the shade 01 Black. Priced at £11.99, it is a more expensive drugstore mascara however the packaging does also match that; with a rose gold cardboard outer that reminds me a lot of Benefit packaging, this mascara is definitely marketed and aiming for the drugstore high-end and it does look absolutely lovely. The actual mascara packaging is just as nice as the cardboard outer with the main body in a matte rose gold and the lid is a shiny rose gold with constrasting white typeface across the main body with the mascara name. At first glance, I wouldn’t have guessed that this was a L’Oréal product, visually it is very different to their other mascara ranges, a couple of which are shown in my photographs below. As much as I love the packaging, I do feel like this is a lot of money to drop on a mascara, but as I wear mascara more or less everyday I guess that isn’t too much but it is more than I would usually spend, to be honest.

One of the reasons why I was so excited to try out this mascara is that it has been constantly compared to the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara, which is a product that I’ve personally never tried but have always wanted to. I did have some reservations as generally I do prefer plastic bristles on a mascara wand and this mascara has a soft fibred wand which I do find harder to work with but that said, I do have naturally full, long lashes so any wand does the job for me. The outer packaging boasts that this mascara gives Intense Volume and Spectacular, Long Lashes as well as being a Pleasure to Apply. Basically, a lot to live up to as all of those things sound pretty desirable. Personally, I like my lashes to look very full, separated and long; I love it when a mascara is visibly on my lashes and very dark black to stand out against my green eyes.

The wand is a fairly unusual shape; a curved hourglass shape, it is larger at the top and bottom and thinner in the centre so should be great at opening up the eye shape and lengthening the edges. Below it is the mascara wand on the left side, the centre mascara is Maybelline Lash Sensational and the mascara to the right is Maybelline The Colossal Big Shot, pictured together to demonstrate the clear differences in mascara wand shape, size and material. Personally I’ve found that plastic bristles grip to my lashes better than fiber bristles, but I can work with either kind if I have to. I was a little disappointed that the wand on the L’Oréal Paris Paradise Extatic Mascara is fiber as I was expecting a plastic wand (not sure why I thought that...) but I’m dreaming of long, full lashes with this mascara regardless of the less preferred style of wand. Generally, I am quite a messy applier of mascara and this wand is pretty thick, so unfortunately I’m expecting a very messy look with this mascara; I’m terrible for having an unsteady hand whenever I apply mascara, oops. I’m hoping that this mascara won’t be a regret as I do feel like I was drawn to buy it due to all of the hype that surrounded it, but I’m planning to try it out everyday for a week with a number of different base looks to give it a fair chance as although already I’m having some reservations, I do want to be impartial to start with. Plus, the packaging is stunning so there is that to be positive about!

The formula is very thick, which I like in any mascara as that helps create a fuller look when on the lashes. However, it’s also a very dry formula which makes it difficult to work with; once it’s on the lashes that’s it. It doesn’t budge. In theory, that could be great, but for me that is an absolute nightmare because as I explained previously, I’m a very messy mascara applier; I need time to work the mascara into my lashes to achieve the shape that I like (long, full and separated; basically real lashes that look fake) and with this formulation that was impossible. The shape of the wand was actually pretty nice, I just wish that it was a plastic bristled brush as I feel like I could’ve worked with the mascara much better that way but obviously this was never going to be my favourite mascara because over the course of a week, I felt like chucking this mascara in the bin. As I’ve said, the mascara doesn’t budge once it’s on the lashes; it literally doesn’t budge to the point that it’s so hard to take off at the end of the day it hurts. I felt like I was pulling out my lashes each day, which is a definite dislike for me. This isn’t even the waterproof version, it’s the standard one! It looked nice on my bottom lashes but on the top... They just looked short and stubby, clinging to each other and overall I’m just not a fan. It’s not the worst mascara in the world, but it’s definitely one that I’ll never be reaching for ever again. 

The packaging is simply beautiful, but that’s not enough to make me want to give this mascara another chance. I hate the formula and the way that it makes my eyelashes look; for £11.99 I was expecting it to be so much better. In all honesty, I’ve used £3.99 mascaras with better results so I’m super frustrated with what I’ve spent for what I’ve got. In fairness, I do prefer plastic bristles so that may be one of the reasons why I hated this mascara so much as the fibers didn’t seem to grip my lashes fully, but at the same time I do love some other mascaras such as the Maybelline The Colossal Big Shot and that has a fiber brush so perhaps it’s more an issue with the dryness of the formula. I definitely won’t be using or buying the L’Oréal Paris Paradise Extatic Mascara again and that’s a bit of a shock for me as usually I love L’Oréal products so I’m genuinely really disappointed as it was more than I would usually spend on a drugstore item. I also hated how difficult it was to take off when needed; my lashes actually hurt so much after scrubbing at them with micellar water, make up wipes... Not impressed. I’d give this mascara a 2 out of 5 simply because the shape of the wand was nice and the packaging is lovely, but the price is too much for the quality. Let me know your thoughts on this mascara in the comments!

Book Review: Still Me

The third and final instalment in a series that I have loved. Both Me Before You and After You easily make it onto a list of my favourite books, although for very different reasons. Louisa Clark is an incredibly lovable character as she’s so imperfect, yet always manages to stay true to herself, with her wacky outfits and clumsy ways. There’s a part of me that is so, so sad that this is the last time I’ll read about her with fresh eyes. The first thing that made me love the beginning of the book, where she embarks on a new life, a new start in New York of all places, was that she references her commitment to Will by saying yes to new opportunities. The series has always been haunted by Will’s decision to end his life, so it was a nice ode to him that Lou has kept her word, living her own life to the fullest. That being said, it’s hardly a surprise that Lou struggles to adjust to life in New York as the family that she works for is so incredibly rich that to go anywhere includes a limo or taxi ride - a very different world to what a down to earth suburban girl is accustomed to. It’s important to remember that although she was living in London, the city is very different to New York; for a start, those in the USA tend to take everyday fitness incredibly seriously, something that Lou definitely struggles with.

One of things that I absolutely love about Lou is her bravery and commitment to everything that she does; even though she struggles to keep up with New York life and manage her long distance relationship, in a world of secrets and lies. She loves Sam, but she also begins to love her new life, her job and all of the experiences she is having. She’s a modest person, believing that by being brave she’s doing exactly what Will would’ve wanted her to do, but in reality, yes he would be proud of her, but the experiences she’s having are a result of her own doing. She is shaping her world for herself, by herself. As much as she’s taking more chances and saying yes to more things, she’s still the same clumsy girl and that is what makes her so lovable and definitely relatable. Her personality literally shines through the page, she’s the kind of character that manages to feel like a friend; each book that I’ve read about her has been different in terms of place, relationships and even country yet she never changes, always staying true to herself. There’s so much to enjoy reading about as her adventures are always both believable and hilarious as well as sad, however I prefer seeing her plough through life without a care in the world, with her quirky fashion sense and understanding of what she does and doesn’t like. As much as it was lovely to see her thrive in New York, strike up a good relationship with her employer, get physically fit and embrace her new way of life, I actually love her best when she’s dealing with difficult situations and finding her own two feet on her own. Louisa is so strong, yet lacks so much self confidence and that it what makes her stories so lovely to read; she’s so normal yet so beautifully quirky!

I loved how this book started at one point, then developed further, with Louisa starting off in one job then slowly changing various elements of her life, from her relationship, to her friendships and even her confidence begins to change. Her friendship with Margot is a beautiful one; it showcases how age is simply a number and how an older woman can be the best influence on a young, broken woman. It was a pleasure to see them help each even though they’re from entirely different backgrounds, countries and ages there is always some common ground, something that places people together for a reason. Both of the ladies love fashion, which added another level to their friendship. Age is just a number may be a cliché, but in the case of Lou and Margot it definitely is true; like only true friends can, they argue, they sulk but ultimately they’re always honest with one another and it was great to see an older female character shown as good influence. Margot was just as influential for Lou as Will was, way back in Me Before You. She injected a dose of reality, a reminder that life can be hard but you can always find a kind, loving and supportive person wherever life happens to lead you. Relationships are at the heart of this series and something that Jojo Moyes depicts incredibly well; whether it is platonic or romantic, there is a healthy dose of realism relayed through description and conversation in this book - just as in reality, relationships don’t always work and life isn’t always easy. Louisa Clark is an easy character to love because her personality just shines through pages and words to the extent that she literally feels like reading about an old friend rather than simply a character. Even reading about her family felt familiar, how they love each other whilst constantly bickering. 

Overall I’m torn about this book; on one hand, I loved it. It felt like the perfect ending to Louisa’s adventures, but ambiguous enough that her life would be easily revisited, which is also exciting. However, the question on my lips even as I bought this book was ‘is it necessary?’ due to After You being so different from Me Before You and so I expected (rightly) that Still Me would be difficult once again. Although as a reader, I didn’t feel like I needed to find out what has happened to Louisa and some of the other characters, but at the same time I wasn’t disappointed as this novel did live up to my expectations. As I’ve already mentioned, I love this series because it feels real; there’s nothing extraordinary about Lou, yet she has a beautifully written character that makes you wish she was your friend. She’s clumsy, funny and never seems to know what to do, yet she manages to work her way through life doing the things that she loves, surrounded by the people that she loves. Each book in this series has been different; although the characters are familiar, the situations are always different and it’s also nice to see realistically how life continues regardless of tragic or difficult events. However, personally I liked that each book felt like a standalone novel, rather than simply the same storyline. One of reasons why I’ve loved this series so much is how realistic it reads; Lou genuinely feels like an old friend at this point. This book was a solid 4 stars; it wasn’t my favourite of the series but regardless I devoured it and so I’d recommend it if like me, you’ve fully committed to the series and it’s characters. It was a pleasure, as always.

April Playlist

Hello again guys; I feel like I’ve lost my way a bit in terms of blogging recently and I’m not even sure why if I’m honest. It’s not that I don’t enjoy blogging anymore, it’s actually because I just never seem to find the time to finish off posts how I would want to (I’m a bit of a perfectionist haha) or I’m just not taking photos in good enough light. Basically, I need to get more organised. However, I am happy with how my life is at the moment; I’m reading more and more, plus having a better social life overall is making me feel super positive. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been listening to music mostly as I walk to and from the bus stop on my way to anywhere. I find that when I’m listening to music I walk faster, at a more controlled pace and I simply enjoy the (smallest amount of) exercise within my day. As I’ve said before, my music taste is very broad; I listen to a variety of artists, genres, languages at any one time. I’m constantly making new playlists on my iPod, too. I love using an old school iPod rather than my phone because I feel like it’s so much more intuitive and user friendly; I don’t even have to look at the screen to change the song, it’s all in the click wheel. I don’t listen to music as often as I used to as I’m reading more often instead, but that’s ok. None of the songs listed below are in any particular order, they’re simply songs that I’ve been listening to constantly over the past month. What songs are you obsessed with this month? Let me know in the comments! :)

1. Speakerphone - Rixton

2. Devuélveme Mi Corazón - CNCO

3. Come and Get It - Selena Gomez

4. My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson

5. What About Us - P!nk

6. We Don’t Talk Anymore - Charlie Puth (feat. Selena Gomez)

7. Ain’t It Fun - Paramore 

8. Strangers - Sigrid 

9. Échame La Culpa - Luis Fonsi & Demi Lovato

10. One Thing - One Direction

11. Para Enamorarte - CNCO

12. I’m Yours - Alessia Cara

13. Touch - Little Mix

14. Havana - Camila Cabello (feat. Young Thug)

15. We Can’t Stop - Miley Cyrus

Book Review: Milk and Honey

   

Generally, I’m not a poetry fan; however with this collection of poems I decided to give into the hype and give this book a try. In all honesty, this book is the tumblr and instagram hipster prop of dreams so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. As a woman, I am a feminist. One of things I loved about this collection of poems is it’s femininity, realism and honesty. Using not only words but visual illustrations to further elaborate across many pages, the collected words really drew me into the soul of Rupi Kaur. Within the poems there was a lot of negative imagery surrounding themes of abuse, violence, sexuality and loss. As much as I devoured all of the poems, I wouldn’t say they were anything out of this world but I loved how relatable each of the parts were for me. Divided into four parts, ‘The Hurting’, ‘The Loving’, ‘The Breaking’ and ‘The Healing’ which was a self explanatory cycle of poetry imitating the cycle of life and emotions. Each part explored a variation of the themes I’ve already mentioned, although having the collected poems split into smaller chapters worked really well - it made it much easier to understand what topics were being covered in what chapter. Kaur takes the reader on a journey of her life in this collection, which makes you feel so connected to each and every poem, knowing that someone else has loved this.

I do feel like this collection of poems lived up to the hype for me; I’d say that this is likely because I began to read the poems with minimal expectations as I’m not overly familiar with poetry (or more specifically, reading poetry for my own enjoyment). I admired the honesty that seeped through each of the poems in all of the chapters, although the poems under ‘The Hurting’ were unsurprisingly the most difficult to read due to their harrowing nature; abuse of any kind is always hard to swallow and some of the depictions of sexual abuse in particular although in beautiful prose were difficult to read. Whether it is a subject that you’re personally familiar with or not, what the poems do is encourage you to think, to wonder and understand the kinds of battlegrounds that bodies can be for some people. For as much as bodies shouldn’t be a battleground, but a instead a celebration, there are situations and circumstances why some have issues with their bodies. Poetry is a subjective form of art and literature, in all honesty I can understand why this collection of poems has been so widely loved and so widely criticised; it’s not for everyone. It is a literal and visual journey of some of the best and worst moments of a persons life, which can be hard to contemplate. It’s easy to read words without meaning, but difficult to read with feeling. However, it is incredible that Rupi Kaur is so fearless within her chosen art form; each word is so carefully chosen, yet somehow extremely personal whilst remaining impersonal. 

The four parts give an understanding to the idea of survival; that even after a variety of bad times, there are always good times ready to experience. The splitting of various life experiences into multiple poems and ultimately four distinct parts that represent feelings worked well but also added another layer of sincerity to her writing. Although there were elements of chaos within the text, it was organised chaos; loose ends were neatly tied up and each poem (long or short) provided a specific meaning that added to the overall feel to the collection as well as carefully fitting into the themes laid out throughout the text. The poetry varied in length from a few words, to multiple pages, making each poem work as a stand-alone piece or part of the overall collection. Part four, or the ‘The Healing’, was arguably the most interesting to read, as everyone heals differently so it was definitely her perspective, her own process. Each of the parts tells it’s own story, using a variety of poetic techniques to do so; one of the reasons why I liked this collection of poems was the range of feelings seeping through the pages. We see feelings of hope, hate, love, shame and more. Feelings are such an inexplicable part of life, as much as some of the content was uncomfortable to imagine, it was easy to empathise, to invest yourself in Kaur’s storytelling, the narrative of her life.

Overall, I loved this. Not because of the hype surrounding it, or the hipster/tumblr/instagram youths who so often use various lines or stanzas alongside imagery to represent their own feelings. I’m aware that is a total stereotype, but honestly that is where I’ve seen most of the interest surrounding this book within the online world. This collection of poems felt like more than just a book as it is more creative than that; fully written and illustrated by Rupi Kaur, I loved how some of the poems were so subtly phrased, with carefully hidden meanings within the words openly declaring their meaning via some fairly graphic illustrations of sexual abuse, of pleasure, of the body, the world and more. Each emotion, each poem and each illustration conveys just how brave Kaur is; unafraid of the truth, never hiding from the pain of life, or hiding from the experiences life grants each individual. As I’ve said previously, I’m generally not a poetry lover, although that’s likely due to being forced to study only certain poetry, not poetry of my own choosing in the past. I would recommend reading this book, not to see if it lives up to the hype, but to change up your reading habits; try something new and indulge in another’s journey of life through lines, stanzas and illustrations. This is a collection of poems that I will not forget, each poem hit me with a different emotion, thought and even unintentional relatability. There is something for everyone in this collection, but I admit that it’s definitely a book that not everyone will enjoy, although for me it was easily a 5 star read.

Beauty Review: MakeUp Revolution x Soph Eyeshadow Palette

Hello again guys; after having such a success with the highlighter palette, I decided to bite the bullet and splurge (against my usual budgeting habits) and invest in the MakeUp Revolution x Soph Eyeshadow Palette. In all honestly, I’m not a massive lover of Eyeshadow, I find it all a bit of a faff... Plus I always seem to end up looking like I’ve got a black eye whenever I try anything new, so purchasing this was a big step for me! For £10, it does look and fell like good value for money as the palette itself feels sturdy to touch and I love that it includes a large mirror in the lid; one of things that I wished the highlighter palette included was a mirror, so that was a welcome inclusion. The cardboard outer packaging is cute, although the watercolour effect is a little pixelated in person, but the metallic bronze elements are cute, plus I like that the ‘Soph x’ logo is in the same font and colour on both palettes; it works well against the matte peach of the eyeshadow palette, too. For the price you get 24 different eyeshadows; 14 of which are matte shades and the other 10 shades are shimmers. The majority of the shades are warm toned, but I like that no two shades are similar, there’s a lot to choose from. Although the palette isn’t particularly bulky, it’s a fairly large size to hold so that’s a bit of a downside if you want to use it for travelling or applying make up on the go. The pan size for the eyeshadows are reasonably sized too; identically rectangular with the lightest shades in the top row getting steadily darker to the darkest shades in the bottom row. The added cellophane that tells you the shade names is a nice but unnecessary touch, although I leave the cellophane on top of the shades to keep the mirror clean so it is useful. 

When I’m feeling brave I tend to favour bronze, smokey eyes and this palette does that kind of look really well; there’s so many shades of bronze shimmers that work well and don’t crease once applied on the lid. I have a love/hate relationship with the pigmentation of the shadows in the palette as on the one hand, it’s great that they’re so pigmented for the price, but on the other hand it makes it difficult to work with when you’re like me and destined to make a mistake. I’ve not found any shadow that works better or is more pigmented than another, but I’m finding myself favouring the shades such as Pug, Pancakes and Cuppa Tea (two matte browns) for my everyday eyeshadow as I like a neutral shade on the lid, but I’m becoming a bit more experimental with using shimmers on top, such as Fairy Lights or Copper Coin. I feel like this is a great palette for all occasions but also a good way to get more experienced with eyeshadow as it’s reasonably priced, so you can wipe away mistakes and not feel like you’re wasting money. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve used this palette every single day and in all honesty, none of the shadows feel like they’re bad quality. There’s no chalky feel on the skin, no excessive fallout and no creasing after a couple of hours. I’m also pleased with the fact that none of the shadows look like they’ve taken a bashing after everyday wear so I’m hoping I’ll be able to use this palette constantly over the next few months. I was expecting the MakeUp Revolution x Soph Highlighter Palette to be my favourite palette of the moment, but I’m pleasantly surprised to be prefer the Eyeshadow Palette; I struggle with applying eyeshadow in general so it feels good to have finally found a palette that I can use and not stress about the expensiveness whilst still getting good results. I know it’s early days but I feel like I’ll end up repurchasing this palette once I’ve ruined this one and that is something I never thought I would say!

Book Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

This book is the one that I’ve been desperate to read for the past year; usually I’m not one to be tempted by any book that is insanely hyped up or on Bestsellers lists. However, there was something about this book that genuinely piqued my interest. Eleanor is a woman who is fairly unremarkable, on the offset. She is plain, has a stable job and lives alone. But there is so much more to her; she has a troubled past, with scars from burns all over one side of her body. She struggles with socialising, even with colleagues that she has known for a long time; she has a difficult relationship with alcohol, and with her mother. Despite these things, Eleanor isn’t unhappy; she actually likes her life, her routine of surviving the working week and then spending the weekend with vodka and pizza seems to be satisfying enough for her. Not only is she lonely, but she is determinedly so, doing all she can to avoid any form of contact with others and only getting phone calls from her mother, who is often verbally abusive towards her. Fortunately, they onyl communicate via phone calls so there is no opportunity for physical abuse as far as the reader can tell. However the relationship between them is so uncomfortable to read, but at the same time such a necessary part of understanding Eleanor and why she struggles with life in general as many look to their mothers for guidance.

Eleanor is a beautiful narrator; everything about her and her mind is so different that everything about the world is seen through her eyes and perspective. The only way to describe her is unique; she has very particular habits and ideas, especially about how to talk, work and dress properly but ultimately she is incredibly lonely. Yes, she does actively avoid any kind of social interaction, but that’s more because she thinks that she prefers her own company rather than because she hates the outside world. Working in finance for a graphic design company, naturally her colleagues are young, extroverted and don’t make much effort with her, either. To begin with, this story begins rather slowly as Honeyman needs to establish who Eleanor is before any action can take place; that’s not a bad thing, but it does make you wonder where on earth the story could be headed. There are a few things that start the change of Eleanor’s life: her office computer brakes, meaning that she meets Raymond; Eleanor and Raymond help an older man who collapses into the road and Eleanor watching a concert where she falls in love. What makes this story so clearly about love, is just how much Eleanor desires love without even realising; without actively looking for love she believes that she has found the ‘one’ and does what all sensible people do and get a makeover. Hair, nails, wardrobe and even a bikini wax! Her reactions to each of these things are hilarious and honestly, her character grows on you very quickly.

There are so many topics covered with delicacy in this novel that it almost seemed like a blur; relationships, abuse, death and mental health amongst many others. One of things that hit me the most about this book what the truth in the fact that everyone has good and bad days; however with the help of your friends you can always pick yourself up. Eleanor definitely has a reliance on alcohol, but all of her issues are ultimately connected to her past; her scars (both physical and mental) and her difficulties stemming from various care homes and foster carers. This is the kind of book that manages to get under your skin without your realisation; one minute you’re thinking this woman is strange and then the next you’re genuinely concerned about her, if she’s coping properly, if she needs some extra support at all. The amazing thing about this novel is that the plot is character led, yet you can imagine Eleanor as though she’s somebody you actually know; the bond between reader and narrator becomes unbelievably strong. Eleanor is a strong character and ultimately she ends up with a good job, good friends and good frame of mind after almost thirty years of heartache. There was not a traditional happy ending, but a realistic one; she is an extraordinary woman who enjoys a simple life and has found herself to be a survivor regardless of the odds.

Overall, I loved this book; yes, it was a slow beginning but oh my gosh it was such a good read. It was an unusual read about an unusual woman, who by her own description, wasn’t particularly beautiful, funny or clever yet she quickly grabbed my heart. There’s definitely a bit of Eleanor in all of us; unintentionally outspoken, insecure and strong. I loved Honeyman’s depiction of a lost soul; one who desperately needed some kind of support, some friends who could replace her lack of family. By the end of the novel, I assumed that I had guessed everything and I’m happy to say that I was completely wrong - some of the best books are those that surprise you and this one did that. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did, or feel so much for Eleanor, Raymond and Sammy, each of whom had something that made them unique, a good friend even though they each had their own problems. I doubt I’ll read a book like this for a long time, but it’s one that I’m sure will stick in my mind; I’d love to know what happens next. This was an easy 5 stars for me, the issues that plagued this book were slowly unravelled with delicacy and ultimately the whole story just felt so inexplicably real that it was impossible not to get a little teary at times! I definitely recommend reading this, particularly if you’re a fan of books that don’t have a simple answer to every one of life’s problems.