Flatshare: A Novel Hardcover – May 28, 2019

I don't know why I kept this book in my TBR for so long, I feel so dumb. It's so far the best book I've read this year, and one of my new favorites.I was curios after reading the book description, such an unique and crazy agreement, Leon has the flat from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday, Tiffy has it the rest of the time, never to cross paths!!! (Yeah as if)If you worry, like I did, how the heck they are going to interact and how the history will develop. Well, in one off the most nice ways I've read in a while, their little notes for one another were so nice to read, how their friendship developed, then how it starts to become something more even before they have properly met, how they learn about each other by observing the traces the other leaves behind. It does take a while for them to finally meet I will let you know, but the story is so engaging!!!I was a bit mad at Tiffy in the beginning when she would think/talk about her ex, thought she was being such an idiot and was quite annoyed, and then.... the author makes me understand all that she was going through and for most part she wasn't even aware at first, bit my tongue really good.Sorry Tiffy!So that tells how I loved how the gaslighting was explored, because if we are being honest is so easy to be judgmental when you don't know the full story, or when you are from the outside. But once I was let in all I wanted to do was protect Tiffy.The stalking. Almost ripped some pages here and there, and definitely needed a few stops to manage my anger at the ex.Leon won me fast, loved his character.My only complain would be about the last two chapter, felt like too much was happening at once and still some things that I'd have loved to know weren't properly addressed.

MY RATING SYSTEM5 stars--WOW4 stars--would read again3 stars--was good, won't read again2 stars--read it, but didn't enjoy it1 star--didn't finish, it was so awfulDo I need to read books before this one: noCliffhanger: noSUMMARYTiff has to move out of Justin's apartment. He's always come back, but this time he's come back with a fiancée. Martin, coworker, offers his spare room at a discount. Gerty, barrister, and Mo, counselor, all of them best friends since college, help her look for a place she can afford. Tiff calls about a flatshare. Leon only needs it 9a-6p weekdays because he's a night nurse, so perfect for Tiff who's an editor.Kay doesn't want Leon to show his flat to a woman, so she does. Kay determines Tiff is unattractive so it's okay for her to be a flatmate, but she'll do all interaction with Tiff. Kay makes Leon ask her to stay at her place weekends. He talks about Richie, his little brother who's in prison though innocent. The attorney isn't moving fast for the appeal. Kay gets frosty.Tiff acts as the model for Katherin, an author of crochet books, on a cruise ship. She sees Justin in the back of the room, looking at her hungrily. Gerty, Mo, and Rachel, friend and coworker, don't like him because he'd been horrible to Tiff.At work, Leon helps Holly, a child with leukemia. He talks to Mr Prior about his WWII lover so Leon can find him before Mr Prior dies.EVALUATIONWatching Tiff heal from Justin is enlightening and empowering. She finds courage, suffers setbacks, and relies on her friends for support, learning, and more courage. She doesn't seem to have any anxiety or depression, any deflation of her ego; I don't know if that's accurate.Leon doesn't realize he's stuck in a dark rut with a controlling woman until Tiff shares some of her light. As he serves Holly and Mr Prior, and as Tiff talks (through him) with Richie, Leon finds courage to make changes, too.The author gives Leon and Tiff very different styles. Her chapters are normal in sentence structure and punctuation. His are as if he's writing case notes; for example, "Letter is crumpled in trouser pocket." He doesn't use quotation marks, either; for example:June: Your friend has arrived!Me: Thanks, June.June: She's in the Leisure Room!Me: Thanks June.June: She's ever so pretty.The overall theme is hope, keep struggling, hold on, there's light at the end of your night. It's well done.RECOMMENDATIONEveryone would benefit from reading this book.FAVORITE QUOTES[moving out] I’d sat for a while in the hall, staring at the multicolored mess of my favorite things spilling out from the cupboard under the stairs, and felt for a weird moment that if the cushions could breathe again, so could I.Why use one clause when you could use five? Strange, ridiculous, hilarious woman.“You hate me, don’t you? I’m top of your hate list right now.” “It’s my one lie-in and you’ve ruined it, so yes, you have climbed past Donald Trump and that Uber driver I sometimes gets who hums for the whole journey.”I don’t know how lawyers feel about you talking to other lawyers—is it like adultery?I find myself doing a stupid little awkward laugh I’m sure I’ve never done before. What an excellent time to wheel out a brand new awkward laugh.It can take people time to notice and process emotional abuse.“How painful is that, out of ten?” “I don’t know, like, six?” I’m really thinking *eight eight eight* but I don’t want to seem pathetic.“This Bella Swan is a very popular lady, for one who declares herself to be so unattractive. Seems every single man in the book who isn’t her father is in love with her.”There’s nothing like a man in a novelty T-shirt to brighten up your morning.Getting one of those lopsided grins from him feels like winning at a game I wasn’t aware I was playing.We take our usual route to the kitchen: doubling back past the color room to avoid the head of Editorial and the managing director’s desks, ducking behind the pillar by the photocopier so Hana won’t spot us, hitting the kitchen from an angle that ensures we can see if any senior members of staff are lurking in there.Think of the months of notes and leftover dinners, the never knowing her. Feels so different now I’ve met her. Can’t believe I wasted all that time—not just those months, but the time before that, the years of dawdling, settling, waiting.He’s where my mind goes when I’m feeling my best.“My sexual frustration cannot be stopping you sleeping. If that was possible, nobody would ever have been able to sleep in Victorian times.”Can’t afford to keep burning suits every time the legal system fails to deliver justice.Left to my own devices, I’m the sort of man who’d never walk through those doors. And where’s that ever got anybody?POSSIBLE TRIGGERS (SPOILERS)Sex: a few scenesLanguage: 33 F words, 59 Lord's name in vain, 33 S wordsViolence: stalking, bullying, threatening, violent tantrum, gaslighting, manipulating, drowning

I'm pretty picky when it comes to chicklit. It's a genre that I want to like, but a lot of the time, the unrealistic situations, bland writing, and overly quirky heroines ruin what would otherwise be a decent premise. Apparently my mom picked this up in a ship library while on a cruise. She enjoyed it so much that she brought it back for me from Europe. And, as with all books I'm excited about reading, I promptly set it aside and forgot about it for several months. Now that I'm ill, though, I've been treating myself to some guilty pleasure reads, and THE FLATSHARE seemed like it would fit the bill.Told in dual POV, it is the story about Tiffy and Leon. Tiffy works at a small publishing company and has just been booted out of her ex-boyfriend's apartment; now she needs a new place to live. Leon works the night shift as a palliative care nurse, and he needs the extra cash flow. He decides to rent out his apartment to someone who can sleep there while he works, ideally with the opposite schedule as his. They will share the flat and the bed, but sleep on opposite sides. Kay, Leon's girlfriend, will manage things to keep it less weird.At first, Leon's odd narration style and Tiffy's quirkiness seemed like they might be too much, but their characters grew on me. I liked the epistolary elements (via Post-It), the friends-to-lovers, and the emphasis on consent and healing after an emotionally abusive relationship. I loved Leon's brother, Richie, and all of Tiffy's friends. I also liked the distinguishing between Leon's relationship with Kay, which wasn't toxic but soured because of a difference in expectations, and Tiffy's relationship with Justin, which was toxic, and which she had kind of psychologically repressed for her own emotional wellbeing. If nothing else, THE FLATSHARE is a fascinating look at relationships of all kinds and how they shape us, but luckily for me, it's also a really cute romance.P.S. Nearly lost it when they ate tiffin together because that would be a great ship name for them.4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

The cover, title and plot caught my attention immediately. I ordered it within minutes of reading the synopsis and was excited to have it in hands by the evening. (Thanks prime same-day!) However just under 60 pages in and I've had to throw in the towel. The grammar, writing style and dialogue is horrendous. It feels immature, pointless and painful to wade through. I am surprised given the hype its received that it was published with this awkward style. Screenplay novels have more depth than this.Annie: yuck, like urgh. Frown in annoyance. Throw book. Want refund.

How this book ever got published is a mystery . There were many reviews before it was even released and a lot of press coverage . Sadly I fell for it , I wasn't looking for Shakespeare but Jo Jo Moyes must be insulted by any comparisons.. I could write a novel on how awful and unreadable it is , after four attempts i put it in the charity bag , it really deserved the bin . Don't waste your money .

"Double bedroom in sunny one-bed Stockwell flat, rent £350 per month including bills. Available immediately, for six months minimum. Flat (and room/is to share with twenty-seven-year-old palliative care nurse who works nights and is away weekends. Only ever in the flat 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday. All yours the rest of the time! Perfect for someone with 9 to 5 job. To view, contact L. Twomey... "Tiffy Moore's manipulative boyfriend, Justin, has left her for another woman so she is flat-hunting in London. Her niche publishing job (crocheting books by up-and-coming author Katherin) doesn't pay minimum wage so, despite concern from workmate Racheland friends Gerty (a criminal lawyer) and Mo (a psychologist) she rents L. (Leon) Twomey's flat. Leon's brother, Richie, is in gaol for an armed robbery he didn't commit and girlfriend Kay, is non-to supportive. Big-hearted, Leon is also trying to track-down elderly knitting-fiend, Mr Prior's wartime lover, 'Johhny White' in the short time Mr Prior has left whilst looking after poorly, but sparky, Holly.Via post-it note conversations in the flat they share but are never in at the same time, Leon and Tiffy become friends chatting and offering advice about their lives. When Richie's appeal is not going well it is Tiffy who steps up to help winning a newly single Leon over.I read this from its publication date and over the Easter weekend that followed. A joyous romcom novel (which won me over despite not being my favourite genre) that matched the bright and sunny weather. Tiffy and Leon are genuinely lovely people dealing with difficult circumstances and thrown together just when they need it. A charming love story that is well worth a read.

5 stars for the characters. 5 stars for the writing style and multiple POV. 4 stars for the story - quite slow until about 60%; it's good women's fiction novel but not a comedy, neither the situations nor the style are hilarious or 'laughing out loud'. Minus 100 stars to the marketing team - this story includes emotional and verbal abuse, gaslighting, and labelling it as a comedy (when it's not) is not only a false and unfair business practice, it could also be dangerous as certain scenes could be triggers to abuse sufferers. It's a sweet story of a guy depressed by his brother's imprisonment and a girl trying to get out of an abusive relationship. The romantic bit starts in the second half only. His habit of not using pronouns took some getting used to. An enjoyable read. I really wish publishers stopped putting every single book into the laughing out loud box. I've had so many disappointing purchases by now that I'm scared to pick anything advertised as a romcom.

The main premise of this book is simply brilliant and there’s so much more to this story than the catchy Strapline. Having read it so quickly I’m having to take a moment to remember all the wonderfully woven in subplots. You want to be friends with (nearly) all the characters. The writing is witty, observations on point and the relationship between Leon and Tiffy gave me actual butterflies. It just zips through - couldn’t recommend it highly enough and can’t wait for the next story from the author