The Flatshare by Beth O'LearyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Opposites attract quirky couple romance
This story came recommended to me by a trusted friend and i devoured the story in a day. Besides the “fall in love via post it note’, Tiff and Leon were this perfect loud girl vs quiet boy match up. Besides the blossoming relationship, there is an engaging side story with the younger brother that kept me intrigued. There were also richly developed secondary characters who lept off the page.
However, this was probably the best storytelling presentation of the villain as narcissistic and gaslighted the heroine believably. Seeing her growth with Leon, the help of friends and therapy added to the story's depth.
It was brilliant, a fresh love story that I enjoyed.
So why 4 stars? It is actually 3.5 almost made it a 3 with a message to the publisher. As final editing and formatting fall on their shoulders, not the author. The alternating POV formatting from traditional fiction (Tiffy) to a playwright stylized speaking (Leon) was highly distracting. If it served a purpose, such as only communicating by text or lipreading, I would get it. This just pulled me out of the story for 50% in bewilderment. Once I realized this was just a choice in formatting the different POV, I found myself ignoring the irritation. My advice to the publisher, take the reader experience into consideration.
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