This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Lisa Spoors
I didn’t know what to
make of this book when it first arrived on my doormat – the cover made me think
it would be a thriller so when I read the description on the back I was excited
to read it – it’s not the type of book I’d normally choose.
The book is set in Soho, London, on the night of July 6th, 2005. This was the day Great Britain was announced as the next host of the Olympic Games, and the day before the London terror attacks. There are four main characters, and we follow each of them for one night as they go about their lives in bustling, vibrant Soho.
Each character has their own struggles – there’s Zoe, who’s an aspiring model, Seb, a tortured artist, Stella, a disillusioned singer, and her boyfriend, Ade, who has problems of his own. I enjoyed reading Zoe’s story most . Zoe is from the North and has come to London to find success in modelling. She’s young, ambitious and very keen to be noticed by the right people – her naivety is endearing and at points in the book I really wished I could have just put her back on a train to Middlesbrough myself! Out of all four characters she seemed the most ‘real’ to me. Stella is quite intriguing, and Seb’s story drew me in in parts but I didn’t like the character of Ade at all, and found his journey throughout the book the least interesting.
The book is cleverly written in the way that the characters’ lives overlap throughout – there’s a real ‘human’ element to the story. The vivid descriptions almost made me feel like I was walking through the streets of Soho myself (although in parts I’m glad I wasn’t!). The plot had some twists and turns which kept me interested and, overall, I really enjoyed this book.
8/10