Wednesday 8 November 2017

Review: LONDON BELONGS TO ME (London Belongs to Me #1) by Jacquelyn Middleton

Source: Received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Publisher: Kirkwall Books
Release Date: October 14, 2016
Number of Pages: 394 (Paperback)

DESCRIPTION

A New City A New Start. Same Old Demons.

Your flight is now boarding! Join Alex Sinclair for a life-changing, trans-Atlantic journey. London Belongs to Me is a coming-of-age story about friendship, following your dreams, and learning when to let go … and when to hang on.

Meet Alex, a recent college graduate from Tallahassee, Florida in love with London, pop culture, and comic cons. It’s not easy being twenty-one-years-old, and Alex has never been the most popular girl. She’s an outsider, a geeky fangirl … with dreams of becoming a playwright in a city she’s loved from afar, but never visited. Fleeing America after a devastating betrayal, she believes London is where she’ll be understood, where she belongs. But Alex’s past of panic attacks and broken relationships is hard to escape. When her demons team up with a jealous rival determined to destroy her new British life, Alex begins to question everything: her life-long dream, her new friends, and whether London is where she truly belongs.
G E T   Y O U R   C O P Y   N O W !
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REVIEW

As an avid fangirl, I'm always...and I mean, ALWAYS, excited to read books where the main characters love fandom just as much as I do, so when I heard about Alex in LONDON BELONG TO ME, I was extremely excited to read her story! Sure enough, once I started reading the book, I couldn't help but relate to so many of Alex's quirks and her habits!

There were certain things about LONDON BELONGS TO ME that did make it feel like a debut novel to me--mostly with regards to how the character descriptions unfolded, but overall, I really enjoyed it, especially since once I was a couple of chapters in, this worked itself out. I thought that the London setting was absolutely fabulous, Alex's epic geekiness, and her friendships were extremely well done, and the romance was utterly adorable! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Alex grow, and I love, love, loved seeing her relationship with Mark develop...he was most definitely a keeper! ;) 

As far as the story goes, I thought it was fresh and unique, and I loved seeing all of the theatre elements. I don't see a lot of plays, but I'm a huge fan of musicals, so I really liked seeing Alex's creative process! While I wouldn't have made the same choices as Alex did, I thought that Jacquelyn Middleton did a great job showing Alex's motivations, which made me understand her even if I knew I wouldn't have done the same thing. The secondary characters were also extremely well developed. Even the characters who could've come off as stereotypical, like Alex's "jealous rival" as the description describes (not saying her name to avoid spoilers ;P), were really well developed and dynamic.

Overall, I thought that LONDON BELONGS TO ME was a wonderfully sweet story about a girl learning who she is while also finding her place in the world! It was a fast-paced story with an amazing cast of characters where the setting itself is so vibrant that it became a character itself! This book is perfect for any anglophiles, theatre geeks, or epic fans of the Sherlock and Doctor Who fandoms. ;)



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JACQUELYN MIDDLETON is an award-winning freelance writer with articles published by several of the most popular magazines, newspapers, and websites in North America including USA Today, Canadian Living, Best Health, Psychology Today, National Geographic Travel, the Toronto Star, Reader's Digest, Chatelaine, Today's Parent, and Flare. She is also the creator of AUTHORS CELEBRATING AUTHORS, a column on her website featuring Q&As with her favourite authors about their books and writing practices. K.A. Tucker, Jill Santopolo, and Penelope Douglas have been among her esteemed guests.

Jacquelyn previously worked in television broadcasting, and lives in Toronto with her husband and Schipperke. She's addicted to Bookstagram, loves London far too much, and has a thing for red Vespas. LONDON BELONGS TO ME, her debut novel, was published by Kirkwall Books in October 2016. LONDON, CAN YOU WAIT? just released on October 26, 2017.


Connect with Jacquelyn: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram


What do you think?
Does LONDON BELONGS TO ME sound like a story you'd enjoy?

1 comment:

  1. A friend just recommended this duology (?) to me and now that I've read your review I'm definitely intrigue ;)

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